Ironside Photography

10/06/2026

Throwback to an article I wrote that's now 6 years old!

This past weekend marked ten years of me being a full-time professional photographer. There have been ups and downs since 2010, to be sure, but I’ve learned a few things along the way.

09/22/2026

Maybe the burrito was the good luck for the past 8 years. Who’s to say? 🌯😘

Happy fall, y’all.

And thanks again to Novo Studio | Photo + Video

07/15/2026

The is starting to wind down… or ramp up… and it made me think about these photos I took while traveling. Same situation, different humans, different continents. Same spirit. A set from my gallery show “Same Same But Different” that displayed at the Anne Kittrell Gallery at a few years ago.

Image one: children play soccer on a dirt field at sunset in Leh, Ladakh, India, 2017.

Image two: soccer players in San Jose, Costa Rica, play on a public field adjacent to a conteoversial stadium funded by the Chinese government, 2011.

05/15/2026

A long overdue post with some photos of my photos hanging in rooms at in — the most beautiful (and expensive!) hotel in . This was a huge project and the largest sale I’ve made of personal work in my career. 142 rooms, each with a 35x49”ish framed print hanging over the bed. Images of my beloved Ozarks. A lot of work to coordinate and turn into reality, but I’m proud to call it a win. And, an honor to be hung next to the watercolor work of William McNamara. Huge thanks to all involved in making this project happen and for the universe reminding me I can write off the costs of my backpacking trips. 📸🌄

04/29/2026

A rare morning in a new place with some rare April finds. A nesting turkey with 13 eggs; two snails slowly mating; a beautiful creek hike all to ourselves. No tripod and all the green. 🌱💦 //

12/10/2025

The Compton Hotel in Bentonville is now open, so I have a fairly personally important update. Recorded in September on a trip to Minnesota. Cut down to 3min to fit into a reel and spare you my extra “ums” or a chipmunk voice. //

09/03/2025

Well, I guess it was bound to happen sometime.

K I N D E R G A R T E N

Here we go.

05/09/2025

Hey ,

A few people have sent me LinkedIn 'congratulations' messages about my work anniversary. Usually I brush those off. But this one feels (slightly) different. FIFTEEN YEARS!

Fifteen years ago in April, I marched down to the county courthouse and filed for my first sole proprietor certificate. Opened the "business." I was just about to graduate from college. I still had an honors thesis about a neotropical ant-plant mutualism to write. I had no idea what I was doing.

After graduation, I dove in head on. I didn't really make any money for a few years. Luckily, I had family support to buy myself some time, and for that I'm very grateful. I had to teach myself everything about photography and running a business. I wouldn't trade my biology/anthropology degree for anything, but a marketing class or two might've been smart.

Photography has now been my full time income for over fifteen years. (Though people still ask me, "Is this your only job?")

I'm grateful to have had not one but hundreds of "bosses," no true "coworkers" but plenty of colleagues and collaborators and peers, the chance to adventure around the world -- some of it for pay -- and to get to call myself a professional photographer and really mean both of the words. I can support my family, can save for retirement, can take (almost) as many days off a year as I need. I made it through COVID unscathed and stronger by expanding into video. Not all photographers (or creatives in general) survived that time.

This is a long post to say: thank you to everyone who has believed in me, helped me, coached me, forgiven me, and paid me along the way.

Here's some photos I found of me over the years doing what I love while losing a little more hair each day.

xoxo,

Stephen

P.S. -- New commercial work page at Iron Lotus Creative, if you haven't jumped over already!