Meet Ed Marsh | Freelance photographer and writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ed Marsh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ed, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Growing up, my parents were very overprotective–I grew up in Colorado, but wasn’t allowed to ski because “it’s too risky!” But I always wanted to be adventurous, and so after I turned 18, I set out to reinvent myself, but not surprisingly, had a lot of fear of risk taking. I started martial arts training to gain confidence. I went skiing for the first time a month after my 18th birthday (even though my parents tried to talk me out of it!) and started to learn to evaluate risk/reward. When I was 20, I did my first parachute jump, and that changed my life.

The intensity of jumping out of an airplane the first time was so far beyond any imagined adventure. This was in the 70’s and there was no tandem jumping–you had to crawl out the door of the Cessna hanging onto the strut on your own, and then push off so the static line could open your chute. I was so scared my neck and face seized up in a rictus of fear, but the elation was like nothing I’d experienced. Even though I was terrified, I kept going back because my drive to conquer my fear was stronger–but just barely. The sleepless night before my first freefall, I had dry heaves from fear. I idolized the experienced jumpers and wanted to be like them, so I kept it up through progressively longer freefalls, and the fear gradually melted away after 20 jumps or so. I eventually became a full fledged skydiver, competing, teaching, and even helped set a world record.

That experience of learning to face risk and control my fear, has been with me throughout rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, surfing, getting my pilot’s license, and life in general–including professional life. I learned that it’s ok to be scared–everyone’s scared of something–but if you evaluate the risk, and know your capabilities, you can usually maintain a margin of security. It’s the same with setting out to become a freelance writer and photographer–it’s scary and easy to tell yourself that you can’t do it. But like with skydiving, you just have to take that first step!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was initially inspired to want to write by my father, who with only a high school education, became a nationally published part-time freelance writer. I studied journalism in high school where I met my two life-long best friends, who were both photographers. They inspired me to pursue photojournalism, and I joined the Navy to become a photographer. After the Navy, I pursued a career in science, but always dreamed of going back to photojournalism someday. After retiring from science, although being older and trying to start a new career is very intimidating, I’ve learned to just take that first step and believe in myself–just like skydiving!

I’m really interested in people and their experiences and love to try to learn about them and capture their stories through images and words. So many people have had interesting lives and they’re all around us!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them surfing and mountain biking, and maybe climbing out at Joshua Tree. There’s nothing better than paddling out with friends in the morning and sharing a surf session, and then going for Mexican food at Roberto’s, or coffee at Zumbar or Bird Rock Coffee. Likewise paddling out with friends at sunset and then having a beer afterwards at Tower 13 in Cardiff.

For years, when climbing out at Joshua Tree, we had a traditional routine of watching the sunset over Corona’s after a hard day’s climbing, tired and hands sore, reliving the day’s climbs and enjoying the shared sense of challenges overcome and camaraderie.

Now that we’re older, those things are harder to do, but to relive those moments would be the best time ever.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have been incredibly lucky to have several mentors that helped me to achieve more than I would have been capable of on my own. John Ruhwedel in skydiving, took me under his wing (literally) and helped me to learn precision freefall techniques that led to my success. After the Navy, my two best friends Joe Fiedeldey and Rob Volk sat me down and convinced me to use my brain and go to college and encouraged me along the way. In college, my great friend and mentor, Jack Hegenauer, gave me a place in his lab at UCSD in the lab of Professor Paul Saltman, and guided me through my first research project, and also taught me a lot about life. In my biotech career, Ted DeFrank mentored me and gave me opportunities to advance through higher and higher levels of management. My wife Lisa–biologist, airline Captain, surfer, skier, climber, mother, and drummer– is a constant inspiration to me

Website: edmarshphoto.com

Instagram: @edmarsh.photo

Linkedin: ed marsh