by Dennis Sabo
Updated November 30, 2023

A Pond Kaleidoscope

Why did you get started in photography?

Photography for me has been a constant progression of personal and professional growth throughout the years.  The journey to me is more important than the “why” as my photographic career basically spans my entire adult life.

After minoring in photography in college, I built a career in underwater photography while owning a marketing company for the promotion of scuba resorts and live aboard yachts throughout the world.  From there my career continued in the newspaper world shooting anything from college sports to lifestyle projects to NASA rocket launches.

My career shifted over to fine art photography in 2004 during a trip to Africa where my vocational passion for photography changed and a light bulb went off. We went during the springtime floods of the Okavango and during that period the colors, textures, and patterns of this aquatic marshland was like a Garden of Eden. It was in Africa that I started playing with color, light, form, and texture.

Alone at Last

African Snow

Ethereal Tarn

How Does Photography Challenge your Perception of Reality?

What makes the photograph stand out is the photographer’s perception of nature, that split second captured in 1 frame of work..  A lot of it happens in my mind and the minds of my collectors might be different. Therefore not every collector will see the same story.

Call it the Art of Seeing, call it feeling things but it is the artist vision of the subject that carries the emotion over to the viewer or collector.

It’s not the technical quality that needs to stand out; it is the artist content and vision behind it.
Ed Weston said it best “Technique is only the means to an end. If my technique is adequate for my seeing, that is enough.”

What Do you consider your strengths as a Photographer?

I challenge myself to capture common subjects that are often overlooked.  With a global community very much focused on environmental impact and fragile ecosystems my artwork captures natural images and color with a perspective people easily miss.  In addition to my magical large scale landscapes, I also purposedly try and capture just a tiny portion of a major subject be it a river, an autumn forest, an ocean beach, a flower or a tide pool so that folks wherever they are from can relate.  I think that’s why my collector base has grown throughout the years.  Everybody sees something that they can relate to from their own area.

In a world of fleeting moments, how do you decide which ones to capture?

While I often sketch scenes prior to a photo excursion to help my conscience while physically at the locale, I never plan a shot per say.  I allow my emotions, the light of the day, the specifics of where I am at and my hopes to instill an emotional reaction with my collector base to steer my photographic eye.

What keeps you inspired?

Happiness is the beginning point to the fuel which is your own inspiration.  If you are happy you will be inspired and your body of work will benefit. I have the honor of seeing my work being loved by collectors each and every day.  That makes me happy!

Golden Lady

Style of Photography

I challenge myself to capture common subjects that are often overlooked and then refine the photograph into an interpretive collage of color, motion, and textures. With a global community very much focused on environmental impact and fragile ecosystems, my artwork captures natural images and color with a perspective people easily miss.

Hillside Blues

Prairie Colors

Waves of Grain

What Do you consider your strengths as a Photographer?

I challenge myself to capture common subjects that are often overlooked.  With a global community very much focused on environmental impact and fragile ecosystems my artwork captures natural images and color with a perspective people easily miss.  In addition to my magical large scale landscapes, I also purposedly try and capture just a tiny portion of a major subject be it a river, an autumn forest, an ocean beach, a flower or a tide pool so that folks wherever they are from can relate.  I think that’s why my collector base has grown throughout the years.  Everybody sees something that they can relate to from their own area.

Describe your Personal Brand

Today light, color and shapes play pivotal roles in my photography. My photographic work today is known for transforming an image into something the viewer can connect with emotionally. Perhaps it is how the subject is bathed in light, perhaps it is the lines of the subject that draws you in, or simply it is an image that the collector enjoys viewing. My interest is in the natural details; how the environment on a particular day, in a particular light, and at a particular moment in time correlates to my personal vision and interpretation of nature.

Playful Tarn

Holding on to Autumn

Wonderland

Wishing Leaf

Tarn Symphony

Share something that people don't usually know about you.

I work very hard to capture the light, motion, and textures of nature. I want my final photograph to put a smile on your face, instill an emotional reaction, or have you keep coming back and saying “Wow; Look at that!

It’s my hope that I accomplish this more times than not. In my free time I continue to think about my next journey and what I can leave this world when I am gone. Good Music and fine wine helps that thought process.

How do you define success?

Success, to me is unattainable. If you ever feel that you are successful than your creative process has ceased and deceased. Like Monet, I constantly think about color as my every day torment and I constantly think where I can push the envelope the next time in the field to create, excite, and entice my wonderful collectors throughout the world.

Something you want your customers to know

I work very hard to capture the light, motion, and textures of nature. I want my final photograph to put a smile on your face, instill an emotional reaction, or have you keep coming back and saying “Wow; Look at that!

It’s my hope that I accomplish this more times than not.

Rockin Out

Sea and Sand

Sabo at the Beach

Dennis is considered to be a master at transforming an image into something the viewer can connect with emotionally. His stunning photography of the natural world captures light and its effect on the landscape. Today light, color and shapes play pivotal roles in Dennis’s photography. Nature while at the forefront of his work Dennis intentionally photographs natural world scenes and abstract subjects so that images are created and enhanced when viewed unique to conventional photography.

Left: Autumn Fireworks and Right: Leafing Impressions

 “Color and Light” while at the fore front of his photography is not his only conscious art play.  Most of his nature imagery is a microcosm of a subject be it an ocean beach, a marsh pond, a pond reflection, etc so that folks emotionally relate to the art work regardless if they are from Vancouver, Arizona, Maine, Florida, or Tennessee.

Says Dennis, “My photographic goal is to evoke an emotional experience for the viewer. Perhaps it is how the subject is bathed in light, perhaps it is the lines of the subject that draws you in, or simply it is an image that you enjoy viewing.  My interest is in the natural details; how the environment on a particular day, in a particular light, and at a particular moment in time correlates to my personal vision and interpretation of nature.“

How do you define success?

Success, to me is unattainable. If you ever feel that you are successful than your creative process has ceased and deceased. Like Monet, I constantly think about color as my every day torment and I constantly think where I can push the envelope the next time in the field to create, excite, and entice my wonderful collectors throughout the world.

One Last Thing

I’ve used quotes from past Masters in my workshops, writing, and articles but I finally have a Sabo quote that I want to leave with the art audience today.

When you’re finally gone from this great earth, Did you do enough to change the landscape (pardon the pun) in your field of work..  And if you can answer-YES… then your spirit should rest easily from now till the end of time. 

All the best to everyone
Dennis Sabo

Authors Biography & Contact Information

Dennis Sabo is an internationally honored photographer specializing in contemporary abstract, landscape, and seascape photography. Dennis's fine art has been included in solo and group gallery exhibitions, commercial installations and private home collections throughout the United States and internationally, and also in books, magazines, and in multimedia worldwide including NOVA, PBS, National Geographic, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Anthology of Appalachian Photographers, and Blue Planet.

 

 

 

 

Contact: Email
Web site: www.dsabophoto.com