Andrew Hertel Photography - Images from Nature

06/04/2026

I’m excited to finally share something new.

Over the past several years, Death Valley has become one of my favorite places to photograph, especially in black and white. The scale of the landscape, the texture, the shifting light, and the quiet details hidden throughout the desert make it a place that constantly invites me to slow down and see differently.

This January, I’ll be hosting a new small-group workshop built around that idea.

The Death Valley Black and White Workshop is designed to go beyond post-processing and explore how to create stronger photographs through light, shadow, texture, composition, shape, form and learning to see before pressing the shutter.

Over four days together we’ll spend time both in the field and back at our hotel reviewing images, discussions, and conversations around the art and vision behind black and white photography.

🗓 January 4–7, 2027
👥 Limited to 3 participants
🏨 Single occupancy lodging included
🚙 Transportation within Death Valley included

For more information and to register https://www.andrewhertel.com/deathvalleyblackandwhite

05/25/2026

Every Memorial Day I think about what it actually means to give everything. Walking through Fort Rosecrans on a foggy morning makes it real.

We remember you today, and we are grateful.

05/12/2026

~The Arch Within~

Slot canyons never get old and will always amaze me.
The walls curve and fold in ways that don’t feel real, smooth sandstone layered with lines and texture that took millions of years to carve. The light inside moves constantly, catching the ridges, sliding into the shadows, pulling the patterns in and out as it shifts.
This scene stopped me in my tracks, made me smile, and I knew I had to create an image of it. The arch forming in the middle of the frame is rare in slot canyons, and with the light hitting it just the way it was, I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
This was day two of the Utah Wild workshop with myself, and , deep in a small canyon in Southern Utah that most people haven’t found yet. Watching the group experience the magic of a slot canyon for the first time, hearing them go quiet and then try to find words, that was its own kind of reward and one of the reasons I love teaching workshops so much.
Can’t wait to bring next year’s group back.

04/27/2026

I recently published a new Journal entry on my website.

It’s about a recent experience where the same photograph took first place at Yosemite Renaissance and didn’t make it past the first round in another competition.

It led me to reflect on competitions, judging, and what actually matters when I’m out making photographs.

You can read it here:

A personal reflection on winning and losing photography competitions, and what truly matters when creating meaningful, emotional work.

04/26/2026

Day one at Little Italy is in the books, I’m back at it tomorrow from 10-5. My booth is on Beech just west of India. If you’re in San Diego, come on down and say hi, and bring a friend or two 😉

04/21/2026

A new image for my Aeolian Dunes series. This image was made during my winter workshop in a remote section of Death Valley. These quieter moments are everywhere out there if you’re willing to slow down and look.
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04/14/2026

Some trips are about the miles.

This one is about the story.

Seth Hamel and I are excited to officially announce the Death Valley Moto Photo Expedition, a four-day backcountry ride through one of the wildest landscapes in the American West.

This is not a typical photo workshop, and it’s not just another motorcycle trip.

We’ll spend four days riding remote dirt roads, camping under desert skies, and exploring places that most visitors to Death Valley never experience. Along the way, we’ll help you create stronger still images, better video, and a more meaningful visual story of the journey itself.

This workshop is built for riders who want the full experience: the ride, the camp, the landscape, and the creative process that turns it all into something lasting.

We’re keeping this one intentionally small with only 6 riders.

If this sounds like your kind of adventure, applications are now open through the link in bio.

04/07/2026

~Rooted in the Rush~
Upper Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park

Some places are so familiar you think you already know how to see them.

Yosemite Falls has a way of making you stop, crane your neck upward, and take in the sheer force of it.

But standing along the path toward Lower Falls, I found myself looking past the obvious grandeur and into the smaller pieces within the scene.

The volume of water coming off Upper Yosemite Falls was incredible for this early in the season, and this little tree rooted into the granite became the detail that brought everything together.

I shared the full story behind this image in my latest Journal entry, The Force of Familiar Places. Link in bio.

03/23/2026

~Traces of Life No. 7 – Fox Tracks, Eureka Dunes~

The Eureka Dunes are massive, some of the tallest in North America, and getting out there in the afternoon you’re usually alone with the silence. This day there was no wind at all.
About two hours before sunset the light came in at a low angle and caught just a narrow strip of the dune face. The contrast was harsh and clean, bright sand against deep shadow with almost nothing in between.
Then I noticed the tracks. A kit fox had crossed that exact strip of lit sand, and the ripples in the surface held every impression cleanly.
I was in the right place at the right time. But I also knew what I was looking for.
This is part of my ongoing Traces of Life series, animal tracks in harsh environments, where the evidence of life shows up quietly against the landscape.

03/18/2026

Fresh tracks and a whiteout. That was the morning.
Near the top of Canyon Overlook, this juniper was the only thing standing. The storm had swallowed the canyon completely — no walls, no depth, just the tree and the snow it was carrying.
Zion in winter is something else.