The story behind the September front cover of Outdoor Swimmer magazine

Stunning front cover image of new Changing Seasons issue was captured by a 13-year-old with an iPhone

It’s not every day that a photo taken on a mobile phone makes the front cover of a magazine – especially not when the snap was taken by a thirteen-year-old. But that is exactly what happened with the new ‘Changing Seasons’ issue of Outdoor Swimmer magazine and its stunning cover image.

“I couldn’t believe it when the photo landed in my inbox,” says Outdoor Swimmer Editor Ella Foote. “And when I realised that the photographer was just 13 years old and had used an iPhone to capture the shot… well, I was blown away! What a great talent at such a young age.”

The intrepid photographer is Taylor Kruse, who was quick to snap her dad, Brett Kruse, while he was swimming in Lake Colchuck, Washington, USA. Although Brett and Taylor are American, they live in Hong Kong. They were having a dad/daughter adventure day while on holiday and visiting ‘home’ in the USA this summer. Taylor took the photo using an iPhone 13 Pro.

“My dad and I like to go on adventures together,” says Taylor. “For this one we spent the night in our camper van and decided to hike a couple of hours to the mountain lake. We hopped in the water to cool off and my dad asked me to take some photos. One just happened to turn out great.”

Brett is a keen amateur photographer, and Taylor is just starting to pick up his skills – although it looks like soon Taylor will be teaching her dad! “For the record, her father’s photos have never made it on the cover of a magazine,” jokes Brett.

“I wanted to capture some fun moments like my dad has been doing for years,” says Taylor.  

Set beneath the majestic twin peaks of Dragontail and Colchuck, Lake Colchuck is a freshwater reservoir located on the western slope of the Enchantments in Chelan County, Washington. It is a popular hiking area as well as being Brett’s “favourite place on the planet.”

It was actually Outdoor Swimmer subscriber Edie Hu who suggested Brett and Taylor send the image to the magazine. Edie runs Hong Kong Open Water and is a long-distance swimmer.

“They never imagined I would use it, let alone on the cover!” says Ella. “But it was such a wonderful image I really wanted to showcase Taylor’s talent. Just looking at that shot makes me wish I was there swimming in the lake too.”

 “It feels surreal and I love that something I did is a part of history,” says Taylor. “I feel very lucky to have my photo on the cover a magazine. Not many kids my age get to say that!”

The Changing Seasons issue of Outdoor Swimmer Magazine is on sale now.