Outdoor Adventure Photographer based in Portland, Oregon

HEY, I'M ROBERT

I’m an outdoor adventure photographer based in Portland, Oregon

About Outdoor Adventure Photographer Robert J Hill

Hey! I’m Robert J Hill, an outdoor adventure photographer based in Portland, Oregon.

Born on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington, I spent my early years in Alaska building igloos, skiing every weekend, and watching the northern lights on the drive home from foraging trips.

Eventually my family moved to Florida, and by my teenage years I knew I wasn’t where I belonged. When I was twelve a camera landed in my hands and became the way I made sense of the world.

Years later that same camera carried me across the globe, photographing destination weddings, chasing light, and telling stories along the way. It was beautiful, but somewhere among airports, deadlines, and expectations I lost myself in the hustle. I thought travel was my answer but eventually realized there was something deeper I hadn’t yet found.

After years of hustle, by 2022 I was completely burnt out. Not feeling like I knew who I was anymore, I did the only thing that felt right… I left for six months to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. No deadlines. No emails. Just me, the mountains, and a long walk north.

Somewhere between the desert and the Sierras I slowed down enough to finally hear myself. It honestly felt like the first time I had truly listened in decades.

In the end, that hike changed everything and reminded me why I picked up a camera. To feel, be present, and capture what is real. Not the polished version of life but the raw, messy, awe filled moments that actually mean something.

Now I work as a commercial outdoor and adventure photographer because it’s the most honest version of life with a camera I know. The moments when you are cold, tired, covered in dirt, and still smiling because you have never felt more alive.

That is what I want my work to feel like. Real. Human. Alive.

ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHER

SELF AWARENESS JUNKIE

THRU HIKER & MOUNTAINEER

Becoming an outdoor adventure photographer

almost feels like it was destined

When I was twelve years old I was introduced to the world of storytelling when I picked up a video camera for the first time. From that moment on I became obsessed with the creative process, from the spark of an idea and storyboarding to capturing, editing, and finally sharing what I had created.

It felt wildly synchronistic that I found a camera at such a young age because later I learned that both my Dad and grandfather were equally drawn to the power of photography.

I never had the chance to meet my grandfather, but he worked as a film developer in the military, often assigned to classified missions that he never spoke of and ultimately took to his grave.

Over time his years doing this work led him to create what became known in our family as the “same day processing method” for film. It is said that the military later sold this process to Kodak. At first I did not believe it, but I now have the certificate they gave him for it. So wild.

As for my dad, he has always been the biggest catalyst for my journey as a photographer. He was the one who placed a camera in my hands when I was fifteen and guided me through how to translate what I knew about video into still imagery. I would not be the photographer I am today without him.

Being an outdoor adventure photographer has transformed my life in countless ways. I believe the power of photography is that it mirrors back to us what truly matters. Images remind us to be here, now. And if you ever want to know what you really value in life, just look at the photographs you can hold in your hands.

My Journey so far as a

Storyteller, Explorer, and Creative

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Years Capturing Adventure Stories

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Countries Traveled on Assignment

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Projects & Clients Served Worldwide

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Miles of Trails Backpacking & Field Testing Gear

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Engaged Community Across Social Media

“Life is already too short to waste on speed. Walking makes the world much bigger and thus more interesting. You have time to observe the details.

The utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is annihilated. … To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me.”

-Edward Abbey

Trails That Changed Everything

Stories from the trails that shaped me as an outdoor adventure photographer, creative, and human

2022

Pacific Crest Trail

2,653 MILES FROM MEXICO TO CANADA

In March 2022, I set off on the 2,653-mile Pacific Crest Trail, a journey that stretched from Mexico to Canada and tested every part of who I was. From the deserts of Southern California to the alpine heights of the Sierra Nevadas, and across the volcanic peaks of Oregon into Washington’s rugged North Cascades, this thru-hike reshaped how I see and tell stories.

As an outdoor adventure photographer, it deepened my understanding of light, grit, and human connection in the wild. Every step honed my craft and strengthened the foundation for everything I create today.

2023

Grand Canyon Rim 2 Rim

24 MILES FROM The North Rim to the South Rim

In October 2023, my aunt and I hiked the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, starting from the North Rim, dropping down to Phantom Ranch, crossing the Colorado River, and climbing the canyon wall back up to the South Rim. What I expected to be harsh and exposed turned out to be lush, alive, and full of surprise.

It’s one of those journeys that reminded me why I do what I do and, as an outdoor adventure photographer, showed me how wild beauty often hides beneath the surface, waiting for those willing to go deeper.

2024

Colorado Trail

496 MILES FROM Denver to Durango

In August 2024, my wife and I set out on our first thru hike together, walking nearly five hundred miles along the Colorado Trail via the Collegiate West route. We made it halfway before pausing, and I returned exactly a year later to finish the final ~240 miles.

This trail became a meaningful part of our story, shaping both our relationship and how I see the world through my work as an outdoor adventure photographer.

2025

Cirque of the Towers

43 MILES Through the Wind River Range

In August 2025, a few friends from the PCT and I reunited to hike one of the most breathtaking stretches of trail in the West, the Cirque of the Towers in Wyoming’s Wind River Range.

The Winds hold a kind of beauty that stops you in your tracks, a wild grandeur that even after years as an outdoor adventure photographer still leaves me in awe.

2026

Sunshine Coast Trail

112 Miles Across Canada’s West Coast

This trail became a meaningful part of our story, shaping both our relationship and how I see the world through my work as an outdoor adventure photographer.