Lens, Light And The Edge of Wild

🚗 She left a marriage, packed her life into a Kia, and drove straight into the unknown. What Brittany Colt found on the other side wasn’t just a new beginning—it was a radical reclaiming of self.

📷 Brittany’s photography doesn’t just capture beauty—it captures reckoning, release, and raw presence. Her images, both portrait and landscape, are striking, soulful, and unforgettable. From her time at the Ansel Adams Gallery to launching The Flying Dress Experience, Brittany’s work invites women to step into awe-inspiring wilderness—and helps them see themselves anew.

We talk resilience, risk, the art of chasing light, and the healing force of nature. This is a conversation for anyone who’s ever stood at a crossroads and wondered what’s waiting if they choose themselves. 🌟 Her work holds power. This episode holds truth. Don’t miss it! 🌅

Brittany Colt Photographer

Today's episode is brought to you by the Joan of Arc Scroll Medal, a beautiful brass alloy medal, designed by award-winning artist, Pat Benincasa. This uniquely shaped medal is ideal for holiday or as a special occasion gift!    Visit www.patbenincasa-art.com
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Please Note: The views expressed by our guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcaster.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Brittany Colt
• 3:16 The Flying Dress Experience Explained
• 8:00 Chasing Light and Creative Vision
• 14:55 Starting Over: From Divorce to Yosemite
• 23:34 Sarah's Story: Courage on the Cliff
• 28:18 Nature's Lessons on Healing
• 36:35 Emotion and Intention Behind the Lens

Transcript

Pat:

Fill To Capacity where heart grit and irreverent humor collide. A podcast for people too stubborn to quit and too creative not to make a difference.

Pat:

Hi, I'm Pat Benincasa and welcome back to Fill To Capacity, Episode # 105: "Lens, Light and the Edge of Wild." Today's guest is someone who doesn't just take photos. She creates moments that really stay with you. Brittany Colt is a photographer, guide and educator based in California's Eastern Sierra. Her images are striking and beautiful, but they carry something deeper, a sense of presence, truth, and a quiet strength. She's the force behind the flying dress experience where women step into wild landscapes, wear flowing dresses, and embody their strength in ways they never imagined. These portraits are exquisite, but it's the transformation behind them that leaves a mark. Brittany went from shooting weddings in Portland to working at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite. You may know the name Ansel Adams. He was a legendary American photographer who lived from 1902 to 1984. He is best known for his black and white images of the American West, especially Yosemite.

Pat:

His photos weren't just beautiful, they were bold, intentional, and technically masterful. He helped turn photography into fine art and used his work to advocate for wilderness conservation. To this day, his photographs challenge us to see nature not as background, but as belonging. Brittany has built a life shaped by light intuition and the raw beauty of the natural world born blind In one eye, she sees with a clarity most of us are still chasing, and her images reflect that. So listeners get ready. This is a conversation about resilience, reinvention and what it means to really see the world and yourself. Well, welcome Brittany. So nice to have you here.

Brittany:

Yeah, thank you for having me here, Pat. I really appreciate it.

Pat:

Brittany, your story begins with a Kodak 110 camera and a wide angle view that changed your life. What did that first moment of seeing due to your sense of self?

Brittany:

Yeah, so I remember, uh, I was on a family vacation and my parents just gave me that camera. It was one of their old cameras. It had more of like a panoramic view. And when I saw that panoramic view for the first time, it was like, wow, is this what I've been missing? And so cameras in a way showed me what was like to look through two eyes. That was very special.

Pat:

So you were born blind in one eye, yet your work is all about vision and perspective. How has that shaped not just your art, but how you move through the world?

Brittany:

So, since I was born blind in one eye, I, I don't know what it's like to look through two eyes. Ever since I was a kid, I was a creative. I was drawing, painting, crafting, whatever I could get my hands on. And I think that just came naturally with my disability. Since I was born blind, my left brainstem is slower. So for like the analytical side of my brain, like people use that side for math, let's just say. And I was terrible at math growing up, but the creative side just came naturally and that's what I clung onto. And that I feel like, you know, is a blessing in disguise. 'cause I can't imagine my life being any different.

Pat:

I wanna start with something that really grabbed me, the "Flying Dress Experience." The images are striking, but I get the sense there's more going on for folks who don't know what it is. Can you walk us through that?

Brittany:

So the flying dress experience was born out of a way that I wanted to connect with women and I love working with women. So basically the flying dress is when a woman gets in this beautiful long silky dress and then I have my assistant come and fly the dress up and then it, and then I'm just at a really fast shutter speed, capturing the action of the dress. Flying up is really popular in Greece and Dubai and very vacation. A lot of the vacation areas, it has become really popular there. So people will most likely go get their photos taken there. And here in the US it hasn't really taken off yet, but I wanna do that and I wanna work with women and I wanna empower them. And so I decided to start offering this experience a couple years ago.

Pat:

And does that mean like they're climbing these cliffs and you put them in rocky terrain?

Brittany:

Okay, so there's different levels, it's funny that you asked that. I love to getting, being out in nature, nature is definitely healing for me. It is my church. It is my place where I love to just to go and connect with the earth. And so I was like, well, what better experience is to take a woman? And 'cause it is very vulnerable being in front of the camera. Let's just say. I've had a lot of people say, wow, I'm so nervous and stuff. But then they get out in nature and they're like, they're relaxed. You can, it's a different change. I just wanted to get people out in nature and give them this experience. Also making them feel beautiful and actually seeing themselves the way everyone else sees them. You know, we look at ourselves completely differently. We look in the mirror and we're like, I don't really like this wrinkle or whatever.

Brittany:

But how a photographer sees you is completely different. Yeah. So that was the whole idea was empowering women and offering something that that could last for a lifetime, really. I mean, we're only in our bodies for how long and like a lot of women like to do it during like, oh my 40th birthday, or I am celebrating being cancer free. You know, there's a lot of stories that came along with this project that I didn't even know about, I didn't even think about when I started offering this and realize how impactful it is on women and how we can be empowered just by getting in a beautiful dress and actually just honoring ourselves. Yeah. And our stories

Pat:

On your website, as I was looking at those images, it was so much more than fabric or landscape. It seemed like you were photographing transformation. I mean, that really resonated in the images. And it must be something to witness women reclaiming their power out there.

Brittany:

Oh, it's gorgeous. Like normally, you know, the first 10 minutes will start out little nervous, but then I'm just very encouraging. Me and my partner, he's the, my assistant will try to just create this very comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. Like there's no tension. We're just out in nature, having fun, laughing, having a good time. And like going back to your question about the rock climbing, I don't actually offer that type of photo shoots. That's just my passion to get women on side of cliffs and looking really rad on the side of a cliff in a harness with a flying dress. That's just me and my passion projects. If a woman just wants to go out in nature, be on a dome top, or we don't even have to climb anywhere. Just there's different levels of it. And I usually ask like, what do you want your experience to be like? And someone like wants more of adventure while others will wanna be staying close to the car and just walking five minutes out to location.

Pat:

What is a dome top?

Brittany:

So in Yosemite we have granite domes, just a dome that's just made of complete granite, which is really beautiful. Yeah.

Pat:

You once said chasing light helps reveal a subject spirit. What does your relationship with light teach you about timing, trust and intuition.

Brittany:

That's such a good question. When I go out and photograph sometimes I'm not even thinking about the subject matter per se. I'm just looking at the light because the light will lead me to my subject. And when I find the beautiful light hitting the subject, that is when I can really create art and really bring out the best in my subject, whether it's a tree or it's a person, it's the same thing. Whatever I'm photographing the light always will dictate where I shoot.

Pat:

And it's interesting, I'm a visual artist and the idea of painting light and painting space is very, very different than capturing it through a lens because it changes so fast, in the atmosphere.

Brittany:

Yeah. That is one of the challenges of being a photographer. I respect all the painters and other, other artists who works in different mediums, but we are just dealt with what we're faced with. We'll go out and probably fail most of the time. <laugh>, especially for landscape photography, portrait photography, we can put lights up and put modifiers and work with the light. But for landscapes, it's like, even this whole week I've been going out, 'cause we're getting storm after storm and it hasn't been lining up. And I'm like, I'm not getting anything. But that's okay because I'm still getting out in nature. I'm still enjoying myself. And that is just the challenge of being a photographer. We're just faced with the conditions we're faced with. And sometimes it works out and it's complete magic. And other times, most of the time, 95% of the time we're just like, ah, well, well, I didn't get anything tonight. So pack up and leave.

Pat:

I imagine you have to be quick on your feet in the sense that if you turn around and you see a condition, an atmospheric condition, you gotta move fast. Are you quick like that by nature? Or have you had to train yourself?

Brittany:

Yeah, so that came in few, a few different steps. So no, I'm not quick with tech, by nature, just because my left side of my brain, you know, is a little bit slower. So tech is really hard for me. But the way I trained myself to be good was practice, practice, practice, practice, putting myself in different lighting situations is going out. And then photographing weddings and weddings, you gotta be really fast because you gotta capture those moments. So weddings really helped me think really fast on my feet and make lighting decisions and, and all the decisions I needed to make photographing someone walking down the aisle. These moments, you can't repeat those. It's not like a, a flying dress photo session where I can just keep having the person do the same pose over and over until we get the perfect flow of the fabric.

Brittany:

I always encourage new, new students to just practice with their camera around their house. I mean, that's the best advice I could give to any new photographer because you'll be in those situations, even if you're not photographing weddings, like you're saying, pat, like, you know, the light comes in and leaves in a few seconds. Some of my best shots was because of that, that's just happening. I only had one shot and that one moment, just that split second moment. So yeah, it's just a, it is very important to be really educated and really fast with the settings on the camera.

Pat:

I'd like to shift gears for a moment. After your divorce, you packed your life into a Kia and headed towards a dream. What did that leap of faith teach you about starting over and choosing yourself?

Brittany:

Yeah, that's such a good question. Yeah. My divorce, I was at Crossroads really, I was like, either 'cause me and my ex-husband, we had a wedding photography business together. And when our divorce occurred, I lost everything. I didn't even have a camera, I just had to take money on my retirement and be like, all right, I need a camera. But I was literally at Crossroads. I was just like, I can either go back to school, do a different career, or I can continue following my dreams. And the Ansel Adams gallery job came into, uh, how should I say this? It kind of landed in my lap. So the Ansel Adams Gallery job landed in my lab. It brought to, was brought to my attention. And I, I didn't even know if I wanted to apply or not because, you know, I was going through such a traumatizing time and I'm like, man, if I move away, I'm moving away from my support system, my whole family.

Brittany:

But I followed my gut, I followed my intuition, I followed my heart and I went for it. I got rid of all I could get rid of. And then yeah, just brought whatever I could pack in my little Kia Spectra and I drove up there. I didn't know what to expect either. I didn't even, I haven't even been to Yosemite before this. I, I didn't even wanna look at pictures of Yosemite. I did a little research about Ansel Adams. Surprise enough, I didn't even know much about him. after three interviews later, they kind of put you through the ringer there. I landed the job, eventually worked my way up to education coordinator where I was coordinating the whole photography department or the Ansel Adams Gallery. But following my heart and following my intuition and my gut, that will never lead you wrong. Even when creating art, I'm just following my intuition in my gut and it just, it never leads you wrong. And even in life, I look back and I'm like, I'm so happy I don't live in Portland anymore. I'm, I'm really happy where I'm at here in the Sierra. I love being close to the mountains, being close to epic scenery. It's a gift to me.

Pat:

I think any of us who have gone through divorce know exactly what you're talking about. And I can remember that crossroad. I had been married for 17 years and that was a crossroad. And there's a part that is so scary, like I'm walking to nothing. But the fact is, it's not walking towards nothing. It's walking to a whole new chapter based on choosing yourself.

Brittany:

Yeah. It's like you're walking towards yourself.

Pat:

Yeah. Yeah. But at the time it's so scary!

Pat:

So scary. You have to do it. And I can say, as you're saying, it was the best thing I ever did.

Brittany:

It's funny how we can lose ourselves through relationship too. You know, it it's interesting. When I got divorced, I was like, wow, I don't even know who I am anymore.

Pat:

I agree. I don't know what it is about relationship or the routine of everydayness. I don't know how it happened for me. But I did get lost in there. And I have to tell you, after the divorce and everything, I got a little house and I remember the papers were signed, and as I was going into this new little house, I put the key in the lock. And I remember hearing the tumblers turn and it was so loud. It was almost cosmic like, wow. As if it was turning the key and opening the door to possibility when Emily Dickinson says, I dwell in possibility. That's what it felt like.

Brittany:

Yeah. I had the same experience, like just driving to Yosemite.

Pat:

Well, yeah, I can imagine that. It brings me to your work with the Ansel Adams Gallery. How did it feel here? You come out of this situation, you land in this situation of being the gallery that must have felt like standing in the shadow of a giant. How did that experience sharpen your creative voice?

Brittany:

Yeah, it, it was kind of a surreal experience walking into that. And like in Portland, I was hanging out with portrait photographers and walking in and hanging out with landscape photographers was completely different. I was kind of like, whoa, what is this? But also being surrounded every day by beautiful imagery, black and whites. I wasn't much of a black and white photographer before. And, well, Ansel Adams made me into one just by looking at his black and whites and studying them every day. And then going out and teaching students and talking about his work and how you look at his photography and you're just like, wow, I, I could be in that scene. They, they don't look dated to me. You know, they're timeless. They're, they're timeless. Yeah. Black and white, but they're very timeless. And just the quality of them, it's just astounding to get to see originals every single day. And then studying the tonality of them and seeing what worked and what wasn't working. And that I think really helped me become a really good black and white photographer. And a, a lot of landscape photographers will say hands up like black and white photography's hard. And I wondered why they kept saying that. But I think just with my experience of just studying his work really helped me learn pretty quick how to get even a good photograph and then a good edit, and then a good print.

Pat:

What a process! And what an education you gave yourself.

Brittany:

Yeah. I could say my four years in Yosemite was like my four years in photography, school, college,

Pat:

Absolutely. On your website, there's one story that really stood out for me is Sarah Land, a world-class rock climber and brain cancer survivor who wore a flowing red dress while repelling off a cliff in Yosemite for one of your shoots. And that image is unforgettable for someone who had faced death and was now quite literally stepping over the edge. It wasn't just a photo, it was like a reckoning. How did that moment affect you behind the lens?

Brittany:

It was so surreal. It actually gave me goosebumps. Sarah is actually my neighbor, and when I asked her about this project, she was thrilled. She has climbed El Capitan, which is a huge cliff face in Yosemite. If anyone's familiar with Yosemite, you know what El Cap is!

Pat:

Now? For anyone who hasn't been to Yosemite, it is a 3000 foot tall, 1.5 mile wide wall of granite, the largest granite monolith in the world. It's massive, impossible to ignore. And kind of the unofficial queen of the Yosemite skyline.

Brittany:

And she's done that several, several times in her youth. So when she got diagnosed with brain cancer, she had a huge brain tumor. It changed her life. She probably won't ever do the stuff that she was doing before. She'll never climb El Cap again. But that moment when we got her in the harness and she rigged the whole thing, she set up the ropes, built her anchor, everything. And when we got her there in the harness, she's like, wow, this is my first time ever doing it since my brain cancer. I don't even know how she made it through, because she was dealing with nausea ever since she got diagnosed, she's dealing with nausea, so she was like trying to hold back the whole time. But she's just a champ. She lasted about a half hour out there. I admire her so much. Like everything that she's been through and the things that she's capable of doing still with her body, it's just amazing.

Brittany:

And it was surreal for all of us there. Yeah. And she was so grateful that we gave her that experience and I printed that photo for her to give to her mom, and she was just, yeah, I, I feel like that was a turning point for her so that she could prove to herself, yeah, I can actually do stuff, still do some stuff like that, which is so empowering to be part of. And my partner and I had this vision and we're like trying to figure out who would be the perfect person to do it with. I'm like, wait, we live right next to the person who would be, who's done El Cap multiple times. So she was the perfect person to bring along. And plus she's just, she's very, has a beautiful positive energy with life. Oh, that's wonderful. And she brought that through, through the photos. She was just laughing out there and having a good time, even though she was so nauseous. I look up to her in many ways. She's such a strong, capable woman.

Pat:

And earlier when we started this conversation, you mentioned that your mission is to help women embrace parts of themselves that often get dismissed or undervalued in today's culture. When you talk about embracing the feminine, what does that actually mean to you?

Brittany:

You kind of nailed it on the head. When things in our society is so just built around men and, and I feel as women, when I go out into the world, whether I'm photographing or anything I'm doing, I have to dawn on my masculine. And this, I feel these shoots, these Flying Dress Experiences give women a chance just to be completely in their feminine. And to me that means you don't have to put your guard up. You can drop your guard. You can just be yourself. There's, there's nothing holding you back from it. And let your beautiful femininity shine. And I feel like when women like get into dresses, it's just a transition of just really embracing their femininity and letting their beauty and their soul shine through. That was basically my mission with the project.

Pat:

Oh, it's a wonderful mission. And I think you're right. Our culture has long been built around male norms. Your project in contrast really honors and celebrates the feminine. Yeah. There are still male dominated fields, but the tide is turning. More women are now entering medical and law schools than men. And across higher education, they're earning more degrees overall. But in the arts where you'd think there'd be more balance, change has been slow for many years. It was male dominated. And for women to make their way into that world, it was tough. In the eighties, I was carried by a gallery. There were 15 of us, three were women.

Brittany:

Yeah.

Pat:

So I know exactly what you're saying and uh, I'm sure if we talk to any woman in their profession, I think we'd all have war stories.

Brittany:

Oh, totally. Yeah. We could talk about this for hours. And unfortunately that's still happening till this day. Yeah. Galleries are very male dominated. And that was a thing working for the Ansel Adams gallery. I was working with all men and I was like, wow, okay. And I felt like I just had a dawn on my boots and be masculine. And, you know, when I left the gallery I was like, I just wanna embrace my feminine and offer these photo shoots for women so they can do the same.

Pat:

I'd like to talk about your working process, your creative process. So now you've chased light through deserts, mountains, forests, always looking for the moment when something true is revealed. When you're out in these wild landscapes, how do they speak to you? What do you, what do they ask you to remember?

Brittany:

That's a really good question. To remember what it was like to be outside the calmness, the peace that comes with it. The joy, the laughter. I have started photographing landscapes so I can take home with me. Not only the beautiful scenery, but just the feeling behind the photograph. You know, as artists, we want people to look at our art and feel something. We don't just wanna say, oh look, a beautiful photograph. You know, we want them to actually feel, and, and that's what I wanna feel when I go home is like, look at a, an image and be like, wow. Yeah. That, that moment, that time in nature is really important for us humans as we come more digitalized and more inside working in, you know, in cubicles and and offices. It's so important for people to be reminded that we all need to get outside and enjoy nature.

Pat:

It's also about that which is connected to all the animus mundi, that we are all connected. And to be in nature. It's almost like a coming home, if you will, that there's a, a feeling of connectedness to it. And I'm, I'm from Detroit, I'm urban, but in that natural setting, there is something so profoundly moving. Like it's always been.

Brittany:

Yeah, exactly. It's always been there. You go to out in nature and you're like, wow, this tree has been here for a very, very, very long time. This rock has been here for centuries. And I love what you said about connectedness, because I think in today's world we feel so disconnected from each other, but then we can go outside and I have these random experiences with random strangers and it'd be just another photographer out there, or just a random person coming up to me and talking. And we're just connected because we're out there enjoying the same moment. We are not even talking about politics, religion, any of those divisive stuff. We are just focused on enjoying this beautiful sunset together. And we had a beautiful moment together, you know, and we're complete strangers and we'll never see each other again. But that's the power of being in nature.

Pat:

I always think of nature as being this cosmic permission slip to connect . It's like the cosmic, go ahead, come here. Connect, feel connected to each other. It's okay.

Brittany:

And it's like when you walk up to someone in nature, they're not like put off. They're like, oh yeah, you know, they're agreeing with you and you are like just ready to chat. But if you walk up there with someone in the grocery store like that, they look at you like, why are you talking to me? <laugh>? Yeah. I've had that happen several times. 'cause it sometimes I can be a little chatty and, and we're always like, huh? Like, why are you talking to me? But when I do that to, with someone in nature, they're so ready to just engage with you. Yeah.

Pat:

Well, as someone who teaches photography, you've seen all kinds of people step behind the camera, some confidence, some unsure. What have you learned about creativity and courage from your students? And what would you say to someone? They wanna make art, but they don't feel like they're good enough to do that?

Brittany:

I would tell them, how are you to expect yourself to be good enough right away when you haven't even gone and like, made lots of mistakes. Like making mistakes is where your superpower is because then you can learn from your mistakes. Sometimes get really timid students and they're like, oh, I don't wanna make a mistake. I'm like, okay. But mistakes are good. In life, I know in school we're supposed, we were taught and programmed, we need to ace everything and be the best at the best. But mistakes in photography and art is actually a really good thing because then you can learn from 'em and you can grow. Mistakes are great, you know, in your personal life too, because growth is important. But as an artist, I would say just get out there and just make as many mistakes as possible. Who cares? No one else is gonna see them. And you're only judging yourself. So at the end of the day, I always encourage my students like, don't be afraid to make mistake, because that's where you learn the most.

Pat:

Well, it comes back to, uh, our initial conversation about when someone goes through a divorce, you're claiming yourself. Well, mistakes are a way to claim yourself. This was my process, this dead ended. But boy did I learn a lot from that. I think we package mistakes, not as these, oh, I made a mistake, but more as a facet of ourselves. Yet again, another facet to learn from. You talked about the time in your life when you left your marriage and closed the business and started completely over and moved to Yosemite. What did nature teach you about grief and healing during that time?

Brittany:

Oh wow. That's a really good question. What nature taught me during that time was to accept it fully acceptance. Because I feel like I was beating myself up. And, and as you well know, like going through a divorce, you go through waves like of anger and grief and you know, it's a rollercoaster. The best way I can describe it is like, you're grieving a death. It's 'cause you, you know, you were married, now you're apart. You that's, that unit is no longer there. What nature taught me during that time is to just accept how I felt and to be at peace with it. I mean, literally nature was my therapy during that time. It really helped me overcome a lot and fully accept like, yeah, I'm divorced now. This is not what I wanted. My life got turned upside down. But now I'm looking back several years later and realizing that was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Because I wanna trade my life with the world. Nature really showed me that acceptance is so important and accepting myself for who I was at the time. It's very healing.

Pat:

But it also says a lot about you, Brittany, that you were really open to nature, open to that healing that could take place as opposed to closing the windows, locking the doors, so to speak, and not letting anything in. Just because of the life changes that you made. And you said you didn't want those things to happen. There's something to be said about your frame of reference that somehow you allowed yourself to be healed. You allowed nature to be that for you.

Brittany:

Yeah. I mean, how my brain works is usually I look into the future. I'm, I'm a big picture person. I'm like, well, if I don't get this figured out now, then I'm gonna be miserable for the rest of my life. And that basically was my attitude. Even if I didn't even wanna get out bed on my day off in the morning at five o'clock to go photograph sunrise, I still forced myself to do those things because I needed it. I needed that gratification. And I was probably at the point addicted to it during that healing process because I needed that. I needed to get out of bed and get myself out of the slump. I felt the depression I was in, I didn't want that in my life. Nature definitely helped me with that and, and it motivated me. Photography and nature definitely motivated me to get out of bed and do that.

Brittany:

I mean, waking up at four or five every morning,it's hard. And I still struggle with it , but I never regret it. I have those photographs that I captured I wouldn't have captured otherwise. Art is healing as well as artists. I feel we need to encourage the next generation to be artists because there's a whole generation of people that may not have the, the resources. My parents were putting craft tools in my hands at a young age and my, my, I grew up watching my dad paint with oils. So I grew up in an artist household, but not a lot of people get that. That's why I love teaching and I love teaching kids too, because that's encouraging the next generation to really go for it. Art is healing, art is therapy. And we have art that was made a hundred years ago and transcends till this day. And people can look at this beautiful oil painting someone did a hundred years ago and still bring healing to humanity.

Pat:

And now more than ever, we need the artists, the musicians, the writers, the poets, the photographers. We need them all.

Brittany:

Yes.

Pat:

Especially now when everything is polarized and feels so stressful, that healing aspect of art and the power of art to connect. From one generation to the next. Students would say to me, Pat, what is art? Define art. And I think they were expecting this grandiose explanation. And I just said, when you stand in front of a painting and you don't know where your here is and where there begins, that's art. <affirmative>.

Pat:

And I don't care what you're looking at, it could be a beautiful portrait, it could be anything, a photograph or looking at a sunset. There's a poignancy to it that here and there means nothing. It is a total connection.

Brittany:

Yeah. It's exactly. It's a, that connection humans have with art or with music. And it's gonna move people in different ways. Some people could look at my photographs and not feel a thing, but that's okay because the other person will come along and be like, wow, that really moved me. You know, everyone connects with art differently and it's beautiful in a way, you know, we have several amazing artists in this world that yes

Pat:

We do. So you live between intimacy and vastness, portraits and peaks. When you're behind the lens, what are you really hoping to capture before the moment slips away? What is it, Brittany?

Brittany:

The emotion, the emotion of the scene, how I felt during that? Or it could be a completely different emotion, but basically the light leads me to that emotion. 'cause without light, I can't really fully craft it. Photograph. So the light is my paintbrush. And so I'm hoping to portray and take away emotion from it. So like we were going back to the viewer looks at it and actually has a feeling behind it. It's not just, oh, a beautiful photograph of a sunset, but there's actually intention behind it.

Pat:

Funny you should say that, because when I discovered your website, I found your work just so deeply moving. Yes, they were landscapes and portraits, but there was something profoundly moving about them. So when you talk about the emotion as someone who came to your work, not knowing that, it's like, whoa. Yeah. The word that you use, intentionality, the intention in terms of your work, your life's work, photography and teaching. If someone were to describe you, oh, Brittany Colt. Yeah. Brittany's the one that, what would they say?

Brittany:

I, I think they could say a lot of things because I think I confuse a lot of people, honestly, because I am a landscape photographer and a portrait photographer. That actually is rare landscape photographers have more of a, like, I'm scared to photograph people. They don't want anything to do with people while portrait photographers, they just specialize in portraits. So that's a tough question because they could say, well, Brittany Cole, maybe it's the black and whites are what I'm know most known for my black and white photography, the photographs amazing. Black and white photography. That's what someone could say or someone could say. Also, she does amazing portrait work with flying dresses. Yeah. it's a tough question because most photographers are not multifaceted. I mean, Ansel Adams was multifaceted and that's a what a lot of people don't even realize. He's photographed weddings and portraits and you know, he had to make a living somehow. And the money is in the portraits, not in the landscape photography at all. The same way for me, I am trained in both. I love both because even for humans, I look at say, you Pat, and it's like you're a piece of art. You're walking piece of art. And that's what the ability being a portrait artist is. Get to photograph someone and bring out their beauty and their soul. And it's gorgeous. And it's the same with landscape. I'm out photographing a beautiful mountain scene or desert scene. I wanna capture the soul of the landscape.

Pat:

So basically, Brittany Colt, you're a beast. And if somebody wanted to describe, she has an a hunger to get at the truth of someone, the spirit of someone or of some place. And to convey that. And when I say beast, meaning you're fearless, like you go after it. 'cause your work certainly certainly comes through with that passion and poignancy really stunning. Well, Brittany, thank you for sharing your story, your vision and the way you help people see themselves sometimes for the first time. And in the wild. What you're doing is so bold and beautiful and so needed right now. Just thank you for what you do.

Brittany:

Yeah, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it, pat.

Pat:

Oh gosh, I just love hearing your creative process and what you're doing and I'll make sure to put your website in the show notes so folks can find you. Thank you again. And listeners, if you enjoyed today's podcast, please tell your friends and hit subscribe. Thank you and see you next time. Bye.