Meet Dave Olsen | Landscape Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dave Olsen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dave, what makes you happy? Why?
Like so many other people around the world, raising a family and work over rides our hobbies and personal goals until we retire. One of my goals for so many years was to have an RV and travel to as many beautiful locations I’ve seen on TV, magazines or someone told us about. Combine this with being able to work on improving my photography skills and share the beautiful sights I have seen on these travels is the cherry on top! It wouldn’t be enjoyable to do without the companionship of my wife Patty and our golden retriever Willow. This is what make me happy!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The largest part of my adult life I spent working for a fire department in Washington State. There I worked my way up in rank to Lieutenant working on the fire lines and in ambulances for over thirty years. I retired from the fire service in 2012. In the fire service you wear many different hats to serve your community. 13 of the years I was with the department I served as the “Public Education Officer” where I would deal with the media during and after a emergency incident or I could be found on my hands and knees teaching children how to be fire safe! As the department grew and call volume increased I had to choose to either be a line officer or full time public educator. So my last half of my career with the fire service I spent on the line working 24 hour shifts serving our community. The whole time while I was working for the fire service I also managed to put in 20 years in the Air Force Reserve. My role in the Air Force was a Medical Technician with a Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at McChord Air Force Base just outside of Tacoma Washington. Our role with this unit was to turn a cargo aircraft into a huge flying ambulance and fly anywhere in the world that we were needed and transport our patients to the hospitals needed for their continued care. This job was very much like my job with the fire service but on a much larger scale and no limits on where I would travel to help out someone in need.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Most of our friends are very much like minded like us and love to do the same activities we do. We have always found that those we have the most in common with like to be in the outdoors hiking, biking and camping. Here in Arizona there is an abundance of places to visit and camp. If we were entertaining a good friend we would always begin with visiting the Grand Canyon. It has so much to offer that you could spend months visiting all the many treasures it has to offer. Our next stop would be the Sedona red rock region. This community has everything an outdoors person would love from scenic hikes, wonderful restaurants, shopping and more. Wanting to give our visitor a well rounded taste of Arizona we would have to run down to The Tucson area and visit the “Saguaro National Monument and move on to visit “Organ Pipe National Monument” for a few days of hiking, and sight seeing in the little Southern towns like Ajo before returning home to the Phoenix area.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Growing up I lived in many different places since my father was in the military. One of the most exciting places we lived was on the island of Bermuda. The island itself is only 20 miles long and a mile wide. Being 10 years old I spent many days on the beach and playing with the local children. On one particular day my parents stoped in to see a local photography gallery where the owner spent a short period to explain photography tips to me which sparked my interest in photography. Back then in the mid 1960’s digital photography wasn’t even in the minds of photographers, everything was film photography. Helping me follow through with my new interest my parents gave me an old hand me down fold up bellows 110 black and white camera. Unlike the instant satisfaction of seeing your photos like we do today I had to mail my roll of film in to be developed and wait a week or more to see the results of my photography skills (many times with very disappointing results). I was also limited on the amount of photos I could take due to the developing cost and film purchase cost. Everything was dependent on how much I saved from my 25 cent a week allowance. So I would like to recognize the Photographer I met on that brief visit (sorry I don’t remember his name) and my parents for camera and encouragement over the years.

Website: BackRoadsLandscapePhoto.smugmug.com

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Other: email: BackroadsLandscapePhoto@gmail.com