What if becoming better outdoors isn't about going farther—but learning to see more?

Wildlife photographer and author Larry Laverty has spent a lifetime doing exactly that. From learning to climb above Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park as a teenager to following elephants in Africa and photographing the wild buffalo of Yellowstone, Larry's adventures have shaped how he moves through wild places—and what he notices once he's there.

In this Seeing the Sierra conversation, Larry shares something every hiker, photographer and outdoor traveler can use: slow down enough to match the tempo of what you're trying to see. His years in street photography taught him that his pulse and mind needed to move at the speed of his subject. Today, even with a 600mm lens, he shoots handheld so he can move with wildlife rather than force the moment.

We also talk about how climbing and going off trail changed the way Larry sees landscapes. Learning to navigate Yosemite's vertical terrain gave him the confidence to cross rivers, travel cross-country and find photographic perspectives that aren't available from the obvious viewpoint.

But perhaps his best advice is even simpler: spend more time outside. Larry believes repeated trips don't make nature ordinary—they make us more aware. Walk the same trail tomorrow and something will be different. The light changes. Wildlife moves. Seasons shift. And the more closely we pay attention, the more there is to see.

That philosophy eventually led Larry deep into wildlife storytelling. His book Land of the Buffalo grew from decades of encounters with Yellowstone's American bison and a desire to show people there's far more happening than what we see through a car window. We talk about photographing wildlife responsibly, giving animals space, understanding that national parks are their habitat—not simply our playground—and why getting the photograph should never come before respecting the animal.

And Larry isn't finished. After books and photography projects focused on elephants and buffalo, his curiosity has turned toward an overlooked animal that helped build and still supports communities around the world: the donkey.

In this conversation:
Yosemite Mountaineering School • climbing above Tenaya Lake • learning to travel off trail • becoming a better outdoor photographer • slowing down and observing nature • photographing wildlife safely • Yellowstone National Park • American buffalo and bison • Land of the Buffalo • elephants in Africa • nature writing • Larry's next book and the story of donkeys

Seeing the Sierra explores the writers, photographers, artists and storytellers whose work can change the way we experience the mountains and the outdoors.

Because sometimes the next great outdoor experience isn't about discovering a new place.

It's about learning to see the wild that's already in front of us.