Artisan Outdoor: Dylan Jones
Dylan is a talented photographer, videographer, snowboarder and mountain biker. He has also been a relentless tester for Schusser Threads apparel for the last few years. In this article, he discusses with us how his career has evolved and the journey to create through every season.
Hi there! Could you introduce yourself and what you do for the readers?
My name is Dylan Jones, I'm an outdoor enthusiast based in Jindabyne, NSW. In the winter, I'm one of the Terrain Park supervisors for Thredbo Resort, and in Summer I'm a part of the MTB trail crew. Essentially I work with a team of people year round that manipulates snow and dirt in creative ways to build things for people to ride. In my spare time I'm in the backcountry with a camera and you can usually find me in resort shooting people riding the things that we build.
Dylan on the NSW Main Range at sunset in the 3L Sphagnum Shell.
What has your career path been like so far? What drew you to photography and videography?
Honestly, my career path has been far from a straight line, from bricklaying in my teenage years to wildlife touring guiding in Canada and then trimming hedges for the rich in Adelaide. But I suppose once I'd entered the snow industry I got exposed to different styles of filming and photographing. We'd be watching snowboard movies and edits everyday and just imagining that that would be us one day. After doing a few seasons in Canada without a camera and being surrounded by talented people I began to realise that the life I was living wasn't so far away from the things you watch on Youtube. So I decided to buy a camera and try to make my friends look like main characters in their own movies (their own movies being short Instagram videos).
Do you create your work as a personal journal, or with a specific audience in mind?
I think a little column A and B. I definitely create things to preserve memories and moments in time, and more so now then in my first few years of using the camera try to imprint more of my style into it. It's taken some time to figure it out but I think I'm on the right path. I do create things with an audience in mind for sure. Especially the park content from a rider's perspective, they're trying to do a certain trick justice so it's my job to highlight that and most time it takes multiple shots to get the trick right and sometimes even if it's filmed nicely and the trick isn't quite there we'll just have to leave it out. My hard drives are filled with 100s of Gigabytes of tricks that didn't make the cut.
Is there anything you would say to aspiring creatives in the snow or mountain bike fields?
Time. Spend time with the people that you want to work with, spend time getting to know the area inside and out. I feel like having good relationships with the people you're shooting with just makes for more organic content. Having locals' knowledge on the area makes for more interesting shots, maybe it's taking inspiration from someone else's project and knowing a location that might work for you to put your own spin on it.
Do you have a favourite piece of equipment?
Shotgun mic. Once I started caring about the audio experience just as much as the visuals, the shotgun mic was a game-changer. clean, decisive audio makes the viewer's experience so much more pleasant. Sound design is something that goes unnoticed most of the time but it's the key to a cohesive experience.
Dylan, locked in.
Are there any creatives you'd like to shoutout?
John Ma (@johnnyboyma)! He's kinda been on the same path as me and got more into filming and photography at a similar time. We've spent a lot of hours together learning editing software and critiquing each other's work. I still send John almost every video I make to get feedback
You can find Dylan's work in the links below:
Instagram: @dylaaanjones
Threads: Dylan Jones
Clark gorge in Kosciusko NP.
Krka NP in Croatia.
The view out of Dylan's bedroom window in Vuokatti, Finland.
"The first time I felt the sun on my skin after being in the dark in Finland for 5 weeks".
"I was at the top of Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix, France. And some mountaineers just appeared from no where after".
A huge thank you to Dylan for taking the time to share a little snippit of his creative process and influences with us. He has been a brand ambassador for the brand for a few years now, and I can't thank him enough for all the amazing videos, photos and product testing. Here's to many more!
I'd love it if you could send this to your friends to share Dylan's work with the world.
Happy creating!
Abi x
All images courtesy of Dylan Jones unless otherwise mentioned.