Liza Gershman
Best-Selling Author and Winner of the Gourmand Cookbook Award (2018), Liza Gershman has nearly two decades of industry experience working in all facets of Commercial and Editorial photography and writing, including 12 published books and hundreds of newspaper and magazine stories. She specializes in Lifestyle, Food, and Travel. Her passion for people, culture and cuisine, has taken her to more than 51 countries and 47 U.S. States during her career.
Her 12th book, Cuban Flavor, has garnered many accolades, and has been featured on CBS, in National Geographic, Travel & Leisure, Budget Travel, NPR and many additional local and national publications and radio shows. Liza was honored to speak for Talks At Google, and on the prestigious campuses of Twitter, Oracle, and Disney to name a few.
As a photographer and Art Director, she regularly teaches, writes and presents for celebrated companies: Creative Live and Canon USA. She was honored to nationally launch the 6D for Canon, and the T6. Prior to that she worked as the in-house Senior Digital Photographer for Williams-Sonoma and continues to freelance for clients such as Goldman Sachs, Hyatt Hotels, Restoration Hardware, Safeway, Party City, Getty Images, AirBnB, Visa. In 2010, Liza was Governor Jerry Brown's campaign photographer, and in 2014 was a photographer for the RedBull Youth America's Cup.
She has been a regular contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle Travel Section, writing tips on top destinations for a monthly column called “5 Places”, and continues to write about travel, food and culture in articles and book form.
Many of Liza’s notable clients include celebrity chefs, restaurants, wineries, beverage brands, fashion brands, spas and hotels.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beauty. Peace. Serenity
3 things Nature taught you?
How to go into my inner self
How to be still
How to observe
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Russian River in Sonoma County
The beaches of Nantucket
The open skies of Wyoming
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Introspective
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Grounded and most like myself
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Lucky to be part of the world, inside of a painting
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited! I love a great storm as long as everyone is safe
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like getting under covers
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest and lakes first, then ocean, then desert, but I love all of it!!!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Canoeing down the river. That's my happiest activity. Smelling the ferns and mint and redwood trees all around.
Clyde Butcher
Clyde Butcher is an American large format camera photographer known for wilderness photography of the Florida landscape. He began his career doing color photography before switching to large scale black-and-white landscape photography after the death of his son. Butcher is a strong advocate of conservation efforts and uses his work to promote awareness of the beauty of natural places.
In 1992, PBS aired a documentary about him, Visions of Florida, which won a Wolfson Award.
Butcher and his work has also inspired other artist-conservationists, such as film producer Elam Stoltzfus, who was struck by Clyde's art. The pair have formed a friendship over the years and have collaborated on several multimedia projects together as a result. Butcher hosted the documentaries "Big Cypress Swamp: The Western Everglades" and "Kissimmee Basin: The Northern Everglades," sister films that highlighted the importance of conservation and art in the state of Florida.
His photographs have been exhibited in many museums across the world. He received in 1998 the Florida Artist Hall of Fame Award, the Ansel Adams Award from the Sierra Club in 2000, the Wolfson Telly Award in 2004, the North American Nature Photography Association Lifetime Achievement Award in Nature Photography and the Florida International University Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2005, the Distinguished Artist Award from Florida House Embassy Washington, DC in 2012, the Biff Lampton Conservation Communicator of the Year Award - Florida Wildlife Federation in 2013, and the Voice of the Arts Award - Naples International Film Festival in 2016. In 2004, Clyde was named Top 100 Most Influential People in Florida.
3 words to describe Nature?
Primeval. Beautiful. Healthy
3 things Nature taught you?
Peace
Beauty
Connectiveness
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Big Cypress National Preserve
Redwood
Yosemite
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
As Capt’n Jack says, “Give me the horizon.” I get a sense of the possibilities of adventures that lay beyond, and the need to sail away fills my soul. (We raised our kids on a sail boat, so I did sail away for a while, but still the freedom of it lingers in my heart)
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
An ancient forest humbles me and makes me feel one with the world.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
The only live volcano I’ve seen is Mt. Reiner. I was not ready for the power and energy vibrating off that mountain. It was both humbling and amazing.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
When they are the pastel sunsets of a tropical summer, I feel at peace…rested and satisfied. When they are the bright red sunsets of winter there is a feeling of expectation in the air.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
I feel the power of nature and wonder at the hubris of humans to think they can control anything.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Mostly, I want it to stop so I can take a photograph. But when you ask about HOWLING wind, I immediately think hurricane, and then, of course, I just want it to be over.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I love both the ocean and the forests. If I could think of a perfect place to live it would be on a beach with the ocean in front of me, and a forest of palms and tropical trees behind me.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
TEN
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
The first time I saw a redwood tree and came to realize it was alive before Christ was born, I was humbled. There really weren’t words to describe how I felt. All I could think was, “How much did this tree see? What all has it gone through?”
Shari Sant Plummer
Environmental philanthropist and ocean activist Shari Sant Plummer is President and co-founder of Code Blue Charitable Foundation, Secretary/Trustee of the Summit Charitable Foundation, founding board member of the Sylvia Earle Alliance, board member of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and former Vice President of Seacology. Shari is also a member of the Ocean Unite Advisory Board, WWF National Council, and Nature’s Best Photography Advisory Council. A proponent of impact photography and filmmaking, she served as board chair of the International League of Conservation Photographers for five years and is currently an affiliate.
In addition to her philanthropic work, Shari also produces documentary films including the Emmy award-winning Netflix documentaries “Mission Blue” (Executive Producer), and “Chasing Coral” (Associate Producer). She is also Executive Producer on the award-winning films “Anote’s Ark,” “Sharkwater Extinction,” and “Ghost Fleet.”
A graduate of NYU, Shari worked as Senior Stylist and Design Director for Ralph Lauren in New York for nine years, then as Visual Director at Esprit. She later founded the environmental lifestyle store, Worldware, in San Francisco in 1994. She sold the business in 2001 and now devotes herself full-time to conservation work, with a focus on producing impact media to inspire change.
An avid diver, photographer and ocean activist, Shari travels extensively throughout the world promoting ocean conservation and environmental awareness and lives in New York and California with her husband Dan and their dog Brody.
3 words to describe Nature?
Miraculous. Humbling. Fragile
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect
Love
Resilience
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Cocos Island, Costa Rica
Millennium Atoll, Kiribati
Our farm in the Catskill Mountains, New York
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Curious, energized, alive!
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Comforted it’s still there!
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Afraid and exhilarated
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Reverent awe
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Apprehensive.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
..like diving under the covers!
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Definitely ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Is this a trick question? More than 10!
Share with us a childhood nature memory.
Body surfing is a tradition in my family, so at an early age, I regularly braved the icy waves in Santa Cruz, where we had a beach house.
I would run intrepidly into the frigid sea, dodging the crushing turbulence of the waves by diving deep beneath them. I loved the feeling of the oceans power passing over me, almost as much as the thrill of catching a ride!
One day after diving through several waves, I surfaced to realize there were no more waves coming. I had inadvertently moved into deep ocean and was now caught in a riptide which was rapidly pulling me out to sea! I was alternating treading water and trying to swim back to shore when a vigilant stranger noticed and swam out to rescue me.
Though It was a frightening experience, it didn’t deter me from continuing to spend long summer days salty and sunburned in the waves, nor did it diminish my love for all thing’s ocean. But, it was a valuable lesson in humility, and in respect for the ultimate power of nature.
Andrew Zuckerman
Andrew Zuckerman is a photographer, filmmaker, creative director, and curator. In 2019 he co-founded The Slowdown, a media company focused on culture, nature, and the future. Much of his work is concerned with the intersection of nature and technology. His immersive investigation of the natural world has produced multiple books and exhibitions collected in three volumes Creature(2007), Bird(2009), and Flower(2012). A year-long curatorial residency at Chamber Gallery NY, spanning four exhibitions of design and art that bring nature into the living environment, and an installation for the windows of Barneys NY commissioned by Dries Van Noten are invitations to the public to consider nature in new ways. Most recently, he worked with the California Academy of Sciences as their 2016 Osher Fellow creating a body of work about the Twilight Zone, a relatively unexplored depth of the oceans.
Andrew’s precise and determined images create unique correlation points between the viewer and the subject. His works, often at life scale, have been exhibited and acquired by public institutions and private collections. Andrew’s ongoing portrait practice utilizes both photography and filmed interview formats to examine human perspectives. With the support of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he released Wisdom in 2008 as a book, a feature-length documentary film, and a global traveling exhibition. Over 50 individuals from across disciplines participated in the project, including Nelson Mandela, Andrew Wyeth, Jane Goodall, and Madeline Albright. Following Wisdom, Zuckerman expanded this series to musicians including Iggy Pop, Ornette Coleman, Yoko Ono, and Herbie Hancock for the Music film and book. Andrew’s narrative film work includes directing High Falls, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded Best Short Film at the Woodstock Film Festival the same year as well as producing a feature documentary on the musician Bill Withers, Still Bill, which premiered at the 2009 SXSW film festival. Zuckerman’s books have been translated into numerous languages and published in 18 international editions.
Andrew has collaborated extensively for many brands as a photographer, filmmaker, interviewer, and creative director. Designed by Apple in California, a book released in 2016, was the result of a multiyear commission exploring 20 years of Apple design. From 2008-2017 Andrew served as Executive Creative Director of Creature Pictures, a boutique production company he founded, which worked on numerous media projects for Apple. In May 2019 Andrew co-founded The Slowdown, a multi-platform media company to explore culture, nature, and the future.
Andrew donates time and resources to a number of not-for-profits, having created media for One, the ACLU, Starving Artist, Red, and United Way. He currently serves on the board of the Children’s Museum of Arts in New York City. Andrew lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
3 words to describe Nature?
Living. Self. Interdependence.
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Rhythm
To slow down
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My body
The Hudson Valley
New York City
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Connected
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Protected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Cautious
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Reset
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Anxious
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Curious
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I have vivid memories of long walks through the grassy fields, under the buzzing power lines in suburban Maryland, wondering what it was like before the houses were built and the foreboding steel structures were needed to keep them on life support. I’ve always been interested in that intersection of industry and nature.
Michael Shainblaum
Michael Shainblum is a landscape, timelapse and aerial photographer based in San Francisco, California. He has been working professionally as a photographer and filmmaker for 11 years since the age of 16. Michael first made a name for himself through his unique creativity and the ability to capture scenes and moments in his distinct style of surreal, visual story telling. A dedication to challenging the boundaries of creativity, as well as a flair for coming up with unique ideas, has since resulted in this dynamic visual artist being commissioned by large clients including Nike, Samsung, Facebook, LG, Apple and Google. You will also be able to find Michael's work published widely by media outlets such as National Geographic, Wired Magazine and The Weather Channel.
3 words to describe Nature?
Majestic. Unpredictable. Therapeutic
3 things Nature taught you?
How to truly appreciate the world we live in and just how much we need to protect it.
It has given me a sense of purpose in my life to be honest, through my photography and my art.
It had also taught me to appreciate the little things in life and to drown out the daily struggles. Laying down for a nap in the Sand Dunes, or enjoying the reflection of a mountain in a lake, these moments have helped me through some tough times.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Just my most recent nature spot I have been too. Each place is special and I feel like my most recent trips are the ones I have fresh memories about capturing.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At home, I grew up by the ocean and I do not think I could live far from it.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Adventurous, nothing like a good hike through the forest.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Conflicted, so much powerful, yet devastating beauty.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
I have been shooting sunrise for over a week now here during winter in Utah and it has been bone chillingly cold. Yet every time I wake up and get to witness that beautiful morning light, it is worth it. I suppose it makes me feel fulfilled.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited, I absolutely love capturing and witnessing lightning strikes.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like hopefully the timelapse camera I have set up is not going to blow over :P
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean just based on how I grew up, but I love capturing everything. The desert is my favorite at the moment, with all the incredible shapes, colors and textures.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10, I have dedicated my life now to capturing the beauty of nature and I would not have it any other way.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Funny enough I was never fully able to appreciate nature as a kid. I mean I went to the park and to the beach. But camping and hiking came a bit later on in my life during college. My family never had the ability to travel and the outdoors was never something that interested them. I found my appreciation of being outdoors through photography and I am so appreciative of that.
Chris Burkard
Chris Burkard is an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, and author. Traveling throughout the year to pursue the farthest expanses of Earth, Burkard works to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature, while promoting the preservation of wild places everywhere.
Layered by outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects, Burkard is known for images that are punctuated by untamed, energized landscapes and peak moments of adventure. He has accumulated an audience of over one million followers to become a globally recognized social influencer.
Burkard is often central in synthesizing the creative projects he is involved in, across stakeholders. His holistic and visionary perspective has earned him opportunities to work on global, prominent campaigns with Fortune 500 clients, appear as a TED speaker, develop specialty product lines, teach national and international photography workshops and publish a collection of books, including a children’s book. Along with his team, Burkard is based out of his full-scale production studio and art gallery near his hometown in Central Coast California.
At the age of 30, Burkard has established himself as a global presence and influencer, accomplishing a prolific portfolio, connecting people from around the world and producing some of the most recognized creative work of our time.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Vast. Wild.
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience
Freedom
Joy
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Yosemite
Highlands of Iceland
Pacific Ocean
I owe a lot to each of these places.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Disbelief. . . I cant even believe they are real. Did a trip flying around the volcanos in the Aleutian Chain. Still think I'm coming down from that experience..
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Excited, most of my favorite moments of my life have occured in that 30 minute window before and after sunset!
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed. Time for a good book.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
I don’t enjoy wind. It’s the most jarring of the elements. I'm more tired after being outside in the wind all day then if it was raining, sunny, or snowing.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
The ocean will always be where I am most comfortable. I grew up in a small beach town on the California coast more known for it's clam chowder then waves but I spent my whole childhood in the ocean. It will always be an important part of my life.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9. Only thing above is my family.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I was lucky enough to grow up on the central coast of California which lends itself to a life lived outdoors. My first memory of being outdoors is for sure days spent on the beach with my family in Pismo. That’s where my fascination with the ocean began and why I started trekking up and down the coast in search of waves, which eventually led to searching along coastlines around the world!. I remember my mom paddling me out on a boogie board pushing me off into the water and saying the ocean is your friend. I was always scared but I loved the beach.
Michele Benoy-Westmorland
MICHELE BENOY-WESTMORLAND is a freelance photographer represented by Getty, Corbis, and other major agencies. She is a Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers and The Explorers Club. In 2001 she was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame. In 2015, she received the NANPA Fellows Award. She has won several awards, including the Environmental Photography Invitational, Photo District News, and the PNG Underwater Photo Competition. Her work has appeared in Outside Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, Outdoor Photographer, Scuba Diving, and many other conservation, outdoor, and underwater magazines. She is currently directing her first documentary “Headhunt Revisited”, the story of Caroline Mytinger, an American portrait painter best known for her paintings of indigenous people in the South Seas during the late 1920s.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awakening, spiritual, renewing
3 things Nature taught you?
Humbleness, respect, patience
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea; Cape Nelson, Papua New Guinea; the mountains & forests of the Pacific Northwest
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
You now are asking the right person! Peaceful, joyful and sometimes sadness in respect to the condition of our ocean environment
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
I feel much the same about the forests as I do the oceans.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Awe, amazement, admiration
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Joyful, thankful, restful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Amazement, wonderment, sometime surprised with a touch of fear
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel?
Since I lived in Miami during Hurricane Andrew, howling winds always make me feel a little stressed and careful about being outdoors.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Spending time camping in beautiful forests with my family