Top Photographer Jillian Butolph — Top Photographers List

Jillian Butolph is a multi-talented creative based in the picturesque coastal town of Eureka, California. Her journey into the creative world started after she served honorably in the United States Air Force, where she later used her GI Bill to pursue higher education. She earned her BA in Studio Arts from Humboldt State University, specializing in Graphic Design, Photography, and Illustration in 2017.

Hi Jillian! Tell us a little about yourself — when did you first become interested in photography and how did you get to where you are today?

I've always been someone who enjoys creating. As a kid, I was always coloring or crafting something. My passion for photography began to blossom in high school when I purchased my very first camera with Christmas or birthday money back in the early 2000s. It was a clunky, brick-like, point-and-shoot of which the make and model escapes me. This was around the time digital cameras became more popular and affordable for the everyday consumer, and I was excited to own one myself. I mostly played around with it and used it to take pictures of friends and vacations.

I also took a Web Mastering class in high school that combined creating basic HTML websites and editing and creating images in Photoshop. I really enjoyed the editing aspect of photography and incorporating photos into web and graphic designs in this class. This class sparked my interest in pursuing graphic design and photography as a career.

I paused everything creative in my life when I was 19 years old. My parents were kicking me out of the house, and I knew I couldn't put a roof over my head, or continue to pay for college, on a barista's pay. So, I decided to join the Air Force to try to guarantee the best possible future for myself. I was enlisted for six years, which allowed me to earn my GI Bill to pay for college, and I also met my husband Troy in the service.

**Photographer Jillian Butolph**

“Take your camera with you everywhere, especially when you’re first learning. See what calls to you, and shadow a professional as often as you can.”

After serving those six years, I decided to separate from the Air Force to pursue a career change from the IT work I did in the service to a creative one. My goal was to become a graphic designer and/or photographer after earning my degree. During college, I took multiple courses in graphic design, illustration, and photography. I studied both film and digital photography, which gave me a comprehensive understanding of photography, including all the technical aspects of photo equipment and software. I also worked as the campus photographer's assistant and archivist while I was a student, which provided me with valuable insights into how a professional photographer works. I graduated in 2017 from Humboldt State University with a BA in Studio Arts, with an emphasis in Graphic Design, Photography, and Illustration.

After graduating, I've worked as a graphic designer and photographer for a handful of marketing companies, a newspaper, and freelancing. I've done just about every kind of photography from editorial to macro photography. I wanted to challenge myself early in my creative career and find out exactly what kind of photography I enjoy doing the most. I discovered that nature and landscape photography are where I find myself most at home.

What are your favorite subjects or themes to explore through your work?

I really enjoy capturing nature both up close and from afar. I’m lucky to live in such a beautiful and diverse landscape in Humboldt County, CA where the Pacific Ocean meets the vast redwood forests. I hike with my husband to get my landscape shots and mostly grow my flowers and plants in my container garden on my deck for my macro shots.

The lighting and detail on your in-studio macro images of flowers is stunning. What is your typical set up for creating those images?

Thank you! I mostly use natural lighting for my macro shots. I shoot near a window where I use blinds, and sometimes a diffuser, to soften the light coming into the window. If I feel I need additional lighting, I typically rely on a small gooseneck ring light that is adjustable in tone and brightness.

I usually shoot my subjects against a black foam board and rely on a plamp, or flower frog, to hold them in place while I have my Canon 7D MII camera set up on a tripod with a shutter release attached, and a Canon f/2.8L lens on.

Your outdoor nature images have such a range of lighting scenarios that you capture beautifully. What’s your favorite time of day to shoot the coastal scenes? In your experience, what time of day is the best light is for flowers in the wild?

My favorite time of day to shoot outdoors is golden hour or sunset. Those are the most magical times of day, in my opinion, especially for coastal scenes. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so vibrant sunsets are not always guaranteed. However, they are amazing when they happen and are my absolute favorite to capture.

In my experience, the best time of day to capture flowers outside is early morning or early evening. Cloudy days are best because the clouds diffuse the harsh light that might otherwise cause some parts of the flower to be overexposed. It can be especially tricky to capture flowers in a forest where part of the flower is in shade and the rest of it is in bright light. Bringing a diffuser for those situations can help tremendously.

As your career has progressed, how has your aesthetic or subject matter shifted over time?

I’ve delved into a lot of different subjects of photography over the years. I’ve done editorial photography for a newspaper, and street photography as a student. I’ve captured food, product, and lifestyle photography for various clients, and nature/landscape photography as passion projects that have been later used commercially for local businesses and travel marketing.

I’m more focused on my passion projects of capturing nature now more than ever. My photo skills and editing techniques have become more fine-tuned over the years, and my aesthetic has taken on the approach of using my photos for travel marketing or home decor.

What would be your dream creative project or subject to photograph?

I would love to help flower farmers showcase their flowers, help with environmental projects, and capture shots for travel marketing and gardening magazines/companies.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in nature itself, the works of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters such as Monet and Van Gogh, Dutch still life paintings, and Japanese woodblock prints.

If you could only choose one camera body and one lens in your kit, which would you choose?

That is a tough one! If I really could only have one of each, I’d go with my Canon 7D MII camera body with my Canon 18-135mm lens as that combo would allow for me to capture the most amount of subjects without being completely limited. It’s my go-to for landscape shots.

What advice would you give to new photographers who are just starting out?

Try a bunch of things! Take your camera with you everywhere, especially when you’re first learning. See what calls to you, and shadow a professional as often as you can.

What are you working on now and what’s up next for you?

I’m currently taking on a big project where I’m capturing a large variety of flowers I’ve grown myself to make custom DIY still life bouquet photos. Essentially, I’m capturing flowers from their front and side profiles with my macro lens, isolating them from their backgrounds, and converting them to PNGs to be digitally arranged as custom, high-res bouquets that could then be used as a framed photo to decorate a wall of a home, as a greeting card image, or art in some other form. I’m hoping that fellow flower and Dutch still life painting lovers out there will enjoy the final result.

Thanks for sharing with us Jillian! To view more of Jillian’s work, visit her website and check out her collection of images available on Noun Project.

All images courtesy of Jillian Butolph

Jillian Butolph