Asheville Landscape Photographer – Stacy Redmon

Landscape photography explores the wild outdoor spaces, seemly vast and unending.

Yet often landscape photos can also capture the contrasts of main-made features against the power of the natural world.

We all have seen these breathtaking landscape photos… images that showcase the beauty of nature with astonishing visual results.

Seldom do we get to “see” and learn more about the person behind them – the landscape photographer who creates these stunning images.

But in this season’s Inside the Artist’s Studio, we will be hearing from Stacy Redmon, an award-winning local landscape photographer and creator of Red Rock Photography Studio.

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Stacy says about his work, “As a native of Western North Carolina I grew up in an amazingly beautiful environment.

However I never truly appreciated the beauty until I moved away to Central Georgia for Graduate School.

Upon returning to Asheville in 2000 I realized how beautiful WNC truly is and how much I had taken it for granted.

I began hiking and exploring the mountains and developed a passion for photography which gave me a medium to record the beauty that I discovered.

Now, I spend a great deal of time now driving the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiking to waterfalls in and around Asheville, the Pisgah National Forest, Nantahala National Forest and the rest of Western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.”

Inside the Artist’s Studio with Stacy Redmon

As a child what did you want to be when you grew up?

Always a huge baseball fan, when I was a boy I had dreams of playing major league baseball or in some manner working in the sport. So,I played through high school, and after Grad School, interviewed for a strength and conditioning coach position with the KC Royals. I was a finalist but my lack of Spanish speaking skills was my demise.

When did you first realize you wanted to become an artist?

After I came back to WNC after grad school. I became interested in photography my last year in grad school and when I returned, I realized that I had never truly realized the beauty of our mountains. All I wanted to do was photograph them.

How long does it take you to create one piece?

It depends, photography is all about lighting, sometimes I sit at a spot for hours, and other times I go and capture nothing. It could take years to catch the light at a certain spot at the right time. Once I capture what I want, it goes pretty quickly from there.

What is your schedule like when you are working?

I do this full time, and as a small business owner, you are always working. I make my own schedule, but I have a lot to do to be successful as an artist.

Where do you get your ideas or inspiration for your artwork?

We live in an amazingly beautiful place. What more inspiration could I need than to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have also put in an extensive number of hours scouting locations and charting areas to determine where to go shoot.

What would you say is your interesting quirk while working?

I am not sure you would call it a quirk, but to get to or from some of my locations, I have to hike in the dark with a headlamp. For sunrise, I get to a location around an hour before sunrise. It is still dark, so I have to find my way to my spot.

What do you like to do when you are not working on your art?

I have the most amazing 11-year-old daughter, when she is with me, we spend all of our time together. I have recently met a wonderful lady that I spend almost all of my other time with. She also has a daughter, and we are together almost every day. I also greatly enjoy baseball, watching movies, hiking and exploring.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned while creating your art?

It amazes me how much a landscape changes with each season based on the movement of the sun from North to South. Light and seasonal variations can make the same location look so different each time you visit.

How many pieces do you think you have created?

Just a few, ha-ha. As a photographer, I take thousands of photos each year. Most years I end up with 30 to 50 images that I like, but typically about 10 to 15 that sell well on a regular basis.

Which ones are your favorites?

That is almost equivalent to asking a parent which is their favorite child. If I did not love each one that I sell, I would not be selling it. However, I do love “Bear Trap Rock Sunset,” “Lonesome Tree,” “Autumn on Wolf Mountain,” and “Glowing Rock.” But I already feel like I am leaving others out. So not really a fair question 😉

How do you decide on which ideas to develop?

Err, uh, wait, what? Beer does not float sideways uphill in the rain. Really not sure what to say here.

Do you hear from your fans? What kinds of things do they say?

I sell at art shows every week, so I hear from my fans all the time. The good ones tell me how much they love my work and then hand me their money, the less desirable ones just ask things such as, “what kind of camera do you use?” I teach them that the type of camera is as irrelevant as asking a chef what kind of stove they use. It is the person using the tool, not the tool itself. 

What do you think makes good art?

Passion!