Overland Expo is excited to welcome Matt Suess, an early adopter of digital photography, to teach at Overland Expo Mountain West.
Matt Suess has been a full-time professional photographer since 1990, with the first 17 years of his career being a photojournalist based in New England. He is a digital photography pioneer and began teaching digital photography to photojournalists in the late 90’s, helping bring digital cameras to two different newspapers.
In 2006 Matt decided to switch careers and moved out West where he has been a fine art landscape, nature, wildlife, travel, adventure, and night sky photographer and educator ever since.
He leads numerous photo workshops worldwide in addition to teaching photography online. He is a Brand Ambassador and sponsored by a number of photo related companies.
He has been slowly building out his 4th Gen 4Runner for Overlanding over the last few years and currently lives in Bozeman, Montana.
Matt will be teaching From Sunset to Stars: Camp-Based Night Photography for Overlanders and On the Road and In the Wild: Photographing Wildlife While Overlanding at Overland Expo Mountain West. To learn more about Matt, check out his website and continue reading below.
Q&A with Matt Suess:
Tell us about your rig:
I have a 4th Gen V8 4Runner that I have been slowly building out for overlanding over the last few years. It has an iKamper RTT, The Princeton roof rack by Sherpa with light bar, ditch lights, Drive Reach Overland cell signal booster from WeBoost. Next up is getting the lift kit done.
All-time favorite campsite:
Out in White Pocket – a very remote area near Coyotte Buttes in Northern Arizona. To get there it’s miles of 4wd dirt road and areas of deep sand requiring airing down.
What’s your go-to overlanding meal?
I like to keep it simple and burgers & dogs you can’t go wrong with. Although a chicken stir-fry is pretty decent on the road too!
Best silver-lining story?
The first night on a 5 night photo adventure, I ended up rolling my ankle 4 miles from camp. I had a first aid kit with me at the time and I wrapped my ankle with an ace bandage, using my tripod as a crutch for the 4 mile hike back to our rig. Fortunately the ice in the cooler was still cold and soaked my ankle in it while of course enjoying a few beers. I thought our trip was over after just getting started, but was able to limp my way through the rest of our travels and I created some amazing photographs. Once back home, the doctor said I had a slight fracture in the ankle, but I got those photos and those memories!
READ MORE: Don’t Forget to Pack these 9 Items for Overland Expo Mountain West in August
What is an area of overland travel that you think you have nailed, and what is an area of overland travel that you feel you could use some improvement in?
I am pretty proficient in travel comfort and safety with the following: battery packs and solar panels, mini refrigerator, RTT with air mattress, mini stove, propane, mini propane fireplace, portable toilet and screen, max tracks, recovery strap, etc. I could definitely use improvement in being proficient in emergency vehicle mechanics.
Youn won’t want to miss the opportunity to learn from iconic photographer Matt Suess next month at Overland Expo MOUNTAIN WEST, taking place this coming weekend from August 22-24 in Loveland, Colorado. Be sure to bring your camera to put the tips learned in From Sunset to Stars: Camp-Based Night Photography for Overlanders and On the Road and In the Wild: Photographing Wildlife While Overlanding. For more information on Mountain West and to purchase tickets, click the buttons below.
Article written in collaboration with Matt Suess.
