Today we’d like to introduce you to Aramis Wells.
Hi Aramis, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In third grade I took a trip to Colorado with my grandparents, and I got to use a Kodak 110 instamatic with a couple rolls of film and that trip planted the bug. Out of high school I purchased my first SLR and I used that up until the responsibilities of life took over and deciding to eat and pay rent trumped developing film. It wasn’t till years later after our son was born that I would get back into photography. I jumped back in with a digital point and shoot and all I could think was with a 256mb card I could shoot forever for free! I upgraded to a bridge camera before my wife, and I took our first real vacation. Up until that point I just enjoyed taking pictures, but I bought a book to read on the flight of that vacation “Digital Photography” by Scott Kelby. In my excitement for our vacation, I did not read the book on the way to Hawaii, instead I used it to kill time on the flight back and I realized how bad all my photos were when I got back home. After that it was like I flipped a switch, and I vowed never to waste an opportunity like that again and photography got serious from that day on.
It got serious enough that I got the idea to create a website but I needed a name and logo. I had been shooting many events with the Northfield Fire Department for which I was a volunteer firefighter for, and I wanted to tie the two together. That’s where Flashover Photo came from. However, the website never really got traction and when the domain came up for renewal, I let it go and it was snatched up by someone else.
As with all things in life I found some other passions and took a break from my camera for what turned into a few years. A friend of ours put an idea in my head in 2015, to watch the 2017 total solar eclipse from Yellowstone National Park. We started making plans and we ended up camping in Yellowstone for a week. That week ended being the busiest week in the history of the park and we (my dad, sister, wife Tiana, and son Logan) watched the eclipse from Grand Tetons. That two minutes and 20 seconds changed my life, and I started pointing my camera toward the skies more often than not.
In 2023 I shot the annular eclipse in Monument Valley and while on the trip decided for kicks to look and see if my old domain was available. It was, and after nearly 15 years I resurrected Flashover. I had many requests over the years from friends and family to sell prints but most of the time my images never left my hard drive. The fall of 2024 while at the art fair of our small town’s celebration, my wife and I decided it was time to finally get my images in front of others. We set a goal to be ready for that same art fair in 2025. We figured that practice would be good so we looked the part when the show arrived, so we signed up for a couple craft fairs at the end of ’24. They went so well that in ’25 I will be looking to get into some galleries and many of the great art fairs put on in Minnesota.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not, there were many obstacles over the years. Starting out money for gear was always tough to come by. I became very good at finding deals on craigslist and bought all of my gear used. I would then flip my gear and sell for more and upgrade when the right items came up for sale online.
Later time became a big obstacle. Learning to balance working extra hours at my full time job as a machinist, time on the fire department and of couse time with family, it was a real struggle. This continues to be one of the most difficult things about photography. It’s great to share beautiful locations with my family but they want to see them during normal tourist hours and I want to see them during the golden hour or at night that leaves little time for sleep.
Lastly, the struggle with yourself to think your good enough. This is the one that I deal with the most. Learning how to photograph, you latch onto other photographers willing to give advice and that have a presence on social media. My social media is filled with images of all the greatest photographers in our area and trying to measure yourself to that is a mind trip. Having some validation from some of them has been incredibly rewarding and lets me know I’m on the right path with the images I’ve been putting out.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Well, I’m a machinist for a small aerospace company in Lonsdale. I am also a volunteer firefighter for the Northfield Fire Department and hit 25 years back in December. But I’m doing this interview for the photos I take as Flashover Photo. I am a photographer that specializes in astro, landscape and fire. There are many photographers that do landscape and astro work but my time on the fire department has given me the opportunity to shoot my friends and coworkers doing firefighting activities and that has been amazing. Not only am I contributing to the history of our department, but I have been able to show some of the intense conditions that come with working in the fire service.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I live in Southern Minnesota in the small town of Dundas just outside of Northfield. Both towns are great communities to learn photography in. With the Cannon River, the colleges (Carleton and St Olaf), and the rich history of Northfield and Jesse James there are so many great things to capture in our small towns. They have both grown a ton since I was a kid but they are still small enough that I can’t run to the store without bumping into a dozen people I know.
I have started to realize there are a couple drawbacks to living in Dundas. Wanting to photograph the world, I’m starting to realize how far away everything else is from where I live. Our family has realized we are starting to exhaust our options that are a days drive away and all the places on our bucket list are either a two day drive or a flight with all the camera gear away. Sounds like a first world problem I know but you asked and that’s really all I have bad to say about home other than the light pollution of the Twin Cities directly to our north.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.flashoverphoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flashover_photo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Flashoverphoto
