Scott Sporleder

Here’s a few moving postcards from my trip to Oaxaca last week. Often referred to as the culinary and cultural heart of Mexico, Oaxaca offers up it all. From Michelin star restaurants to amazing street food, mezcal tastings at wrestling matches and miles of beautiful coastline, it’s a place I’m already hoping to return to. #oaxaca #mexico #puertoescondidooaxaca

Have you ever wondered what the experience of swimming with Humpback whales in Moorea is like? Well this is it… from start to finish. Join me, as I do my best to show you exactly what it’s like, from the anticipation of spotting your first whale, to the swim, the wait and finally the pure magic that awaits when the opportunity arrives. Big thanks to @native.expeditions and the incredible trip. #Tahiti #moorea #humpbackwhale #swimmingwithwhales #frenchpolynesia

A few moments from swimming with Humpback whales in Tahiti. There is no experience more humbling than being in the natural habitat of a 55,000 pound sentient being, who looks at you, registers your presence and goes about its life the way it has for thousands of years. Forever grateful for experiences like this in nature. Image descriptions: 1. The eye of a young calf, possible only a month old, staring at me with the same inquisitive look that I was looking at it with. 4. The waving pectoral fin of a whale as it passes by. 5. An image of me in action 📸 by @davis.huber 9. Just listen… no explanation necessary. 10. A detailed shot of the Ventral Pleats of a humpback. The ventral pleats are accordion like skin folds that drastically expand to allow a whale to feed. 11. The chaotic moment that ensues when a fully grown adult male decides it would be funny to swim underneath your group. 12. The adrenaline fueled moment when a whale swims directly at you. Despite their size, the intelligence and spatial awareness of Humpback whales is hard to comprehend. They swim up to you, look at you, often times seem to be intrigued and want to play but they go right on about their business as they have for millennia. Once again… I’ll forever be grateful for these moments with Mother Nature.

A few visual memories from a recent trip to Tahiti.

After years of giving it a go at photography, I’ve decided it’s time to hang it up and hard launch my new career... modeling in your 40’s, it feels like a solid plan. Nahh, just kidding but jokes aside, after years of being on the other side of the lens I recently had the opportunity to be photographed by the amazingly talented @pipcowley This was the first time in my adult life I’ve ever sat for a portrait session and I have a newfound respect for everyone I’ve shot over the years. Bless Pip who directed me through my many awkward moments, because I now understand how intimidating it can be staring into the void of a lens. Where do I look? Should I put my hands here? Is my smile crooked? It was a humbling experience to say the least but grateful to try something new with a talented friend and keep this year of the arts rolling on.

Reflections of a Portuguese Surf Trip.

To start off this year I am going to try and do something new. I find myself constantly posting stories, sunsets, snippets from travels, guessing what I think people want to see? I never really show other parts of my life, my hobbies, the funny moments that happen on the road or the people I meet. So this year, I am going to try and mix it up a bit, show some more behind the scenes, the good, the bad and the ugly...bare with me folks it’s going to be an experiment, but here we go. Late last fall, I had one of the most creatively free weeks I think I’ve ever experienced. Hours were spent in one location, each day, staring at one subject... I went on a trip to draw. I decided to try something new and took a sketching retreat through Portugal that was lead by Alan @seethelines .As you might know, I love myself a “Sketchy Sunday” but I hadn’t really dedicated a serious amount of time to it before. The next 9 days were spent amongst an amazing group of people learning about shadows, linework, complimentary colors, as well as simple things I’d never known about (Who knew a clip to keep your pages from blowing open was so crucial?) It was a beautiful week in a beautiful country. Here’s to more artsy weeks in 2026.

A magical morning. I can’t quite explain it, but there’s an energy, a cosmic force that happens in the fraction of a second inside a barreling wave at sunrise. It’s almost like a portal that opens up and sparks some kind of vitality inside of you. Again, I really can’t explain the feeling but the portal opened up this morning and I’ll forever be grateful for those little magical moments that happens on this planet. Big thanks to the polar plunge team for braving the conditions with me this morning. ⚡️

Here’s a few raw moments of what it’s like to have an adult Humpback whale chase you. Playing around can look a little different when you’re a 70,000 pound animal… but what a magical and adrenaline inducing moment it is to share the water with such magical creatures. This was all shot on a 360 camera which is why some of the perspectives are real unique.

The surreal world under the surface and in the Kelp forests on Catalina Island. Always a pleasure to dive with the wonderful crew of @bluelatitudesfoundation

6 days in Mizata, El Salvador

[Part 1 & 2 of the film can be watched in my reels] A few full moons back, I got the chance to document an absolute sensory feast in the desert. A galactic orchestra is about the only way to describe the experience. It started with a telescope, painstakingly placed high atop a mountain surrounded by Joshua Trees at 6,000 feet in elevation. From there, once the telescope captures light emitted from the moon and the stars, a frequency is sent to a musician who in turn creates a musical symphony straight from space. The next few hours were filled with sounds from far away galaxies, some of which you'll hear in the video. @kylecanal the artist and mastermind behind the performance said it best: "Last week, on 10/17, the night of the full Hunter’s Moon, we brought back The Sirens after a 7-year hiatus. We convinced a group of people to trek up the mountain and share the experience with us. The Sirens is a musical odyssey where we use a telescope to play the moon and planets like a theremin. The telescope is equipped with photodiodes that send control voltages to a Eurorack synth setup. The show was a duet between Brian Weitz @geobriensystem (synth wizard) and Kyle Simon (telescope operator) and was recorded live by Audio Focus. The full performance will be released by the DC-based record label, Outside Time @outsidetime__ Our amazing friend @lilystockman blessed us with an original painting for the event, which will grace the cover of the album. The gale-force winds held off until a few hours after the show, and with the help of great friends and collaborators, we pulled off something truly special." Here's to all the dreamers whose heads are in the stars