Danielle Marie Lister’s day job is nothing short of epic. There’s no other word for it. As an adventure photographer, she explores some of the planet’s most visually exciting corners. As a Canon brand collaborator, she captures these experiences in a way that brings them to life and inspires people to be creative with their photography and get outdoors.
It’s a cold winter morning in the Yukon, Canada, but that’s exciting for Danielle. Fresh snow hits different in Whitehorse, where Danielle grew up, especially when cross-country ski trails await outside your window. I can’t help but agree. It’s not like winter in a city, where everything transforms to grey slush after a day.
Danielle looks cosy in a rose-coloured beanie and a black and orange geometric-pattered fleece while chatting animatedly about her recent Intrepid small group adventure in Patagonia in collaboration with Canon.
‘What’s really interesting to me about visiting places like Patagonia is there are the famous views that you see captured over and over again, but what I found most inspiring were the views I hadn’t necessarily seen captured.’
When you grow up with the great outdoors on your doorstep, wild landscapes come easy, but mastering the art of capturing it all through a lens is a different story.
How it all started
Danielle’s passion for photography began young, sparked by her father’s enthusiasm for the craft and his extensive collection of Canon cameras. The first time Danielle got her hands on a real camera, she was around 10 years old, and since then, she’s rarely travelled without one.
‘[After Dad] gave me some of his old cameras, whenever my family and I would go on a trip or a hike or go camping, I would always bring my cameras and kind of document it the same way I do now. I’ve been documenting my life since a pretty young age.’
What started as playful curiosity – snapping portraits of family and friends, experimenting in her yard with close-ups of plants and flowers and taking pictures on camping and hiking trips – soon evolved into a deeper fascination. ‘I dabbled in a lot of [different styles of photography] and always thought that I was aimless. Then I realised adventure photography was what I was passionate about doing.’
At 21, Danielle applied and was accepted into Canon’s FUTURES mentorship program, which later led to further brand collaborations with the company. As it turns out, dabbling in all those different styles on her trusty Canon cameras was useful.
Practise makes pictures
If you’ve ever wanted to try adventure photography, even as a hobby, Danielle advises that it’s not just about taking landscape photos. Adventure photography combines many different styles: landscape, portrait, journalism and even some product photography. ‘You have to be able to tell a story. There need to be people in it and there needs to be an emotion or a focus on details to show what’s happening.’
Danielle says in places like Patagonia, ‘where adventure is limitless,’ she likes to have a dedicated camera for taking pictures. ‘I feel like you put yourself in a different headspace when you hold a real camera. It’s a different cue than what you might experience with your phone,’ she explains.
Smartphones make Danielle think of work, notifications or distractions, while a camera makes her think purely about pictures. ‘There’s something about holding a physical camera that inspires creativity in a way a phone doesn’t… I feel like a camera is a cue for a lot of people to slow down, look at a scene closer, think about what you’re observing more creatively and from a different perspective.’
The end results are different, too. ‘With phones, you’re limited by the controls and settings they give you. But a camera lens that zooms in and out or can manually focus will create different looks and feelings in your images. This adds to the experience. It brings a layer of creativity that people don’t typically feel as much when using their phones. I often see people go crazy over what they see in the viewfinder and then start taking pictures of branches or other seemingly small things.’
Danielle travelled to Patagonia with a Canon EOS R100. Compared to other cameras, she says this one felt like a feather and she carried it by hand most of the time. If you’re ever looking to splurge on a camera for your adventures, she says, ‘The R series mirrorless cameras these days are so good. They are better than anything I learned to take photos on.’
If you’re new to shooting on ‘real’ cameras, she recommends playing around with the camera settings before travelling or using its in-built auto modes to help you take the best picture under lighting conditions.
As for your lens, Danielle recommends something that lets you go wide and zoom in a little. ‘I had a 15 to 45 millimetre which is a really nice focal length because you can capture someone that’s right in front of you, but you can also zoom in a little bit and get something a bit further in the landscape.’
Shared experiences, new perspectives
Danielle usually travels with her partner, but exploring Patagonia on a small group trip with people from around the world brought another layer to her photographs. Their shared experiences and diverse perspectives allowed her to observe unexpected moments in spectacular landscapes.
‘Seeing how other people react to landscapes in places like Patagonia is really fascinating because maybe they will see things that you’ve missed,’ she says, noting that some travellers on the trip had never seen glaciers before and seeing their reactions was ‘awesome’.
Danielle adds there’s also something to be said about how going through challenges with a group of people made her time in Patagonia special. ‘When you go through a harder part of the trail or have a shared memory of overcoming something it strengthens your bond with those people… it adds a layer of connection to what you are doing.’
Danielle also found the presence of local Intrepid leaders Rosario Wevar and Camila Sepulveda comforting. ‘Travelling can sometimes be exhausting. When there’s that mental load of thinking about the next place that you need to go – you don’t know what it looks like or how to get there. So that can be stressful… This was my first time having a [leader] in this kind of setting. I got to relax about those details, which helped me just be more present.’
On day three of the trip, Danielle found herself in the French Valley, with Paine Grande looming in the distance. It’s the highest peak in the Torres del Paine National Park, distinguished by jagged white glaciers and peaks.
The weather was good, so Danielle and her fellow travellers had excellent viewing conditions. They were towards the backside of the mountain, an area known for towering spires, active glaciers and frequent icefalls or mini avalanches triggered by glaciers breaking apart.
‘We saw at least three different avalanches. So that was amazing.’
Moments of raw nature such as this can serve as a helpful reminder. That whatever camera you take, however you choose to document your trip, sometimes, all you can do is soak up the experience with your senses. That some experiences are better off in your memory bank than on your memory card.
For everything else, Danielle’s always been more than game to carry her real camera around.
Danielle travelled on Intrepid’s Patagonia: Torres del Paine Classic W Trek. Explore all of Intrepid’s Patagonia trips or take your camera on one of these walking and trekking adventures.
Images courtesy of Danielle Marie Lister, unless otherwise stated.
