Outdoor Lifestyle Photography

Adventure photography on the trail to Mount Everest. Photographing avid adventurer Kenton Cool, one of the world’s leading high-altitude climbers.

Adventure Photography & Lifestyle Photography

Adventure photography and Lifestyle photography are rarely easy, and they are tough to do well. Getting the most striking photographs of athletes and explorers first requires the photographer to keep up with them. The best light and most expressive vistas are usually found by waking up before sunrise and moving through the day’s heat.

Somehow in that haze of physical and mental exhaustion, I focus on making a creative photograph. I love it.

My favorite part of fitness photography is forming that perfect photo in a dynamic situation. It often requires a mental flow of recognizing the light or compositional elements available. It harkens back to my first love, street photography, but with more preparation and pressure.

I assembled a portfolio of adventure and fitness photography that I created for jobs worldwide. Usually, I am working beside a video production crew with only a few minutes in between takes. However, sometimes the results can be magical.

Sometimes adventure photography includes the cultures around the physical challenge.

Hiking to Mount Everest

Taking adventure photographs using the early morning sunrise.

A map can help find the best places for adventure to photograph.

Kenton Cool, avid high altitude climber.

This trek to Everest Base Camp was possible with extensive planning and coordination. It was even more complicated as the whole crew had to quarantine and stay Covid-free. Thanks to the producers, sherpas, crew, and talent it succeeded even after several things went wrong.

My extensive planning included, how to make a photo studio small, light, and powerful. Because I had to carry it in my backpack and use it in the midday sun. Carrying my Profoto B1x wasn’t an option, so I brought two smaller A1xs and a special mount so they could be mounted side by side and be twice as powerful.

Fitness in Turks & Caicos

Fitness photography in Turks and Caicos includes paths along rocky outcroppings.

Beaches are one of the most iconic places for fitness photography.

Photograph from inside a cave structure in Caicos.

Photographing fitness instructors in Turks and Caicos sounds like a dream. It was some of the best accommodations and sunsets of any photoshoot. But Covid curfews and forced us to work quickly. Usually, we were under the mid-day sun, missing the golden hour light of sunrise and sunset. I was able to photograph quickly with a light Profoto kit and a large reflector.

One of my favorite fitness photographs on the beaches of Turks.

Fitness photography can include historic context like the pyramids of Egypt.

History and Exercise in Egypt & Jordan

Khan el-Khalili is not the normal place for fitness photography, but it works.

Photographing explorers and fitness instructors in Egypt felt like working on my home turf. Since I know the language and have been to the locations many times, I was able to help as a local guide. It was a fun photoshoot, even when we were walking through the desert.

My Favorite Boston Photographers on Instagram

I’m just one of many Boston-based photographers. Many of us publish our work on Instagram, and I love to follow the photo stories that appear. Watching photographers from around New England is interesting, but I particularly enjoy it when a significant event happens, and I see it photographed from many diverse perspectives by these professionals.

These Boston photographers have their specialty, portrait photography, breaking news, or in-depth stories, but they are all photojournalists. I started with a list of about 50 editorial photographers and narrowed it down to a few of my colleagues that I enjoy the most. If you want to be added to the list, please email me.

If you want to follow the news around Boston on Twitter, I curate a list here: Greater Boston News.

Boston photographers cover the George Floyd protest in late may on its way to Downtown Boston. — A protest of thousands organized by three young women marched through Boston to the State House demanding Justice for George Floyd and reform on May 31, 2020, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Top Boston Photographers

David Degner – My Instagram feed is a mixture of editorial photo assignments with national publications and personal photo projects. ( https://www.DavidDegner.com )

Jodi Hilton – Jodi has traveled worldwide to cover wars and revolutions. But I love how she also photographs the stories in our backyard of Cambridge, Massachusetts. ( https://www.jodihilton.com )

Philip Keith – A Boston photograph with his vision. He makes excellent portraits of important people and stories in the Boston area ( https://philipckeith.com )

M. Scott Brauer – A Boston photojournalist probably best known for his political photography spanning the last decade. He always creates unique portraits and photos of news events. ( https://www.mscottbrauer.com )

Brad Romano – Whenever one of his photos pops up on my feed, I know I’ll like it. Usually, they are clean and colorful and from an unexplored part of the city. ( http://www.bradromano.photography )

OJ Slaughter – OJ’s work doesn’t fit into the traditional editorial mold, but their photos make a statement about the world today. ( https://www.ojslaughter.com )

Allison Dinner – Allison is another photographer who works in the middle of harsh situations worldwide. Her latest photos are from the Mexican border, but she also works in her backyard. ( https://allisondinner.com )

John Tlumacki – For that daily dose of newspaper photography. John is a Boston Globe photojournalist and shows his talent, especially in sports photography.

Many Boston based photographers cover events all around New England. — I drive more than three hours north from Boston to reach Tenant’s Harbor. Halfway up Maine’s coast. If I were to continue for another three hours, I would be in Canada. I join Jason, the captain, and Ethan, the sternman, on the docks before sunrise to get to the lobsters.

More Photographers in Boston & New England

Here’s a list of other great Boston photojournalists and a more comprehensive selection of Boston-based photographers that I follow. There are many other great photographers that I haven’t added. Please send suggestions, especially of your own Instagram feed, to me if you have suggestions!

If you have made it this far, you might as well follow the Boston Red Sox: @RedSox

Outside my Camera Bag

Inspired by Amanda Mustard’s list of helpful tools, I compiled my list of things that make my life easier as a freelance photojournalist.

I found referral links for some items that you can use to get discounts and send rewards to me.

200 SIM Card tray eject pins – If Marie Kondo asked me what brings me the most happiness this year, it would be this box. When I get to a border, I often need to switch sim cards, and I always lose these SIM eject pins. So now I have spread these pins everywhere around my luggage and keychain, and I will always be able to find one.

TransferWise (referral link) – I get paid and pay in many currencies. With TransferWise, I don’t have fees when clients transfer to my account. I also get a reasonable rate and easily convert money between USD, GBP, EUR, and more obscure currencies.

Things – An app for Mac and iPhone that allows me to quickly record ToDos, brainstorm larger projects, and plan out my day before everything goes pearshaped. It’s designed to be part of the Getting Things Done ecosystem and appears to be working for me.

Visible – The cheapest data in the US. It costs $25 a month for unlimited internet that can be tethered for transmitting photos on the road. When traveling abroad a lot, I used Google Fi but they have been canceling international travelers. Often it is cheaper to buy a local SIM for long-term data. And there are other eSIM data providers that you can use for those times you are stuck in the airport or cell stores haven’t opened yet.

Novo Bank – A small business-focused bank helps keep the paperwork simple. Novo has a built-in invoice system, debit card, and easy ways for clients to pay. And it’s free. I tried Lillie bank before, but they don’t have a web interface; using just their phone app can be painful.

Hiveage – We all need a system for creating and tracking invoices. Mine used to be a Google Docs template and a spreadsheet; it worked. But I find that once Hiveage is set up, it takes a lot less time, and with their iPhone app, I can quickly send an invoice while in a cab. But, unfortunately, they raised their rates recently.

Capture One – I have lived in Photoshop since version 5, but I just canceled my Adobe membership and switched to Capture One because the retouching looks more subtle when I use it. I can’t explain why but I prefer the colors and how it hides the halos produced by dodging and burning.

Wacom Intuos – Toning photos becomes physically painful, especially dodging and burning on a trackpad. A Wacom makes it slightly less painful and has become an extension of my hand after a few weeks of fiddling. Get the BlueTooth version so you can lean back.

Backblaze (referral link)- I finally have an offsite backup system for my 15TB archive for $50 a year. It took a year to upload everything, but now it is easy to keep it all up to date. Get the year extension, so you don’t have to plug-in hard drives every month or turn off backups while traveling away from your archive.

Linode (referral link)- I’ve hosted websites on DreamHost for a long time but switched to Linode with OpenLiteSpeed installed and WordPress as my CMS. It took a significant amount of time to set up and tweak, but my website is faster.

Commercial Photographer

fitness · athletics

Adventure Photography

Most of my commercial photography is in Boston but sometimes my athletic and adventure photography takes me around the world. This is a collection of adventure photography mainly for iFit.

Boston Portrait Photographer: Kat Gregor

Studio · Location

Storytelling Portraits

Many companies and academic institutions around Boston need a portrait photographer. I can work on location, or in my photo studio. I use local knowledge, experience, and technical flexibility to create storytelling portraits in any situation.

Research · Science · Software · Medicine

Research & Science Photography

In Boston I’ve worked with several science based companies to to tell the stories of how their work has an impact in the world. Sometimes I photograph in their labs and offices, but I love to go meet the end users and show how research changes lives.

Research · Education

Video Production

I love the challenge of interviewing researchers and streamlining their ideas into a short video to make them accessible. I also produce video advertisements and raw footage for social media posts.

Production · Factory

Industrial Photography

When industrial photography clients in Boston and New England call the first thing we do is define their goals. I enjoy interpreting their manufacturing processes into clean and professional photos. Usually, I work with them to make a library of photos for future advertisements and social media posts.

Research · Lifestyle · Industrial · Portraits · Video

Commercial PhotographY in Boston

I love working with institutions as a commercial photographer. I create meaningful advertising photos that connect because they tell real stories.

In Boston, a significant portion of my commercial photography is with academic institutions and local companies. The projects can be as simple as a few portraits for public relations handouts or full libraries of photos. I also produce short videos.

My specialty is international photography, especially in the Middle East. I’ve been able to work with several pharmaceutical companies to tell their stories around the world. These types of situations often require sensitivity and language skills that I learned from years of working with people outside the studio.

Corporate photography projects can consist of creating a single “hero” image, or a library of hundreds of images that can be used with internal and external communications. If you know your photography needs I’d love to discuss how to fit your vision into your budget.

Commercial photography is priced based on three factors, the number of images, usage rights, and complexity of the photoshoot.

Contact Me

My Favorite Egyptian Photographers

There has been a surge of high-quality photographers in Egypt, and many of them are sharing their work on Instagram. I started with a list of 50 Egyptian photographers on Instagram and edited it to 15 that I feel have something unique to say about Egypt and the world through their photography. Of course, it’s just my opinion, but these are some of the best photographers in Egypt.

Most of these photographers range between editorial photojournalism and artistic photography.

Nariman El-Mofty – Started covering the revolution in Egypt and now works around the Middle East for the AP winning Pulitzer Prizes. ( website )

Youssef Nabil – Posts unique hand-painted nostalgia. I love when one of his photos pops up in my feed. ( website )

Laura El-Tantawy – Artist and bookmaker who puts emotion into each photo. ( website )

Ahmed Gaber – Shoots gritty images of everyday life in Egypt.

Ahmed Jamal – Posts interesting triptych, sometimes reimagining and sometimes reinforcing the visual cliches of Cairo.

Eman Helal – The unique and indomitable documentary work from one of Egypt’s best. ( website )

Hesham Elsherif – Unique photos of everyday life in Cairo and its rural areas.

Sabry Khaled – Photographer, filmmaker, teacher curator, and all-around good guy in Cairo. ( website )

Salih Bashier – Works between Sudan and Cairo, especially his recent work on the Sudanese revolution.

Dania Hany – Film and ghostly images show another side of Egypt. ( website )

Asmaa Waguih – One of the hardest working photojournalists based between Istanbul and Egypt but bouncing around to war zones around the Middle East, represented by Redux. ( website )

Roger Anis – A storyteller who is often working in Upper Egypt and finds unique stories. ( website )

Sima Diab – Photographer, showing us life in Cairo and Beirut, often works with international papers and magazines. ( website )

Ezz Monem – Not your traditional photographer. Ezz splits his time between software developer and artist, now based in Australia. ( website )

Christina Rizk – Has a clean and crisp style and works between Egypt and Germany. ( website )

Amr Alfiky – Egyptian photojournalist, based in New York, a fellow at the @nytimes

Other Egyptian Photographer Instagramers I love

https://www.instagram.com/mohamed_hassan.photo

https://www.instagram.com/hadeermahmoud1

https://www.instagram.com/karimelhayawan

https://www.instagram.com/haymanics

https://www.instagram.com/fathi_hawas

https://www.instagram.com/helrasam

https://www.instagram.com/mohamedmahdyph

https://www.instagram.com/xenia_nikolskaya_photography

https://www.instagram.com/ebrahimelmoly

https://www.instagram.com/mosaabelshamy

https://www.instagram.com/elkamhawi

https://www.instagram.com/omarzaki99

https://www.instagram.com/abdelrahmanmohamed0

https://www.instagram.com/somewhereincairo

https://www.instagram.com/alizaraay

If you would like your account added to this page, please email me at david@daviddegner.com. I can’t promise to add it, but I love seeing new photo projects.

Boston Portrait Photographer

Portrait of Robert Leverett and his wife Monica Jakuc Leverett — Robert Leverett and Monica Jakuc Leverett for a story about old growth forests for the Smithsonian Magazine.

While working with iFit on several projects I made libraries of portraits of their athletes in-between filming exercise videos. I often had only 5 minutes to photograph the portraits while fighting off sand, ocean, and altitude sickness, and loved every moment of it.

Portrait of Sandra Mansour — Sandra Mansour for Mother Jones Magazine. She Refused to Become an FBI Informant. Then the Government Made His Family’s Life Hell.

Dr. Daniela Lamas, a critical care doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, For the New York Times.

Azza Fahmy, an Egyptian jewelry designer for Oryx in flight magazine.

Niren Chaudhary, CEO of Panera for the New York Times

Portrait Photographer

As portrait photographer in Boston, I introduce my audience to the story’s protagonists.

Portrait photographers often impose their style on the subject but I try to be open and let the subject determine the style. Sometimes, my portraits are carefully crafted with specific backdrops, lighting and poses; other times, they come in a candid moment, as the subject has learned to trust me and share more of who they are.

This portfolio includes a selection of portraits for editorial outlets such as the New York Times and Time Magazine as well as commercial clients such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Sanofi. Most recently, I created commercial portraits of athletes and adventurers in far-flung locations like Turks & Caicos, Jordan, and Everest Base Camp. My favorite portraits are of fancy pigeons, which I had to capture before they flew out of my makeshift studio on their owner’s rooftops!

Many of my portraits are made on location with a portable studio of Profoto flashes and stands or in my Davis Square portrait studio, just north of Boston.