The snap of a button. The click of a shutter.
These are the sounds of the earliest memories fine arts landscape photographer Todd Ebner shares when asked about the first picture he ever took on his parents Minolta SLR camera. While he doesn’t remember the image, he remembers the feeling: excitement.
Fast forward to high school, where Ebner took three years of photography at Mountain Pointe. “It just really spoke to me and I have a very artsy brain, so I fell in love with it,” he says. “This was when shooting on film was still the only option, so I have great memories of spending hours in the dark rooms, developing prints, listening to music and hanging out with friends.”
One of the first images Ebner remembers capturing that really solidified his love of photography was during an annual spring break camping, mountain biking and hiking trip to Utah with his father. “I took a black-and-white photo of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park that came out pretty good. I remember being so excited to get back, hand develop the film and work on the print, and it ended up turning out great. I was hooked!”
Following high school, the long-time Ahwatukee resident left home to follow his calling of serving in the Coast Guard. “A lot of my role models growing up had experience one way or the other with the military, and since I grew up as a swimmer here, I decided that I wanted to join the Coast Guard.” Ebner ended up in aviation, conducting medevacs and search-and-rescue missions, which allowed him to fly all over the South Pacific, the Bering Sea and the California coast. But photography was never too far from his mind.
“Whenever possible, I had my gear with me so I was able to get some great aerial shots, as well as get to places I never would otherwise.”
Ebner was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard after 11 years and returned to Ahwatukee to earn a degree in nursing at Arizona State University.
While at ASU he participated in a summer study abroad program, spending a month in Peru, where he visited one of the world’s most famous archeological sites. “Machu Picchu was one of those places that I’d seen amazing photos of before; it seemed like a place that was so fantastical it almost couldn’t exist.”
But exist it did. And Ebner took the opportunity to take a photograph of his own; one that ended up earning him a grand prize photography award from the school. A second photograph of a church with the Milky Way shining brightly behind it in a rural village outside of Cusco earned him a first-place award in the same contest. Ebner says these were the first awards he’d ever received for his work and was a validating experience.
Landscapes and light still ignite a passion for Ebner. His favorite place to photograph is the Southwest and its deserts. “There’s a lot of unique features, mixed with the rugged landscape, as well as the history that’s left behind from the people who were here before us,” he says. “In Arizona, monsoon season brings about clouds that are just absolutely out of this world, if you’re willing to go out and brave the heat.”
Overall, Ebner finds a sense of calm in capturing the land and sky. “There’s just an unlimited number of beautiful places to see in the world. Catching them with my camera when the weather and the lighting is good just makes them all the more special. It’s just a peaceful experience for me.”
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