Meet Tyler Stender

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Stender.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’ve always been intrigued by photography starting with my love of National Geographic magazines when I was younger. All of those photos were captivating and told such a unique story. As I moved through college and my 20s, I fell in love with surfing and surf magazines like The Surfers Journal — once again for the unique images and captivating landscapes that they would publish. My passion for photography came years later. My brother was gifted a new camera leaving him with two DSLRs. Not needing two cameras, he asked me if I wanted his older Nikon. I accepted the offer, not really sure how it worked or what I would do with it but figured I would mess around with it.

When he gave me the camera, I had recently moved to San Diego to surf more than I had been back in New Jersey and I ended up discovering delicious craft beer. I started using the camera for beer photography at first. I was really interested in product photography and exploring how to use lighting as well as depth of field to create an image. That slowly evolved into landscape photography, usually taking shots of sunsets after a surf. That eventually started to take on a life of its own and with the encouragement of my wife, I began bringing my camera everywhere and taking photos of anything that catches my eye. I really enjoy setting up a shot in my mind and then trying to create what I see through the lens of my camera. My photos today are mainly geared around travel/landscapes and beer photography.

Please tell us about your art.
My focus is mainly landscapes, product and travel photography. With product photography I really enjoying setting up the lighting and the product so that when people view the image it creates a sense of need. With landscape and travel photography, I try to bring together elements that tell more of a story and set up the shot so that it creates a feeling of wanderlust.

Pictures have always helped me think about new things that I want to try or places to explore. I hope that when people look at my photos it is opening up a door for them that maybe they didn’t know was there. One of the things that I love about photography is the journey of learning and evolving. My goal is to constantly improve and hope that people see that when they look at my work.

Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial concerns?
Start small – it is easy to get wrapped up in needing tons of camera gear and equipment to create good images. The reality is that if you get out there and start taking photos, you will start to develop your eye for what you like and want you want to tell through your photos. I started with a crop sensor DSLR and an 18 to 55mm kit lens. It wasn’t pretty when I first got started and I scrapped a lot of photos early on but it was key in helping me develop.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
People can view my work on my Instagram account @craft_beard. I have only recently started to sell my photos and have done so with people that have reached out directly.

I have a show coming up with Bottle craft Solana Beach at the end of June. My photos will be on display for a month and available for purchase at the end of show (final dates still TBD).

Contact Info:

• Instagram: craft_beard

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