Meet Chris Denu | Landscape Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Denu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It all started with wanting to share and inspire people to get outdoors, to really see and appreciate the beauty of our wild places. I have been fortunate enough to travel and recreate in some truly stunning places. I now want to capture these places via photography and share them with others. Not everyone will be fortunate enough to visit the places I visit, so I wish to capture the scenes and bring them to the rest of the world. I really believe nature heals, and I want to bring nature to everyone via photographs. May my work inspire people to protect and share these places with future generations.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always been a morning person, being excited to wake up early and enter the mountains has helped separate me from others. Not being afraid of the hard work, the early wake ups, and the discomfort of being cold and wet in the mountains has given me the opportunity to capture moments in time many never witness. I truly get excited about being high in the mountains, far from civilization, and at special moments like sunrise and sunset. Chasing my own dreams has proved very difficult and also very rewarding. I have struggled to find my purpose, my mission, my direction. But after many days of reflection in the heart of the mountains I love, clarity shone through, and I stopped fighting myself. I knew I wanted to hone my photography skills and make a living out of sharing and inspiring the high wild places. The mountains will continue to teach me lessons in humility, respect, and empathy.

I hope to help inspire, stoke curiosity, and instill empathy with my stories and my photographs. This world is an amazing miracle, the mountains are a very special place within that miracle. I want other to join me in the mountains, whether literally, or through a story or photograph.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First think we’d do is head to the mountains of course. I’d start us off in Ridgeway, maybe grab a bit to eat at the True Grit Cafe. After some time there with the gorgeous surrounding mountains, we’d head into Ouray. Maybe stay a day to check out the local waterfalls and hot springs. Then journey higher into the mountains by taking the Million Dollar Highway from Ouray to Silverton. From Silverton we’d drive up to Molas Pass and hike a little of the Colorado Trail towards the Animas River, maybe spot the train that runs from Durango to Silverton. The mountain views along this trip are what I’d want to show off most. The San Juan Mountains of Colorado are of the most beautiful in the entire Rockies.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout starts with recognizing the numerous groups, organizations, and Non-Profits that advocate and protect our wild spaces. If not for the protections of these lands, I might not have access to photograph some of the most amazing landscapes our Earth has to offer. Photographers such as Jimmy Chin and Chris Burkard really introduced me to the idea of capturing huge mountain landscapes. Colorado based photographers Jack Brauer and Austin Bennet really helped open my eyes to the potential of my local Colorado mountains. There are handfuls of other folks out there who chose to support me and encourage me in chasing my mountain dreams. I am so grateful.

Website: https://verticalrealmphotography.com

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