Fellow photographer Fred Rogers and I met over a decade ago when we were both providing classes for a photography workshop in Tampa. While he does other types of photography, Fred leans into nature photography. He, along with his good friend Jim Caldwell, has produced the podcast Fotobug for many years.

I put out a call on Facebook asking for ideas for environmental portraits from some of my creative friends. Fred came up with the wonderful idea of shooting him out in nature with an abundance of photography equipment wrapped around his neck, yet shooting with his iPhone. His humor shines through on many of the shots. We met at a park in North Tampa and got some wonderful images. As we were wrapping up, I noticed this opening in the trees looking out on a swamp and thought it the perfect frame for this nature photographer. A 15 mm fisheye lens was used to wrap the vegetation around him. There was an abundance of natural light, so just one strobe was needed to pick him out of the shadows.

Technical Information- Gear: Canon EOS 5D MK IV, Canon EF15 f/2.8 fisheye

Exposure: 1/1600s @ f/2.8 ISO 400 Lighting: 1 studio flash with gridded