Today we’d like to introduce you to David Barthel.
Hi David, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Based in central Minnesota, I create fine art landscape and nature photography, focusing primarily on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior with a secondary emphasis on the landscapes of the American West.
I got my first taste of photography when I purchased an inexpensive 110-film camera at the tender age of eight years old, the first time in my life that I had any money to spend. I was fascinated by the ability to forever freeze a moment in time and used this camera to document the people and events in my life. Fast-forward to my freshman year of high school, a photography unit in an industrial technology class brought my first (and, ultimately, only) experience in working with film development and printing in a darkroom. This is when I was also introduced to the basic concepts of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focus, f-stops, all of which are essential to the use of single lens reflex (SLR) and other cameras with manual control. Toward the end of my high school years and after many childhood family vacations to Duluth, Minnesota, the rugged landscape surrounding Lake Superior began to summon my creative attention.
Toting a 35mm film SLR camera and a few lenses, my early adulthood brought trips up and down the North Shore with increasing frequency while I attended college full-time pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. Though the capabilities of my equipment were quite limited compared with the imaging technology I now use, these early experiences photographing Lake Superior’s north shore established the foundation for the work I create today. After graduating from college in 2006, I continued my photographic pursuits while working for a utility automation company in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. The income from this work allowed me to acquire professional-level gear and fully transition to digital technology. At that point, I imagined photography would remain a hobby or, at most, side hustle while earning a comfortable living working as an engineer. Those thoughts were turned upside-down when the Great Recession of 2008-2009 roared in and eliminated my job along with those of many others.
I was at a crossroads. It was the first time in my life that I stared at a blank slate, pondering what my next step, much less path, would be. While hard to imagine in the booming labor market of 2022, job opportunities for young engineers in my field were scarce and highly sought after in the months and years following the recession. On a positive note, in between job searches and interviews, being unemployed afforded me extra opportunities to hone my photography skills and spend more time in the field making photographs.
As my unemployment dragged on from months into years, the thought of making some income with my photography became increasingly appealing. A couple of photographers I had become acquainted with had been exhibiting and selling their work at art festivals for several years and encouraged me to give them a try. The required initial investment in equipment and inventory was a bit daunting at the time, but my love of being a part of large events and sharing my artwork with the public won me over.
In June 2011, I set up my white pop-up canopy for the first time at a local art show and sold enough to make a small profit. The next few years exhibiting at festivals were filled with a mix of successes and failures, the successes slowly and increasingly outnumbering the failures. I now earn enough income from my photography, primarily from selling my work at fine art fairs throughout the upper Midwest, to consider it my full-time occupation.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Very few things in life worth doing come without challenges and obstacles. Making a living with your photography is no exception. One of the greatest challenges I have faced as the business has grown is finding enough time to get out into the field and make new photographs while delicately balancing the many commitments related to keeping the business side of things running smoothly. When you work for a company, you may be an essential cog or a wheel in the machine. When you are self-employed, running your own business, you are the machine. For me, that means producing artwork, bookkeeping, marketing, purchasing supplies, shipping, web design, quality control, and sales, among other things. I would estimate that less than five percent of my time is actually spent in the field making photographs, so when I am fortunate enough to be out there, I make the most of it.
For those like me who exhibit at outdoor art fairs, the weather often presents challenges as well. Thunderstorms packing strong winds and hail commonly occur throughout summers in the Upper Midwest. I have seen canopies tossed into the air, displays mangled, and artwork strewn all over the ground by sudden thunderstorm wind gusts. Even with a fairly sturdy tent, I was once the victim of Mother Nature’s wrath when 80 mile-per-hour winds, heavy rain, and hail rolled through. Fortunately, most of my artwork was unscathed, though my tent itself wasn’t so lucky.
One further obstacle that I and many other landscape photographers face today is the challenge of bringing something new to the table, especially with so many photographers out there. It’s easy to fall into the trap of setting up your camera in someone else’s tripod holes (I’m guilty of that once in a while) or having the mindset that everything good has been done already. I can attest from experience that you don’t need to be a wilderness adventurer to capture something inspiring that is completely your own. And it is the unique work I create that I find most rewarding.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’ve been lucky to visit and photograph many stunning landscapes throughout the country, but I am best known for my work along the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. My work has been featured in national and regional magazines and calendars and has won many awards at art festivals.
Unlike most landscape photographers, I am intimately involved in producing my own artwork. I print much of my own photography, build my own frames, and mount or stretch each canvas print right in my home studio. While this consumes more of my time, I am able to better control the quality of the artwork that will hang in the homes and businesses of my collectors. Artwork can be a large investment, so it is important to me that my clients have the opportunity to enjoy their artwork purchases for as long as they own them.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memories revolve around the summer trips my family would take to Duluth, Lake Superior, and other locations in Minnesota. These trips likely inspired me to pursue landscape and nature photography, first as a hobby and later as a profession.
Pricing:
- Matted traditional prints, starting at $24
- Limited edition fine art canvas gallery wraps and framed canvas prints, $120 – $2500+
Contact Info:
- Email: dbarthel@northshoreimages.com
- Website: www.northshoreimages.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/davidbarthelphotography
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/NorthShoreImages
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/NShoreImages
