Meet Lisa Downs | Professional WIldlife Photographer

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

Hi Lisa, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success as a photographer is hard work. I love to capture wildlife, especially in the Spring when all the babies are arriving. In order to view most wildlife, you have to get up before the sun rises. This is true of landscape photography as well. Weather is always a factor and I have waited for hours in a variety of weather conditions to capture that perfect moment between a mother fox and her kits. Animals also tend to make themselves more visible later in the day, so the days can be long which requires much patience. It is almost always worth the wait!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am also a mental health therapist and helping people heal is a passion for me. I have an in-depth understanding of trauma and how those experiences impact people’s lives. I combine my experience of working with people and photography to capture moments people can emotionally connect to and that is the beginning of my love of story through photography. My intent is simply to capture and share the timeless beauty that is found in whatever moments we experience in life. I do not photograph subjects. I photograph how they make me feel. I am passionate about telling the story that I see unfolding in front of me. My connection with the story may be different that hose viewing my images, but I always hope the images create an emotional response.
I have created a short book entitled “Your Journey Through Healing”. It is simple, yet helps people feel less alone in their struggles. I also created a children’s book about a fox family of 7 kits. It is titled, “I am Bandit”. Bandit was a silver fox kit that was virtually blind.  The images and story take you on a journey through his early life as I watched it unfold throughout COVID-19.
My journey to professional photography has not been easy as it is a saturated field. I am completely self taught and have attended many workshops to continue to learn and stay competitive.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friends came to Colorado to visit the area in the Spring, our first visits would be to my local hotspots to view wildlife preparing and caring for their newborn offspring. This time of year, after we view an eagle’s nest, we would take a short trip down the road to see the newborn foals. There is plenty of wildlife viewing near Greeley for us to take in. At some point during the visit we would stop at one of my favorite places for food and drink, The Windsor Mill Tavern. The town of Windsor has fun shops and other wonderful places to eat. We would also have to visit Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. If it is Fall, we would have to make the trip to Aspen to view the trees with a stop at Marble for a trip to the Crystal Mill. A week simply wouldn’t be enough time to hit all my favorite hotspots.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My interest in photography did not begin with books or mentors. It evolved through a natural love of and fascination with the peace and calm I found in nature. However, my husband, Paul, has been a significant support on this journey. He will drive to most any destination, help me scout out the area, and will wait very patiently without complaint. My strongest support has come from someone I hold dear to my heart, Fern Lawler.   Fern’s compassion and encouragement have provided the increased internal strength needed to step into and embrace this competitive field. I have also been mentored by some fabulous photographers I have met along the way, too many to mention by name, but they know who they are.

Website: flyingeaglephotography.pixieset.com/

Instagram: flying_eagle_photography