Q: Can you give our audience a little bit of your background? How and where did you grow up, did you grow up in the Western lifestyle, etc?
A: I was born in a small southern Albertan town called Three Hills, from there we moved to central British Columbia and then later on to northern Alberta where I’ve been for nearly thirty years. Wherever we lived, I spent my time in the woods playing by myself. Sometimes all day, sometimes the nights as well in a tree fort my Dad built for me. Several things occupied my playing time consistently: pirates, and cowboys. As you can see from my work those two obsessions have never left me. I still have pirate and cowboy running in my veins. My photoshoots are still almost all largely inspired by movies about pirate ships and ranches and old time western gunfights.
Q: Has your style of photography changed at all since you started your business? If so, how would you describe your style then compared to now?
A: My journey started accidentally, I picked up a camera for holidays with my wife and kids in the mountains. After bringing that camera along on one trip I sold it. And bought a better one! And I found every horse and cow and took photos of them. The western in my veins was still pumping just as hard as always. I learned about lighting, composition and editing. And one fine winter day, a couple asked for a photoshoot, and that was that. I became a portrait photographer overnight.

Q: What inspires you as a photographer?
A: Story. Story. Story. And light. For me everything is about the story, put that story in some good light, and all the work is done. There, you know my secret!
Q: What do you want people to feel when they look at your photography?
A: I hope my work gets people excited about the story. I always want to have images that look like they are stills taken from a movie scene. I want people to see the story and get lost in it for a little bit.

Q: Can you describe the moment or moments you realized that you could make a living doing something you’re passionate about?
A: It’s been a slow realization for me. Jordan Peterson wisely said a dream combined with small achievable goals is a plan. Get on it and don’t look back for an entire year. And then look back and see where you’ve gotten after one year of daily steps towards that goal. You’ll surprise yourself. And he was right. When I looked back, that’s when I realized maybe more things were possible than I had even thought at first.
Q: What is something you wish people knew about being a professional photographer?
A: Two things: be ready to be rejected and to work hard to make an image that makes an impression, AND, your vision is far more important than the camera you use.
Q: What is your “why”? Why is it important to you to capture and share the western lifestyle?
A: Western is timeless. And it’s connected to reality in some hard ways. And I love that. I love taking an ordinary day to day scene and turning it into a photograph that makes people stop to look for a second and a third time, and then buy it and hang it on their wall. I love that it’s real and it means something.

Q: Do you have any closing thoughts about you or your business that you’d like our audience to know?
A: I want to tell the stories of the cowboys and cowgirls who have lived and are living the lifestyle that people often only see in movies, and somehow help in keeping the western tradition alive. And I hope when you look through my work that you can’t help but get drawn into the story.

Learn more and follow Trent on social @trentschlamp on Instagram or his website, TrentSchlamp.com.
This article was originally written for the Fall 2024 Issue of Modern Cowboy Magazine. Catch more stories from this issue below!
Author
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Hi everyone! I'm Krysta Paffrath, I am a proud Arizona native who has a passion for everything business and rodeo. I am beyond thrilled to be the Editor in Chief for Modern Cowboy Magazine and Ten Gallon Talk. My adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit has guided me to work in many places like the WYO Quarter Horse Ranch in Thermopolis, Wyoming, a working cattle ranch in Seligman, Arizona, and many places in between. I am passionate about preserving the western way of life and working with different brands and rodeos to make that happen. If you're looking for a write-up, please shoot me an email at krysta@tengallontalk.com. Learn more about me at krystapaffrath.com. Looking forward to hearing from you!
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