We sat down with mid-western photographer, Chandler Rogers. A vagabond from Utah that has some insane handles with a camera and fly rod. For over 5 years he’s been in the media industry getting killer shots of crazy fish and hunting excursions.
Flylords: Who is Chandler Rogers?
Chandler: I am just your average guy who loves to spend as much time as I can in the mountains with family and friends. I also love to explore new places to find some different views and fish.
Flylords: Who or what influences your work most?
Chandler: Oh man, there are so many amazing talents in the fishing/outdoor industry that I look up to and there are probably too many to list. The guys over at Rockhouse Motion put together some amazing work and it has pushed me to learn new things. I would also have to say that the local crews, InTents Media and the Captured crew have been a big influence on me as well.
Chandler: I know its probably a super basic answer, but I love fishing my streamers for big fish. I am super stubborn and pretty much use this streamer 90% of the time in various colors and sizes.
Chandler: To me, photos are mostly just memories saved in time, so I don’t know if this is the best photo I have ever taken, but it is one of my favorite memories. My wife is the person I fish with the most and this is a moment in time I will always remember.
Chandler: Not as early as most people, but I was a junior in high school and a friend invited me on a trip to fish the Green River in Utah. I am thankful for the patience of that guide because I was awful and also cut his fly line when the line got pinched in the seat. After having been a guide now, I definitely know he had a long day…
Chandler: Cutthroat for sure! Not only are there a few subspecies that each has its own characteristics, but I see a ton of variations within those subspecies that always makes for a surprise when you look in the net.
Chandler: I recently got a drone and I really like taking landscape photos with that.
Chandler: My dream set up would be a Red Monstro with a line up of prime lenses but I don’t have $75,000 for camera gear haha. So I recently made the switch from Canon to Sony and I am loving it and my ideal set up right now would have to be my A7iii and the Tamron 28-75mm. It is a small package that allows me to cover a range of shots.
Chandler: So I’ve always been pretty secretive about the places I fish and I never wanted to blow up a place on social media by creating a bread trail with pictures that show a lot of the background. This has caused me to not post a lot of pictures or just flat out not to capture the image and choose to soak in the moment. This has hindered me in creating content. I am trying to not be so uptight and capture more great moments and not be so worried about showing where I am at.
Chandler: I think Utah is very unique in that is second driest state but still offers great fishing. Although Utah lacks the large rivers that say Idaho and Montana have, it has tons of creeks and smaller water that hold a surprising amount of large fish. Hunting large fish and sight fishing in small to medium-sized water is probably my favorite style of fishing. There is also a good variety of fish we have here in Utah. You can go from fishing carp and bass to fishing in a clear mountain stream for cutthroat in a matter of minutes.
Chandler: Haha that is a tough question. If it was my wife I would rather take the picture but I am pretty competitive and I would hope that I caught the fish of my life but I would totally be stoked regardless.
