Chris Burkard
Chris Burkard Studio
The Basics
Company Name: Chris Burkard Studio
Location: Pismo Beach, CA
Founded: 2010
Full-Time Employees: 6
Products: Full service studio - Photo & Video Specialty
Social: Instagram Website Facebook Twitter Youtube Vimeo
Claim to Fame: Aside from having an alpaca named Suzy Q as our mascot, our studio’s claim to fame would be the various commercial and creative projects that have established a worldwide call to get outside and seek out new experiences, places, people, and cultures. Over the years, our work has served a number of commercial clients, as well as passion projects that aim to help protect our environment and promote wild places around the globe.
The Culture
The best thing about working at Chris Burkard Studio is:
being surrounded by like minded individuals that have a passion for nature, who are both co-workers and friends. It’s not uncommon to finish a full week of work together only to go hang out as a group on a Friday night and that says a lot about the environment here. We spend a little too much time nerding over photos, but everyone at the studio lives a similar easy-going style of life and appreciates the outdoors which keeps everyone on the same page. The in house climbing wall and kombucha on tap aren’t too bad either.
When we’re not working, we’re:
cycling, surfing, camping, getting outside, and shooting more photos.
What we’re reading:
Into the wild, by Jon Krakauer. The Push: A Climber's Journey of Endurance, Risk, and Going Beyond Limits, by Tommy Caldwell. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, by William Finnegan. Swell: A Sailing Surfer's Voyage of Awakening, by Liz Clark. The Golden Spruce by John Valiant. Essentialism by Greg McKeown.
What we’re listening to:
Khruangbin, Jose Gonzales, Tupac, Greta Vanfleet, Tame Impala, and many more. Music in the studio 24/7.
If they made a movie about our workplace, it would be called:
Have Camera, Will Travel
Inclusion in the outdoors matters because:
Simply put, the outdoors have saved my life in more ways than one, and I know it could do the same for many others. Time spent in the outdoors can create formative experiences that shape individuals' lives, generating memories or lessons that can be called upon whenever we need guidance or hope. The wilderness can help teach us invaluable lessons that aren’t learned elsewhere. This shouldn’t be limited to certain groups of people, whether by religion, skin color, socio-economic status, or any other defining factor. I truly believe if everyone spent time in the outdoors, the world would be a better place and we should all be doing everything we can to make the outdoors as inclusive and as safe a space as possible for anyone that wants to be a part of it.
Five years down the line, it’s our hope that:
We have created a space and become a resource, that helps to bring more people out into the world of Nature with Photography. I hope 5 years from now we will be continuing to get outside of our comfort zone, and inspiring others to do the same.