Joshua Cripps is a renowned landscape photographer who has garnered worldwide acclaim for his breathtaking images of our planet’s wild places. His photos have been published by the likes of National Geographic, NASA, CNN, The Sun, and Nikon Global.
Josh grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and has been exploring the “Range of Light” for most of his life. Since 2015, Josh has made his home in the Eastern Sierra, one of the most spectacular and photogenic mountain landscapes in the world.
Josh is one of today’s most sought-after photography educators. He leads photo tours and speaks at conferences around the world.
Josh grew up in the Sierra Nevada, where he spent his summers camping, hiking, and climbing. Throughout his childhood and teen years his appreciation for nature grew.
But it wasn’t until Josh attended USC in downtown Los Angeles that he realized just how important nature was to his spirit. The concrete and freeways of LA were a jarring contrast to the forests of the Sierra, and Josh ventured to the mountains as often as he could.
After completing his bachelor’s degree Magna Cum Laude in Aerospace Engineering, Josh spent most of the next two years traveling around the world solo, visiting 20+ countries and making profound memories. Seeking a way to convey his experiences to friends and family at home, Josh began experimenting with photography. The seed was planted.
Once that fateful trip ended, Josh returned to the US in 2005 where he got a job designing satellites for Boeing. But the creative drive was still strong and prior to a month-long trip in Alaska in 2006, he purchased his first DSLR, a Nikon D50.
Alaska was a turning point. Seeing this spectacular landscape through the camera lens showed Josh just how beautiful the world can be. Instantly he knew that photography would be his art form, and he began an intense learning process to build his skills.
Following the housing market crash in 2008, Josh chose to leave his engineering career to pursue the life of a landscape photographer. He moved to Santa Cruz, California where he began exhibiting his work at art and wine festivals across the state.
During those years Josh spent thousands of hours along the area’s spectacular beaches, honing his craft and learning to read the light. It was during this time that his understanding of composition and technique were keenly sharpened, and Josh began receiving more and more requests to teach others his approach to photography. He and fellow photographer Jim Patterson founded Sea to Summit Photography Workshops, which quickly grew into one of the USA’s premier workshop companies.
Although Josh loved the coast, his heart was in the mountains. After a weeklong trip to Yosemite in spring of 2013, Josh knew he needed to live full time in his beloved Sierra and he moved back to his hometown of Sonora.
This would be a fateful decision, as in the spring of 2014, Nikon Global contacted Josh because of his Sierra photography. The camera company needed a mountain photography expert to help launch the innovative Nikon D750 camera, and Josh was their choice. He spent weeks traveling through the Sierra for the project, and photos he created were seen worldwide in the global marketing campaign for the camera. This campaign helped underscore the idea that the Sierra would be an integral part of Josh’s life.
Josh found himself being pulled time and time again to the dramatic views and rich wilderness of the Sierra’s east side. In order to be closer to the heart of the mountains, Josh moved to Mammoth Lakes in 2015. This proximity to the Sierra backcountry allowed Josh to build a keen insight into the moods of the stunning “Range of Light.” His knowledge of the area, photographic skills, and portfolio quickly grew to the point where Josh became recognized as one of the Sierra’s preeminent photographers.
During these years Josh fell in love with photographing the full moon and the elaborate technical planning process that it entails. Using his moon chasing skills, Josh successfully planned and photographed “Ring of Fire,” an annular solar eclipse encircling a desert nomad and camel in the remote desert of the United Arab Emirates. This photo exploded in popularity and became widely considered as one of the best eclipse photos ever created.
In 2022, new possibilities came calling. Josh moved to the small town of Lone Pine, California. Its location directly under Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous US, is endlessly inspiring. The town’s proximity to the incredible landscapes of the Sierra, as well as Death Valley National Park, makes it a limitless playground for landscape photography.
At the beginning of 2023, a casual walk through Lone Pine revealed a new opportunity: an empty storefront on Main Street. It was bare bones and had more than a few quirks, but Josh could see the potential. And no matter how many times he tried to talk himself out of an all-consuming project, Josh couldn’t shake the idea of creating a high-end gallery celebrating the spectacular beauty of the Eastern Sierra and beyond.
Thus the Mt Whitney Gallery was born.
Joshua Cripps is a renowned landscape photographer who has garnered worldwide acclaim for his breathtaking images of our planet’s wild places. His photos have been published by the likes of National Geographic, NASA, CNN, BBC, and Nikon Global.
The Mt. Whitney Gallery was founded in 2023 by Joshua Cripps as a way to share his passion stunning landscapes of the Sierra Nevada and beyond.
Set at the foot of the breathtaking Sierra with a view of the range’s highest peaks, the gallery features large format, museum-caliber fine art prints of Josh’s signature photographs.
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