PHOTOGRAPHER, STORYTELLER, EDUCATOR, HUMAN

Welcome to the digital home of photographer and storyteller Jay Clue.

Jay is an award-winning commercial, brand, and editorial photographer based in the United States and working worldwide. He specializes in capturing ocean wildlife, outdoor sports, and adventure travel, including scuba diving, hiking, overlanding, and camping. In addition to these areas, his photography work has also encompassed various subjects, ranging from clothing brands and luxury hotels to astrotourism and outdoor recreation gear. He also moonlights as a journalist, writing articles for various magazines that cover photography tips, outdoor recreation, travel, conservation storytelling, and overlanding. During his downtime, Jay enjoys the nomad life, traveling the world and overlanding across North America, photographing our planet’s stunning natural landscapes and supporting conservation initiatives. Have a look around and feel free to give us a shout with any questions.

After a few months exploring the mountains, it was finally time to make my way back to the sea. This tiny cove has quickly became one of my fav spots from this year’s adventures. I spent the evening lying on a massive tree that drifted to shore while watching the sun slowly sink into the pacific behind this tiny island and its lone tree — waiting patiently for the stars to fill the sky. Can’t wait to show you the Milky Way photos from here. Def couldn’t have asked for more perfect evening.

#sunset #pacificnorthwest #pacificcoast #washingtonexplored #washingtonstate

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After a few months exploring the mountains, it was finally time to make my way back to the sea. This tiny cove has quickly became one of my fav spots from this year’s adventures. I spent the evening lying on a massive tree that drifted to shore while watching the sun slowly sink into the pacific behind this tiny island and its lone tree — waiting patiently for the stars to fill the sky. Can’t wait to show you the Milky Way photos from here. Def couldn’t have asked for more perfect evening. #sunset #pacificnorthwest #pacificcoast #washingtonexplored #washingtonstate

Little bit of Monday morning wisdom from Alan Watts…

“You see, if you insist that the most important thing in life is simply the acquisition of money, then you are, quite literally, wasting your time. And I would even venture to suggest that in saying so you’ve missed the point entirely…”

#sunrise #morningwisdom #montana #glaciernationalpark #sunriselover

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Little bit of Monday morning wisdom from Alan Watts… “You see, if you insist that the most important thing in life is simply the acquisition of money, then you are, quite literally, wasting your time. And I would even venture to suggest that in saying so you’ve missed the point entirely…” #sunrise #morningwisdom #montana #glaciernationalpark #sunriselover

One of my favorite subjects to photograph underwater are schooling jacks. There’s something incredible peaceful about watching 1000s of fish moving together in almost perfect harmony. This massive tornado of fish was shot in the Cabo Pulmo National Park in Baja California Sur — famed for their gigantic schools of jacks.

For a size comparison, check out the diver in the lower corner. At one point this tornado started in the sand and reached almost 60ft/18m up to the surface. 🤯

Captured on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 using a @nauticamhousings WACP-1

#schoolingjacks #cabopulmo #scubadiving #underwaterlife #oceanlove

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One of my favorite subjects to photograph underwater are schooling jacks. There’s something incredible peaceful about watching 1000s of fish moving together in almost perfect harmony. This massive tornado of fish was shot in the Cabo Pulmo National Park in Baja California Sur — famed for their gigantic schools of jacks. For a size comparison, check out the diver in the lower corner. At one point this tornado started in the sand and reached almost 60ft/18m up to the surface. 🤯 Captured on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 using a @nauticamhousings WACP-1 #schoolingjacks #cabopulmo #scubadiving #underwaterlife #oceanlove

Exploring the deserts of the Southwest is like hiking through a Rorschach Test. Your brain starts creating shapes and stories from rocks sculpted by millions of years of wind and water. What do you see when you look at this formation? For me it looked like a hand reaching out to the heavens.

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with new ideas and techniques for capturing nightscapes. Although this arch may appear massive, it’s surprisingly small—so tiny that I nearly walked right past it. My first thought was to use focus stacking to get everything nice and sharp. But after some experimentation, I really liked the idea of using depth of field to isolate the arch in focus, letting the stars and surroundings blur into a more ethereal landscape.

A special shoutout to my buddy @stanmoniz for sparking this idea during one of our conversations.

Captured on the Sony Alpha 1 II using a Sony 16-35mm GM lens and ‘tripod’ made of small rocks 🪨

#startrails #nightskyphotography #nightscape #arch #americansouthwest

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Exploring the deserts of the Southwest is like hiking through a Rorschach Test. Your brain starts creating shapes and stories from rocks sculpted by millions of years of wind and water. What do you see when you look at this formation? For me it looked like a hand reaching out to the heavens. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with new ideas and techniques for capturing nightscapes. Although this arch may appear massive, it’s surprisingly small—so tiny that I nearly walked right past it. My first thought was to use focus stacking to get everything nice and sharp. But after some experimentation, I really liked the idea of using depth of field to isolate the arch in focus, letting the stars and surroundings blur into a more ethereal landscape. A special shoutout to my buddy @stanmoniz for sparking this idea during one of our conversations. Captured on the Sony Alpha 1 II using a Sony 16-35mm GM lens and ‘tripod’ made of small rocks 🪨 #startrails #nightskyphotography #nightscape #arch #americansouthwest

Happy World Ocean’s Day! Our planet’s vast oceans are not only incredibly beautiful, they allow for us, and millions of other species, to live and thrive on this rock we call earth. Without them we sadly would cease to exist. But us humans can play a powerful role in safeguarding our waterways and when we work together can accomplish incredible things.

I chose the humpback whale as the first image in today’s post for this reason. Less than 60 years ago, these remarkable creatures were on the brink of extinction with 95% of their population wiped out. Today, after the hard work of so many humans, their populations have rebounded to the point where they are not even listed on the Red List of Endangered Species any longer. A true testament to what we can do if we work together to help safeguard our planet.

#worldoceansday #humpbackwhale #oceanlove #makoshark #saveouroceans

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Happy World Ocean’s Day! Our planet’s vast oceans are not only incredibly beautiful, they allow for us, and millions of other species, to live and thrive on this rock we call earth. Without them we sadly would cease to exist. But us humans can play a powerful role in safeguarding our waterways and when we work together can accomplish incredible things. I chose the humpback whale as the first image in today’s post for this reason. Less than 60 years ago, these remarkable creatures were on the brink of extinction with 95% of their population wiped out. Today, after the hard work of so many humans, their populations have rebounded to the point where they are not even listed on the Red List of Endangered Species any longer. A true testament to what we can do if we work together to help safeguard our planet. #worldoceansday #humpbackwhale #oceanlove #makoshark #saveouroceans

One of things I love most about my work is getting to meet so many incredible humans around the world. Last month I teamed up with @paditv in Okinawa, Japan to capture their Ambassadivers for a brand shoot. Learning about all the different projects they’ve created and are working on to protect our oceans was incredibly inspiring. Here’s a little peek of some of the images from that shoot.

Highly recommend giving them all a follow and checking out their work!

🧜‍♀️: @diver_manami_okinawa @padi_ambassadiver_kuma @japanmantaproject @rika.tika @__naagaa_____ @chanaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Massive thanks to @padi_jp for the hospitality and showing me around your beautiful home.

#seekadventure #scubadiving #okinawadiving #savetheocean #divelife

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Just 3 of my favorite things… Sharks, light rays, and floating miles offshore in the middle of the ocean. 🌊

#longimanus #oceanicwhitetip #sharkdiving #savesharks #sharklove

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Just 3 of my favorite things… Sharks, light rays, and floating miles offshore in the middle of the ocean. 🌊 #longimanus #oceanicwhitetip #sharkdiving #savesharks #sharklove

Super stoked today! Next February I’ll be joining @manta__lena to capture her research on pregnant oceanic manta rays in the Revillagigedo. She’s utilizing cutting edge technology to ultrasound pregnant mantas to see how they develop as well as satellite tracking to hopefully uncover more about how oceanic manta rays reproduce. This would be unlocking one of the biggest mysteries in manta research. Highly recommend giving her a follow and checking out her work! It’s incredible!

Can’t wait to capture her story!

#mantaray #marinescience #marinebiology #mantarays #underwaterphoto

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Super stoked today! Next February I’ll be joining @manta__lena to capture her research on pregnant oceanic manta rays in the Revillagigedo. She’s utilizing cutting edge technology to ultrasound pregnant mantas to see how they develop as well as satellite tracking to hopefully uncover more about how oceanic manta rays reproduce. This would be unlocking one of the biggest mysteries in manta research. Highly recommend giving her a follow and checking out her work! It’s incredible! Can’t wait to capture her story! #mantaray #marinescience #marinebiology #mantarays #underwaterphoto

The closest I’ve felt to being on another planet…

Every time I’m passing through this area I always try to make a pit stop here. In all my travels, this area still holds the top spot as one of my favorite places on earth. Maybe because after the long sand roads to get there it feels like you’ve landed on another planet.

This unique area began as vast arid sand dunes 190 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs. It’s theorized that earthquakes and shifting ground water contorted the dunes as they slowly turned to stone. Then millions of years of winds, flash floods, and extreme temperature changes carved it into the strangely extraterrestrial landscape we see today. 🦕

Captured on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 II using a MSM Nomad star tracker on a slik tripod with Hoya’s sparkle filter.

#milkyway #nightsky #nightscaper #milkywayphotography #nightscapes

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The closest I’ve felt to being on another planet… Every time I’m passing through this area I always try to make a pit stop here. In all my travels, this area still holds the top spot as one of my favorite places on earth. Maybe because after the long sand roads to get there it feels like you’ve landed on another planet. This unique area began as vast arid sand dunes 190 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs. It’s theorized that earthquakes and shifting ground water contorted the dunes as they slowly turned to stone. Then millions of years of winds, flash floods, and extreme temperature changes carved it into the strangely extraterrestrial landscape we see today. 🦕 Captured on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 II using a MSM Nomad star tracker on a slik tripod with Hoya’s sparkle filter. #milkyway #nightsky #nightscaper #milkywayphotography #nightscapes

Sunset vibes from Baja…

We spent a good hour watching this humpback play in the golden light off the coast of Baja. Then just as the sun set below the horizon she put her fluke up high, as if to say good night to us, before slowly dipping below the waves. 🤙

I almost wonder if whales enjoy sunsets as much as we humans do. I’ve had so many encounters where they seem to be playing, breaching, and splashing around more than usual during sunset. Makes you wonder how they perceive the sunset…

Captured on the Sony Alpha 1 using the 100-400 GM at f5.6, 1/1000s, iso 1250.

#humpbackwhale #sunset #sunsetvibes #whalewatching #bajacaliforniasur

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Sunset vibes from Baja… We spent a good hour watching this humpback play in the golden light off the coast of Baja. Then just as the sun set below the horizon she put her fluke up high, as if to say good night to us, before slowly dipping below the waves. 🤙 I almost wonder if whales enjoy sunsets as much as we humans do. I’ve had so many encounters where they seem to be playing, breaching, and splashing around more than usual during sunset. Makes you wonder how they perceive the sunset… Captured on the Sony Alpha 1 using the 100-400 GM at f5.6, 1/1000s, iso 1250. #humpbackwhale #sunset #sunsetvibes #whalewatching #bajacaliforniasur

Found this arch while out exploring a few weeks ago. It sits perched atop a ledge surrounded by towering cliffs on 3 sides, making it feel like some portal to another dimension. Thankfully, I had a bit of moonlight that night because this area is crazy dark, and the climb down to the arch definitely had me thinking I wasn’t going to make it back up in the dark! Oh, the things we do for a shot… 🤣

Captured on the Sony Alpha 1 II using a Sony 16-35mm GM lens and my trusty Slik Tripod. The star trails are created from a 480 image timelapse. My original idea was to create it as a timelapse video, but ended up loving how the final star trails made it feel even more like a portal.

#startrails #nightscape #americansouthwest #nightsky #nightscaper

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Found this arch while out exploring a few weeks ago. It sits perched atop a ledge surrounded by towering cliffs on 3 sides, making it feel like some portal to another dimension. Thankfully, I had a bit of moonlight that night because this area is crazy dark, and the climb down to the arch definitely had me thinking I wasn’t going to make it back up in the dark! Oh, the things we do for a shot… 🤣 Captured on the Sony Alpha 1 II using a Sony 16-35mm GM lens and my trusty Slik Tripod. The star trails are created from a 480 image timelapse. My original idea was to create it as a timelapse video, but ended up loving how the final star trails made it feel even more like a portal. #startrails #nightscape #americansouthwest #nightsky #nightscaper

I love finding secret little passageways hidden underwater inside the reef. There’s something magical about the way the light from the surface casts down creating bright blue windows illuminating what feel like hidden little ecosystems and communities living just on the edge of darkness.

Captured on the Sony Alpha 1 using only natural light at f4.5, 1/100s, ISO 1250.

#underwaterworld #secretpassage #coralreef #scubadiving #okinawa

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