Art & Life with Arien Cronk

Today we’d like to introduce you to Arien Cronk.

Arien, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Photography has been a part of my life for a long time. I received my first camera when I was around the age of 13 as a gift from my mother after my older sister had gotten one a few months prior. Being the younger brother and wanting to be just like her, of course, I had to have one too. Since that moment I have had a love for the art of photography. There have been times during the years that photography lost my interest for a while, but I always came back to it.

When I was around 17 years old that I bought my first DSLR camera, this was a whole new world because now the camera had manual controls and interchangeable lenses. I taught myself everything I know about photography from watching countless video tutorials on YouTube and reading endless articles about photography online. I did take a few photography college courses, but by that time I had already known what they were teaching in the intro classes. The amount of educational information available online in this day and age is incredible. You have so many resources at the tips of your fingers.

Fast forward a few more years and a good friend of mine had gotten engaged and asked me to do engagement photos for her. Having never done that type of photography before, mainly sticking to nature photos, I was very hesitant to do them. After a lot of back and forth I finally agreed to do them for her, and to my surprise, they came out great. Since then it kind of snowballed where I started doing photo shoots for family and friends and then eventually other people started reaching out to me to do photoshoots for them as well. Then right after college, I got an internship that turned into a paid job soon after with a local wedding photographer/ videographer. After I left that job, I started booking weddings of my own.

During this whole process of transitioning into doing portrait work my main passion of photography still remained with landscape photography. I looked at portrait photography as a way to make money while also loving the fact that I was capturing memory’s for people to look back on for the rest of their lives. But landscape and nature photography was what I was truly passionate about and what I did for fun. I grew up in New York right outside of the Adirondacks. My passion for photography and the outdoors went hand and hand.

When I was 26, I decided to travel alone for the first time ever and take a six week trip to Hawaii just to focus on photography and to have an adventure. That trip changed my life in so many ways. It taught me a lot about myself, what I was capable of, and that there was so much more to the world than my little bubble back in New York. When I returned, I knew I wanted to live somewhere that was warm year round and to get out of New York. I did a lot of traveling in the next two years to both seek a potential place to move to and just to explore. I visited California, Florida, Canada and lots of states nearby. But I ultimately decided that the next place I was going to make a home was in Florida.

I’ve only been here in Florida for a little over two months so far, and I’m excited to see where my story goes next!

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I’m a photographer who does both landscapes and portraits, but landscape photography is my true passion in life. It’s what drives me as a person and what has lead to me where I am today. I’m truly passionate about capturing the beauty of this world. I mainly take photos during the golden hour, for those who may not know the golden hour is an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset. I love the way the warm light can transform a landscape. I hope that my photography inspires people to get out more and to explore new areas both close and far away.

I’ve also been working with brands/ company’s doing product photography as well. It’s something new that I’m getting into, but I have been loving it so far. I take photos of their products in natural environments. The use of photographing in natural light and beautiful environments enhances the products I work with. It’s another way for me to be creative and help showcase someone’s product. I’m always looking for new ways expand my work and to push myself creatively.

What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Honestly, social media is the best way to connect with other artists in today’s world. I’ve met so many amazing people through Instagram. I’ve worked with models that I’ve met through Instagram, met up with other photographers to shoot with, and just chatted with people about photography through the app. I always try to help when I can, I’ve had many people reach out to me with questions about photography or looking for advice, and I always reply to everyone.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
The two main places that I post my work online are Facebook and Instagram. On Facebook, I have a business page that I post my portrait work on and my Instagram I post my landscape, nature, travel, etc. photos. The best way to support my work would be to book a photo shoot with me (or recommend me if someone is looking for a photographer), to buy one of my photos as a print, or just follow me on social media!

Contact Info:

• Email: ariencronk@gmail.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ariencronk
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ariencronk

Image Credit:
Arien Cronk

Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.