F8 EXPLORER

  • PHOTOGRAPHY
  • VISUAL STORYTELLING
  • EXPLORATION
  • MOMENTS
  • LIFE
Druids of Turtle Island (Walking an earth-centered Spiritual Path) The Malstrom Expanse (Star Trek Online Fleet / Fan-Fic)
About This Site

"F8 Explorer" ... The F8 comes from "F/8 and be there!" It represents being there in the moment to make sure you get the image. "Explorer" represents making sure you always remember to explore and experience life while doing so.

This website represents the ongoing journey represented in the work, art and passion of photographer Mike Tripp.

Contacts
Phone: +1 (540) 849 4180
Email: mike@F8explorer.com

My name is Alan Tripp,
I’m a photographer.

I’m a freelance reporter based in Fishersville, Va. — owner of my own business.

Have worked as as a photojournalist in the Shenandoah Valley for right about 30+ years.

Started as a freelance photographer with the News Gazette in Lexington, first staff position was with the News Leader back in the early ’90s. Later worked as a photographer with the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg before moving back to the News Leader where I was Chief of photography and Multimedia for more than 15 years.

In 2019, struck out on my own and started my own business, Mike Tripp Media LLC, which specializes in the art of storytelling through images and multimedia.

(My first name is Michael, but I go by my middle name of Alan.)

Known to be a huge fan of Star Trek and science fiction, and he’s something of a history nut.

Love to captain starships in the online MMO, Star Trek Online, where I also happen to command the fleet Aliance Central Command and write fan-fiction about the 27th Expeditionary Fleet within that universe.

Am a father, husband, photographer, hunter of stories, Klingon warrior and Viking explorer.

My Klingon name is “Ka’nej Hauk” — meaning “Hawk who seeks Spirit,” which is fitting because of my love of the natural world and the fact I am a Druid of Turtle Island.

Also happens to be an avid lover of adventuring and history.

The Facts from Fiction

What Makes Me Tick?

lightING PREFERENCE

Prefer natural lighting and go that route like 80 to 90% of the time. Does not mean I don’t or can’t use artificial lighting. Can balance a scene’s lighting with strobes and such with the best. 

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Anyone can take a photograph, but a true photographer is an artist who produces so much more. The camera and lens are to those like me as paints and brush are to a painter. 

CANON OR NIKON?

Nikon. … First camera was Nikon. Then the newspapers I worked for were Nikon all the way. Don’t really believe there is a huge difference between the two brands, but Nikon is what I know.

TECHNOLOGY

When I first started photographing, it was simply film. Yet, I’ve lived to see those cameras transition over the decades to now pure digital mirrorless pro cameras. Love the new technologies! 

the vision

First mentor told me … “It’s not the Presidents and the other important people you will love photographing the most.  It’ll be community and the everyday.” 

Choice of lens

Lot of photographers go short lens, yet 9 times out of  10, I personally go with the 70-200mm zoom. Allows me to photograph from a distance, not disturbing the flow of the moment.

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