What do you do when you've had two successful careers — and neither of them is the one you actually love?
For David Hendley, the answer was waking up at 4:30 in the morning to drive to the California coast before work, camera in hand, teaching himself to shoot seascapes in changing light until photography stopped feeling like a hobby and started feeling like a calling.
In this episode, David traces his journey from the NFL to the corporate boardroom to documenting the natural world — and we spend most of our time on the question that sits at the center of his work: what does it mean to have a vision as a photographer, and how do you actually develop one?
David is specific, honest, and genuinely useful on all of it. He talks about finding balance, mood, and simplicity as the three pillars of how he sees. About walking past the same lake 40 times before the image finally revealed itself. About deliberately limiting himself to five exposures on an outing to force intentionality. And about why, if you're not emotionally tied to a photograph, other people will feel that too.
He also makes a case for failure as the best teaching tool a photographer has — something he learned long before he ever picked up a camera.
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In this episode: → Growing up on National Geographic and how those images never left him → How athletic discipline translated to learning photography at 5 a.m. → The three things he looks for in every image: balance, mood, and simplicity → Why vision can't be forced — and how to let it develop naturally → The five-exposure challenge and the power of intentional shooting → Failure as a growth mechanism, from the NFL to the field → Staying true to your vision when commercial pressure shows up
Find David's work at davidspursuit.com and @davidspursuit on Instagram.
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Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction
04:19 – Meet David Hendley
06:24 – From the NFL to the boardroom to the wild
09:24 – National Geographic and the images that never left
10:37 – Going all in: 5 a.m. seascapes before work
13:05 – How athletic discipline translates to photography
19:48 – Why nature? The pull of the natural world
22:40 – Vision: balance, mood, and simplicity
24:35 – How his vision developed (it crept up on him)
28:18 – Advice for finding your own vision
31:40 – Staying true to yourself under pressure
35:06 – Why failure is your best teacher
36:44 – The five-exposure challenge
43:58 – Does vision narrow or open things up?
46:17 – Walking past the same lake 40 times
48:07 – Vision vs. commercial pressure
53:13 – Advice for creatives at a crossroads
57:26 – Useless information: the first televised football game
58:27 – Where to find David's work
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About The Podcast
The Nerdy Photographer Podcast is written and produced by Casey Fatchett. Casey is a professional photographer in the New York City / Northern New Jersey with more than 20 years of experience. He just wants to help people and make them laugh. You can view Casey's wedding work at https://fatchett.com or his non-wedding work at https://caseyfatchettphotography.com
If you have any questions or comments about this episode or any other episodes, OR if you would like to ask a photography related question or have ideas for a topic for a future episode, please reach out to us at https://nerdyphotographer.com/contact