Real talk with Paul Zizka, professional landscape photographer

After seeing his breath-taking landscape selfies go viral early in 2014, Paul Zizka became one of Canada’s top landscape photographers, with a community of 120K engaged followers. He shoots strong and powerful human centered scenic images. He is our featured content creator for the month of August 2016.

Originally from Quebec City Paul made his way to the Rockies back in 2008. Two years later, he would decide to jump full-time into professional photography, with landscape shots being his main focus.

What differentiates his art

Paul wasn’t serious about photography until he moved to the mountains. Just like anyone in a new environment, he picked up a camera as a way to document the experiences he was living. Eventually, the camera became an increasingly important tool in his life.

« When I discovered that photography could have an incredible effect on how people feel, I was hooked. I then made it my work.

To Paul, it’s all about emotional connection with the landscapes. He’s often more than happy to venture deep into the wilderness, in some hard to reach places, to get his best shots. The adventure is part of the work.

On content creation

Incorporating a human element to a nature shot didn’t come naturally to Paul, until one night he couldn’t find the perfect foreground and decided to put himself in the photo.

« With a human presence, the photo told an entirely different story.

The selfie series appeared to be a good way to depict the scale and vulnerability of certain environments. Adding a human in the composition of his picture gives a sense of scale and creates a tension, relationship between human and nature. The final result means a lot to him because it represents his relationship with the mountains.

Other than the natural environment, some of Paul’s inspirations come from the people who photographed a spot, like Byron Harmon & Vittorio Sella who photographed these mountains decades ago. Getting these compelling images considering the factors they had to overcome, is inspiring.

His views on Instagram

Paul considers Instagram as the flavour of the year. He confess being on Instagram because that’s where people like to hang recently.

« Right now it’s where the numbers are, and as I am a photographer for a living, I need to be there.

Paul is having a hard time taking Instagram seriously as a photography-sharing platform, since it forces you to crop out a third of your image and encourages their viewing on tiny devices. To him, it can be disheartening when you put so much work into creating quality images.

« Instagram is user-friendly and it does generate decent interaction, but the art of photography shouldn't be about likes and shares.

Paul believe one must be careful not to shoot like a robot because it’s easy to follow the recipes that work & trends.

« Your art then has the potential to turn into click bait. I’ve been guilty of this at times, and other photographers must deal with this as well.

Paul’s view on social media in general, is that it’s better not to get bogged down by all the stats.

« It’s hard because we’re close to our art, and we take it personally.

Paul’s conclusion on what an Instagram picture needs in order to catch attention

• Centre-heavy compositions
• Small people, big landscape
• Over processing (just a little bit)
• Anything colorful - sunrise, sunset images tend to do better
• Strong leading lines
• Kayaks, hammocks

If you look at most adventure photos, you actually tend to see the same six above things.

If you haven’t done it by now, follow-Paul on Instagram or visit his website.