Meet Gina Yeo | Professional Landscape Photographer and Educator

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

Hi Gina, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
Well, hello there! I’m a Canadian photographer from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Living a short drive into Banff National Park, many of my childhood summer holidays were spent camping in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. My father was our family photographer, and he gifted me a little film camera as a child. To this day, I remember the excitement I felt when I picked up a roll of developed film and carefully placed my memories into a photo album. As a child, I’d capture images and moments that were important to me, like my favourite flowers, a flowing river or friends. However, when I became a mother, my interest in photography evolved into an unquenchable passion. I devoured as many resources as possible, seeking any opportunity to learn and take better photos of my children and their childhood moments. As my children grew, so did my pursuit of learning in photography. Like my childhood family, we spend much time in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Most summers are spent hiking mountains and camping. So it was a natural progression for me to turn my camera toward my favourite landscape scenes once my children no longer embraced my camera as they grew into teens. My lifestyle remains active today, and I spend as much time in the mountains as possible. My enjoyment of the outdoors and natural world and my passion for photography perfectly match my interests.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I wholeheartedly consider myself an artist. As a photographer, I aim to capture a moment and preserve a feeling. So when you look at my images, I want you to be able to imagine yourself standing in that moment, too, awe-struck, as I always am, by the beauty and power in the natural world. I embrace creativity and enjoy the cathartic process of capturing my vision for a photo in the field and then infusing the necessary post-processing tweaks in post to finalize my image.

Professionally, getting to where I am today has been filled with many lessons. Some of those lessons have come easy, and some have been difficult. I continue to learn all the time. I, too, am a student of learning, especially when it comes to running a business. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is to embrace my voice artistically and as an educator. This is also what I teach to my photography students. I teach approaches to photography that will get results, but I want every photographer I interact with to embrace their inner artist and take images that speak to who they are. That’s the ultimate joy and fulfilment. We are all unique, and each has something to offer to the photography world.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Best time ever? Well, that must involve photography! There’d be little time for sleep and a whole lot of nature. Sunset, nighttime and sunrise photography would definitely be on the agenda, a quick nap, and maybe but probably not, a sit-down meal. Likely we’d eat on the go surviving off granola bars, premade sandwiches and two-day-old water. We’d hike, laugh, and go home with our hearts filled with nature’s soothing and peace. We’d be delirious from lack of sleep but delightfully content and happy.

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?
Photography infuses the gift of capturing and preserving memories into a photograph and has enriched my life with unforgettable adventures, friendship and laughter. My family, especially my children, who inspired me daily and allowed me the grace of photographing their little childhood moments in the earlier years of my development into the photographer I am today, must be noted. Today, I have been fortunate to have crossed paths with many inspiring photographers who I now call friends. Each of these people has openly shared their passion and knowledge for photography with me and supported me in my business. I’m also incredibly thankful for my photography students, who welcome me into their lives and give me the opportunity to share my knowledge and passion for landscape photography. I could not be here without them!

Website: www.ginayeo.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginayeo_photography

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ginayeophotography

Other: Private Facebook Group for Landscape Photographers (request to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/pictureperfectphotos

Image Credits
Gina Yeo