Portfolio | Brian Hiltz

Seascape Photography
Being near the ocean has always felt like home to me, despite the fact I’ve lived most of my life in Texas. There is an energy to be felt standing at the edge of the sea, and it’s that energy that makes seascape photography one of the most exciting and rewarding for me personally. The majority of work in this collection was made during visits to Hawaii and the west coast.
“The waves of the sea help me get back to me.” – Jill Davis

Infrared Photography
It is the surreal look and feeling of infrared images that initially drew me to this genre. I was always amazed at how viewing infrared images made me feel like I was in a dreamworld, that still seemed somehow familiar. It is this surreal and dreamlike quality that I aspire to recreate and portray in my own infrared work. Infrared photography allows us to view a world that exists right in front of us, but are unable to see with the naked eye.

Film Photography
While the majority of my work has been shot in digital, I did learn photography with a 35mm film camera gifted to me by my grandfather years ago. Experimenting with film again in recent years has proven to be an enjoyable experience, just the anticipation alone waiting for film to be developed is worth the time and effort of shooting film, it’s a feeling you won’t find in digital. Cameras used in this collection include a Holga 120N, Hasselblad 501CM, Pentacon Six TL and Zero 2000 pinhole camera.

Black & White Photography
One of the nice things about modern digital cameras is that many have a monochrome shooting mode, which allows you to view your scene and capture images in black and white. I began doing this as a tool to help simplify compositions into tonal ranges, rather than composing in color, and found it extremely helpful in framing shots. I ultimately found myself leaning towards shooting black and white more often than not, and have come to prefer the art of black and white photography.
“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.” – Elliott Erwitt

White Rock Lake
Being landlocked in Dallas, there aren’t many places close by to get away and enjoy nature. White Rock Lake happens to be one of those places for me though, and serves as a source of inspiration here in Dallas, as well as a fun place to be active and get outdoors. With nearly a 10 mile loop around the lake, I spend lots of time walking, biking or riding my unicycle around the lake, and sometimes take a camera with me as well.