Introduction
The first time I saw some of the photographs produced by Nick Selway and his partner CJ Kale I felt they were special. They were highly unusual and unique, but there was something that went beyond that. Some of them transmitted to me a deep passion by the photographer, a clear appreciation of nature and care and experience in terms of aesthetic values.
I got the sense that Nick and CJ do not want to produce images that will sell simply because they are so unique. They seemed to strive to go beyond mere uniqueness to try to produce pieces of photographic art.
So, I contacted Nick and CJ and what ensued was a most interesting conversation; a conversation that I thought would be well worth sharing with the PhotoAesthetics community.
First Lava Tube.
This image speaks to me because it shows the power of nature while still being subtle. I particularly like the colors and the composition.
The Entrepreneurial Spirit
Having lived and worked in the Silicon Valley area for quite a while, and having been an entrepreneur and an investor myself, I never cease to be in awe of those that take big risks in order to pursue a passion and a well defined goal. Often times, as part of the process, they also achieve amazing things.
Most of us have heard the story about how a number of highly respected researchers had tried and failed to make a lightbulb. They had tried all kinds of materials, including Tungsten. There was a consensus in the scientific and technical communities of the time that Tungsten was a very bad choice for this application. They had “proven” that a Tungsten lightbulb would never work and this “fact” had been published in the technical journals.
Edison, being an outsider, never read these papers so he went ahead and invented the first lightbulb using Tungsten.
Silicon Valley is peppered with a history of entrepreneurs that just like Edison did things that were considered impossible or concocted concepts and products that no one else thought about before.
There are a number of characteristics that many entrepreneurs have in common: Passion, unflappable perseverance, massive optimism, self-confidence, a deep desire to change their own circumstances and those of others, a goal to make a contribution to the happiness and welfare of others, a desire to change the way things are done, etc.
One of the more charming things I constantly hear from entrepreneurs is that just like the Edison story: They do something because “they did not know any better”. Had they known all the risks and the potential pitfalls they most likely would not have done it.
This last sentence, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit in general resonated with me during my conversations with Nick Selway when he told me that he and CJ “did not know any better”, so they decided to quit their jobs, follow their main passion for nature photography and try to make a living selling prints.
At first, they rented a small kiosk to sell their work. Again, “not knowing any better”, they eventually risked everything to take out a loan and open their first gallery. Had they known all the risks and potential pitfalls involved, as well as the low probability of success, they probably would not have done it. A classic entrepreneurial story.
From this humble beginning, they now own two photography galleries on the Big Island of Hawaii and are planning to open a third gallery in the near future. They have around 150 new orders per month and their average order includes 2-5 large display prints plus several smaller 12×18 prints.
While they intend to extend the scope of their work in the future, they intend to remain focused on landscape and animal photography.
Back Again
A comparison of this image with the other images in this article is a wonderful example of how much the feel and look of a landscape can change under different lighting conditions.
Background
Nick Selway was born and raised in Lake Stevens, Washington along the Northern Cascade Mountains. He grew a profound appreciation for the natural world at a young age. He spent his childhood traveling and exploring the Pacific Northwest with his family. In 2002 he began attending Northern Idaho College where he took his first photography class. Two of his instructors made him realize that he had a unique eye for light and composition. After college he decided to pursue his life passion to photograph the natural world and moved to Kailua Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii where he met his best friend, fellow photographer, and future co-owner of the Lava Light Gallery, CJ Kale.
Nick was deemed a “daredevil photographer” by his contemporaries. He was one of the first people in history to photograph lava entering the ocean from the surf, an extremely dangerous undertaking.
CJ Kale was raised on the Waianae Coast in Hawaii. CJ developed his passion for nature by playing in the surf exploring the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands from a very early age. Visiting the Kilauea Volcano as a child he was deeply moved by its dynamic nature and beauty. After he graduated from the New York Institute of Photography, he moved to the Big Island of Hawaii were he became the first person in history to photograph lava entering the ocean from the surf. To do this, CJ risked his life entering the near scalding surf and avoiding lava bombs feet from the lava’s entry point into the ocean to capture some of the most unique photographs ever made.
“There is no other place in the world where you can photograph within feet of where you stood the day before and capture such dramatically different images. Each volcano photo I capture is truly a unique moment in time never to be captured the same again”.
Nick and CJ became best friends and business partners 10 years ago with the goal of doing something different in photography. In 2010 the conditions were excellent to finally try something new. While they were not the first people to photograph lava from the shore or from a boat, they were the first to photograph curling waves from inside the water with lava entering the ocean in the background.
In 2011 CJ fell into a lava tube 20 feet deep while shooting the Kilauea Volcano and shattered his ankle. A few months later we was back in the surf and lava fields photographing again.
Preparations, experience and dangers
Capturing these types of images takes extensive preparations in terms of planning and logistics. It also requires years of experience hiking close to the lava surface flows as well as proper ocean entry. Between the two of them, CJ and Nick have over 33 years of experience. They are also expert ocean swimmers and feel very comfortable in the water, having lived next to the ocean all their lives.
Nick and CJ use whatever gear is appropriate to capture a specific image. They mostly use a film 4×5 inch view camera and 35mm DSLR’s. They are what I call “equipment agnostic”. Whatever is the best tool is what they use.
Although there are many dangers, such as strong water currents and pounding surf, the biggest dangers are related to the volcano itself. As Nick describes it: “There is always the danger of being burned by hot lava. But it’s the things you have very little control over that are the most dangerous: lava tubes, and crevasses, flying molten hot lava rocks, methane gas explosions and bench collapses where acres of land just suddenly drop off into the sea. When we swim with the volcano, there’s acidic water, volcanic glass, floating lava bombs—all while swimming in pounding surf”.
To add to all this, the water is also scalding hot.
Nick and CJ are willing to take tremendous risks to capture their images, while maintaining their composure to develop the message they want to convey to the person looking at the image.
Peles in the Sky
The combination of the blue sky, the clouds and steam, the curl in the wave on the left and the red hot lava in the background make an extraordinary photograph.
Message
When I asked Nick about the message he wants to convey, he responded as follows:
“What we want to convey when people are looking at our prints is just how beautiful mother nature is in the most natural settings. We do very little post processing; we try to keep everything as natural as we can. We adjust for color balance, saturation, contrast, dodge and burn etc., but for us an image has to be 1 sheet of film or 1 RAW frame. We do not do HDR or exposure blending.
We feel its an honor to have our work displayed in homes across the world. It means so much to us when a customer purchases an image. Personally for us, we get to do what we normally do for fun and call it a living. There is nothing better than that!”
When I inquired as to what makes him the happiest as a photographer, he responded:
“The thing that makes us the happiest is having people appreciate what our passion is and want it on their walls”.
Rainbow, Lava, Waves
To me, this image summarizes the story of the pounding surf, the flying debris from the volcano, the intense heat and the danger. And yet, there is a silent beauty in the photograph…
Conclusion
Nick and CJ are great examples of individuals successfully pursuing their main passion with little or no compromise to either their photographic vision or their desire to make display prints the end product.
While their work has been published in many prestigious publications and won numerous awards, it is clear to me that the print and sharing the print with others is where their hearts reside.
Being a photographer that treasures prints, and being someone who admires photographers that do not compromise their vision and have very clear goals, you can see why I am delighted to share Nick and CJ’s story, as well as some of their images with our PhotoAesthetics community.
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