Mark Christy and Nives Riddles are founders of Camp Trend and Camp By Camp. A year and a half ago, the pair left jobs in the TV and photography world to pursue the lifestyle of traveling full time. They now make a living by creating photo and video content for outdoor brands. Their motto is: Camp. Style. Life.
How do they craft their brand to echo their motto?
1. Surround yourself with those who love what you love. “Our community is made up of people who love to get into the heart of nature and spend nights under the stars. You can learn a lot about yourself when faced with any of the hardships while ‘roughing it,’” says Mark.
2. Adapt and overcome infrastructure challenges. Christy and Riddles do not have a home base. They say, “Creating, running, and growing a content-creation business from the road is both an obstacle and achievement for us. We still have a long way to go in terms of growth; overcoming the challenges of being forever mobile is hard work but, ultimately, the most rewarding part of this whole process.”
3. Adapt and overcome weather/seasonal challenges. “The hardest part about shooting content during the winter is, of course, the reduced daylight hours and colder temperatures. Both require extra-careful planning and preparation but, once that’s achieved, winter offers landscapes and color palettes not seen any other time of the year,” says Riddles.
4. Create content you believe in. “When creating content for Camp Trend, we always make sure that the imagery and writing reflects our own ideals about life outdoors. There is a ton of amazing outdoor content online and it’s important that we are true to our own style. We get obsessed with details and locations while we’re shooting, and I believe that is very important when creating content that is true to ourselves.”
5. Align and motivate from inspirations. The partners say, “It’s always inspiring to see the photographers/cinematographers who are conquering unbelievable feats while also bringing back amazing footage. The documentary “Meru” not only was a huge accomplishment for climbing, but Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk also were able to shoot enough footage for an inspiring film. Thinking of those guys shooting at 20,000 feet in -20°F weather is good inspiration for getting out of the tent on cold dark mornings to go shoot.”
6. Identify trends and position yourself. Christy and Riddles predict that in the coming year more shooters will be adopting smaller camera formats for the ease of portability in the back country and solar power will continue to spike in popularity, as cameras like Sony are able to recharge via USB, and “drones will be everywhere.”
7. Go for it. Final thoughts from the pair: “Here’s a thought that we try every day—figure out what you really want out of life and go do more of that. Otherwise, what’s the point of this whole thing?”
