Corps Stories Innovators S1E7 - Marine Nate Cleary

Corps Stories Innovators Season 1 Episode 7: Marine Nate Cleary - Combat Marine, MSG Det. Cmdr., Photographer

YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/IXtNDh6c0WM

https://www.natecleary.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nate_cleary/

Embassy story featuring Nate Cleary: https://www.corpsstories.com/sa-msgs2016/

https://www.candp.marines.mil/Programs/Focus-Area-1-People/Wounded-Warrior-Regiment-WWR/

Transcript

CS Innovators - Nate Cleary

Meriwether: [00:00:00] sure. Oh my golly, Nate Cleary. It is wonderful to see you again. The last time I saw you, you were hosting me at the American embassy in Dublin, and we had a big time didn't we have fun. 
Nate: [00:00:12] Yeah. it was definitely an adventure. I was glad to see you. 
Meriwether: [00:00:15] I, Got more support for the section of that story. Now you'll have to forgive me because of course there he's just had a rebuild and the two embassy stories I've written, are not up at this moment, but they will be up when this podcast airs on Monday.
How about that? Come hell or high water anyway, in that. And that, that was my first embassy story of, of double and then London and of January, 2016. And the story of that mock event at your embassy got much love because it deserved too, because, that was, that was something to behold. It was something I learned much about.
Your leadership and how your Marines respected you and look to you. And, it really touched my, it really touched my heart and, and that of my readers. 
Nate: [00:01:09] So, 
Meriwether: [00:01:10] yeah. Yeah. Okay. I want to, normally these podcasts go. How did we get here? Where is here and what's in the future. And I want that this podcast with you is to follow up, but I do want to know the readers and the viewers and listeners to know about your very early days in the Marine Corps, because I remember being blown gone away by your Marine Corps trajectory.
really extraordinary, extraordinary story. of your, your service in the Marine Corps. I wonder if we could start there. 
Nate: [00:01:48] Yeah, that'd be great. I joined in 2001, the beginning of the year. And, at the time I had no idea what I wanted to do. I'm 18 years old, no clue in life. So, came from a family of air force.
And thought, why not do the military do something different? Join the Marines. No idea what I wanted to do. I went in country, very, very interesting life. over my time I have had, Five six combat deployments, Iraq, Afghanistan, along with of course my, tour on MSC guard duty as a detachment commander for the Marines and the, embassy security program.
And that was two stations. One, yeah. In Senegal, West Africa. Yeah. And, of course where we met and Dublin, Ireland. 
Meriwether: [00:02:40] Yeah. And I remembered that actually you were there for the invasion of Iraq. Do I remember that correctly? 
Nate: [00:02:48] Yeah. While I was in the infantry, with, first tank battalion as a, anti-tank infantry man.
we were, right there on the front lines of the invasion. it was a very crazy time, indeed. 
Meriwether: [00:03:01] Yeah. I'm sure that I can remember you saying about your time in Africa, that the beaches were really unmatched and I didn't even appreciate that. I hadn't appreciated that. that West coast of Africa, really had such a splendid respite for MSG.
Is there? Yeah. 
Nate: [00:03:24] it was very nice. And the. the embassy was like right off the beach too. it was, it was a little vacation. Yeah. 
Meriwether: [00:03:31] I love it. I love it. Now we reconnected, a couple years back and I think that you were preparing to retire from the Marine Corps at that time. And you were, pursuing the, project manager certification.
Is that right? 
Nate: [00:03:47] Yeah. I was pursuing, project management, their certification in the U S a is known as PMP. and it's a very tough certification. but if you get it, the, the starting jobs are, are very well paid. and, Right now that sort of field is very much in demand. that, that was pretty much my plan.
I've pursued and I received my certification in PMP, and then I went as well and to the, British version called Prince2. and, and got their certification as well. Cause they do things a little differently. I was all set for that career, whether it be in America or abroad. 
Meriwether: [00:04:26] Yeah. I remember you telling me that you and your beautiful wife, really had fallen in love with the British Isles yes.
That you wanted to return there, even, even in Dublin. I think you told me that. 
Nate: [00:04:41] Yeah, I'm a Irish descent. and just being there, we were in love the place. green, beautiful people are friendly and, especially in Dublin, it's this really unique combination of being in a capital city, but still feeling, you know, small and not.
Pretentious. you could still, you could, you could relax. You could walk around, as opposed to London, which is very much a big capital city or New York. and, and the old buildings, it was just, it was just beautiful. 
Meriwether: [00:05:16] It really surprised me when I came to see you. That was my first trip to Dublin.
It was my first trip to Ireland. And I too had that same impression that I couldn't believe how green it was for, for a capital city. It was just naturally lush and, And I had the same experience of the people. It's like all of a sudden everybody, the taxi driver, the bus driver, everybody you meet is like your new friend.
You're going to see them again. You're going to know their names. They're going to remember you and you can talk about politics and you can say, I think that I was there on 11 action day. 
Nate: [00:05:50] Oh wow. 
Meriwether: [00:05:51] And, I can remember waking up to the newspaper at the hotel showing. Them carrying the ballots, like the ballot box, the metal ballot box, like carrying it down the road, you know?
And I just thought, golly, this place is charming. It just was charged. Yeah. I completely value how your, you know, your ancestral ties and it's, I don't think that was any place in the U S really quite as beautiful. Some places on the British Isles. And I could see why you two would be drawn back to there.
that leads me to now you're a photographer. I did not see that coming, but when I, when I looked at your website, I have never seen a website, beautiful in my life. And I, I. I talk about a dark horse. You know, I did not, I had no idea that you were gifted with photography. tell me how that, that came along.
Nate: [00:06:58] Well, It was totally unexpected. as we talked about, I was pretty much fully focused on project management, with the thought that I'm going to be a civilian soon and I need to take care of my family. And I need have a good job and, you know, pay the bills. my wife, was, is. A model and she had just started, branching into passion design.
she's an artist, she was taking her designs and kind of putting them on clothing. Well, as a fashion designer, you work with Nicole, there's a lot. and you know, photographers, like every other professional one we get paid and, and, you know, sometimes there's different personalities. And she just had a new design.
She wanted just something really like casual. And she handed me her camera and said, Hey, can you just take a couple pictures for me? and I was like, yeah, sure. I snapped a couple and it felt really good. And then I gave them back to her and she says, Oh, these are really great. Right. I'm like, yeah, I know.
You're, you're my wife. You have to 
Meriwether: [00:07:57] say that. 
Nate: [00:07:58] I want to have another shoot with you. And from there it just exploded. I don't have a creative bone in my body before this, in high school, I took an art class. The best I got was 3d boxes. Our final project. We had to do like a, we had to draw a family.
I drew a family made out of Fredy boxes. Their hair was 3d boxes. Their eyes were three bucks. I'll say it. That was all do. and to find this, it was just an incredible, and I just, I grew from there, I saved in and got a professional camera. Upgrading the lenses, practicing in the area. And, within six months I had a professional business, in less than a year, I was hired on by LA fashion week for their official, photography team, and this year now, I've been hired on or San Diego fashion week.
they're doing a virtual program and due to the size, they were only looking for one, one other photographer and. Okay. I made it. 
Meriwether: [00:09:03] Oh, my word. 
Nate: [00:09:05] I, I I've done. I've done weddings. I've done runway shows. I've ran photography teams. It's just been, it's just been a whirlwind. I I've got something like 30 international publications.
but probably the most inspiring up to date is really everything I've done with the Marines of, Wounded warrior battalion, and some of the other, local units, being able to kind of share that and, and, and spread back. 
Meriwether: [00:09:31] talk about, talk about your photography now, what I would like to do. and if in a little while is to share my screen and go to the Dropbox photo link that you 
Nate: [00:09:43] and then me 
Meriwether: [00:09:44] it's.
Okay. And I would like you to walk us through them. Okay. But I'm not ready because yet, because I want to keep hearing story. 
Nate: [00:09:52] So, 
Meriwether: [00:09:53] wounded warrior battalion. Talk to me about that, that season, that journey, that work. 
Nate: [00:09:59] I, I came to wounded warrior battalion from MSG, you know, being directly transferred there.
I was there as a staff member. I was there to work. but I was there too, kind of take care of myself. I have lots of deployments, lots of combat, realize that I needed to take care of me a little bit and my mental health and my physical health, knowing that I was going to be out soon.
so, different treatments and processes for, PTSD and TBI, learning more about myself, how I've adapted to some of the problems and stressors that I have, and ways to, to improve. one of the things that I found. that was incredible for this was photography, with photography, you, and you take the camera, put the lens up to your eye and your whole world just shrinks to that.
a lot of times in therapies, they talk about mindfulness, you know, taking your mind off your problems and that it was just like magic for me. I looked through this lens. Everything just fades away. It's just, what's on that screen. And in photography and professional photography, there are many different technical aspects.
It's not just point and shoot. when you're looking through that lens, I've got many the things in my mind, but they're all productive. They're all, they're all about this. another common issue that a lot of people with PTSD have is control. being an uncontrollable situations, feeling, feeling that loss of control.
But when I have that camera in front of me, I control everything. I control it, the light I can, I can move, I can change the look. and it's just such a peaceful feeling with everything fading away, nothing on my mind, except what's in front of me and being able to control it the way that I need to for the shot.
and it was just life changing for me. wounded warrior battalion itself is a wonderful place. you know, it's not just combat injuries. You have people who are, you know, they're injured in training. You have people who, psychological injuries, you know, various things. It's not just, you know, when you think of.
you know, Vons and amputation, there there's a whole range of sure. but with that, you get a whole range of personalities, a whole range of skill sets. And it's a really nice kind of melting pot. and I found it has just been enjoyed to be able to both learn and grow as a photographer and to contribute there.
People are medically retired every week. And a lot of these Marines, you know, they're, they're junior Marines. They're, they're on their first contact. 
Meriwether: [00:12:53] Very young. 
Nate: [00:12:54] Yeah. And they don't have a big fancy ceremony with all the bells and whistles and, and hundreds of people going to see them. And it's just them, maybe their parents, a couple of friends that they made.
And definitely no professional photography. being able to just show up and kind of make their day special and memory, and just see that look on their faces when, when they get these images, that has been amazing. in particular, they have an event called the. Marine Corps trials, which I don't really like the name because it doesn't, it doesn't give it justice to what, to what the event is.
the Marine Corps trials is an annual event and think of it like the Olympics. So, you know, you have all these different competitions, but this is only for wounded service members or veterans. Yeah, but it's not just Marines. It's international. you have teams coming from all, all over the world, flying into camp Pendleton, for, for these, you know, Olympics, you know, track and field, discuss wheelchair, basketball, archery.
and, and you'll see some there wheelchairs are doubling amputees triple amputees. You'll, you'll see others with various prosthetics. You'll, you'll have some, but you know, maybe that vision issues or, you know, other things that aren't apparent, but it's, it's just incredible to see all of these people, all of these, these.
These veterans, these warriors from across the world coming together. And even though they're different teams and everyone's competing, it is friendly. you know, they have, they have Lou out sad, little get together as, I went with one of them on a San Diego, kind of like, one of those little ocean tour things where they like, you know, go out into the ocean and come back Harbor cruise.
Yeah. and everybody is hanging out. There's no, you know, segregation in terms of national identity or anything like that. It's just, it's just great. And being able to support that, as, as an official member of the media team, has just been a blessing. cause not only am I able to see these, these, these heroes and what they can accomplish.
you know, as far as overcoming their own, adversaries and injuries, that that's inspiring in itself, but I'm able to them something, because, you know, just like with those retirements, they don't have special photographers. They don't have someone who's there for them. you might have, like a, the base kind of photography, but there is much more limited as much less personal.
and me knowing them and being able to integrate with them, and I'm not some stranger with a camera on, you know, 
Meriwether: [00:15:43] you're one of them. Yeah. 
Nate: [00:15:45] Yeah. I'm able to get a much more kind of a candid interaction with them. And, half of them they're like Facebook profile pictures or Instagram pictures for them at some event or another.
And I'm just. Seeing that, has been just gratifying. and most recently, I began sharing, my experiences and, and, and tools with others. I've found that, there's a good amount of Marines with cameras. and. Being able to, offer workshops for them? No, I've done, different trades sessions where I'm showing them how to use their camera.
Maybe we're doing something on base or we're going off base and usually they'll have like their wife or their girlfriend will show up and there'll be like the. The model. I'll have them, you know, jumping up in the year or, you know, running around or doing different things. we can play with the camera settings, you know, free some in motion or work at like a nice blur and being able to, to share that with them.
Because I found it such a cathartic experience. and it doesn't end when I put down the camera cause I go back home and now I've got to edit or I've got to retouch, and that's a whole different thing in itself, but mindfulness, I'm just totally focused on this image and what I'm doing and I, I can get lost in it.
Yeah. Mean I was messaging you. I think it was something like what about 
Meriwether: [00:17:14] one o'clock in the morning this morning? Yeah. 
Nate: [00:17:18] Cause I, I had a giveaway with another organization and, that a military spouse or husband was deployed. They didn't get, the wedding pictures. we, we did a, it's going to be a two part thing.
we went down to LA Jolla beach and took these beautiful images. 
Meriwether: [00:17:34] Oh, the bride with the surf at sunset. 
Nate: [00:17:39] Yeah. And those were just like the unedited kind of sneak peaks just to, that's about like 10% of what it'll be. and, and then when the husband returned as we'll do another session with the two of them together, I was up until like one or two in the morning, last night, just, you know, working on that.
I just it's really easy to get lost in it. That, and the great thing is. You're getting lost in something productive rather than lost and your traumas, 
Meriwether: [00:18:07] you know, I kinda want to stop you there and, little unpack, a little rewind there because you know, Nate, I, don't know that I told you this, but I had had severe PTSD.
from childhood trauma and then some, but all personal trauma, not only one case of military trauma when I was in the Navy, but most of it was from childhood stuff and marital domestic violence stuff. and then in 2016, when I met you, I was still pretty sick, but I had, you know, like a lot of people, I.
Gotten sober and sober a long time, 32 years now. And then, but in 2017 I got the stellate ganglion block and that was my magic ticket that cured me of, 95% of my nightmares and flashbacks. But the reason I bring it up is because I'm very familiar with PTSD and I'm usually very good at spotting it and other people.
Especially Marines, you know, I've been working with Marines for 22 years. No. And I writing about them that long and I did it and have a hint of this with you. I was. So, my impression of you was just, and I, I think I'm right that, you may have been sick, but they're definitely. Was a very strong facet of you.
That's just a poster board Marine, a senior noncommissioned officer. I mean, the way you interacted with me, but far more. the way you interacted with embassy staff and with your Marines, I mean, that, that, that was devoted to you. And, I, I'm I'm, I'm processing this to think of you suffering all that time.
it's something for me to think about that. and I am familiar with the wounded warrior regimen, which I think has probably evolved wonderfully over the years. I think it's gotten better with time. As all things usually Marine Corps does. and, but the talent that we're talking about with your photography is like,
you know, not normal. I don't think so. When you say that, when you look into the lens, it's like, The world goes away that comes through in your photography. I mean, the photos are pleasant, it's a pleasant place to land looking at your art and, the colors. I don't know if it's the camera or the way you deal with the lining.
But I don't think editing could bring out the, the vibrancy I see in your photography. It's just, it's really inspiring. It's gorgeous. And, I,
I can't help, but wonder, and I want to ask. Is it possible that everything you've been through perhaps actually helps your photography makes you. And listening. 
Nate: [00:21:22] something that I will tell, some of the Marines more going when we're going through these workshops, but I don't tell, you know, models and professionals and you'll understand why when I say it is, there's actually a lot of parallels between photography and, using a rifle.
Meriwether: [00:21:41] Oh, tell me, I, you know, I love that kind of thing. come on. 
Nate: [00:21:45] when you're going through, you know, your, your various combat for your new rifle training, you learn about, you know, things like that, breath control, you know, being able to sight in properly with your eyes, trigger control, you know, body stability, things like that.
in, the same with the camera. you know, you want to study sharp, you're just breathing up and down. You're not going to get that steady shot. You gotta inhale exhale, natural pause that sight picture, sight alignment. It's the same thing. It's the same principle. that kind of focus that you need to have.
you know, you're, it's not a rifle, it's a similar mechanism called the trigger, the gun, push the button, you know, shoot the cameras. it's been very easy. not necessarily that to understand that, Deeper details of photography settings and stuff like that. But the concept of it itself for a military mind is actually very familiar.
and I found that there's something about, when, when reads I sing rains, but probably really all service members, you know, when you're deployed, you've got your right ball on you. Pretty much 24 seven, and one of the most common things when you get back from a deployment that, that Marines feel weird about there there's two things.
Really one is that they don't have a gas mask attached to their hip anymore. but the other is their rifle. and it's very common. First one, two, three, eight weeks back from the deployment. You wake up and you're in a little bit of a panic, like where's my ride. Right. And. There's just a certain feeling of, of safety of confidence with it.
Meriwether: [00:23:32] Certainly, 
Nate: [00:23:33] dealing with PTSD. most people have issues with crowds. I don't like big crowds. I don't like being in an elevators. there's a feeling of powerlessness there, a of, a defense what's ness. It's very stressful. I found that just holding the camera gives me that same feeling of confidence and serenity as a writer.
Yeah. I can have, I can be in an elevator with eight people without a camera and I'm just stressed out. I'm like I'm sweating and I'm shaky. But if I have a camera, I can go to a fashion show with like a thousand 
Meriwether: [00:24:14] people at a crowded. 
Nate: [00:24:15] I feel fine. I feel great. I've gotten my rights. 
Meriwether: [00:24:19] Yeah. Cut my weapon here.
Yeah. Yeah. I, I can see that. I wouldn't have. Put it together, but of course it makes a tremendous amount of sense, especially that shutter business. 
Nate: [00:24:33] You can see why maybe if you're talking to a model, a model, doesn't want to hear a veteran wreak war photographer saying that when they put the camera up to their eyes, they're imagining it's a rifle.
You know? that's something that I really only share with the veteran community. 
Meriwether: [00:24:49] Well, I hear you say that, but I, I, I wonder if you don't come to the table. In those communities with skills that really do benefit your relationship with them, be certainly as, being in the MSG program. There's a lot of diplomacy.
Nate: [00:25:10] Yes, that is true. And the fashion industry in particular, I say fashion industry because as a photographer, Professionals more generally specialize in one field or another. You're really not going to be successful trying to do everything. in the, in the fashion industry, which I tried to focus on, you have a lot of personalities.
You have a lot of, sorry, ego. 
Meriwether: [00:25:36] Yeah. Yeah. 
Nate: [00:25:37] You know, much like you were in like the Hollywood industry is that one of the things like that. And there's definitely. Definitely a, an art of diplomacy in that. 
Meriwether: [00:25:46] Yeah. And I think there's, you know, in that world, appearance bearing are very important. and you know, Marines just have a certain panache.
They do they really do. And, I would imagine that, or gravitas, maybe gravitas is a better word in a sort of a grounded, I don't know how to, you know what I mean? And I think in that world when they're visual, these are, these are completely visually oriented people, no matter. What part of that industry, they are in, they would be comfortable with you because of your gravitas, because poster, board, Marine, you know, you just have that as you know.
And I, but I wonder, talk to me about your wife now, when we went, when we met, I have not met her, but you talked about her much. I felt like I had met her. And she, from the pictures I have seen then, and now, I mean that Marine Corps ball picture that I include in the story from back then is just.
Classic, you know? So, how, how has she, I mean, you guys have been married awhile now. How long have y'all been married? 
Nate: [00:27:07] let's see, April of 2011. nine years 
Meriwether: [00:27:10] I use, I love it. And I remember asking you how you met and I remember your response. Can I say it here? Yeah. you, you were on social media and one of your friends had a picture of her on there.
Feet. Yeah. And you reached out to him and you said she is gorgeous. I remember that clearly. And, and that was that right? Basically 
Nate: [00:27:37] very much. what I thought was just a private conversation between a Marine and his corpsman. he, he being the. A mischievous sailor that he is, decided to copy that conversation and paste it on her Facebook wall.

Meriwether: [00:27:54] he did not, 
Nate: [00:27:56] and I did not know this because you know, me and her were Facebook 
Meriwether: [00:28:00] friends. 
Nate: [00:28:00] I see, I had never spoken with her. And then all of a sudden, one day I get a friend request from her. And the first thing I think is Sean, what did you do? and then it all kind of came out and, she had a lot of fun just messing, but I must have done something right.
Because, you know, we just, we fell in love and, it's just been nonstop, in terms of where I'm at now with this. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. and not even just that initial spark, but the trust and in this whole process, as a, as a model, and as a designer, she's taught me much about the field and about the perspective of the model of the designer, how, how to be able to not just think about myself as a photographer, but put myself in their shoes.
get their mindset, which has been extremely helpful. we've actually, we kind of have our own joint venture together, where we combine our talents. so, she provides, you know, model coaching, creative direction. Things like that. you know, I'll provide the photography. we'll, we'll do sometimes we'll do workshops with that youth model or a newer model, and she'll be showing them how to model or how to pose and, you know, working with the lighting and the wherever the camera is and things like that.
or we'll do a, a professional shoot for a magazine. and, and she might be the model, but often she won't be in, she'll be the stylist and she'll be us. She'll put together these amazing creative concepts. and, and, and it'll, it'll just turn out beautifully. the, the, the way that I kind of describe it as, you know, like she is designing the, this castle and I'm building it and shaping it, and it just, it's been a wonderful team.
and when you talk about like round toss and personality There's a lot of creeps in this industry. and especially with photographers. Oh, I like to think that my natural personality is, is calling into this army, but it definitely doesn't hurt being a husband and wife team. because it makes people feel more 
Meriwether: [00:30:21] comfortable instantly trust you.
Yeah, of course, of course. I hadn't even appreciated that angle of it. 
okay, mate, let's go through some of these.
Nate: [00:30:31] this was, actually one of our earlier shoots together. Those leggings are her design. and then she. Style this whole shit, with this model, this was kind of a scifi themes, shoot that we did and LA, very kind of retro, very kind of like Spacey. and I think that was actually our first publication.
and coincidentally, that was from a Scottish, passion magazine. that was, that was kind of a cool, what like foretelling grounds for moving and styling. 
Meriwether: [00:31:04] It's very sixties Brit. I can see it, you know? Totally. Okay. 
Nate: [00:31:10] And then this was from Palm Springs fashion week, and this was a beautiful show.
it was outside, which is fairly unusual for, The more professional fashion shows. Cause you know, it can rang, it can last and things can happen. But in Palm Springs, you know, beautiful sunsets and that model, her name is Kat and, we actually connected with her and we've done several shoots with her, and in the LA area for, various magazines.
and, and I would say I've made a real good friend, 
Meriwether: [00:31:45] the color. Now that you know, that neon green, but the. The way the sunset plays. Oh, I just, I love it much. Okay. 
Nate: [00:31:57] from the same fashion show on the Springs fashion week, that was a really, different kind of designer. it it's, it's all taped.
Everything is made from cane various designs. Yeah. And as you can see, you know, that it's very reflective. So, very, very artsy, very cool for that kind of setting.
this, this was, with my wife as well. This was another magazine shit on LA. this was what they, a professional model that we had hired. and so, my wife got. The outfits, the styling, cause you have different, different looks, different outfits. It's not just one outfit. You've got to mix it up.
and yeah, kinda kind of set her up, you know, kinda directed her, where to go. and it was, it was big. 
Meriwether: [00:32:45] Beautiful. I love the black and white. That's just gorgeous. Here we are. 
Nate: [00:32:51] this was probably, one of the less, exciting adventures for my wines. Cause this was in the Marine Corps ball. And, for anyone who's been to the Marine Corps ball, it's a crazy blur of an event.
but the photography portion. You know, you're, you're waiting in line. People are drinking, people are loud. it, it's kind of a crazy situation in itself. and my wife bless her heart had agreed to kind of work at the table, you know, filling out the order forms and things like that. And, you know, drunk Marines, are, are very interesting.
I'm not great at paperwork. she, she felt a little stressed while I'm standing behind the camera and just saying beautiful. Oh, I love it. I love it. That's great. Yes. Just like that. Like I'm I, I am very appreciative of her. but that's not one of her fondest memories.
this was B Marine Corps trials. they were preparing for a wheelchair. this was wheelchair rugby. one of the things is that as a photographer, when you're setting up. you know, you want to get your camera settings aligned, much like you would have the rifle. so, I'm kind of walking around and I'm checking out the lighting and balancing the camera settings and, they were just waiting to start and I thought, you know what?
This would be cool to get right behind them. And, yeah, that was team Canada. 
Meriwether: [00:34:20] I love the, the first of all, I do think that. athletic sports photography is a whole different thing. It's just hard. I mean, you just don't ever get a second chance, but I love the composition of this. I mean, this, this just tells much story.
Yeah. I love, I love 
Nate: [00:34:41] this. let's, let's say family portrait. 
Meriwether: [00:34:44] over here she's gorgeous 
Nate: [00:34:46] and that's her family. after we moved here, and we started setting things up, I started building any indoor studio, in our second bedroom. And so, you know, we had our backdrop set up, had the lights set up, and this was kind of one of our earlier, sessions, some family, for the holidays.
And, just had a nice mountain kind of, you know, Posing them around and having them do goofy things. We had a lot of silly stuff with Christmas ornaments. It was just a great time, 
Meriwether: [00:35:17] very aristocratic. 
Nate: [00:35:19] They do 
Meriwether: [00:35:20] it really 
Nate: [00:35:21] well. They're from Finland and the things don't smile a lot, much. They're normal. And 
Meriwether: [00:35:27] this picture I have to stop you because this picture, when I saw it, I'm like, I'm drinking again.
I'm going back to drink because this is delicious. The whole thing is gorgeous. You know, that the set up, but the time of day, his expression,
go ahead. 
Nate: [00:35:47] actually speaking of Finland, this was, the finished consulate in LA. They had hired me for a big event that they had, and they had just beautiful blue lighting everywhere. Actually difficult for photography. but maybe for some really creative shots. And this guy was just a real team player.
and, and I was just super excited with the lights that they had inside the bar and the way everything. Whoa, I would say that picture doesn't really captured the mood of the whole event because, one thing that Finns like to do much like Americans, a string into a kind of a private environment, they become very boisterous.
this event was. Tons of people running around, laughing, smiling, being silly, totally not finished. 
Meriwether: [00:36:38] That's a, it's a beautiful, beautiful picture. 
Nate: [00:36:41] And that was from the same, the same event. I often do, a lot of red carpet type things, started with, some of the fashion weeks, but then with, LA Jolla international film festival, San Diego international film festival, I found the red carpet search as a really big part of it.
And so, I built that into my brains and, it's always nice to get, you know, happy candidate photos of people. 
Meriwether: [00:37:06] Yeah. They're beautiful. Smiles. Look how comfortable they are in front of you though. That's the amazing thing. Yeah. Here we go. 
Nate: [00:37:13] Yes. Back to the Marine Corps trials, Amica hustler, hut, hut, slur, not hustler.
she is an incredible individual. so, she, as you can tell, had a, amputation and prosthetic. but I I've known her for a couple years now. And kind of seeing her, where she got to when they were battalion and seeing her dealing with the amputation or, and, and just all the things that, you know, go through your mind with that, how she took that adversity and turn it into strength.
and if you look at her like social media and stuff and how it's just, it's just incredible how she has grown and overcome this. and you'll probably actually see a couple of images with her in them. Cause she, she, she let that hinder her, that. She has made that part of her identity, and, and it's source of strength and it's just been incredible.
See, and it's such a blessing to be able to capture 
Meriwether: [00:38:18] this is such a beautiful photo and it speaks to me on many levels, just that Marine Corps background, the Marines in the background. I can see that that's a Marine background, but the light on their faces, her, her like fun sunglasses, even though this is obviously a very competitive event.
But that was a lot about her personality, but the fact that nobody's touching the ground on that track, that shot is caught both of these runners midair. 
Nate: [00:38:47] Oh, 
Meriwether: [00:38:48] I just, I love it. Okay. 
Nate: [00:38:50] this was a, engagement session that I did for a, a couple in LA. They wanted to do a engagement sheet, but they didn't want to do the usual, like, Oh, let's go to the beach and, and whatever.
And they asked me about studios. we traveled to LA to one of the, kind of more artsy, studios. And this actually wasn't a plan shot. This was just her kind of getting ready, getting makeup and everything. But, I had already finished, you know, the camera, everything was set up and I walked over and that's just perfect.
Yeah. Yeah. One of those things, one of those shots that just kind of accidentally, huh? 
Meriwether: [00:39:29] Yeah. That moped in the background. It's not a market that is just adds much, much feel to the whole thing. 
Nate: [00:39:35] Now we're back to the Marine Corps trials. This was a Marine from the wounded warrior East coast. getting ready for their, one of their relay races.
you can see, you know, the Marines who are running Marines and then the wheelchairs and, another, just really inspiring thing to say, 
Meriwether: [00:39:53] yeah, this is your dog. 
Nate: [00:39:56] Yes, it is. We went on a, a little Thanksgiving adventure and, you know, from time to time, I'll take my camera with me and, Yeah, just, she had never been in a beach before, I really wanted to get a picture of that.
And it was, it was worth it. 
Meriwether: [00:40:12] She doesn't, she's like, what are we doing here? But is this 
Nate: [00:40:16] much 
Meriwether: [00:40:16] curiosity, 
Nate: [00:40:17] and excited and she didn't know what to think. There's people everywhere. There's this water is moving around. And once she was, it was a good time for her. Yeah, 
Meriwether: [00:40:27] who are these two? And 
Nate: [00:40:29] this was, another couple who, just got engaged.
This was at a, a winery, just getting some nice candid shots. And, as you've noticed, I tend to focus on vibrancy a little bit. I, I 
love 
Nate: [00:40:42] that. There's such a lack of, of, of vibrancy, not, not in like the Marine Corps itself, but just combat and there there's just a. A draining feeling. And, I've definitely found that with photography.
I kind of try to bring that back, bring that vibrancy back a little bit. at least for me and generally the clients enjoy. 
Meriwether: [00:41:03] Oh, I see. Yeah. I mean, I. I find myself very responsive to blue, to blues and anything that contrasts nicely at blues blue gold is like, that's, that's my happy place visually. this is, this is beautiful to me on many levels, but again, both people in the, in the shot are just comfortable at, I just, I eat that up.
Nate: [00:41:28] And a, another family session here for this one. This was a Christmas. It doesn't look like Christmas. 
Meriwether: [00:41:34] There's this in California, 
Nate: [00:41:36] in California for you. but the, the son, he wasn't in the military. He was in, college, but he was, going to school some, somewhere on the East coast. they worked back together for, for the holidays and they want him to get a nice family session, you know, while everybody was still together.
And, it's a really nice, nice session. Lots of love. 
Meriwether: [00:41:57] Beautiful.
Nate: [00:41:58] This was, a, school shoot. So, I partnered with another photographer and, you know, sometimes we'll go to various schools, not now with the pandemic, but before, and you know, taking that school portrait, senior portraits, things like that. we bring our backdrops and we bring our lights. And, one of the things that I've learned, is, you know, interacting with kids, It's kind of a lot, like interacting with Marines.
Like you kind of have to be creative with how you, how you get their attention, 
Meriwether: [00:42:32] attention. That's right. Nope. They're the engine. 
Nate: [00:42:34] Yeah. 
Meriwether: [00:42:35] I love her sass. 
Nate: [00:42:37] Yeah. So, often what I do, you know, and, and with the, with the adult photography, you want to try to kind of get a sense for the person that's personality as the same thing for kids.
I'm talking to this girl and I'm asking her like what her favorite shows are, what your favorite movies are and Avengers. I'm like, Oh, you see the last one? And she's like, Oh yeah, I love it. And I'm like, okay, let's see, do that. Then I'll snap. when he likes, snaps his fingers and like everybody goes away and she was all about it.
that was, that was that shot. 
Meriwether: [00:43:09] I love it. I love it. Well now the huge story in the photo. 
Nate: [00:43:14] Yeah. there we go back to, hustler who has a different prosthetic on now. one of the things that, that she found was, a big help for her was archery. and she was very competitive in the archery competitions.
And, I took that shot. Just kind of seeing the background and her standing there with the bow and just thinking that that is a great image of a strength and overcoming adversity that here she is essentially in a kind of combat related scenario, with her prosthetic leg. and she still succeeding.
She's still frightening. and as you can see, she's got her own personal touch with the, with that prosthetic. very fun personally. 
Meriwether: [00:43:59] I love it. I love her. I could tell you that, right? Wow. 
Nate: [00:44:04] This was a, a local San Diego fashion show. that I had done for a designer. It was her first fashion show, down in, it was right across the street from the Miramar base.
but it was, it was really fun to see because there are a lot of designers that, The San Diego scene is a little smaller than LA. sometimes you don't, you don't see all the designers, you know, and unless there's some kind of event, and this was really a nice way to see the creativity of San Diego, 
Meriwether: [00:44:35] but it's, it's a great shot because of the interest in the crowd.
love that dress, but just that everybody's talking, you know, everybody's really engaged in that, in that. Yeah. Beautiful. Is this that slur again? 
Nate: [00:44:48] No. And I knew someone else, another Marine from, wounded warrior battalion West back in the archery. But I really liked that shot because I had the arrow kind of captured, it 
Meriwether: [00:44:58] caught in the midair.
I love it. I love it. You know, and I sometimes sometimes Marines the Marine Corps. flicker page has, this with weapons training and you see the cartridge fly. 
Nate: [00:45:12] Yeah, it's tough to get it. 
Meriwether: [00:45:15] It's tough to get 
Nate: [00:45:16] when you get it. and this was a, this was a similar one. she was really happy because she was the only left-handed shooter around and the way that the sun was facing, yeah, for everybody else to sun was on their back.
and, but for her, it was, it was on her just perfectly. she. Well, it's a loving the camera and hamming it up whenever she got the chance. 
Meriwether: [00:45:40] D does the Marine Corps support all of this, this effort by the regiment? What an opportunity, you know, man, I'm sure that Marines from bygone era's wish they had had, you know, that kind of opportunity.
Yeah. Beautiful thing. Yeah. 
Nate: [00:45:59] And other one of the, the school photos, I'm obviously not a child. This was a, that the mom sat down and I snapped a quick photo of her and, just, you know, something fun for the family. 
Meriwether: [00:46:10] Beautiful. Yeah. Very, very beautiful. Well, my goodness 
Nate: [00:46:16] back to the, the, the fashion shows again, this was his first fashion show, his first runway, he was super nervous.
and we got some kind of candid, like behind the scenes kind of shots and, you know, chatted, it gave him a bias, you know, talk about the industry now. He's like super huge million people on Instagram and, 
Meriwether: [00:46:36] I can see why couldn't the Lord. He's breathtaking. Really handsome. Yeah. 
Nate: [00:46:42] Oh, and now there we have HUD slur.
this was her medical retirement ceremony. here she is, she's kind of sitting, and she's kind of looking back at all of her friends and family that showed up to support 
Meriwether: [00:46:54] her. Those freckles are beautiful. Yeah. That's lovely. That's really lovely.
Nate: [00:47:00] And then that was, her, one of her section leader is one of the, kind of Marines to like help them out. just, it's always great to see, how much support these Marines get from, the people that they work with. And it's not just like a check in the box or like the, these Marines. They really care.
No, this was the, the end of her, medical retirement. you actually have a, on the left that Marina with the glasses, she was, in one of those archery photos before with the, the arrow in mid-flight, the Marine on the, on the right. I believe I've got some other images of her from her medical retirement.
and, and so, yeah, this was just like a fun group photo. and, and just kind of showing like how, how much she's adapted to who she is. Like, she always has fun with her prosthetic and they're holding up the prosthetic boot, like it's, you know, a prophet or something and, you know, just having a great time.
Meriwether: [00:47:57] That's beautiful. The expressions on their face are beautiful. Wow. 
Nate: [00:48:02] And this was, for the Marine Corps trials, what I thought was going to be the most miserable day, because it was, it was all pool events, but it was pouring rain. It was just awful. Everyone's on raincoats. There's like 10 everywhere.
The wind is blowing. And camera equipment is pretty expensive. I was already, and I didn't know how the images would turn out cause it was dark and it was cool to me. but I have been covering every other day there. and I'm wanting to be there for the Marines for this. And I, I got soaked, you know, I had like a little bag around my camera and, I was actually really, really surprised with how well it went and, The the, the, the veterans and service members, they, they adapted and they overcame.
And, what turned, what started as miserable morning turned out to be a lot of fun. 
Meriwether: [00:48:54] Yeah. Well, there's a lot of light in that photo. Yeah. Good work there. Wow. 
Nate: [00:49:01] And this was one of our, our fashion shoots for my wife's clothing design. clothing line. so, you know, going to LA and, yeah, just having fun with some of the beautiful studios there.
this is she's actually, she does some modeling, but she's a, a singer. She's an artist up in LA. she, she she's collaborated with us a couple of times on, on shoots because she. Loves the publicity of, you know, being in a magazine. but, but the kind of like, you know, it's just fun to kind of dress up and take cool photos.
And it's kind of everybody wins. 
Meriwether: [00:49:37] Yeah. Now, now your wife designed the leggings that she designed the blazer too. 
Nate: [00:49:43] No, she, she styled all of them, but, at the time it was just her leggings that she focused on. 
Meriwether: [00:49:50] Beautiful. Beautiful. 
Nate: [00:49:52] And that's that, that same, 
Meriwether: [00:49:54] from the San Diego. 
Nate: [00:49:56] Oh yeah. From the Palm Springs, the neon.
that's that, that same model. now we, we've connected a, a few times for different shows and different shoots and, it's just always a lot of fun. 
Meriwether: [00:50:09] That is beautiful. She is beautiful. Goodness.
Nate: [00:50:12] and back to that, that the swimming event for the Marine Corps trials. this, you, you won't, you wouldn't recognize her just from flipping through, but earlier we had a picture of a, a Marine on the track on the, the wheelchair. and that's that, that same Marine. here, you know, she was competing in the wheelchair race, and now she is, she's getting ready to dive and as you can see, she's very into the zone.
Meriwether: [00:50:37] Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Can you imagine the courage it takes to do all of that? I mean, with the physical limitations, it's just 
Nate: [00:50:46] extraordinary. Yeah. And, and they're working it's, I mean, They're hustling. They're, they're sweating. They're, you know, the wheelchair events, you know, sometimes it's kind of like bumper cars are running into each other.
Sometimes they'll fall over and, you know, everybody will stop and, and kinda, you know, get, get everyone back. you know, you have people watching, you've got lots of cameras. You've got all the lights on you. it's such a, Such a, like self-aware kind of moment that you've really, you've got to be okay with things, you know, to, and, and these, these Marines, these service members, they've just been, they, they made great.
No, this was a nice little senior portrait session, that I did for, a local here in the area. she, She brought her cap and gown. And we went through, we actually went through a few different locations. She wanted to hit all of her, like favorite kind of Hangouts before she went to college and left, left the area.
we traveled all around the little town that she lived in and got all these nice little moments for her to kind of remember before she left. 
Meriwether: [00:51:56] Lovely. Well, 
Nate: [00:51:58] And this was from the, San Diego international film festival. So, they've got a lot of, kind of like nighttime events. and this was, this was one of the, kind of like more vibrant months that they had with, with crazy lighting and stuff like that.
we had some led music and, yeah, just getting some grapes 
Meriwether: [00:52:19] thoughts. clear Nate. clear, that's a great photo. 
Nate: [00:52:24] Yes. this was a private, session for a, Nordic businessman. he, it might've been Norway. Yeah. he had, a very successful business. he had just gotten his American citizenship and he had turned 60.
he threw this huge party, for, for his birthday essentially. And, being, being Nordic there's a lot of Viking things, sentence. it was, it was a really crazy night.
Yeah, a lot and lots of a kind of American flag, red, white, and blue outfits, you know, supporting the American citizenship. And, yeah, it was, it was a lot of fun.
Meriwether: [00:53:05] Wow. 
Nate: [00:53:06] Now here we have a LA fashion week. and those in the, the fashion industry would recognize her. That's a Coco Rosha, a anime. She was huge in the modeling and fashion industry. being able to see her, you know, walking the runway and being right there was, it was incredible. It was, I mean, is she, she's a star like.
Meriwether: [00:53:31] I could see why, why me much style? Yeah. Oh, 
Nate: [00:53:37] one of my recent, medical retirements, this Marine, she, she could barely talk. She was just getting choked up. You know, her, her husband, is Marine and he was there and in his uniform and family and friends, and it was just a, it was a beautiful moment for her.
And it really made me happy to be able to support that for her. 
Meriwether: [00:53:59] Yeah, I know it did. Oh, I love that. She's looking at your camera rather than at the phone camera. Yeah. I love that. Oh, 
Nate: [00:54:09] it a little bit of a gloomy day. You can kind of see the rain falling down in the background. but you couldn't tell by the expression on her face.
Meriwether: [00:54:17] That's amazing. That's pretty cool. But you are, I didn't dampen her spirit at all. 
Nate: [00:54:24] Yeah. Another a military retirement, medical, retirement, not raining. California is, can be colorful when it, when the weather's nice. That's 
Meriwether: [00:54:35] beautiful. 
Nate: [00:54:35] That is, is his whole family there. it just, just lovely. Yeah. The 
Meriwether: [00:54:40] color, you know, it's, it can, for me, it's the color is vibrant.
Wow. That's nice composition. Yeah, 
Nate: [00:54:49] they were a lot of 
Meriwether: [00:54:49] fun.
Who are these three? These three guys. 
Nate: [00:54:54] This was from, the Marine Corps trials. this was when we had, that, that little like boat tour. they, they finished the, the boat tour and then, had a little kind of day trip and, downtown San Diego. this was in little Italy. we had, they had lunch.
You can kind of see in the back there there's a table. they were giving out kind of like free merchandise and stuff for, for the veterans. I don't remember which country they were from. not, not us. but, I've never been to San Diego before. for them being in downtown San Diego and they had a huge reception, you know, there's a band there there's flags.
It was just a really cool experience for everyone.
Correct. And this was for our opening ceremonies. we would have, our Marines, our color guard for one of the word Italian. And then you see, you've got, I believe that's Canada right here. And then you can even see, in the, in the far background, a couple of other countries kind of blinding up. the opening ceremonies, they would all kind of like March up and have their own little thing.
Meriwether: [00:55:56] Maybe England and Ireland. Wouldn't that be something.
Okay. Oh, 
Nate: [00:56:03] this was a backstage from LA fashion week. another model that I've worked with it a few times, youth model, just. Super talented, but, being able to get some of those like candidate, maybe not candid, she might be posing a little back. but, but some of those, like backstage shots can be a lot of 
Meriwether: [00:56:21] fun.
Yeah. She may be posing a little bit, but her eyes are definitely focused on something. Yeah. She's just thinking about something that, 
Nate: [00:56:28] and this was one of our, earlier publications. This might've been our first cover. this was, my wife did a little bit of modeling. That's not her, but mainly she styled and did creative directing for the whole, the whole shoot.
And, it was really exciting to see that it made the cover of the magazine. 
Meriwether: [00:56:47] Beautiful, really beautiful.
Nate: [00:56:49] Wow. Yeah, that's another, one of our other, published shoots, this model, Selena, she, is just a superstar in the San Diego area. we've been really lucky to be able to work with her much. very talented, very, the, the thing, the way that she moves her, her hands and her facial expressions.
It's just, it's crazy to see, that what some of these models can do beautiful. 
Meriwether: [00:57:15] beautiful. 
Nate: [00:57:16] And then this was, one of our more recent ones, another with a youth model. she had, had kind of just started, modeling. I had just joined an agency. you know, but being a youth model, you know, her mom is very, very particular about who she works with, and being part of an agency.
The agencies are very particular, it was really neat to be able to work with her. This ended up being her first cover shoot. and it was really cool because the makeup artists we used, was military spouse. It was a, a really nice kind of collaboration there. 
Meriwether: [00:57:52] Beautiful. That's just like, Look into the eyes of a tiger.
Nate: [00:57:57] Wow. The cover. And I I've actually, gotten her into, a fashion show since then. we we've kind of kept in contact and, working on, seeing if we can get her into San Diego fashion week as well. Gorgeous. No. 
Meriwether: [00:58:14] She said those eyes give her away every time. 
Nate: [00:58:18] Yeah, this was a, it was originally just like a fun, beauty session, in, in our, second bedroom studio, our home studio.
but the pictures, you know, where it works cool that we, submitted them for publication. They were accepted.
here we have, my wife's, fashion line again. this was a, a kind of like a B pattern leggings. and we had the, this model, we're in LA and, you know, I mentioned that for these, these shoots, they want different looks. for this one, we kind of had an evolution of, you know, she's starting out in this like athletic attire, she's doing all these like athletic things, but then she's changing into a glam look and, you know, kind of continuing to, you know, kick butt.
Meriwether: [00:59:04] Oh, Oh, my word I see now. Yeah. Golly. God was kind to her, wasn't he? Yeah, 
Nate: [00:59:12] there's a little bit more of the leather jacket and then you transition over and it's a little bit more of a formal kind of outfit, but then she still got like sporty shoes on and, yeah, it was a, it was a fun one. 
Meriwether: [00:59:26] That's amazing photo.
Nate: [00:59:28] Yeah. Yes. Clearly at LA fashion week, you know, this was while I was part of their, official team, and I wanted to get some different angles. I kind of went up into the VIP area and, yeah, just got some really cool shots with the whole, but the crowd and everyone. Yeah. 
Meriwether: [00:59:45] But the light and light and vibrancy.
Oh, wow. I love the setting and this one. 
Nate: [00:59:51] Yeah, yeah. This was a, a local park. and this was actually that makeup artist, military spouse. we had her, she, she does a little bit of modeling as well. So, one of our good friends, her husband was actually one of the first ones that I gave a photography lessons to.
And, we went out and we just, just had fun, just kind of hamming it up in the, in the fields and. Pictures turned out. Great.
And now they're 
Meriwether: [01:00:17] idea. Beautiful. That's when your dog was a 
Nate: [01:00:19] puppy. not our D that was a, that was a Fox. 
yeah, our, our dog thinks that she's a, not small, but was at a, Fox, conservation center. so. we had a model come down from LA, another youth model, those girls like six feet free and she's like 16 years old.
it's going to be a giant new she's a grown up. but yeah, yeah, we just had like a fun kind of session with the foxes. it's not pictured here, but my wife has some Fox and Wolf style of leggings that kind of went with a theme. And, it was much fun holding these little foxes and, and like posing with them.
And, 
Meriwether: [01:01:03] I've never seen a Fox that color 
Nate: [01:01:05] before. 
Meriwether: [01:01:06] Yeah, it's amazing. But it has the same eyes as your dog. Very similar eyes. Wow. There she is. 
Nate: [01:01:13] Yeah. Yeah. That was a two page spread. when it goes to the next picture, I'll show the other half. And that was just really cool to see how they did, how they split it into two pages.
Meriwether: [01:01:24] That is cool. That's wow. Wow. That's pretty amazing. 
Nate: [01:01:31] And she had never been in a magazine before, to be in, not only am I being one, but to be on the cover was really cool for her. 
Meriwether: [01:01:39] Yeah. Oh, I bet. She's beautiful.
Nate: [01:01:41] Clearly, you know, when, when you have your wife as a model, you're going to have a lot of pictures of her. So, we've had many, many adventures together on camera and, this is where we are experimenting with different colored lights and, we had our makeup artist, military spouse, join in and, just got some really cool, cool fun 
Meriwether: [01:02:01] stuff.
Beautiful. I, you know, I mean, it's very unusual, but I do love the idea of in these kinds of arrangements, this textured, these textured reflective things put on their face. Like 
Nate: [01:02:15] not 
Meriwether: [01:02:15] makeup, not a tattoo, but it's something beautiful, temporary, but beautiful. 
Nate: [01:02:21] Really? Yeah. We want to have a nice contrast between kind of like the red and the blue.
and we had them both going for different looks and, it came out really nicely for the magazine. 
Meriwether: [01:02:32] Wow. And 
Nate: [01:02:33] this was, we've seen her earlier with one of the, one of the other publications. This was a cover, that we had with her. this was in Balboa park, which has just it. Anyone who goes to San Diego has to go to Balboa park.
It's just beautiful. Oh, 
Meriwether: [01:02:49] like an Arboretum or 
Nate: [01:02:50] yeah, yeah. They're a little like a botanical garden fan. very interesting because it's a public place. you go in there and there's families and there's people walking around and, and, you know, as, as, as, an average, Joe, you're walking around looking at plants and you turn the corner and you see this little fashion shoot going on and 
Meriwether: [01:03:10] it's, 
Nate: [01:03:10] it's always interesting.
this was with, some another publication. and we wanted to go for a little bit more of a, like a spunky. rebel kind of look. we had this girl, her hair is all messed up and, you know, kind of like a eighties punk lipstick, 
Meriwether: [01:03:25] I would just say eighties or nineties. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That grunge thing.
Okay. 
Nate: [01:03:29] My wife styled everything. she she's going online. She's you know, looking at these vintage clothing shops and, just, it was a really creative session. 
Meriwether: [01:03:38] I love it. I love it.
Nate: [01:03:40] this was a, I think I had a couple other pictures on there. but it was at, it was those two models together. we, we wanted to have, two different ones, both, both with different leggings made by my wife. and we kind of paired them together. and it, it was, it was really interesting because we had the model.
And we have the, the, the musician. and they both had kind of very different like posing styles and ways of doing things, but being able to like merge them together was really fun. Okay. 
Meriwether: [01:04:12] Wow. 
Nate: [01:04:13] And then this was, one with my wife. we were just playing around with this. This is actually in our neighborhood.
but my wife can like, I mean, my back hurts just looking at it. Yeah. apparently it. Didn't hurt the backs of the people in the magazine because they liked it, but 
Meriwether: [01:04:34] they did. That's amazing. That is crazy. But my colleague, I mean, Oh my word, I love it though.
that's, that's it, I guess, 65 years and coming up here.
Nate: [01:04:48] then that, that there is my wife, with one of our more fun cover, publications. this was, With a couple of other models. we had three all together. one of the crazy LA studios and, my wife loves those like candies with like the scorpions and the things in them. I think they're disgusting.
part of this was a little bit of, having fun with 
Meriwether: [01:05:13] me 
Nate: [01:05:14] showing off, you know, all these like poses with the different, you know, Bugs and stuff. but it turned out to be fun 
I love seeing all your, critters in the background. 
Meriwether: [01:05:25] they have, a tremendous amount of opinion.
Nate: [01:05:28] Nate. I think we got to refine it. Got to fun. 
Meriwether: [01:05:31] Okay. now we're, where do you go from here? You say you're moving to Scotland. Like, 
Nate: [01:05:38] yeah. Talk about that.
Originally planning on, project management. There is no passion for it. Right. And when I, and discovered this and discovered that I could be successful at it, we, we kind of talked about what about trying to focus on this? you know, we're never going to be rich off of photography. that is if anyone.
Tells you that I think it's a high paying job. They're crazy. but you know, young military retirement, and just kind of talking about what's more important, you know, to be happy and, and maybe even as a couple being able to work together or that, but having that high, you know, big paycheck, but being gone 60 hours a week 
Meriwether: [01:06:27] and being miserable and being miserable is the main.
Nate: [01:06:30] we decided, you know what, let's take a chance, you know, let's explore this creative venture. and our plans have been all over the place. First. We were going to move to LA, because obviously that's a big hub and then we decided, you know, that's a little bit too expensive, let's try something different.
then we looked at Vegas because Vegas is growing in, in everything. But then we thought, you know, what, the crime, the heat, like that kinda kind of stinks. Yeah. And then we read an article about, Dallas and how in the next 10 years, you know, Dallas is supposed to be like the next LA and the next fashion hub.
Cause everybody's leaving California for Texas. And for military benefits, Texas is just 
Meriwether: [01:07:14] crazy. Yeah. It's wonderful. 
Nate: [01:07:16] and, and then COVI/D happened. Right. and, and the, the passionate and photography industry, it has always been a fragile industry, but COVID, had, it's just kind of shut everything down.
Yes. And,
you know, when we talked to them and we were like, what happens if we go to Texas? And things are still down. you know, we're in Dallas, it's hot, it's humid. We don't know anyone in Texas. We don't have family in Texas. It was purely a business decision. And we were like, if we go to Texas, when there's nothing, like, we're just, we're sitting in Texas in the 
Meriwether: [01:07:49] heat stuck.
Right. And we're stuck in Texas. 
Nate: [01:07:51] Yeah. we said, Okay, where can we go? That we have fun where, you know, there wasn't any, you know, if there wasn't any business going on, where could we go? And we're both world travelers. And the first thing we thought it was Dublin, cause we love Dublin. Unfortunately, Dublin is a pretty expensive place.
Yep. Yeah. Pretty much on par with Southern California. we looked around, and we saw Scotland. and we visited Scotland, very similar to in Ireland in general. Yeah. okay. But for some reason it's much, much, better cost of living. and they've got some great schools, you know, they've got the, where they filmed, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, you know, that's in Glasgow. 
they've got some great, fine art, photography schools, fashion schools for my wife as well. Yeah. we thought, you know what? Let's see 
Meriwether: [01:08:42] some great universities, great universities there. 
Nate: [01:08:45] Yeah. In our budget works. and that's, we were like, okay, let's do it. We're going to go to D what to, Glasgow to Scotland, at the end of the year, after retiring.
And then if things work out, that's great. But if not, we're in a beautiful place and it's easy to travel. 
Meriwether: [01:09:04] Yeah, I love it. I can see it. I can see you all there. And, I've only been to Scotland once and that was, you know, I've been setting at the London school of economics this past year, which is before the COVID was modular.
Like you go for weeks and your home for a couple of months and you go back like that. but now it's online. It's going to finish online. but. You know, London is my favorite city in the world. England is I'm a very proud American, very proud, but I don't, I think America has grand ger visually, but I don't think the beauty compares to the British Isles.
I don't think anywhere in the U S is as beautiful as some of the places in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland. I mean, it's surreal to me, to my eye. It's just, it's not, it's, it's not earthly and many, I love visiting there. I'm there all the time and I hope of course that, once y'all move, you're gonna, you know, let me come and have coffee with you up there because I take the train.
So. There's a four hour train out of King's cross London. That'll fly you right up to Edinburg. Now it's not Glasgow, but I'm just saying that it's definitely doable. And speaking of photography, you know, I'm not, I'm not, no, I'm not a professional photographer at all, but I had one of the luckiest photo experiences of my life on that train.
That's going. Hundred and 50 miles an hour or something like that. And I just held the camera up. Is it coast is whatever going by. And I just held the, shut her down. That's all. That's all it is. And one of the photos was of the sign that says Edinburg 50 miles. I mean, there's no way I could have ever planned.
Or intentionally caught that sign at that speed. It just wouldn't have happened. So, I, but I, I, I, and I, I was there in the winter and it was cold and, but I loved it. I loved the feel of it. You know, it's definitely feels sort of like an. Very hot. It feels like Harry Potter. I mean, I know that Harry Potter was fiction, but Scotland is it's dramatic and gorgeous and you feel like you're insulated from the rest of the world when you're there.
At least I did. Yeah. I could see you two there, but I remember you saying that your wife was such a great sport in your travels, in the Marine Corps. And I could, I could see. I could see you. Yeah. 
Nate: [01:11:50] We're looking forward to it. She's got family in Europe and like you said, that whole area, you know, the Hills, the old castles, it's just, just beautiful and just really looking forward to that.
kind of, yeah. Like insulated feeling. 
Meriwether: [01:12:04] yeah, especially Scotland. I mean, nobody goes to Scotland by accident, you know? I mean, it's. Oh, yeah, I can definitely see it. I love it much. I'm happy for you. And it's been enlightening to reconnect and to hear your, the road you have taken since we first met.
it's surprising to me, not in a, you know, Marines. I, this is what I live for. The, the whole point of this series is how innovative Marines can be. And, I really trying to, to show the world the Marines, the way I see the Marine Corps, the way I see Marines and. For instance, you coming up with this little entrepreneurial project of saying, Hey, I've discovered this talent I have, and I want to share it with Marines.
I want to share it with anybody who, who made it disabled have got a little blind, deaf Yorkie. She's 13 minutes. She's right. Mad right now. But anyway, your majesty, I will I'll stop in just a second. anyway, the point is that, Nate. It's just been beautiful for, to reconnect with you. And I'm, I'm going to watch, I'm watching here.
I'm going to see what happens with you because I'm really looking forward, but I am going to wind up on your doorstep or somewhere nearby in Scotland. I'm hoping at the beginning of the year, because I'm going back to London as you know, really, as soon as it's safe to go, which I'm thinking will be January.
I'm going to come up with some excuse. Go tell a couple of weeks. Okay. 
Nate: [01:13:35] Well, it will be great to see you up there. Great to reconnect again, you know, kind of all over the world as we've been doing. And, you know, you'll, you'll see some stuff from London, fashion week or Paris fashion week. I'm definitely looking forward to that.
Meriwether: [01:13:48] I love it. And, Nate, you know, you, you you're okay. You're an inspiration. You're a huge inspiration. And your love story is a lovely little inspiration too. thank you. Thank you, Mike. Thank you. And as I told you, the MSG bosses, they love you and, and they, they're very happy I'm doing this. they're gonna follow on to see how you're doing too.
Wow. All right. All right. Nate can it here. All right. thank you again. And, and we'll see what happens in the future. Yeah. 
Nate: [01:14:25] Looking forward to meeting you again on the other side of the world. 
Meriwether: [01:14:28] That's exactly right. Once again, once again.