Marc Muench is one of the founding members and a pro here at Muench Workshops. Read on to find out more, and check out his pro page to see which workshops he’s leading.
How did you get into photography?
It was a family business.
Where are you from, and where are you now?
Santa Barbara born and raised, still here.
What made you want to work for Muench Workshops?
Because I love photography and teaching it!
What camera system do you use and why?
Just about everything, Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm, oh and Hasselblad.
What is your favorite aspect of teaching photography?
Breaking through and releasing their creativity
Do you specialize in any photography technique or style? If yes, what is it?
Landscape photography that is unusual. I prefer to create new compositions of known locations or even new compositions of new places.
What is your favorite Muench Workshop destination? Why?
Lake O’Hara Canada. It’s been my “shangri-La” since I found it in my early 20s while photographing my first published book titled, The Rockies.
What is something valuable you’ve learned through photography that you might not have otherwise learned?
Geology, only because I became very curious after spending so much time in the landscape.
How do you define success as a photographer?
I keep pushing myself to create new methods and styles. I love to work with single focal length lenses for a while to learn to compose better. I like to learn about post-processing that alters the way I capture, for example blue hour light and how to make it work.
Do you have a favorite book? If so, what is it and why?
50 Classic Climbs – This was an inspiration for me when I was a climber, and it led to some of my favorite images of all time.
What are your favorite photography resources, i.e. podcasts, YouTube channels, blogs, etc.?
As much as I love watching videos on YouTube, I still prefer reading books. The creator is normally much more invested, and the topic is presented better.
What’s one place you have not visited yet but want to?
The larger deserts of the Sahara.
What is something interesting about you that we might not already know?!
I love music and plan on spending much time learning to play the piano, something I continue dabbling with.
What’s your most thrilling photography moment?
I have two moments; one was when I was capturing fog clearing from El Capitan in Yosemite Valley years ago. My 2-year-old daughter “Skyler” was in a pack on my back, and I was bent over in wet grass using my 4×5 field camera. The light was amazing, and the image came out better than expected. The second was also with my daughter and wife Stefanie while on safari. We were following a large male lion who had separated from his brother. He came up on a ridge and began roaring for him. I captured him against a large thunderstorm in the middle of the Maasai Mara, and my daughter was in the back seat, but now 22 years old ð
What’s your favorite image by another photographer?
The portrait of Igor Strazinsky and his piano by Arnold Newman. The composition is THE BEST!
Who has influenced your work?
The painter Eyvind Earle and the architect Frank Lloyd Wright; and also my parents.
Were there any “ah ha” moments for you while learning photography?
When I was paid $30,000 for an image license.
What do you like about post-processing?
I love becoming so familiar with it that it becomes an art itself.
Where do you look for continuing inspiration?
Other photographers and painters and I also prefer studying actual nature, the shapes of valleys, mountains and streams.
