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creativity and rhythm i think go
hand in hand for me once i get a rhythm
then breaking that is where i get
inspiration
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as a little kid i was always catching
critters and snakes once i got a camera
that grew into photographing them
and that's really where my story with
photography began
when you see that face that's it's just
got such a character
i'm sam tippitz i'm a 23 year old
photographer from bernie texas
being raised in small town texas you
know that's a part of me for sure
texans are sort of proud to be from
texas
you know it doesn't define who you are
but it it's a piece of who you are so
i really enjoy putting that piece of me
into my photography
i was never formally taught i was kind
of in many ways a child of the internet
i enjoyed figuring out how cameras work
by myself
it gave me a lot of freedom at the
beginning because i didn't really start
out trying to emulate
anyone photography has taken me to
interesting places
when i graduated college i went
traveling around southeast asia for
about a year
hitchhiking on boats and sort of living
out of a backpack finding these
different really cool conservation
centers and photographing their work
i also went to south africa to
photograph the rhino crisis
that was really the first time i felt
like my photos would make a difference
and my gear started turning up what
photography could be used for
i like the authentic part of
photographing human and animal
interaction
i want people to get that sense of
connection
i'm driven by relationships and my
photography
my family when i'm traveling they're
constantly
sending me texts you know checking in on
me this idea of just kind of putting
yourself out there is
something my mom's like really good at
and so
she's kind of taught me like you just
kind of gotta go for it and take risks
when i heard about assignment
inspiration i knew i had to apply
over four thousand people submitted
photos you know hearing that number
it's pretty humbling to to think that i
was chosen out of that
and it's really hard to put into words
as someone who grew up
reading national geographic idolizing
the photographers
how much it would mean to me to go on
assignment with nachio travel
i kind of wake up every day and i'm just
pumped to be here to me the the stakes
are so high there's nothing else that i
really want to do
it would be life changing
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