Andrew Kearns

Andrew Kearns is a well-known adventure photographer. With an Instagram following of more than 348,000, this Bothell, Washington native’s work is loved by photographers, creatives and Instagram appreciators alike. Some of the brands he’s worked with include Sony, Toms, Fiat, Aeropostale, and Airbnb, to name a few. Surprisingly, photography was not always on the forefront for Andrew. He started off as a musician and did graphic design work and videography while working at Starbucks as a barista before jumping full-time into photography. More recently, he’s gotten into vlogging where he documents the behind the scenes of his adventures. His vlogs delve deeper into what the story behind each photo really is, by capturing not just the moment behind the camera- but by encapsulating people enjoying the special moments in life. Anyone who has watched one of Andrew’s vlogs knows that what you see on the internet is exactly what you get in person. Andrew is a very hardworking, engaging, passionate and forward-thinking human. He’s a pioneer of encouraging people to get out there and go do something. Andrew talked more about his aspirations while waiting for breakfast at Jake’s Cafe in Snohomish, Washington on a crisp autumn morning.

How did you start shooting?

I had a graphic design job lined up and long story short, that kind of faded out. I met Sam Elkins in January of 2015 who I started shooting with more often. In the background of all that graphic design stuff that I was training for, I was doing the Instagram and photo thing. After the graphic design gig faded off, I was doing photography full-time, not making a living off of it at the time. After a while, I was making a living off of it and then a little more than just a living off of it. It took off over time, and I was just doing what I love essentially.

What kind of camera do you use?

For photos, I use a Canon5D Mark III and for vlogging, I use a Sony A6300. For the Canon, I have a 14-70 cm lens and for the Sony, I have a kit lens. I’ve been using a little bit of the iphone too!

What’s your favorite thing about adventure photography?

You can kind of take it wherever you go whether it’s city, nature, outdoor hiking whatever. And you can bring friends along with it. Adventure is not just a cool landscape photos, it’s who's there and what’s going on. It combines a lot of lifestyle photography with portrait work -- just to share the story that much more. There’s a lot of aspects to adventure photography that’s not just doing something cool outside. 

What are your goals?

I strive to be doing the next thing and challenge myself creatively. I think it’s had an impact in the speed of success for this thing but it’s just the beginning. We’ll see where it goes.

Who inspires you?

My main inspiration currently is a guy named Casey Neistat, he’s a vlogger from New York City who just works really hard at stuff. He really preaches his work ethic to his channel and to those who follow along. But photo wise, I’m really inspired by my good friend, Sam Elkins, of course. We have a really good relationship where we’ll feed off of each other’s “stokedness,” ideas, work, and inspirations.
But my very first inspiration was Jared Chambers. He was good at everything and you can scroll back in his Tumblr and see where he started. When you scroll up chronologically and see how he develops. Seeing that growth is exactly where I want to be with photography. He went from running around taking pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge or this cool place on the coast and then developed into portraits and then straight to working in a studio. I’m inspired by seeing how he developed over time and to me that is the coolest thing ever that is super inspiring. (3:55) It’s super inspiring to see where he started, which was already pretty solid and how he developed over time, getting better and getting interested in more types of photography on top of excelling at all of those genres. So, Jared Chambers is probably my biggest inspiration.

Where is the ultimate place you’d like to shoot?

At the moment, the place I really want to shoot is White Sands [National Monument]. I really want to go there to shoot a portrait session but also go with an idea of shooting product work there.  There’s not a lot there, it’s just a very nice color palette of sand and blue sky. It would put me in a place to very creative with a model, subject, or product. I really want to shoot there because I think it would be a fun, but a beautiful challenge.

What’s something people might not know about you?

As of recently, I always post about swimming on Instagram. I love swimming and being around the water, but it also completely terrifies me at the same time. Doing a backflip into the water is one of the most terrifying things to me. I barely just got comfortable diving, but it also terrifies me. I’m not scared of the water, like frightened to go in, because it’s just water it can’t harm me. But it’s scary to dive in or do a backflip in. But, it’s a fear I want to get over and just be able to backflip off of a crazy cliff somewhere. I think people would find that kind of funny about me.

Thanks, Andrew! Stay tuned, stay stoked.

Follow his adventures: 

Instagram

Website

YouTube