While we love talking about BFOP any chance we get, this episode of The Camera Life podcast was to talk about Matt Krumins and his journey as a visual creative and savvy business owner.
Matt's journey began as a kid who loved technology, and straight out of school, he worked in videography for large-scale stage events and productions. Throughout the early stages of his career, he discovered the need for photography to accompany his videography work. As a young adult, Matt became heavily involved in scuba diving and quickly turned his love of underwater photography into an ambassadorship for the underwater division of Olympus (OM Systems). With a passion for nature photography, Matt loves the uniqueness and ever-changing dynamic scenery of the natural world. Matt’s career blossomed as he broadened his skillset and mixed-media approach to cover multiple genres and a commercial mindset. Matt has a keen eye and a sharp mind for running a successful photography and videography business. An interesting point Matt made during our chat was that despite a 20-plus-year career, he is just starting to feel like things are settling down to a new normal level. One where, as a business owner, he can drop the ever-present feeling that problems must be resolved.
“My passion in photography lies in wildlife, underwater as well as anything nature based and I’m proud to say that in my career I was awarded an Olympus Underwater Ambassador role in 2016 and won the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the year in Monochrome in 2022. I believe that everyone has the ability to create beautiful images with the right advice and a focus on simplicity.”
Matt is more than a nature photographer with a good eye for light. With a career spanning over 20 years, Matt has a proven track record in his multi-faceted approach to running a highly successful photography business and brand. Throughout his career, Matt’s highlights include a role as a photographic brand ambassador, government tourism photographer and trainer, and a standout winner for the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the year in Monochrome in 2022. One of the most impressive elements of Matt’s craft is his passion for educating and supporting other visual creatives. Putting aside BFOP, Matt imparts his knowledge through a seemingly endless range of local and international photography tours, workshops, and creative masterclasses. Matt’s workshops cover everything from street photography in the heart of Melbourne (Australia) to photographic big game on the plains of Africa. What’s most impressive is that if you look at Matt’s socials, he seems to always be out day and night with a camera in hand for one reason or another. He is always on the go. The man does not sleep!
“My photography workshops put the focus on real learning rather than simply getting pretty pictures, they are about showing you a different way of seeing things and giving you practical tools to capture the world around you.”
Justin and I first met Matt in the lead-up to BFOP 2024. BFOP is the highly acclaimed Bright Festival of Photography held in the regional Victorian (Australia) town of Bright. Matt and his partner in crime, Nick Fletcher, are the brains behind the BFOP experience. I had always heard of BFOP but had never been able to attend the three-day festival of photography workshops and events. We decided to get Matt on The Camera Life podcast (Episode 27) leading up to the highly anticipated festival - one of our best decisions! Before we knew it, we were booking our BFOP Workshops live on the podcast, and a couple of months later, we were arriving in Bright to one of the best photography experiences of my life! It’s funny how things work out sometimes. Since that first meeting, Justin and I have continued to follow Matt’s work and, of course, all things BFOP.
We will have Matt back on The Camera Life podcast more as we close in on BFOP 2025 - held in October. Team Lucky Straps is making plans and getting excited for our return to BFOP this year. If you’re unfamiliar with The Camera Life Podcast, be sure to take a look at our YouTube channel for the latest episodes and, of course, our back catalogue of weekly shows. Our shows are also available on popular audio podcast platforms. If you like what you see, please give us a thumbs up, subscribe to The Camera Life, and click on the bell icon to receive notifications of upcoming shows. We host two shows weekly, the first being every Thursday at 9am AEDT (Australia), where we interview amazing guests. The second show, The Random Photography Show, airs every Monday at 7:30 pm AEDT. The Random Photography show is a little random, a little loose, and a lot of fun! Be sure to check them out.
Find Matt:
