Meet Josh McNair from California Through My Lens

Josh McNair, from the California through my Lens website, poses for Jefferson Graham in downtown Riverside, California, for an edition of Photowalks Talks

Count Photowalks as one huge fan of the California Through My Lens website and YouTube series, which explores the Golden State with informational blog posts and incredibly well-produced videos about what to do when visiting. 

So when I had the chance to meet up with the fellow photographer and traveler Josh McNair, who runs CTML with his wife Amy, I jumped at the chance. 

Josh has the dream job we all want–he travels for a living and gets to share his love of California with the rest of us. I love how he makes videos for the viewer in mind–what they might want to do on a visit, coupled with great photography for which he doesn’t get enough credit. (Check his Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/californiathroughmylens.com

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I was hoping to make it down to the Santa Monica Pier for sunset on Tuesday but traffic stopped me from getting there before the sun was down. I happened to get to the sign right as the light was fading and got to catch this shot. I would have never been in this spot if I had gotten there on time but am so happy that it didn’t work out so I could see a view like this.

A post shared by California Through My Lens (@californiathroughmylens) on Dec 19, 2019 at 11:29am PST

Check out his recent video, barreling down Route 66 with his dad. (Yes, again, he makes a living doing things like this!)

Or, the visit he and wife Amy took up to the Redwoods National Park in Northern California.

You might have seen the Photowalk Josh and I did of the Mission Inn festival of Lights in Riverside, which posted in December. If you can get into the Christmas spirit in early 2020, give it a click and check it out. 

Meanwhile, now I invite you to tune into our “Photowalk Talks,” chat, on the steps of a Riverside museum for a conversation about how Josh got started down this path, his favorite recent trip highlight and why he ignores the how-to advice from other YouTubers with his own rules for success: just make great content and people will respond. Click here to watch us in Riverside chatting, or click directly below to listen to the audio. 

Here’s a tidbit: Josh got started with a yen for travel, but quickly realized he just couldn’t afford to go to all the places he dreamt about, so he decided to just focus on his home state. “I figured, I don’t the time to time or money to travel the world, so figured, I’ll travel California. That was probably the best thing I ever did, because it gave me a cool little niche to explore.”  

#california #youtube #Hiking #NorCal #photowalks #californiathroughmylens #SoCal #JoshMcNair #jeffersongraham