"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Lance Saunders is a fine art nature and wildlife photographer.
What drives a great image is one that make people feel something, that emotionally connects your photo to the viewer. Why? We are wired as a species that most of our decision making process is emotionally based, far more relying on our thoughts and feelings than on any rational thoughts. Lance has taken this understanding of human behavior in how much our emotions guide us and in every image first strives to get people to feel something. His desire is that in each image the viewer sees past the obvious and gets to a place in what otherwise might be unseen visually but one that they viscerally feel.
Lance is a nature lover with a passionate concern for the natural world. He loves the fact that many of the animals and birds that he seeks out to take images in live in some of the most remote and beautiful places on the planet. Sadly, they are getting harder to find given our wildlife populations in just the last 50 years have plunged downward by close to 70%. It is for this reason on a pro bono basis he has donated his time and former skills as a c-suite strategic and branding professional to causes who are the true advocates for our planet, such as; Pacific Wild, Ejaz KahnEarth, and Sea Legacy to name a few. If you are an organization truly doing good things for our natural world and need of counsel, reach out.
His prints can be found in homes around the world, in fine retailers and boutique hotels. Feel free to contact him if you would like to arrange for any prints for commercial or personal use. Nothing makes him happier than to have his work enjoyed by others.
At the end of the typical photographer’s bio generally comes the list of all of the photo awards they have won. However, he has decided not to enter any photo competitions, art is not a competition. Big wave surfing icon Laird Hamilton when asked why to this day he has not ever entered any formal surfing competitions, said, “ I don’t want a group of people dictating my success or failure.’’
Lance is also a fan of Rick Rubin’s quote , ‘‘Art is choosing to do something skillfully, caring about the details, bringing all of yourself to make the finest work you can. It is beyond ego, vanity, self glorification, and the need for approval.’’
That does not mean he will not discuss some of his favourite photo gear that he loves to use which can be found below.
Gear
Cameras
Nikon Z9 and D850- for majority of wildlife work. The Z9 is for animals and birds it is lightning fast and tracks objects like a cruise missile. The D850 is maybe the perfect camera, built like a tank and one that has never failed me. I tend to use it now for landscapes, and long exposure images. Like a classic Porsche 911 it just quietly got better every year.
Leica Q2- for walking around in cities, a pleasure to use and hold. Why can’t every camera work as intuitively as the Q2 does?
iPhone 15 Pro Max- never leaves my side, and which shockingly performs as well as the others mentioned above. Solid quality 5x zoom. If I shoot any video which is rarely it’s with this. Big screen is great for reviewing your images later.
Main Lens
Nikon Z 400 f4.5 and Z 1.4 teleconverter - love it, tack sharp, easy to hold, carry, and pack. 5/5
Nikon 70-200 f 2.8 with 1.7 and 2.0 teleconverters- my go to combination for many of my images. I use the 1.7 teleconverter a lot. What about ‘‘the softness of a tele’’ people ask, ‘‘ have you heard of Topaz’’ is my reply.
Nikon 24-70 mm f 2.8 - for landscapes, cities, and architectural images. Lovely lens, a bit heavy and big to carry all day in a city, so I don’t. You're not going to be incognito with this mounted onto either Nikon body.
This may not be the typical photographer’s lens kit as I have sold most of the primes, and other lens that I loved to collect but rarely used. Now, there is little to no internal debate; everything comes with me on big trips.
Tripod
Gitzo- a dream to use, expensive to buy but built to last. Buy a good one and never look back.
Acratech ball head - cannot recommend it enough. It has been dunked, scraped, dropped, covered in mud, ice, sand, salt water, and horse manure and still works like the day I unboxed it. Family run business so customer service is the absolute best.
Pro tip- don’t leave your tripod laying on its side in the grass while a herd of wild horses grazes close by.
Camera Bags
Gura Gear -the never ending photographer’s search for the perfect bag came to an end when I found their large Kiboko bag. Every other bag was given away or chucked out . Tons of room, great protection, comes with a rain cover, works great in the field. You can also zip the well padded shoulder straps to hide them and carry it like a briefcase. This helps sitting in an airline lounge waiting for your connection, so you do not look like a middle aged backpacker on spring break. Mine must be 10 years old, no rips, zippers issues, and Gura says they are made with high tech racing yacht sailcloth, no reason to doubt them.
Billyham Bag 550- an older beaten up canvas version purchased second hand, the perfect bag for when you want to look the part. A bit heavy but holds everything plus a sandwich.
Coach Gotham Pack - a sling bag that holds an iPhone, keys, wallet, a Leica Q2, plus spare camera batteries, SD cards, filters, lens cloth, and an energy bar. Perfect for walking around in new cities when you don’t want to look the part.
Laptop and Software
Apple MacBook Pro -what can I say, their campaign “Think differently ‘‘ got to me. Creatively minded people irrationally choose Apple, see ‘‘we buy on emotion’’ above.
Software- Lightroom, Photoshop, Topaz, Nik Silvr, happy to use any and all software that helps to achieve the final mood and feeling I am looking for.
Other Must-Haves
Lee Filters [Big Stopper and Little Stopper] - yes there are all kinds of other newer nuetral density filter brands out there but why not stick with the one that started it all? If Lee are good enough for the cinematographers who shot, “The Crown,’’ and “Game of Thrones’’ my seaside image should be just fine. What about the ’ blue cast issue’ you ask, solved with a LR slider in less than two seconds.
Formatt Hitech Firecrest Ultra 13 & 16- when you need your amp to go to 11.
Both Lee and Firecrest are 100 x 150mm square glass filters the ‘OG’ of filters that drop into a Lee Filter holder.
Pro Mist- for the Leica Q2 great for creating mood with gaslights and neon signs at night.
Polarizers- carry them around way more than I ever screw them onto my lens.
UV filters -why take a chance, also means I can keep the lens caps off and always be ready to shoot.
Garden knee pads with velcro fasteners - never leave home without them for saving knees on rocks, beaches and snow packed ice. Buy them in bulk at your local dollar store, or home repair retailer, and bring an extra pair in the field to give away to a friend when they complain about how sore their knees are. The smile you will receive back, priceless.