{"id":535618,"date":"2026-03-14T09:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T09:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/535618\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T09:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T09:30:14","slug":"what-does-a-national-geographic-photo-engineer-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/535618\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does a National Geographic Photo Engineer Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ASupersilk\u2019s almost miraculous ability to stretch without breaking gets put to the test in National Geographic\u2019s photo studio by photo engineer Eric Flynn, who rigged a 170-pound tractor tire to hang from a 0.35 loop of Kraig Biocraft\u2019s silk. (Photo by Mark Thiessen, National Geographic Magazine Staff) <\/p>\n

When National Geographic Magazine set out to tell the story of bioengineered \u201csupersilk,\u201d it created a photogenic test to prove its strength. <\/p>\n

In its studio, National Geographic hung a 170-pound tractor tire from the ceiling, suspended by a coil of silk. The March issue<\/a> features a page-and-a-half photo (pages 40 and 41) with this caption: \u201cSupersilk\u2019s almost miraculous ability to stretch without breaking gets put to the test in National Geographic\u2019s photo studio by photo engineer Eric Flynn, who rigged a 170-pound tractor tire from a 0.35-ounce loop of Kraig Biocraft\u2019s silk.\u201d (Photo: Mark Thiessen)<\/p>\n

Yes, the 137-year-old publication famous for photography and photographers is showcasing a behind-the-scenes tech expert. <\/p>\n

\"CoverThe cover of National Geographic\u2018s March 2026 issue <\/p>\n

Tech engineer Flynn explains how a photograph of him got in the magazine:<\/p>\n

\u201cMark Thiessen (National Geographic staff photographer) wanted to figure out how to showcase the strength of supersilk. Part of the struggle in this case was the matter of scale. We settled on a large tire because it was the perfect weight, and it looked more impressive than a 200-pound anvil,\u201d Flynn says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue we ran into once we got it suspended was that it didn\u2019t look very big without any context. Up until this point I had been staying just outside of the frame and reorienting the tire in between shots. After going back and forth on other items we could include in the image, they took a few test shots where I stayed in the picture, and that ended up being the concept the photo editor liked best.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first pages of the magazine\u2019s March issue, Flynn appears in a 3\u00d74-inch photo with staff photographers as they hoist a tractor tire for the photo shoot with a coil of supersilk.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo show that bioengineered spider silk is as strong as its champions claim in this issue\u2019s feature (Unlocking Nature\u2019s Miracle) required something heavy,\u201d the magazine explained. \u201cNational Geographic staff photographers Mark Thiessen and Rebecca Hale weighed their options. An anvil wasn\u2019t right (too small), but soon they were rolling a 170-pound tire, borrowed from a local tire shop, into their studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supersilk <\/p>\n

National Geographic\u2019s March cover story (words by Rowan Jacobsen, photographs by Justin Jin) addresses this question: \u201cAn organic material that is five times stronger than steel? It exists in the natural world but has historically been impossible for us to manufacture. Now, thanks to breakthroughs in generic engineering, we\u2019ve created something very close: supersilk. And it\u2019s poised to upgrade far more than our clothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AThe silkworm from Michigan-based company Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has been genetically modified to weave a silk that\u2019s remarkably close to a spider\u2019s. The supersilk\u2019s glow, visible under ultraviolet light and a filter, confirms that the altered gene has been passed down to the next generation. (Photo by Mark Thiessen, NGM Staff) Who Is Photo Engineer Eric Flynn? <\/p>\n

Flynn describes himself as a \u201ccamera nut, always excited to talk about photographic equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For several years, he was a special-education paraprofessional in elementary school. Flynn earned a master\u2019s degree in 2021 from Ohio University\u2019s School of Visual Communication. He joined National Geographic in 2022 in Washington, DC, as a photo engineer technologist.<\/p>\n

\"APhoto Engineer Eric Flynn of National Geographic <\/p>\n

Flynn\u2019s goal at National Geographic, he says, is to \u201cmake the jobs of our photographers easier and help them make the most compelling images possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

His other projects at National Geographic include:<\/p>\n

Setting up remote cameras for the Artemis I launch Working on a robot that Jen Guyton used to take pictures of hyenas Providing field support for Babak Tafreshi and Aaron Huey covering the eclipse in 2024 <\/p>\n

About the author: Ken Klein lives in Silver Spring, Maryland; he is retired after a career in politics, lobbying, and media including The Associated Press and Gannett in Florida. Klein is an alumnus of Ohio University and a member of the Dean\u2019s Advisory Council of the Scripps College of Communication. Professionally, he has worked for Fort Myers News-Press (Gannett), The Associated Press (Tallahassee), Senator Bob Graham, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Supersilk\u2019s almost miraculous ability to stretch without breaking gets put to the test in National Geographic\u2019s photo studio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,53045,75,4150,4419,41787,41788,209617,66],"class_list":["post-535618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-engineer","tag-entertainment","tag-interview","tag-magazine","tag-natgeo","tag-nationalgeographic","tag-photoengineer","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}