Chris Greer opens Watkinsville photography studio; guides 'View Finders' to national audience

When Chris Greer goes to the studio and gallery he recently opened in downtown Watkinsville, he can sit at his desk and view the comings and goings of pedestrians and the constant flow of vehicles.

The studio in a century-old building at 16 North Main Street has become a showcase for his photography. And he has a place to work on “View Finders,” a PBS television nature series he created for Georgia PBS that will go nationwide this year.

“I walk in here and feel like this is a place I can create,” said Greer, an Oconee County resident, who is also a professor of instructional technology at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.

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During his time in Oconee County, he has quickly established himself as a photographer of unique and stunning landscape pictures. Now he has a place for the public to visit and purchase works that can range from a full wall mural to photos merged onto canvas or metal. And he plans to increase the number of photo workshops he will host.

Using a video camera he has taken that same expertise to “View Finders,” a nature program that for the past two years was shown on Georgia public television. Now, it will expand to a national PBS format.

“We’ll be in about 55 million homes starting this summer,” he said, explaining that season two from 2023 will first air nationally before the new third season begins in the fall.

The show highlights natural areas, blending earth’s bounty with songs performed by Georgia musicians and bringing on board experts to explain facets of the locale that he and his co-host, Paul Daniel of Atlanta, are exploring.

The show, while popular with the nature and travel audience, has a segment of viewers who are interested in photography as Greer and Daniell are observed making decisions on when and how to photo the landscapes.

For the third season, these men of the lens plan to travel far.

Trips are expected to the New England states to the Western mountains and deserts.

The show successfully expanded after Greer submitted it to American Public Television, which distributes programs such as Bob Ross and Samantha Brown to PBS stations nationwide.

“I went to their fall showcase in Palm Springs and presented the show to them. I screened the show and it was received very well,” Greer said adding that he is currently in the process of finding sponsors.

One aspect of the show Greer quickly noticed is how much viewers have taken to the music selections used on each episode. He has been using Georgia musicians.

Viewers “find the Spotify playlist I’ve created that features all of the View Finders music,” he said. “I’ve had some musicians tell me they have people come up to them at concerts and say, ‘I’m here because I heard your songs on View Finders.’”

Greer is pleased with the success of the show.

“It’s a showcase of beautiful places. So, it has this core travel show feel, but we approach it in a different way than a lot of shows because we’re taking pictures, playing music and we’re on an adventure. A lot of different facets that help it appeal to a broad audience,” he said.

Greer’s love of photography began when he was 12 and his father gave him a Pentax camera and some film.

“It wasn’t automatic. You had to learn about aperture, shutter speed, what all that meant,” he said. “It was film, so every shot was costing you money, but that’s how I got started. I sort of ebbed and flowed with photography until about 2015, when I got serious about it. Things have really taken off."

Now he can offer images of those faraway places he has found. Or he can do commission work to shoot what the person wants.

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His office is in a building that also houses the business of Joe Goggins, a man who for many years has framed photos and artwork for customers. Greer said lots of customers find they can choose a print from him, then have it framed or stretched on canvas by Goggins, who is also an artist of watercolors and oil.

Landscape photography as employed by Greer is not for those who like to sleep late in the mornings.

In that early morning time, he notes that the emerging sunlight, often mingled with a mist or a fog, blend for a more intriguing landscape.

“I think sunrise shots are magic. It’s just you and nature,” said the man who finds a view.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Watkinsville man's nature show to reach national audience on PBS