Meet Maggie Machinsky | Photographer

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

Hi Maggie, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
There is nothing that makes me happier than traveling. Whether it’s near or far, under the ocean, on a mountain or in a foreign city, I absolutely love visiting new places. You get to experience different perspectives on life via foreign cultures, see first-hand how beautiful the planet is, and hopefully realize that most of us have a lot more in common than we don’t.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a photographer that specializes in astrophotography. I love traveling to places in the middle of nowhere to combine art and science with my camera to show people how beautiful our night sky is, and the importance of preserving it. With the ever-growing population and electronic technology that follows us everywhere, I think it’s more important than ever to keep wild places wild.

Two accomplishments come to mind when asked what I’m most proud of. In 2018, I entered a photo in the National Geographic Photo Contest, and the editors chose it as a finalist for the People’s Choice category. I didn’t win, I think I got 2nd, but that was a big moment for me. Then a few months later, National Geographic ran a campaign called “Starstruck” which was a yearlong celebration of space exploration, and they chose one of my photos to accompany the assignment.

The funny thing is both photos were taken on the same night, which almost resulted in disaster. I was in Morondava on the west coast of Madagascar, where I spent 2 nights. I always try to spend at least 2 nights in a location, because you never know what the weather is going to be like. On the first night, almost immediately after I started shooting my lens fogged up due to humidity. There is an easy fix for this – you put a chemical handwarmer or 2 on your lens and secure it with a rubber band.

The problem was I left them in my hotel room 30 minutes away and it was already 11:30 pm. So here I am, in the #1 place in the world wanted to visit at the time, which required 22 hours of flying over 3 flights, and I have nothing to show for it. So on the 2nd night, after checking my bag 5 times over, I put myself to work and I think it paid off.

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?
Oh I love this question!

I only moved to the Valley 6 months ago, but I’ll share my favorites so far.

I’m a sucker for margaritas, martinis, cocktail bars, dive bars & spicy food. If we’re doing Old Town, we’d start with dinner and margaritas at The Mission. After that we’re heading to Pattie’s and/or the Rust Spur.

If it’s a fancier occasion dinner at Nobu or Fat Ox.

Some other favorite bars are the White Rabbit and Valley Bar.

Bruch is my favorite meal, especially when trying to recover from a night out or for a post hike meal. I love the Breakfast Club, Matt’s Big Breakfast, The Coffee Shop in Gilbert and Snooze.

My favorite hikes so far have been Tom’s Thumb and Sunrise Peak, and when I’m missing the Ocean I go to the aquarium to pet the sting rays.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are 2 people that, without a doubt, had I not been fortunate enough to cross paths with, my photography wouldn’t be where it is today.

One of those individuals is my good friend and mentor, Stan Honda. Stan spent most of his career as a staff photographer for Agence France Presse, and notably photographed NASA’s space shuttle program for five years. He is one of the most humble, yet talented people I’ve come to know. I first met Stan back in 2016 through the Amateur Astronomer’s Association of New York. I took a class he was teaching on night sky photography, and since then he has helped with everything from camera functions, to printing profiles to negotiating contracts.

The other person I need to recognize is Bob Harward. Bob spent most of his adult life serving our country in one of the most prestigious branches of the military, but these days he spends most of his time jet-setting in first class between golf courses and parachuting out of planes onto Mount Everest. I met Bob through a mutual friend while I was visiting Abu Dhabi, and we struck up a conversation about our hobbies. After showing him some of my photos, he convinced me that I was more talented than I ever thought, and coached me through the process of establishing an LLC. He was my very first client, and hung the photo he purchased in the lobby of the Fortune 500 company he worked for at the time.

I am forever grateful to these 2 gentlemen for taking the time to help and believe in me, while expecting nothing in return.

Website: www.maggiemachinsky.com

Instagram: @photo.gypsea

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggie-machinsky-a6ab6033/

Image Credits
All photos taken by me EXCEPT the photo of me which was taken by Preston Stahly.