The Inspiring Story of Joseph Large, Drone Pilot and Filmmaker for The Discovery Channel, BBC Earth, National Geographic and PBS

We are thrilled to kick off our NEW blog series featuring interviews with some of the world's most talented photographers.

As a company that specializes in producing photography gloves, we are proud to work with some of the best photographers in the industry.

Our goal with this series is to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the lives and work of these amazing photographers and to share their tips, insights, and inspiration.

In our first interview, we are excited to introduce you to Joseph Large, a US-based international touring photographer, filmmaker, and one of the first FAA commercially licensed drone pilots in the United States.

Joe specializes in shooting photos and film for TV, professional athletes, musicians, NGO’s, and various commercial clients. Most recently his drone work has been featured in shows on The Discovery Channel, BBC Earth, National Geographic, as well as on PBS, and we are honored to have the opportunity to work with him and to have him as our Brand Ambassador.

Through this interview, you'll get to know Joe and learn about his approach to photography, his favorite subjects and techniques, and his inspirations. We hope you'll enjoy reading this post as much as we enjoyed interviewing Joe.

Vallerret: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to yourself when you started learning photography?

Joe: I would say to NEVER GIVE UP, and don’t listen to the naysayers. There was a time when GoPro’s and Contour cameras first came out and a few select people questioned what I was doing with my life. They were like “Everyone is a filmmaker now, why are you wasting your time?”

I unfortunately listened to them and lost my focus, and stopped what I was doing for quite some time.

It wasn’t until when my mom passed away that the fire was relit and I realized how short life was, and that you had better be doing what you love. So I picked up a camera again and got after it!

Vallerret: What is your favorite subject to shoot?

Joe: Oh man, this is a tough one. I started my career shooting action sports, motorsports, and music all of which I still love. I’ve been kinda getting into the natural history/wildlife world with some of the TV projects I’ve been working on as of late.

I think the subject doesn’t matter as much as long as I’m out in nature. I could be out in the backcountry with the boys on the sleds, or I could be perched on a mountain top waiting for some elusive animal to appear. It doesn’t matter. As long as I’m outside I’m happy.

Vallerret: Whose work has influenced you most?

Joe: I would definitely have to say the old Warren Miller films and pretty much anything Bo Bridges did.

WM was an absolute legend and pretty much created the Snowsports film world. He had a huge influence on me not only in my filmmaking, but actually in me packing my bags and moving to a ski town…because “If you don’t do it this year, you’ll be one year older when you do.”

Bo was doing everything that I wanted to do when I started taking my photography seriously. He was shooting snow, moto, and music. I hit him up directly to offer my services as a sherpa for all of his gear on shoots. It never worked out, but now I’m doing the same stuff he is. That guys is an absolute master of his craft!

Vallerret: Do you think that you have a unique style and how did you develop that?

Joe: I feel like my style is constantly evolving. It’s kind of a funny story actually. I’m partially colorblind so I edit photos and film so that it looks good to my eyes. I often get comments from people especially pertaining to my photos that the colors in them “POP”. I’m like “Really?” it just looks normal to me!

Vallerret: If you could only shoot with one body and one lens for a year, what would you choose to use?

Joe: If I could only shoot with one body and one lens for a year, I’d have to say it would definitely be the Sony A1 for the body, and the Sigma 24-70 DG DN 2.8 Art lens.

The A1 combines a large sensor with the ability to shoot 4k 120 and up to 8k 30. I am currently shooting the Sigma lens and I use it all of the time. It’s small enough to run on a gimbal and it’s AF when shooting video is unmatched.

Vallerret: Which is your most memorable/favorite image that you have captured and why?

Joe: I’ve shot hundreds of thousands of images, and picking out just one seems impossible. However there is one image from my most recent trip to Iceland that definitely sticks out.

It was the end of my teams sixth day there and it was getting super dark, kind of sleeting a little bit, and pretty cold. We had just finished shooting Grotagia Cave and everyone was pretty spent. We were passing the Hverfjall Volcanic Crater and I kind of just wanted to head to the campsite and run my daily backups, eat, and pass out. My AC Ian on the shoot convinced me to put the bird up in the air to just check out the spot and look around.

I ended up capturing a pretty epic shot of the crater. The contrast between the black volcanic rock, and the fresh snow that had fallen during the day was insane. So as of recently, that’s one of my favorite shots.

Vallerret: How do you stay motivated and consistently get great shots?

Joe: Honestly, it’s easy for me to stay motivated because I love what I do. I couldn’t think of anything else I’d rather do. I’m fortunate to be able to travel around the world and show it to people though my eye.

Currently here in the US the lottery jackpot is around 1.5 Billion dollars. A few friends and I have chipped in and bought a few tickets together. Everyone always asks each other what would you do with the winnings? My answer is simply “The exact same thing I’m doing now, just with way better camera gear.”

Vallerret: When you go out to shoot, do you take any essential items other than a camera and lens?

Joe: When I’m shooting in the winter, I NEVER leave home without my Skadi Zipper Mitts. They are by far the most versatile glove I have ever owned. They are super warm when used with the Polartec Power Stretch liner. I honestly wear them all season long.

On warmer spring days, I just skip using the liner, and open them up to have full unconfined access to my entire camera’s buttons and dials.

Vallerret: Any news/events/projects you want to share?

Joe: I’ve got a lot of things in the works right now. Most of which I can’t really talk about due to NDA’s however I’ve got a show that I shot for on Netflix that is coming out in 2024 called “Our Living World”.

It was a two year shoot, two year edit, and now it’s pretty close to being on picture lock. It’s looking like it’s either going to be narrated by Morgan Freeman, or David Attenborough which is an absolute dream come true for me. Having either of their voices over my footage is completely mind blowing! So be on the lookout for that!

Vallerret: Where can we find you? (channels, social handles, YouTube, website, or similar)

Joe: I keep my Instagram the most up to date. You can find me on there at @josephlarge I use the same handle for everything else as well YouTube, Facebook, Twitter etc.

My site is www.josephlarge.com however I haven’t updated it in a hot minute so Insta is def best! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me guys! It’s been a blast. I’ll see ya out there! Cheers.