{"id":7545,"date":"2016-03-28T15:13:24","date_gmt":"2016-03-28T22:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=7545"},"modified":"2018-11-11T21:40:22","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T05:40:22","slug":"woman-behind-the-lens-jillian-lukiwski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/camp\/woman-behind-the-lens-jillian-lukiwski","title":{"rendered":"Woman Behind The Lens: Jillian Lukiwski"},"content":{"rendered":"

For photographer Jillian Lukiwski, everything is better if it\u2019s done outside. \u201cEaten outside, sipped outside, created outside,\u201d she says. So she\u2019s built her life around ways to enjoy being outside as much as possible.<\/p>\n

Her work as an independent metalsmith keeps her busy in the studio, but if she\u2019s inside for too long, she says, she becomes nonfunctional. So by taking her camera along on her daily adventures in the mountains of Washington and Idaho, she\u2019s built a massive social media following and a career shooting outdoor images for magazines and brands. Jillian\u2019s photos of her life are so appealing, people often to gush to her, \u201cI want your life.\u201d To that, she answers, \u201cSo what\u2019s stopping you?\u201d Here are four things she\u2019s learned in building her life and photography career in the outdoors.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need tons of special gear to enjoy the outdoors.<\/h4>\n

\"Jillian<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can hike in jeans and running shoes,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can use a 13-year-old tent.\u00a0Excellence comes with love and time and\u00a0hard work. Choose the things you want to love and practice them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to go out on your own.<\/h4>\n

\"Jillian<\/p>\n

Many of Jillian\u2019s most popular photos are of herself. Not because she takes lots of selfies\u2014but simply because she often heads out on adventures by herself. \u201cI think being alone is excellent for introverts and extroverts alike,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cThere’s a lot of pressure to be with gangs of people constantly, but it’s good for our souls, too, to feel a sense of aloneness, to hear the Voice rise up out of the stillness and solitude to speak to our spirits and minister to our fractures and brokenness and to feed the portions of us that are healthy and blooming and growing.\u00a0I find being alone uplifting\u2014it’s almost a spiritual practice for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get better at photography, it takes effort.<\/h4>\n

\"Jillian<\/p>\n

\u201cPhotography is a craft,\u201d Jillian says. \u201cGood photographs are a result of honest moments paired with knowledge of the craft of photography. Use your camera as much as you can\u2014master the tool itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t pay too much attention to what other people are doing.<\/h4>\n

\"Jillian<\/p>\n

With Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and the likes, it\u2019s easy to be inundated with other people\u2019s styles. But to truly develop as a photographer, it might be best to block some of that out. In fact, Jillian herself is not even on Facebook. If something she does looks trendy, she says, it\u2019s probably actually by accident. That\u2019s how she\u2019s developed a unique style. \u201cTry to see the world around you with fresh eyes,\u201d she says. \u201cDon’t pay attention to what everyone else is doing, capture your own life in your own way. Keep it all real.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed Jillian’s photos in this article, head on over to The Noisy Plume website<\/a> or follow her\u00a0on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For photographer Jillian Lukiwski, everything is better if it\u2019s done outside. \u201cEaten outside, sipped outside, created outside,\u201d she says. So she\u2019s built her life around ways to enjoy being outside as much as possible. Her work as an independent metalsmith keeps her busy in the studio, but if she\u2019s inside for too long, she says, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[572,571,53,651],"internal-tag":[1672],"class_list":["post-7545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camp","tag-interview","tag-jillian-lukiwski","tag-photography","tag-women","internal-tag-pre-redirect-camp"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/camp\/woman-behind-the-lens-jillian-lukiwski","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Woman Behind The Lens: Jillian Lukiwski","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/camp\/woman-behind-the-lens-jillian-lukiwski","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/camp\/woman-behind-the-lens-jillian-lukiwski"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/Jillian-REI-6.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/Jillian-REI-6.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000"},"articleSection":"Camp","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Angela Crampton"}],"creator":["Angela Crampton"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["interview","jillian lukiwski","photography","women"],"dateCreated":"2016-03-28T22:13:24Z","datePublished":"2016-03-28T22:13:24Z","dateModified":"2018-11-12T05:40:22Z"},"rendered":"