About Sarah and Ron

In addition to photographing grand landscapes, we are best known for our photographs of quieter subjects including intimate landscapes, abstract renditions of natural subjects, and creative portraits of plants, with a focus on the landscapes of the American West. Our approach is centered around deeply exploring our favorite wild places and getting to know these landscapes in a more personal way over time.

We also offer resources to help nature photographers develop their skills and deepen their creative practices, including ebooks and video tutorials on a wide range of topics, a monthly-ish educational newsletter, regular blog posts, free ebooks, and occasional classes and workshops. We also maintain smallscenes.info, a helpful website for accessing weather and other travel information for your current location (you can read more here). 

We are based in rural southwestern Colorado but travel extensively, often in our Airstream trailer (a 25FB Flying Cloud that we purchased in 2011). Paired with a Starlink Mini, our Airstream offers us the opportunity to live and work in places for an extended period of time, a practice that has immensely benefited our photography. And to answer a common question: Even though we have different last names, we are married.

While we lightly use tools like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, all of the photos you see on this website are of real scenes that we experienced—no AI fakery or composites. Additionally, everything you read on this website was written by one of us without using AI. 

ABOUT SARAH MARINO

Before transitioning to a full-time career focused on nature photography in 2020, I worked for many years in Colorado’s vibrant nonprofit sector, most recently through a successful consulting practice focused on leadership and strategy for nonprofit organizations and foundations. My interest in nature photography started while pursuing a master’s degree in public administration and working full-time in a high-pressure leadership position—a challenging and unpleasant combination. Being in nature felt like my only respite—a place where the meditative practice of photography eased away the stress and long work hours that dominated the rest of my life. Over time, I slowly traded my leadership ambitions for a more relaxed and fulfilling life centered on being a nature photographer and teacher.

Now, I am an accomplished nature photographer, photography educator, writer, and speaker. I am a co-founder of the Nature First Photography Alliance, and am increasingly prioritizing the conservation and stewardship of wild places in my photography and teaching. I am an aspiring naturalist, following a self-designed course of study to learn all that I can about the ecology and natural history of the places I visit to bring depth and context to my photography. I am one test away from finishing the Colorado Native Plant Master program and am working through the Colorado State University's Rocky Mountain Naturalist program. I am also a member of the Learn Nature Photography team. You can learn more about me by downloading my photography resume here.

Follow Sarah: Instagram (Color) · Instagram (B+W) ·  YouTube

ABOUT RON COSCORROSA

I have been pursuing nature photography for more than a decade. While living and working in the Pacific Northwest, my interest in nature started as I began hiking in the area’s lush rainforests and mountains. I initially took an interest in photographing the region’s many species of birds and soon expanded to wildlife photography. Eventually, my interests evolved to focus on photographing grand landscapes along with nature’s small scenes. I work full-time as a principal software engineer for a start-up technology company but spend nearly all of my free time pursuing nature photography and travel.

Follow Ron: Instagram

ABOUT OUR CAMERA GEAR

If you are curious about the camera gear we use, you can find a detailed and annotated list here. A quick summary: we each use a Canon R5 Mark II plus RF lenses (14-35mm, 24-105mm, 100-500mm, 100mm macro, and the 200-800mm). We usually order from Pictureline, a great camera store based in Utah. You can also see these items in our Amazon Storefront.

GET IN TOUCH

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us.  Although it may take some time to get back to you because we travel quite a bit, we try to respond to every legitimate email we receive. 

NATURE FIRST PRINCIPLES

We are co-founders and members of the Nature First Alliance for Responsible Nature Photography and follow the organization’s 7 Principles for minimizing the impact of our photography:

  1. Prioritize the well-being of nature over photography.
  2. Educate yourself about the places you photograph.
  3. Reflect on the possible impact of your actions.
  4. Use discretion if sharing locations.
  5. Know and follow rules and regulations.
  6. Always follow Leave No Trace principles and strive to leave places better than you found them.
  7. Actively promote and educate others about these principles.

Photo Captions (From Top Left): Deep in one of our favorite canyons in Death Valley's backcountry, Ron with a friend in Joshua Tree National Park, Ron photographing the Death Valley sand dunes at sunset, Sarah in another Death Valley canyon, a very rainy day at Huntington Gardens in Los Angeles, Ron in Acadia National Park in autumn, both of us on a very wet day at Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska, Ron photographing purple lupine in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains during a great wildflower year (close to home!), Ron during a backpacking trip in Zion National Park, both us us deep in another favorite canyon in Death Valley, Ron showshoeing in Yellowstone National Park during the winter, and Ron deep in the Zion backcountry during the autumn.