EP 37: Simon Carter — Action vs. Landscape, The Taipan Closure, and Top 10 Climbing Photography Tips

Simon Carter is an Australian photographer, and has been described by the editor of Rock and Ice Magazine as “arguably the greatest climbing photographer of all time”. We talked about building his first darkroom at age 15, pursuing full-time climbing in the early ’90s, action vs. landscape, camera equipment, the Taipan/Grampian closure, and Simon’s top 10 climbing photography tips.  

Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  

Show Notes:  

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/simon-carter  

Nuggets:  

1:50– The 2018 World Climbing Calendar, and the Onsight Photography business  

3:14 – Early photography, and building a darkroom in the family bathroom at age 15  

5:10 – Changing schools for photography and discovering climbing  

6:06 – Reading mountaineering books, Simon’s childhood nickname, early outdoor adventures, and getting obsessed with rock climbing  

8:19 – Working at the Australian University and losing his passion for photography  

10:56 – Night school, becoming disillusioned with professional photography, and traveling around Europe for six months  

12:26 – Getting a degree in outdoor education, working in gear shops, and saving up money to climb full time  

15:38 – Living at Mount Arapiles and rediscovering photography  

17:43 – Living on the dole, starting a business, and early work success  

19:35 – Climbing ‘Serpentine’ on the Taipan Wall  

22:42 – How Simon balances his climbing with his photography  

25:55 – Simon’s plea for new climbing photographers to take the time to learn rope systems to be efficient and safe  

28:43 – Simon’s elaborate photo rig for Nikon  

30:14 – The advantages of using a chest harness  

32:57 – Simon’s preferred jumar rig  

35:23 – Action and landscape, capturing nature, and “the one thing”  

38:32 – How Simon prepares for a specific shot, and balancing preparation with spontaneity  

42:10 – Fuji Velvia, color palettes, and switching to digital  

43:41 – Spiders  

44:01 – Simon’s current camera (Nikon Z6), and mirrorless cameras  

45:15 – Simon’s standard lens kit (see show notes for list)  

46:07 – Shifting to more guidebook production  

47:41 – The Red River Gorge guidebook, and a new way of presenting information  

50:51 – The select and full guidebook publication dates, and why the Red is at the top of Simon’s list for climbing destinations  

52:02 – Simon’s favorite international climbing areas, the Blue Mountains, a trip to Madagascar, and “what I love about climbing”  

54:01 – Update on the Taipan Wall and Grampians closure and access issues  

1:03:06 – The new management plan for the Grampians  

1:03:40 – What we can do to help save the Grampians (see show notes for links)  

1:05:28 – Why Simon is thinking about writing about about the Grampians issue, cultural surveys, and commercialization  

1:08:48 – Capturing moments of people’s lives and “it’s about people”  

1:11:08 – Simon’s top 10 photography tips (see show notes for a list and a link to an article)  

1:15:14 – Getting the fitness back  

1:15:45 – Gratitude  

1:16:45 – Working on a guidebook to Sydney, putting work out there, and getting feedback  

1:18:37 – Where to connect with Simon  

1:19:05 – Wold Climbing Calender 2022?  

1:21:37 – The real reason Chris Sharma sent ‘La Dura Dura’