Today we’d like to introduce you to Xinran Yue.
Hi Xinran, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a full-time financial professional and a full-time nature lover who happens to have picked up some photography skills along the way. I originally started taking photos simply to document my own life, but somewhere along the way, I got a little too addicted and started really pushing myself to make better images of the places and people I love.
I’m not quite sure where I am on that journey yet, but I’m definitely doing much better than when I started—and I’m still learning and improving. One of the best parts of the journey has also been meeting so many wonderful and talented people through photography along the way.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There definitely have been difficult and unexpected moments. When you make plans and preparations ahead of time, so many things can still be out of your control, and it’s very possible to end up with nothing ideal after putting in so much effort. That has definitely happened to me multiple times—whether it was my lack of experience shooting a solar or lunar eclipse or other new subjects, having to make last-minute changes to my daily plans while traveling to Zion and The Wave during flash floods, or dealing with the steep learning curve of deep-sky photography.
On the other hand, I also spend a lot of time thinking about how to make familiar or ordinary things look unique in my photos, and how I can reflect my own style and personality in my work. That’s definitely a much more difficult challenge, but also a really interesting one to think about.
But those challenges are also, in a way, the fun parts of photography. They often lead to unexpected surprises, force me to learn something new, and keep me curious about what I can create next.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m primarily a landscape and nature photographer who also does wedding and event sessions sometimes, since I’ve never really wanted to limit myself to one particular genre. I’m probably most known for my landscape and night-sky work, especially images that combine dramatic natural scenery with interesting light or astronomical events.
One thing I’m genuinely proud of is that I have a stable career outside of photography. While it’s always exciting when my photography occasionally brings in some side income, I don’t depend on it financially. That gives me the freedom to photograph what I genuinely feel passionate about, and I think that comes through in my work. My photos can reflect how I actually felt in a particular place or at a particular moment, rather than what I think might be more commercially successful.
More than anything, I’m experience-driven. I don’t sit at home thinking about what image to produce next — I want to go somewhere, see something, try something, and the camera comes with me. Sometimes photography is the reason I go. Sometimes it’s just part of how I experience being there. Either way, curiosity is probably the thing that defines me most as a photographer. I’m not interested in perfecting one formula. I’d rather keep exploring and see where it takes me.
What are your plans for the future?
Actually, I have quite a lot of plans lol. For now, I’m still mostly focused on landscapes, and I definitely want to continue in that direction—exploring beautiful places, enjoying nature, and creating fun images along the way.
I also want to experiment more with elopement photography, especially because I love the idea of combining the landscapes I already enjoy photographing with portraits and more intimate storytelling. Another major direction I’ve been thinking about for a while is taking more portraits on film. In this very digital age, I still find film photography incredibly charming. I’ve also experimented with bringing some of that film aesthetic into my digital work, and I’ve been really happy with how those images turned out. So I’d love to explore that side of photography more in the future.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xy_owo/
