About Mark
Welcome.
I’m a Virginia-based landscape and macro photographer who’s spent two decades moving through–and connecting myself with–the physical landscapes of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Carolina coastlines.
I believe health is happiness, that time is the greatest asset, and that I’m best when outdoors, physically moving, exploring. I feel most alive when I’m actively engaging my senses, creatively connecting with the natural world. For me, mornings fit best. Less is often more.
I believe still photographs move, inspire; that the practice of landscape photography should be unstructured and exploratory, like play. I believe in respecting place; that the landscape should be approached on quiet feet. I believe that relationship with land takes time and that everything begins and ends with attention.
The camera connects me to place. It gives me purpose; grants me permission to wander, to linger, and to engage with the non-human world. The photographs allow me to give something back; to share an experience, beauty. And within this adventure of visually finding beauty and connecting myself to place, I think I’ve inadvertantly found the best of myself.
About place.
Southern Appalachians + Carolina Coastlines
I return time and again to the landscapes of the Outer Banks and the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Together, these two places–the high mountains and the dynamic sea–continuously reveal deep layers of beauty and inspiration that I haven’t begun to exhaust. Below are my primary focus areas behind the lens:
About media.
Media & Organizational Partners
I’ve placed hundreds of images within international, national and regional publications. Ongoing relationships with environmental groups and hospital systems provide regional exposure within the southeastern United States. Assignment work allows me to partner with publications and regional tourism bureaus to capture place-forward imagery.
As seen in
Frequently asked questions.
What type(s) of imagery do you produce?
I’m an outdoor landscape photographer. From grand vistas to intimate scenics, I portray my own experiences within the natural world. Expect to find mountains, beaches, waterfalls, trails, wildflowers, fungi/mosses/lichen and more when browsing my portfolio. Mostly, I focus geographically on the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Carolina Coastlines.
When I get the opportunity, I love to photograph built form as well. I spent over a decade studying and working within the construction industry. Architectural photography is of great interest to me; I’m always interested in opportunities to show space artfully interacting with it’s context and natural elements.
Do you offer prints of your images?
Yes! I offer a number of different print mediums and sizes over at Fine Art America. You can access the gallery through the link provided below and/or the link in the header navigation under Photo–>Prints. Should the specific image that you’re interested in printing not be found within the Fine Art America gallery, drop me a quick e-mail and I’ll get it loaded up right away for you!
Do you license your images?
Yes. All of my images are available for licensing. I follow industry standard pricing from FotoQuote. While I work on making the licensing process digital and one-click, please drop me a line at info@markvandyke.net with your specific use and desired image and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible with a price quote.
Does your organization have a fixed fee schedule for content? No worries! Please drop me a line at info@markvandyke.net and let me know about the opportunity!
Do you offer private 1-to-1 tours/adventures?
Yes. I currently charge $500.00/full day for an individual one-to-one photography adventure.
Full day workshops run from roughly one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset with as many built-in breaks as desired. We can design the day’s activities to provide whatever mix of field shooting and/or post-processing instruction is optimal.
Please drop me a line at info@markvandyke.net to discuss dates, location(ss) and desires. Get in touch early for in demand times (such as autumn color in Western North Carolina, Spring in the Smokies, or Rhododendron at Roan Mountain) as the schedule tends to fill up quickly for these seasonal events.
Do you offer group workshops?
I don’t currently have any personal group workshop offerings at this time. However, I often do accept opportunities to co-teach at workshops with other photographers. Keep an eye on my social media for those opportunities as they arise!
Do you take on assignment work?
Absolutely. I would love to hear more about your specific opportunity! There’s nothing more rewarding to me than providing place-based imagery to accompany an upcoming project(s) and/or editorial story. I’ve got more than ten years of experience learning the landscape in my focus areas; let me put that to use for your project! Drop me a line at info@markvandyke.net with more details to open up a dialogue.
If I’m doing this thing right, for myself, my hope is that the photographs will act as a gentle thank you to place.
Random thoughts on photography.
What it is (and isn't) about for me.
It’s not about the camera, for me. Never has been. And I don’t give a rip about being perceived as an artist. I’ve always been fearful of saying those things; like they’ll expose me for an imposter. I am a photographer, by my actions. And I love what the camera does for me. But it’s far more complex than that. I more so enjoy what the natural world does for me. The camera is only a tool. It allows me permisson to engage the physical environment; to connect. The camera is always secondary.
There are specific places within the natural world—and specific ways in which I like to engage with them—that do more for me. Places with greater degrees of “wildness.” Places that demand a greater degree of engagement from me. I feel completely and absolutely alive in these places. My senses beg to be fully exercised. The moment—the experience—becomes so immersive that I cease to be an observer and the camera ceases to be a piece of tech. Instead, I become part of the place, and the place becomes part of me.
Photographs, for me, are not meant to be artistic statements. And whether I print them or not is entirely unimportant. A piece of paper and ink means nothing to me. Photos, for me, act more like a small collection of talismans. Reminders. Exciting moments in a life lived richly.
Thoughts on my "why."
I use the camera to connect with the natural world: to learn from and to pay my respect to. This process feels reciprocal for me. That’s important.
Being an artist is not a big part of my why. Living artfully, however, is: paying attention, noticing beauty, and respecting the landscape. Using my time and efforts intentionally to connect with the physical world. Then, sharing those connections with others through various outlets and personal opportunities. That’s what it’s all about for me.
Keeping focus on the natural world.
It’s important for me to recognize the natural world as the artist. My role is to pay attention, to stay curious, and to interpret and connect with the landscape as best I can. I’ve always likened photography, at least as I practice it, to a dance between me and the natural world. My greatest desire as a dance partner is to make everyone around me notice not me but the undeniable draw of the one I’m dancing with. That’s where the beauty is.
Ramblings on what I like about outdoor photography.
Finding value in the small.
Macro photography is a treasure hunt. Attention is the price of admission. The reward is a type of knowing, an experiential and sensory rich understanding. It’s a nod towards slow being productive; the acknowledgement that the parts might actually be more interesting than the whole. A feeling that there’s always more. It’s a realization that our perception is very limited; that the world is much larger and much richer, that it has infinitely greater depth than first glance. Macro is a celebration of what’s already present, all around. It’s less chase and more receive. It’s less hurry and more leisurely deliberate time.
The process of finding macro subjects within the larger landscape is like fly fishing with the camera; it’s a dance that cannot be forced or previsualized. The rhythm is unique to the moment and the place. I feel more in tune with myself and with the land. I don’t set out with any ideas when it comes to macro; the experiences I have are unstructured and without expectation. The treasure is limited only by my abundance (or lack thereof) of attention. The connections, though small in nature, have become increasingly rooted to my overall understanding of place.
On the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
I think where landscape photographers fail, or at the least get frustrated with the Southern Appalachians is in not recognizing and, perhaps, not fully accepting that the unique feature of these landscapes are the plant life. And the plant life is often very small. The Southern Appalachians are cramped, chaotic, and messy. They are warm and well-watered. And they’re all about growth and variety. Plants. And the insects and animals that exist because of the plants. I haven’t had much external success with my foray into the small world of wildflowers, mosses, lichens, and fungi. However, I feel infinitely closer to the land and the spirit of place.
To love the Southern Appalachians is to accept that wildness is not contingent upon the number of miles one is from a road. Or that wildness isn’t synonymous with the physical amount of space in the landscape. The Southern Appalachians are cramped, chaotic, and claustrophobic. They are a place of growth. Growth upon growth. The Southern Appalachians are best suited for those who smile when confronted with messy trails and scenes. They are for those who can pass through a half mile of rhododendron tunnel following the sound of crashing water and feel like the rest of the world is all but gone.
Get in touch: info@markvandyke.net