Jess McGlothlin Travels

Updates on travels, adventures and news from Jess McGlothlin Media.

Jess McGlothlin Media

Reflecting Back—and Looking Forward

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Aerial image of Kimberley Coastal Camp, Australia.The sun is setting on an interesting year and a pretty fantastic decade. Feeling overwhelming gratitude for the editors, clients, guides, outfitters, lodges, anglers, and everyone who I’ve met along the way. Ten years ago I certainly wouldn’t have foreseen the adventures of the past decade. It’s been a lot of fish species, some interesting interactions with customs agents around the world, and many nights sleeping in random places.

Here’s to an exciting 2020, and more adventures in the coming decade! Excited to see what lies ahead.

Image: Pink light at Kimberley Coastal Camp, Australia, October 2019.

Talking Packing Lists With Men’s Journal

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Woman fishing on boat with fly rod in northern Australia in saltwater. Article for Men's Journal.
Really excited to see this piece go live in Men’s Journal this morning!

I’m definitely a minimalist when it comes to packing clothing and personal items on a trip. The less clothes, the more space for fishing and camera gear. But a short packing list means each item has to perform double (or more!) duty. Each piece has to be dependable, durable, and functional in a variety of climates and conditions. And it has to be comfortable—the last thing I want to be worrying about when on assignment is that my clothing is going to fail.

Packing list for outdoor adventure photographers on Men's Journal. Photo of packs bags and camera bags.

I outlined a few of my “ride or die” pieces in this article, and included a few new favorites, too. This trip to Australia involved two very different climates—up to 110F in the northern part of the country, and less than 20F (plus wind chill!) in the Tasmanian highlands. I also had 14 different flight legs in 17 days, so traveling heavy wasn’t an option. So read the article to see a few of the pieces I lived in on this trip; what makes the grade. Most of these pieces are already on my packing list for January 2020 projects!

Thanks to the team at Tourism Australia and all the fantastic Australians up north and in Tasmania who showed me around, took the time to tell me their stories, and shared their rivers and seas. It takes a team like that to pull off a busy shoot like this one—and things went swimmingly!

Photo of Patagonia waterproof backpack while fishing in Australia. Packing list article on Men's Journal.

Story for Chi Wulff: An Odd Anniversary

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Girl riding white horse through a field in Montana at the Event at Rebecca Farm.

Sometimes we go back to the beginning.

And sometimes anniversaries sneak up on us. This July marked my tenth year as a working photographer, and I had to go back to where it all started. (Ironically, it wasn’t very far away.)

You can read the full story on Chi Wulff, but here’s an excerpt:

They say a lot changes in a decade. I guess they’re right.

This past weekend I passed a funny rite of passage: ten years behind the camera. A decade ago, my dad (Mark, here on Chi Wulff) and I drove from our respective lodgings in Bozeman to Missoula, months of hard-earned cash tucked carefully in my pocket, to buy my first DSLR camera. The target was a Canon 5D Mark II; one that now, ten years later, still travels with me on large shoots as a back-up camera. At that point in time, my grocery budget was a generous $50 / month; the rest of my funds going into a camera fund.

Rather ironically, I now live in Missoula, finding myself back in Montana after living around the U.S. and abroad. Life’s funny that way.

Fortunately, my grocery budget is somewhat increased.

In July of 2009, after parting ways with what seemed at the time an unspeakable amount of money, we piled back in the truck and headed to my childhood home, Montana’s Flathead Valley, to photograph the prestigious equestrian show The Event at Rebecca Farm. (The return made even more ironic that I rode in the event nine years prior.) I hiked across…

Read the full story on Chi Wulff.

Podcast: Backcountry Mini-Series with the Element

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I had so much fun chatting with K.C. Smith and Tyler Jones—the team behind The Element Podcast—a few weeks ago for this recording. I first ran into these two Texas hunters at a conservation event in Montana, and have since enjoyed following along with their adventures (give their Instagram a follow!). Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

In this podcast, we talked about travel, photography, gear, hunting and all kinds of outdoor goodness. From backcountry bivy camps to tales of escapes in the South Pacific, this was a fun one! Give it a listen, and let me know what tips were useful—and what you’d like to learn more about.

Telling the Story: Gear Junkie Nod

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It was quite a pleasant surprise to glance through the web on Friday and find this extremely kind feature from Gear Junkie. Extremely flattered to be featured in this round-up of women in the sporting world, and especially for the kind words that closed the section:

“Gender be damned, because McGlothlin isn’t simply one of the best female photographers in the outdoor industry — she’s one of the best overall.”

While I try to fly under the radar as much as possible on the personal press side—I’d rather tell the stories of other people, not my own—It was such a nice surprise. Thanks once more to everyone who supports this work… here’s to more adventures coming up!