Ep. 641 - Chasing Moments: Brandon Fien's Journey from Duck Kid to Professional Photographer

In this episode of the Ducks Unlimited podcast, host Matt Harrison welcomes videographer and photographer Brandon Fien to the studio. Brandon shares his journey into the world of content creation, beginning at the age of 14 after transitioning from a focus on baseball to a passion for capturing the beauty of waterfowl. The conversation delves into Brandon's experiences and insights in the realm of wildlife photography, showcasing his dedication to producing high-quality content that resonates with waterfowl enthusiasts. Tune in for an inspiring discussion about passion, creativity, and the art of storytelling through imagery.

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Creators & Guests

Host

Matt Harrison

DUPodcast Outdoor Host

What is Ducks Unlimited Podcast?

Ducks Unlimited Podcast is a constant discussion of all things waterfowl; from in-depth hunting tips and tactics, to waterfowl biology, research, science, and habitat updates. The DU Podcast is the go-to resource for waterfowl hunters and conservationists. Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands conservation.

Matt Harrison: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host, Matt Harrison, and today we have joining with us in studio, Mr. Brandon Fien. Brandon, how you doing?

Brandon Fien: Man, it's an honor to be here. I really appreciate this. It's an out-of-body experience for sure being in this building of Ducks Unlimited. It's definitely like a time warp just walking around. So, I mean- It's awesome.

Matt Harrison: It's awesome. Well, it's great to have you. For some of you listeners and viewers, you may know who Brandon is. Brandon is a videographer, photographer that creates content around waterfowl. And if you've ever seen some of his content, you know that it is truly some of the best around. And we're going to dive off into a bunch of questions here in a little bit. But Brandon, if you don't mind, kind of tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in the content creation world.

Brandon Fien: Yeah. No, thanks for the kind words. I mean, that's, that's awesome. I don't really deserve that, but, uh, it's, uh, it's been a, it's been a blessed journey for sure. I started when I was 14 and, uh, I played baseball for the longest time. And when you're, when you're growing up in high school and middle school, like your life is about this big. That's all you know. And it's sports or that's it. And, uh, so when I jumped ship from playing baseball, um, I, I was kind of left with nothing to do. And, um, I started drawing pictures of, I looked up pictures on the internet of ducks, whatever. And I started drawing them with like a graphite pencil. And then it got to the point where I was like, I want to take those photos. And we were moving houses, and I had seen a camera in my mom's closet. We were packing out her closet, and there was a camera sitting there. I was like, oh, I'll go take that, you know, and go do whatever. And it was October at the time, so God's timing, it was, it was, incredible. I went down to the local creek and started chasing around wood ducks and horrible pictures. I mean, it's like one of those where you take the picture and then you zoom in as far as you can. You're like, you can tell it's a wood duck, kind of. And I loved it. And then I started posting it all over Instagram. And then people in my age group are like, what is this kid doing? And Yeah, that's kind of the roundabout way of how I got started. Ironically, it was the camera that I had pulled out of my mom's closet was the same camera that she used to take pictures of me playing baseball in Little League. Wow. So, kind of cool full circle moment there. And, you know, fast forward down the line now, I moved out of California. I'm living in Colorado. I get to travel and call this a job now. And I got to pinch myself sometimes. No doubt.

Matt Harrison: So, it's been a blessed story. Sweet job. Yeah. And we've talked a little bit, we got to go out to dinner last night, spend some time together talking, and you kind of told me a little bit about how you used to, before school, go out and take photos. And can you kind of give us some of those stories and how you used to transport back and forth from your honey holes of taking photos?

Brandon Fien: Yeah, it was definitely not the most popular thing I did in high school. I'll say that. Um, I had a, I had a little BMX bike and I would, I just packed that camera in a, in a, in my school bag next to all my like books or whatever, like shoving it between history books and my math notebook. And, uh, yeah, before, you know, before sunrise, I'd ride out to a local lake called Pina Dobie. It was about a four mile bike ride and I did it every morning. I dressed up in full camo. I'd lay in the mud, take pictures of all these ducks, throw them up on Instagram, and then go to school. And then I would smell like mud. I'd be dressed in camo. It's got to just not. Not popular, but, uh, but hey, it's, uh, I loved it so much and I really, I just didn't really care. And I think that you have to have that mentality to, especially in high school where, you know, your scope of life is only about this big. You don't know what's outside of it. So when, when your peers are, are neglecting or rejecting something different that you're doing, it can be, It can be a real hinder, and it can kill dreams, really. And for whatever reason, I had an amazing support system with my parents, and I had some diehard friends that stuck by my side through some of the thick of it. And yeah, that really pushed me to another level mentally. And I think that having that scope was really important to keep going.

Matt Harrison: And to travel four miles on a bicycle as a high schooler, I mean, you had to be getting up early.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, I was getting up like five o'clock in the morning, every morning. And then after school, I'd go back to the same lake. So, four miles there, three miles to school, three miles to the lake, four miles back. I looked, I was looking really good in high school. You were in shape. I was in shape. Yeah, no, it was just one of those things where when you love something so much, you'll go to great lengths to go do it. And I mean, the five miles or the miles on the bike were insignificant compared to the actual goal I was chasing. And that actually translates to real life, right? You have a goal, and then you have this journey. And you actually learn to enjoy the journey. You learn to enjoy the process. Those bike rides, I had time to think to myself and, you know, think about the the teasing in high school about my smell of the mud. And, uh, yeah, it was just, you had a lot of time to yourself. And, uh, then when you, when you think about all these things and you do all these reflecting and then you achieve that goal. And for me, the goal is just getting there. Yeah. And then from there, it's, it's, I have already, everything else is icing on the cake. Yeah. Um, that helped me, uh, that, just that discipline and that reputation. Repetition has really translated into the rest of my life, which I'm super grateful for.

Matt Harrison: So, what point did it kind of all come together and you were like, okay, I could possibly do this? Like, at what point of your career stage were you at whenever you were like, I can make this a full-time job?

Brandon Fien: Well, the short answer is no, because I'm still pinching myself. Um, but I think when things really started rolling and it was, it was going back to that, I don't care mentality about my peers and what they thought about me. Cause I just loved it so much. Um, but what, what happened was I had, uh, I had taken that, that, that camera, my mom had in my mom's closet.

Matt Harrison: Now explain to everybody what that camera was and about how much it costs.

Brandon Fien: Yeah. So, this camera was called, uh, Canon XT. It's this little silver, I mean, I mean, not, not your state-of-the-art camera nowadays. Um, but it, it cost probably, I don't know, a hundred bucks on, on eBay. And it was like two lenses with it, like just, just that. Not your top of the line camera. But it, it, it had a, it had a sensor and it had a shutter and I used it. And I took every, I mean, that thing came with me everywhere. I took it hunting with me. I took it on my bike with me. I had it at school. Um, and still to this day, like I, I am very rarely seen without a camera by my side. Um, but. Yeah, that thing is, that thing was dirt cheap and it worked. And it, and it pushed me to learn the, the limits of, of the camera and how to push those limits, which is more important because you can get, it's really easy to get caught up in the circle of, oh, well, I can't, I can't do this without this equipment, or I can't do this without this equipment. And that's just not true. while the equipment can help, it's awesome when somebody can take something that would hinder them otherwise and excel with that. And I do encourage everyone that if you can't afford, if you don't have a big budget for some state-of-the-art equipment, just go do it. I mean, an iPhone now is probably better than that camera I was shooting with it.

Matt Harrison: 14 to be honest because you achieve something pretty great with that.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, so that that camera It was a it was a photo of my black lab crash and he had been sitting on my bed and the the Structure of my room was I had my bed right next to my window and the lights were off. He's a black lab and And, uh, for whatever reason, I had my camera, just messing around with it. And he's sitting on my bed, and he's looking at me, and all— the window light's just coming across his face, and you can't see anything behind him. It's just the side of his face. I'm like, this is pretty moody. And I— I took the picture, didn't think twice about it, and put it on Instagram, just like I did everything else. And then, um, Wild Thought Magazine messages me on Instagram. They're like, hey, we'd love to use this photo. You know, whatever. Shoot us your, uh, mailing address if you give us permission. I'm like, oh, yeah, that's awesome. Not knowing what it was about to become. And then, a month down the line, I get a magazine in the mail and that picture's sitting on the cover of it. No way. And it was definitely an out-of-body experience for, because as a photographer, a cover of a magazine is so prestigious. No doubt. And it's one of those things where you can, when you put it on print, it's just something special. And I don't take any of them for granted now. I've been grateful enough to shoot a handful of them But everyone is special and that first one really launched my what would be career And what age were you? I was 5th 14 I want to say 14 or 15. I believe I was 15. I shot the picture when I was 14, and I was 15 when I actually got the cover.

Matt Harrison: So, I think… So, you took that photo, though, when you were 14 years old and it ended up on the front of a magazine. Yeah, and it was just in my bedroom. Like, it wasn't… With a $150 camera.

Brandon Fien: Yeah. It was just in my bedroom. The lighting was great, and it just goes to show you don't need to spend $10,000 or $20,000 on a camera or a video camera to go achieve cool things. Because… No doubt. You got to put it on the front of a magazine. Moments happen regardless of the camera you have. And if you spend so much time waiting for that perfect moment to come, it's never gonna happen. If you're ready for when it does happen, then you'll be prepared. And that's what happened in that moment. And that one moment probably changed the rest of my life, which is crazy to think about.

Matt Harrison: So, when that happened, when you opened that mailbox, saw the magazine, And that chick, were you kind of like, okay, this is… First, I was like, man, I'm rich.

Brandon Fien: That was the first thing I'm thinking about. You're gonna go buy the world. Yeah, then I think I just went and bought another camera with it. But yeah, then, you know, the mental part of it was I took that magazine and I'm like flying it around. I'm like, I told you guys I could do it. And no one's like, you're still weird. Uh, Duck Kid. That was definitely a name that unfortunately stuck with me for a few years.

Matt Harrison: That's a cool name, Duck Kid. Hindsight. There's been worse names called to people than Duck Kid.

Brandon Fien: Yeah.

Matt Harrison: Yeah. So I'll take it. So you've been to some really cool places too. Like you've gotten to travel all over.

Brandon Fien: I mean, it's been, it's been incredible and I'm, I'm blessed and I don't take any of it for granted. The, the coolest place I went to is, I've been to two coolest places. They're both Alaska. So you can pick your poison, but yeah. the, the first year I went to Alaska, it was January of 2020, this year, actually 2024. Wow. And it was over New Year's and we were doing, Skip Knowles from Wildfowl calls me and he goes, Hey man, we're going to do a King Ida Hunt in, in St. Paul Island. Would you want to come? I say it all the time, but when he calls me, you don't even have to ask what he's about to say. It's just yes. And we jump on a plane for six hours, get to Anchorage, get snowed in. The wind was blowing 60 miles an hour. We're stuck in Anchorage for three days. There's moose walking around the hotel. like just crazy stuff. And then we actually get to fly to the island. And on New Year's, the sun rises at like 11 o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun sets at like four. And the- Are you serious? And the sea ducks fly for like an hour, and that's it. And- So you have a window, a very small window. You have a window. You not only have a window of the day, but you have limited days because the to actually actually get out on the water is the biggest not only getting to the island but from there it's always you're always in St. Paul Island battling the conditions every step of the way. I mean you can be hunting for 30 minutes and then you're like we're out. It's time to go. So we go there and I'm taking pictures and I'm just I'm just having the time of my life. We get out we actually get on the water and It was just crazy. To have a King Eider in those numbers, in that kind of scenery, and that kind of location is incredible. And when everyone had shot their King Eiders, you hold that bird and it may be the only one you ever get in your life. It was just, it was incredible. And you hold the bird and you're looking at all the intricate details, the turquoise, the greens, the yellow, the knob, the beak, I mean the whole nine yards. But the actual nature of the hunt itself was so incredibly tough and so incredibly rewarding that it made that bird so much better. And y'all, now how did y'all hunt these birds? We hunt them out of a center console boat, and we attach two long lines to the back of the boat. We're just bucking four foot, six foot, seven foot waves the whole day. And the best way I can compare to shooting these birds is shooting clay pigeons off of a trampoline. And the clay pigeons are going 45, 50 miles an hour. Which is very tough to do if you've ever tried to shoot clay pigeons. Yeah, so not only do you have to have the weather lineup, the timing lineup, the bird lineup in a position that's able to shoot it, you also have to have your If, if you hit one wrong wave on the front of that boat, you might as well just not even shoot. Yeah. So it's, uh, it was one of those things. And then the next coolest place I went was actually just two weeks ago. We were in cold Bay, Alaska. And, uh, I mean, from the emperor geese to the brand, to the widgeon, to the pintails, to the bears, I mean, what's not to love. There's no bad angle at that place the Harlequin the Long-tailed ducks the I mean you name it. It's it's whatever Silver Fox Red Fox Ptarmigan, I mean, holy cow, like you can just go on literally just a list of the volcanoes I mean, it's it was it's it really is hard to put into words and even the pictures don't do it. Just don't do justice. Yeah Um, so that, that's, that's definitely the coolest place you go. And it's, there's definitely a reward factor when you, when there's someplace that's so hard to get to when you're actually there, it's, it makes it so much better. Like, cause if it was easy, right. Everyone would do it. And so when it's harder, you, you have that, um, you have that, that goal or that's something you feel like you've achieved just getting there. So it makes everything.

Matt Harrison: And not only the hard, hard times to get there, but also when you have those type of weather conditions, those types of waves, when the conditions aren't ideal for photos, it makes it getting that shot even that much tougher.

Brandon Fien: Every single day I have my camera in Alaska, it's wet. The second it comes out of the case, it's wet. My insurance company should probably not watch this episode because they would not like that. But it's true. And that's the things that you have to do is when you're in moments that it's so miserable, you don't even want to pull your hands out of your pocket, take your camera out. Because that's the stuff that no one sees. And it's, it's a double-edged sword because you do, you do run the risk of, you know, your, your equipment, the things you spent so much money on. But that's what makes a photo a photo is to capture moments in time that can never be recreated. And if there's, if there was like one One reason why I continue to do what I do is because I just, I love capturing moments. I mean, you could go through my whole spread right now, and I could tell you where I was, what time of the day it was, what I was feeling in that moment. And personally, for me, that's what I love about, I mean, time is so precious. And to have the ability and to have the tool to capture a moment like that is, It's unforgettable and especially for me. It's like that's what I love to do and I just have a passion for for chasing moments really and telling stories.

Matt Harrison: What would you say is your favorite subject to photograph? People.

Brandon Fien: People. It used to be ducks. And it has evolved. And I say people because over this journey, there's been people that I meet that have changed my life for the better. And there's definitely like a… a lesson to be learned from each person. Everyone has something to teach you. So, from, it started with ducks, then it was duck dogs, then it was like scenery, now it's people. Hands down. Wow. You can capture, emotion draws emotion. And I love that. I love capturing that. And I may not be the best at it, but I just love to do it. And I love to see people, you know, showing emotion over this. I mean, waterfowl and wetlands, And really, outdoorsmen alike all have an emotional draw to the outdoors. And everyone feels it differently, and everyone expresses it differently. So, if you're able to capture that. To capture it. But actually, not even just to capture it, but just to experience it. I feel really lucky to be in a moment like that in the first place. So, that's why it's people. Yeah. And the same thing with the video thing. It's like, what's your favorite thing to video? Interviews. All day. I've learned more from interviews than, I mean, anything else, right? People, everyone has a story and everyone's story really deserves to be told. So you just learn so much about people in that manner. And really the biggest lesson for, you know, growing up as a young man in this day and age is there's a, There's a lot of people with thoughts and egos, and when you meet people that put all that aside and are willing to teach you something, it's really cool to experience that.

Matt Harrison: Yeah. Waterfowl-wise, what would you say is the perfect scenario that you enjoy the most whenever you go out to shoot? Like, what's the temperature, sun, cloudy, little rain? What is your ideal perfect for photos?

Brandon Fien: 50 mile an hour and snowing. 50 mile an hour winds and snowing, the gnarlier it is, the better. I like it. I thought you were joking at first. No, I'm not joking. The gnarlier it is, I look outside in the morning. If it's nasty, I'm going, because those are rare.

Matt Harrison: And that's a good point too, because a lot of your photographers, your professional and your middle class photographers as well, It's easy to go take a picture when it's 45 and sunny and a little bit of wind. That's the easy. And you don't see just a ton of pictures of 50 mile an hour north winds in a blizzard. You don't see many of those.

Brandon Fien: And it is hard to capture correctly. I mean, I'll go out in a blizzard, I'll go out in a blizzard and totally mess it up all the time. And that is definitely my, the nastier, the better. And the whole journey with this whole photography and videography, it's really just life lessons teaching me things about life and people. And you can go into a scenario and you can either win or you can learn. If you go in with that mentality, it's impossible to lose. So even when I'm going out and I mess up, you know, a moment or I mess up something that happens or whatever, I don't, I miss the shot. I didn't, I didn't lose. I just learned. And, and that applies to anything in life. And when the only time you lose is when you fail to try. And I think that there was a quote I saw the other day that said that is the power of nothing or the importance of nothing. You wake up in the morning, the world owes you nothing. And that's because if you don't try, if you don't have discipline, you gain nothing. And that's the whole philosophy of this photography and my passion. That same quote can be applied to anything else in life. So it's been a really

Matt Harrison: Really cool journey to kind of come to terms with that and no down I mean here We are sitting ducks limited like I'm still trying to finish myself Yeah, I mean it's crazy to say to and you're still really young 22 years old 22 and to already have the stories that you have and to already have gone where you have been like it's remarkable to see you know at such a young age that you've been able to accomplish what you have and and Who knows what's in store because clearly you're ambitious and you got goals. And we talked a little bit last night about some of those goals and your vision for the future, which is awesome. And you see a lot of people this day and age, especially now in the outdoor industry, that has a camera and everybody's a photographer and everybody's a videographer. You see it 24-7. Everybody's taking pictures now. So what is gonna set you apart from those that have a camera because like we talked about last night Whenever you first started you were really the only one that you knew that were taking waterfowl pictures, you know And now everybody's doing it. So what's gonna set you apart from those?

Brandon Fien: I would That's a good question. I think, I think there's definitely moments where you see people do the same things, you see people do the different things the same ways, and same things the different ways, and you just gotta, you gotta think for yourself. And it actually, and while social media is a great place to meet people, and I've met some of my closest friends through it, it's actually accelerated my career, it can also pigeonhole you into only thinking a certain way with a style of photography or whatever it may be. What would set me apart? I don't know. I really can't take credit for anything in my journey. It's really, I give, first and foremost, I give all glory to God. And second of all, the people I've met along the way have really accelerated my journey. And meeting, my parents joke all the time, it's not about what you know, it's about who you know. And there's so much truth to that. Um, and yeah, I, I met a guy, Jake Latondris, he was the reason I moved to Colorado and he really gave me my shot. He, he was the one who gave me my, my big break and he, he took a chance on me as well as, you know, many other people down the line have taken a chance on me. Hindsight, I look back, I'm like, I was no good. And I'm still really not that good. And I don't know why they did it, but there was something that made them do that. I just, I'm super blessed. And if there's, I don't know how to answer your question. How do you set yourself apart? I just do it because I love it. And I feel like if you do it for the right reasons, it'll come organically. If you do it for the followers, or the money, or whatever else, then you may find yourself in a position where you're stuck in the same complacency as everyone else.

Matt Harrison: And you can tell the difference between a photographer that's truly passionate about it, rather than the one that's just going out and just taking pictures.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, there's definitely a style to that, for sure.

Matt Harrison: No doubt. Because to get the style photos you're getting, and a lot of the other top tier photographers, you're not just going out for 30 minutes and getting that shot. Just like we talked a little bit ago about how you were going out there Early in the morning, traveling four miles on a bike, you told me a story last night about the family of wood ducks that you photographed in the creek. And tell us a little bit about kind of the story of that wood duck family and how you go about getting photos of them.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, so when I was in school, instead of Going and jumping all these wood ducks with my mom's camera. I actually did learn something along the way I I set up a little blind and I put a piece of plywood down and I mean the second you lay down you're soaking wet I didn't care Uh, I, uh, and I, I set up this blind and I, I put a piece of mesh in the dog hole and that's where I would stick my lens through it. And, uh, I like would go set up all these logs. I'm like, oh, this one's going to stand here. There's going to be wood ducks standing on it. And I mean, it was just a complete disaster. I had a wood duck jump on it and then the log just fell right in the water. And. But anyways, yeah, like with that said, I learned that those birds, they have big personalities and they're pretty. Animals will do the same thing over and over and over again if they feel safe. And the repetition again. And so I knew the wood ducks show up at 5 a.m. every morning, so I show up at 4 and I lay in the water. right before sunrise, and I sit there in dark until the sun comes up, and then I start doing my thing. And by that time, I mean, the birds had been used to a blind, it wasn't a big deal, like, whatever. But those were the lengths I was willing to go to. And still, even now, like, I'll go, I mean, in Alaska, I did a 400-yard belly crawl on these emperor geese, and I was just going right at them. And I actually got within 30 yards of them, which is pretty cool.

Matt Harrison: And that's my point, though, is somebody that's not passionate, and doesn't love it the way you love it, you're not going to be able to get the shots that you're getting. Because people aren't as willing to go to those measures that you're talking about, showing up at 4 a.m., crawling that far to get a shot. You're people that are just doing it to do it. They're not putting that type of effort and time into getting the shot that you're willing to get.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, I mean, I think everyone, it's not bad that people do that either. If people just like taking pictures, then that's awesome. And I think there's a place for everyone. And it's great that cameras are accessible now because, I mean, phones, I mean, just shoot everything because time really is so precious. And if you're taking photos for yourself or for a company, at the end of the day, you're capturing moments in time that are invaluable. And that's why I love it. I just love that.

Matt Harrison: And the other cool thing about photographers and photography in a whole is, is the different styles. You know, there's nobody had the same exact style. Now you have similar styles, right? Like you can compare some photographers to another guy like, you know, they have similar styles, but everybody has their own certain ways they like to shoot, the positions, the subjects, the way those subjects are moving. And it's really cool to see that nobody's is the same.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, I mean, it's with anything, right? It's the same thing with music. I like old country music. You like Taylor Swift. That's not true. We've known each other for like 24 hours, so we're basically best friends.

Matt Harrison: Old country music and Taylor Swift.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's that song, Love Story? You remind me of that song. Yeah. But anyways. Yeah. No, it's just, it's, it's cool that everyone's so different and the same in the, in the same way. And the outdoors is what connects us, uh, as a whole from deer hunters to turkey hunters, to duck hunters, to whatever upland. And that's, that is the underlying message of this whole process, right? Everyone loves it so much. They want to capture it. They want to share it. And I think that's beautiful. And I think that, uh, ducks unlimited has a lot to do with that because we're conserving You're conserving the wetlands and we're conserving a feeling. And I think that's a really good mix. And we're all on the same team. We're all on the same team. Fighting for the same thing.

Matt Harrison: We're all fighting for the same thing. And that's what's awesome about the outdoor industry in a whole is you have these people that have all these different job titles, all these different, you know, brands, whatever it might be. But at the end of the day, it really and truly is one big family. Like, you know, you have a conglomerate of people that truly want to sustain our outdoors as a whole. Because, I mean, a lot of us realize that, you know, if we don't preserve and conserve what we have now, what the Lord has given us, What's our children's children, you know, going to face?

Brandon Fien: For sure. I want to leave it better for them. No doubt. I think everyone's in the same boat. As long as we walk the walk and talk the talk and keep pushing and keep doing our part, then we will have something to be proud of in the future. And I think that's awesome.

Matt Harrison: No doubt. So, still talking about photos, we talked about some of your favorite places you've gone, we've talked about what your favorite subject is to shoot, but have you ever had any incident that you were truly scared? Like, have you ever encountered anything while you're out taking photos that you're like, oh boy.

Brandon Fien: How about an eight foot grizzly bear? Are you serious? It was two weeks ago. I mean, I'll go back to Colbett again, but Holy cow. It might've been my last trip ever. We're in the boat and we're in, we're in a center console. And I mean, there's a bear walking on the beach and we're like, we're going to go drive up next to this bear and take pictures of it. Well, the bear did not like that very much. And he didn't want his picture taken. Well, we were, we were, it was for a good 200 yards. We were kind of just like, you know, cruising next to each other. It was like, oh, this is really cool. I mean, this is, this bear is at 45 yards at this point. And then it was from, oh, this is really cool to, oh, wow. I'm really scared because it pins its ears back in a matter of three seconds, spins around, bluff charges us, slaps the water, grunts. And then he's off to the races and we're We're getting the boat on pit lane as he's coming at us, and I'm just sitting there. I'm just taking pictures the whole time. The bear was so close at this point. My camera, it blew up the frame. You couldn't see the whole bear. That's how close it was. Are you serious? Yeah, it was insane. I had to pull up the picture, but was I scared as much as I was excited? I think I'd say I was more excited. Hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. And if he would have came another 10 yards, he would have gave me a run for my money. But yeah, I mean, talk about an adrenaline rush. I mean, I've been dumb enough to get on the back of a bull, but that bear took the cake for sure.

Matt Harrison: I can't imagine.

Brandon Fien: Uh, yeah. I mean, coming from a guy in California who has basically, I mean, we have bears, but they ain't, I mean, I don't think I'd ever seen one until we went to Alaska. We saw 20. And a grizzly bear? Yeah. We saw 20 in one day. We saw an eight footer. We saw a 10, legit 10 footer. Uh, we saw several, I mean, there are, these are big animals and they're not nice. And they're always in a bad mood. They're always cranky. They're hungry. And then you got this little camera boy who was looking like a great snack in the right moment. So, it's just one of those things. But yeah, that grizzly bear was definitely one of the ones.

Matt Harrison: I imagine that heart rate was up a little bit after that.

Brandon Fien: Oh my gosh. I went from hooting and hollering to, wow, that was not smart. And then back to hooting and hollering, I was like, did you guys see that? They're like, no, we didn't see that. Oh, man.

Matt Harrison: That's crazy.

Brandon Fien: Yes. Well, what do you got? Surely, you've got something scary. Man. You're in the South.

Matt Harrison: You got, what, cottonmouths? Man, we have cottonmouths. We have— And I heard you're a big fan of snakes. I cannot stand snakes. I'm talking about if you want to see me walk on water like Jesus, put a snake around me. All right, well, take notes, everyone. I tell you, it's, no, I'm out. I'm out. Don't even, don't even come near me with the snake. Don't. Well, what about spiders? I can deal with spiders more than I do snakes.

Brandon Fien: Really? Yeah, absolutely. I'm the opposite.

Matt Harrison: And the good thing is about duck hunting, you know, is, generally speaking, it's cold, so snakes aren't out and about, you know. But I tell you what truly gets your heart racing as a duck hunter, and if you've ever hunted a slough, swamp, anything like that, right before daylight, if you've ever had a beaver slap the water with its tail, When I tell you that's the loudest and you're like, oh my goodness. I can remember me and my brother grew up hunting this little bitty tiny little sloot. It's about the size of this podcast studio room. We didn't grow up duck hunting with somebody that did duck hunt, right? We started out on our own. So we didn't know all the sights and the sounds and what was going on, but we decided, you know, we're going to go duck hunting. We've, we know what we're doing. So it's right before daylight and I'm talking about this beaver just right by, just whoop, boom, slaps the water. And we're just like, what in the world was that? You know, and it comes to find out, of course, it's just a beaver letting you know it's there, but. That's cool. Yeah, I don't have any grizzly bear type stories. Most of mine is either, you know, coming up on a snake. I've come up on snakes and I'm telling you, it's not good.

Brandon Fien: I would love to just see the reaction out of you. I've seen you on Jacob Wheeler's boat. Jacob Wheeler put a fake snake in, and if you don't know who Jacob Wheeler is, he's a professional bass fisherman, and he put a fake snake in, what was it, your tackle box, or he just threw it on the deck?

Matt Harrison: So, what it was, was I was getting to fish with Jacob Wheeler once. We were sharing a bass boat together, and he had found out that I was very afraid of snakes.

Brandon Fien: Good man.

Matt Harrison: So, what he did is he went- That was his research.

Brandon Fien: I like that.

Matt Harrison: Somewhere like that and got one of them, you know, those little fake rubber snakes that look just like a snake whenever you just turn and sit on the ground. Well, we're fishing and, you know, he gets behind me and he's back there making some noise, but I'm just thinking, you know, he's back there switching baits or, you know, he's doing something to get another pole. I don't know. I'm fishing, right? We're in a tournament. He was pulling out a full-blown python. Dude. Anyway, he's back there, I hear him rustling around. So about that time, I just hear him yell. And when I turn around, he's throwing this snake at me. Which, again, I thought it was a legit snake. It's a rubber snake, I didn't know that at the time. I turn around, and the snake is right there at my feet, and I just, I lose it. Like, it's a wonder I didn't jump out of the boat.

Brandon Fien: It's a wonder I did not jump out of the boat. I wish, I wish, uh, I wish you would've, cuz… I've got something that might top that. Um, I also film, uh, I'm a, I'm a camera guy for the Bassmaster Elite Series. And, uh, in one of my first, one of my first events ever, I'm, uh, we're at the Chesapeake Bay or Chesapeake River on a, at a Bassmaster Open. And I mean, I'm fresh on the job. Like this might be my green. This might be my third event ever. So the way it works is we all call into a conference call and we have a director that sees all 10 of our cameras or 10 screens at the same time. And he calls, he calls the camera and then he'll tell you like camera, I'm camera four. He goes, all right, camera four, you're live. I'm filming a guy, Pete Glusek. You can find it on YouTube. Just look up Pete Glusek has a big river. And he, I tell him, I'm like, all right, you're live. And as he's pulling the trolling motor, he's like, all right, let's roll. Meaning like we're moving spots well while he didn't know he meant was when that trolley motor court snapped and he hit the buttseat and his heels went over his head and into the Chesapeake Bay River It was chaos and as a camera guy on the back deck half of me is like do I help this guy the other half of me is like I just won the lottery and as a camera guy. This is what you dream of. This is the dream scenario. And so like, I'm in this like, you know, half second delay of like, do I help this guy? Is he drowning? I don't know what to do. And then I'm like thinking, I'm like, they're going to kill me. He just broke his microphone. because it's freaking soaking wet, and I'm sitting there with this camera over my shoulder, and all I'm thinking about is this guy's going to come up and see some 17-year-old or 18-year-old kid pointing a camera down at his face, and he knows he's live. He's got to know. We're on FS1. He comes up and he's looking at me, and I'm looking at him. I'm like, ah, this is really awkward. So I put the camera down, kinda. I'm like half filming it. And I'm like, hey, just come around the boat. And he starts swimming around the boat. I'm like undoing the step ladder. And I can hear the announcers on the show. They're like, oh yeah, the Phoenix has a nice step ladder in the back. That's a really nice feature. Like they're trying to make a sponsor deal out of it. And he comes up and the first thing he goes, he says, are we still live? I'm like, yeah, you're live right now. And he looks at the camera, he goes, Welcome to the Chesapeake. And, um, throughout the day he was like, Hey, let me know. Cause I'm, I'm on a, I'm on a replay with the director. So he's just playing the heck out of it. I mean, he's playing it in slow-mo. He's playing it backwards. He's playing it frame by frame. They're doing a scoreboard on this guy. And every time he was, he beat Pete, Pete Glusack told me, he was like, Hey, let me know every time they play that clip. They played that clip 25 times in like seven hours. And it was like, every time he caught a fish, the director of the announcers goes, Hey, in case you missed it earlier, here's Pete Glusack falling into the Chesapeake. Yeah. I'm sure he got tired of that joke. Yeah, he did. I mean, he was, I forget where I saw him. I saw him at an airport once, and I said, you staying dry? And he was like, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that since you filmed me. I was like, well, I had to say it once. I haven't seen you since. Oh, man. But that would be definitely the funniest moment on the Bassmaster series. And as a camera guy, that was just… That's hilarious. Just something you dream about. I mean, I'm like, I'm buying a lottery ticket. I'm gonna… This will never happen again.

Matt Harrison: So, you film… Bass fishing is whale. I do.

Brandon Fien: And I'm really bad at it. I don't believe that. Well, better believe it because I am. And I tell this to all my friends like, oh, you would like, surely you, you spend, you know, you go to 10 different lakes for four days a piece with a professional bass angler is like, you should know. I'm not me. When it comes to applying it, I am just about as dumb as a box of rocks.

Matt Harrison: So when you're filming this, whenever you're filming professional bass fishermen, are you standing there with the camera for, cause these, you said four days is a tournament. You're out there for eight hours, correct?

Brandon Fien: Yeah. Eight, uh, yeah, like eight, eight and a half hours.

Matt Harrison: Okay. You're out there for a long time. and you're sitting there with the camera that is not light. So, are you sitting there the whole entire time with that camera on the fisherman? I know that you, they let you know that, hey, you're live, but are you sitting there the whole time just holding this camera? The whole time.

Brandon Fien: For eight hours? The only time you don't put it down is when you're, or the only time you put it down is when you're getting in the boat and you're on pad, you're moving to a different spot. Or you kind of strategically see your angler is going to go down and press like change a bait and you're like, okay, there's a second I can put it down. Unless you're live, then you can't do that. But yeah, you got to stay on the whole time because if he hooks into a fish, I mean, what's a fish catch without a hook set? I mean, come on, you see some gnarly stuff. But yeah, it's one of those things where you sit there and you're basically waiting for a moment that may never happen. But these, I mean, these guys are pros. I mean, they know what they're doing. Like, it's never a boring day. Well, most times it's not a boring day on the water. But I do enjoy the job a lot. Takes you to cool places. Again, you meet cool people. And that really is the takeaway.

Matt Harrison: Is there a big difference between filming for bass fishermen and then filming duck hunts? Like, I know, of course, you've got your And he's already laughing. I know you got your differences as in, you know, a fish, like you said, if you don't have the hook set, what's the, you net net without the hook set, right?

Brandon Fien: I mean, how is bass fishing different from duck hunting? Well, how is it the same, first of all? Correct. Besides just being on the water, maybe? I don't know. I mean, duck hunting is, like I said, I just, I love the waterfowl game so much. Yeah. It's really all I know how to do, but I mean, you can go down the rabbit hole of the differences and the similarities, but really, for me, the ability to be creative with duck hunting is the draw for me. Because with bass fishing, at least for a live camera guy, for me, You're kind of confined to the limits of a television show, and you're trying to make, you know, 10 cameras look the same, which I think is great. I think there's 100% a place that needs to be just like that, and Bassmaster, professional, you know, outlets, they need to have that. Um, but on a personal level, the, the real draw of being able to, you know, tell stories and tell and do it in my kind of style, I, I really enjoy that. And that's where I find the most growth in a creative way. And I, I think that's, if there's a difference between bass fish, filming bass fishing and filming duck hunting, for me, that's a difference.

Matt Harrison: Yeah, yeah. And so, you started out taking photos, but now, a lot of the stuff that you're hired to do is videos, correct?

Brandon Fien: Well, it, uh, actually, funny story, the roundabout way of how I ended up in this, in this gig is, uh, my first job was when I, when I moved out of California, Jake Letondras had an outfitter in Nebraska, and it was, it was a deer and elk and waterfowl and turkey, you know, we just did it all. Yeah. And initially I was hired to be a camera guy, like a videographer. And I move in September, no, I move in August to Colorado. And I started, then I moved to Nebraska. And then, you know, Jake's like, yeah, you're going to be our content guy. You're going to shoot video. You're going to shoot all this stuff. And I'm like, I really don't know how to shoot video, but I can take pictures. So I'm already like on edge about that. Week later, uh, the other, other owner of this outfit comes up to me. He's like, all right, you're, uh, guiding, uh, archery elk or archery mule deer hunt next week. And I'm like, what? He goes, yeah, you've, you've shot deer before. I was like, I've never deer hunted before. And he goes, Oh, Well, this is where you're going to go. And he sends me a pin to this piece of property and I'm sitting there like, you can't, there's no way you're going to make me do this. There's zero chance. I'm an archery mule deer hunt. Are you kidding me? I've never seen a mule deer ever. So sure enough, I went from photographer to mule deer videographer, mule deer videographer. Let's go with that. And, uh, then the clients, they get into camp and I can already tell the way this is going to go. And he goes, uh, the guy, my client's name is Charles. The, the owner of the outfit goes, All right, Charles, you're with Brandon since you shot one last year. And I'm like, bad business move. First of all, you need to make me sound just about as good as the next best thing since last year. Since you shot one last year and the rest of the camp, didn't you're going to go with, you're going to go with him because your chances of shooting one are small. And I'm like, Oh my God, this is just not going well. Well, From the time that he told me that I was going to guide an archery mule deer hunt to the time I actually was taking a client, I had spent every morning and every afternoon. I found the deer on day two. I tracked the deer day two at the night. And then from that moment, it was a good buck. And I mean, maybe I had big eyes, maybe I didn't. Uh, we, I, I knew where this deer was bedding. I knew where this deer was feeding and I knew where this beer was watering or this deer was watering at every time of the day. And I just knew where he was all the time. And he took the same path every day. It was, I mean, it's a September, it's a September mule deer. It does the same thing. Um, so I meet Charles and, and. Then the owner of the, as I'm getting positioned with this, my first client ever, he goes, oh yeah, Brandon's never shot a deer before, so you might have to guide the guide here. And I'm like, why would you say that? Like, why? And Jake did not say this, it was his business partner at the time. And so anyways, we got the next morning and I give him the rundown of what we're about to do. And right off the bat, Charles was willing to listen, but also willing to give a lot of suggestions. And I was like, no, he's going to be here at 601. You're going to see him come over that Ridge. And we had taken, I go out to this place and we had taken this, uh, Valley and, uh, he, we were set up in a bowl and there's like a lazy Valley. And then there's another bowl on the other side and the deer would just come straight through this Valley. Well, what I didn't know on my scouting trip was this buck that I had been scouting was also hanging out with about 20 other does. Makes it really interesting. Yeah. All the does, I'll give him this. I was like, how big do you want this buck to be? And he's like, well, I want it to be, you know, like a four by four, like the classic mule deer look. And I was like, oh, I can probably do that for you. This is the deer that I've been scouting. When he comes in, he's going to be at 50 yards. Like, take a look. He's like, he's not going to be at 50 yards. I'm like, yes, he will. And 605 rolls around. He's sitting there at 50 yards. I'm like, do you want to take him right there? And he draws back. He's like, that's a good buck. I'm like, can you take that shot? He's like, no. And he didn't shoot it. And we get down for like 10 seconds. And all of a sudden, we come back up. Every deer in the valley is gone. Where do they go? And we were like messing around for 30 minutes and to the other bowl on the other side, I was like, you know what? I think they might have gone in there and bet it. It's like 7 o'clock in the morning at this time. I'm like, what I want you to do is take your bow and just, I mean, it's like a sheer cliff in this bowl. And I'm like, just take your bow and look straight down. And he takes his bow and he looks straight down. And I just see a set of antlers go like this and like this. And he stands up, he walks to 20 yards, he slings an arrow. And I'm like, he kicks really good, shows all the great signs. I'm like, all right, like you hit that, you hit that buck. And at this point, Charles is like, wow, maybe I am going to shoot a deer with this guy. Go to the arrow, bright green the whole way through. I'm like, I know what this means. I'm not a smart man, but I know what this means. We give it a day, come back, deer's nowhere to be found. Give it another day. We're doing the grid pattern. We're covering miles and miles and miles of ground and can't find this thing. Sure enough, I go get a four-wheeler, just messing around. I'm like, I'm going to go just do a wheelie up this hill, just like pop, just messing around, 18 years old, get to the top of the mountain. Oh, there's your buck. Do what? 175 inch mule deer. Are you serious? Then the next day we, he bought a pronghorn tag and we shot a pronghorn. And then the next few days after that, we shot limited dove.

Matt Harrison: So you went, you went from the best, or sorry, you went from the worst guy to the best guy.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, definitely, definitely zero to hero for sure. Real quick. Yep. And then he tipped me a substantial amount of money and I'm like, whoa, this is really cool. And then I learned very quickly that not every deer hunt is like that, or every hunt. And then I went back to zero.

Matt Harrison: And then I became a camera guy again. Oh, man. Well, I want to ask you, switching gears a little bit, because we hit on a little bit how nowadays a lot of people take pictures, okay? We also stated that you're a very young photographer that is successful, that has been a lot of cool places, done a lot of great things. I'm sure you've probably heard a lot, man, you're lucky. You're lucky. You have the coolest job in the world. You're lucky. Okay? A lot of people, I'm sure, around your age or maybe even a little younger, whenever you started out, you said 14 years old, that want to get in the outdoor industry, that want to take photos for big brands, that want to get their photo on a cover, right? You hear all the time that, I wanna do what you do. How would you encourage someone that's younger to get into the game of photography and also be good at it? Now, I also wanna state this, I want you to also talk about the importance of relationships and how important it is of taking care of those relationships, because I know that that is a big factor in becoming a successful, any type of person in the outdoor industry, but for sure the photography game.

Brandon Fien: I mean, be ambitious, do it, like just do it. And whether it be, I mean, talk, talk to people, just market yourself. I mean, just do everything you can possibly do to achieve whatever goal you may have. Just go do it. Be ambitious, be hungry. And if somebody were to come up to me and say, well, like, why, why do you, do what you do. I want to win. I want to win for my family. I want to win for my relationships. I want to win with the Lord. But I also want to win with myself. I want to win that 14-year-old, 15-year-old kid that had that self-doubt when he was going through some stuff in high school. I want to win with my parents. I want to make my parents proud. I want to make my friends proud. And that's why I do it. And it keeps me always chasing a goal. And when you feel like you've done something and there's no way you can get better, 100% you can do something better. And you can do it 10 times better. You can do it 20 times better. And if you can make yourself proud, your mentors proud, your parents proud, your friends, whatever.

Matt Harrison: You're successful. You're successful. And, you know, just, uh, how you start out that answer is ambitious, you know, because it's extremely easy cause prior to coming on Ducks Unlimited, I was a very amateur photographer, but I was able to get in with some brands and make some great relationships and I wouldn't be in the position I am today if it wasn't for that. But. It's extremely easy if you start with something like that and your hopes and your goals are to work with these brands or be in these types of positions. It's very easy to get discouraged whenever things don't go exactly how you want to because it's not an overnight success thing, right? It is not something that you're going to snap your fingers, I bought a camera and I'm going to be. you know, in this magazine. It's not an overnight success thing.

Brandon Fien: Tyler Litchenberger 100%. You nailed it. And if you are so tunnel vision and saying, oh, I want to, this is the end goal for me, right? And you say no to all the other opportunities that you think aren't going to help you take you to that goal. First of all, those other opportunities may be better for you than what you have in mind. It's God's timing. It's not yours. First of all. And then, Why are we passing opportunities? Don't pass opportunities. Be ambitious. Be humble. Be open to ideas. Be willing to meet people. Be willing to talk to people. And that's really the snowball effect that I saw was… I never had one… And it happened organic for me. Where I didn't know I was going to do this. I didn't even know this was going to be a dream of mine. And it just… I started meeting people and I was like, man, I just love this. I really do. And I never say no to an opportunity. Never. Because one conversation 100% one always be always be prepared always be willing to jump on something and I know it's a lot easier said than done but When something's presented to you take it. Yeah, just take it. Yeah, because you never know never where it's gonna take you

Matt Harrison: because I can even, just a couple people off the top of my head, Will Brantley, who used to work here, Kerry Wicks, Ed Wall, those type of people that took chances on me that I met, that I didn't, they weren't family friends, they weren't friends of my friends, these are people I either met at shows, they either messaged me on Instagram, and now they're some of my great friends, but I, there is no question in my mind, I would not be in the position that I am today if it wasn't for those guys. And there's other people too that I didn't name that I wouldn't be in this position today. But, if I wouldn't have created those relationships, maintained those relationships, and truly treated them, hey, they're a friend to me, they've been really good to me, and I want to help them as well. You know, not just, I'm going to try to benefit off them and I'm just going to go my way. No, I'm still friends with those guys, I still talk to those guys, and they're not somebody that I just used as a stepping stone to get into the position I am today. take care of those relationships. They're all still three guys that, you know, I don't talk to on a day-to-day basis, but I see and I talk to, you know.

Brandon Fien: I mean, I'm the same, I have the same relationship with a guy, Colin Mulligan, and he, it was one of those things, an opportunity where I was like, man, from four years ago when we met, I was, you could see the writing on the wall, I'm like, this guy, you know, I don't know him, he doesn't know me, but we just got to talking and then, He started talking about video projects. And I'm like, man, you don't know anything about video. And he's like, no, but I want to. And then he starts talking about these ideas he has and these stories. And I'm like, man, you're wicked smart. And like, what do you do again? And he had nothing to do with production or video or producing or anything. And then… Now, here we are four years later, and we're going across the country together, and we're so collaborative together. It's really, it really is one of those things where if I would have passed up that opportunity to talk to this guy… You wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be in half the places I am across the world. And Colin and I wouldn't have the relationship we have now. I mean, he'll probably be at my wedding one day. Like, that's how close we are now. And that's the difference of passing opportunities and seizing them. Because not only are the career paths Uh, the possibilities are endless there, but what's more important is your personal relationships. And that's where Colin falls in my life. And that's super important to me because now he's excelling as a, as a storyteller and as a producer. And I'm like, man, this guy I met three years ago, he's grown exponentially. And he's also helped me grow exponentially. Now we're growing together and it's been, it's been a really cool journey, but yeah, be ambitious. Bottom line, just be ambitious.

Matt Harrison: Well, you heard it from Brandon. Be ambitious and take care of those relationships because those are very important. Well, Brandon, thank you. Hope you have a safe trip. Thank you. Heading back home and maybe, fighting the mic over here, maybe we'll get to share a blind hearsay.

Brandon Fien: Yeah, man. I appreciate it. It was an honor.

Matt Harrison: Thank you so much. We also want to thank our podcast producer, Mr. Chris Isaac, for taking the time to make this podcast what it is. And we also want to thank our Ducks Unlimited podcast listeners. Thank you all so much and God bless.