Summit Teacher Takes Photography, Art Outside the Classroom

Published November 6, 2014

Summit High School Art Teacher Warne Riker’s passion for art and photography has taken him many places in life, and he has captured many beautiful scenes on film. His most recent adventure is with Vertical Magazine, which featured some amazing photographs of Riker’s in an article about Vanderbilt LifeFlight.

Riker has been photographing professionally for about eight years, though photography is a passion that started when he was very young.

“I’ve always been interested in photography,” said Riker. “I can remember developing prints as a child with my father in the kitchen. I was lucky enough to take photography classes in high school, and I continued to take classes in photography in college.”

He has photographed everything from architecture to sports to weddings, but he says he really enjoys getting out and photographing landscapes.

“One of my favorite places in Tennessee to photograph is the Smoky Mountains,” said Riker. “Growing up in upstate New York, I really miss the countryside this time of year (autumn), so getting out and getting lost on the backroads can make me feel like I am back at home.”

Three years ago, Riker was shooting a series for his portfolio on Nashville, and through that series, discussions occurred with an individual at Vanderbilt which led to the LifeFlight partnership.

“They asked me if I could do some work for LifeFlight – I didn’t hesitate to accept,” said Riker.

Like working with any client, working with LifeFlight was not without its teaching moments.

"It’s challenging to say the least,” said Riker. “They are not like your regular client where you can set up times to shoot. As you can imagine, working with an organization that deals with saving lives means you are on their schedule. At any moment they can and will be called out. Two years ago, we had a particular photo shoot scheduled and it took six tries within about two weeks in order to make it happen.”

Riker hopes that continuing to show the passion he has for what he teaches will positively rub off on his students, as it did on him.

“I have always loved photography as an art form and I have always been involved in the arts,” said Riker. “It was my high school teacher, however, who got me involved with teaching. It was his idea – I still remember our conversation one day when he asked me if I had ever thought about teaching…and I have been teaching ever since. I want my students to know that I am not just a teacher, I actually do what I teach. In this field you have to be ahead of the curve in order to stay on top of it. Working for clients such as LifeFlight gives me the ability to show my students firsthand about working in the industry.”

Riker advises students be well rounded when and if they choose the photography and art fields for a career.

“Take business and marketing classes and study in those classes as hard as you do in your art classes,” said Riker. “Today’s photographer is a freelance photographer. Building your own business and understanding how the business works is as important if not more important than your art. I have seen amazing photographers who struggle getting work and I have seen photographers who struggle with their art but have a great business because they understand how the business side works.”

You can find the article here: http://www.verticalmag.com/news/article/28752.