Meet Wyatt Rumbold | Wildlife and Landscape Photographer

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

Hi Wyatt, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I would have to say one of the most impactful and important factors behind the success of my wildlife photography would be the support I’ve gotten from both my family and friends. If it wasn’t for them, I’m not sure I would have found the motivation to pursue my passion in the photography world as much as I have. My dad was also a huge help and factor towards the success of starting my own small business selling my photography. He gave me financial and business advice and was always willing to help me when it came to setting up booths at local festivals. There’s honestly too many people that have contributed and helped me along the way to even begin to describe how important they’ve been throughout the timeline of my success as a landscape and wildlife photographer. I’ve also been given advice from some other well known photographers on techniques to achieve better photos. I’ve found a lot of inspiration and sought advice from photographers such as Lance Kruger, Matt Hansen, and many others.

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.
One of the biggest things I try to do is capture moments that most either don’t get to see or are too busy to notice. I think one of the biggest things that sets me apart from other photographers is that I try my best to capture moments as they are happening and not to stage anything. Though often this requires more patience, whether that is sitting still for hours waiting for a whitetail deer to step out of the woods or staying up late trying to capture the landscape being illuminated by the stars above. I think the photographs I am most proud of are not always my most impressive work, but rather the photographs I put in the most effort to capture.

I think one of the most difficult parts of getting where I am today professionally, was the financial side of it. Photography equipment isn’t cheap, and the first big leap of faith I took was buying all that equipment and just simply taking pictures of every moment God provided me with. Fortunately for me, I was overwhelming supported by the community around me and people started purchasing my work to display in their homes. There’s still financial struggles that I face pursuing photography, but I’ve learned that no matter what happens, to keep capturing Gods creation and sharing it with the world.

One thing I want people to know is that location doesn’t matter. I live in central Illinois surrounded by cornfields, and I am still blessed to capture moments people didn’t even know existed.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would definitely be taking them on an outdoor adventure. To start I would take them fishing in the morning till about noon time and then by the afternoon we would either play outdoor games or go clay shooting. I would also probably take them around to some of the places that I photograph on and show them what it looks like to do wildlife photography. If you know me, I always have a camera in my hands and if I can find any reason to use it I will, so what better way than to take them out on a hike to look for opportunities.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are quite a few people in my life that deserve more than just a shoutout, but I will start by giving my whole family a shoutout. I would just like to say thanks to my parents for their support in my decision to pursue photography, even when it isn’t always the wisest financial decision. I would also like to say thanks to my siblings for all their love and support towards what I’m doing. One of the biggest surprises for me when I started my journey as a wildlife and landscape photographer was the overwhelming support and encouragement I got from people in my community here in Tremont Illinois. Finally, I would like to give credit to Wildlife/Whitetail Photographer, Matt Hansen. He gave me advice on how to use my camera to better capture those brief moments when my camera and the wildlife in front of me connect.

Website: rumboldranchwildlifestudio.darkroom.com

Instagram: rumbold_ranch