Meet Marcus Connolly | Adventure Photographer

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

Hi Marcus, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
As a passionate outdoorsman/photographer, I spend quite a bit of time in some of the most remote and rugged places this side of the Rio Grande. Every time I leave civilization and cell phone service behind, what I think about the most are all the ways things can go wrong.

From a twisted ankle at the bottom of a canyon, a snake bite 10 miles into the trail, being swept away by flash floods, and more – these are the things that I think about, and work to mitigate as much risk as possible.

However as I like to say – sometimes you have to risk it for the biscuit. A life without risk is no life at all, and by accepting the risks that come with my adventures I have been blessed to see and photograph some extraordinary sights.

Watching lightning touch down in a fire-scarred area, black bears congregate for food, thunderstorms flooding the plains – these and more are all some of my all-time favorite memories. But they would not have happened if I hadn’t accepted the risk. Sure there are a thousand and one things that could go wrong, but there are just as many things that can go right.

So when I think about risk and the role it has played in my life, I choose to embrace it, to jump into the unknown because that is how I feel alive.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Getting to where I am today was a long and arduous journey, one that is still on-going with no end in sight.

I first picked up a camera after being inspired by Shark Week at the ripe young age of 20. I had no idea how a camera worked, let alone the science and effort needed to create a captivating image.

Through college and after graduating, I kept pushing myself to learn all that I could about photography. For me, it wasn’t about taking the pictures, for me photography was a vessel to experience some of the most incredible sights to behold. My camera is what inspires me to hike through the rugged desert, to climb the highest peaks in Texas, to photograph its wild beauty. My camera is what pushes me to be more creative, pushes me to the limits of what my body is capable of.

Without it my adventures would feel empty, almost without a soul. There have been so many incredible moments I’ve been lucky enough to see, and feel genuine appreciation towards my camera for not only motivating me to see them, but to capture them as well.

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.
Big Bend National Park!

Big Bend, also known as BBNP, is to me heaven on earth. Nothing else compares to the rugged desert and mountains, out there everything either wants to poke, poison, bite, or cut you. But if you approach the land with the respect it deserves, you’ll see exactly why there is no other place on earth like it.

So for a week long trip, the first night would be an overnight backcountry excursion along the Marufo Vega trail on the eastern end of the park. Due to the lack of shade, the trail is deadly during the warmer months yet quite pleasant in cooler weather. The first half of the trail takes us through rolling desert hills, before sharply descending for a mile into the canyons below, coming out at the Rio Grande and offering expansive views of the Sierra Del Carmen Mountains in the distance. From there we would camp for the night along the banks for the Rio Grande river, watching as the setting sun paints the Sierra Del Carmens in a fiery orange as wild horses graze nearby.

The next day we would pack up and begin the day long hike back to the trailhead, arriving at the car and starting the long drive to the Chisos Basin. Two days in the basin would be enough to see the most incredible views and wildlife. The first night would be spent along the South Rim, arguably the best view in all of Texas. The South Rim is a ~7,000 tall cliff edge that looks down over the desert as it stretches into Mexico, offering expansive views of the sunset and thunderstorms in the distance. The next morning we would pack up and head into Boot Canyon, and with any luck encounter some of Big Bend’s famous Mexican Black Bears under the forest that fills the canyon.

As the sun rises on our fourth day, we descend via The Pinnacles Trail and arrive back at our vehicle which takes us to the western most side of the park – and the most remote area too – The Mesa De Anguila.

The Mesa De Anguila does not have any real established trails that appear on the park map, but the main trail is heavily marked and quite obvious. Along the Mesa we would encounter wild horses and Aoudad – an invasive species of Big Horn Sheep from North Africa. As the sun sets along the Mesa, the canyons surrounding us begin to sing as the desert comes alive with the sounds of birds, wind, and dust as it blows. Just across the Mesa is Mexico, and horses on that side of the border arrive to drink from the Rio Grande about a half mile below us.

The next day we pack up and set out, feeling triumphant about spending 5 days across an expansive wilderness that encompasses almost a million acres of harsh deserts and mountains.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Libby Rowe – Professor of Photography at UTSA.

Without her wisdom on what constitutes a captivating photograph, I would not have been able to meld my passion for the outdoors with photography.

Instagram: @marcusc_photo

Image Credits
All images taken my me.