The Traveling Image Makers

Madagascar is a fabulous but also very troubled country. Its separation from Africa, millions of years ago, made it into a somewhat isolated an unique ecosystems with animals and plants that can only be found there.When people came to the island, they started exploiting its vast natural riches and now that ecosystem is on the brink of collapse.This hasn’t made people’s life easier, as they have to contend daily with poverty, corruption, and environmental degradation. Regardless, they are always keen to smile for the camera.Our guest for this week’s episode, Pia Parolin, recently returned from a tour of Madagascar and is here to tell us about all the beauty and the contradictions of this country.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What does it mean to live on the border?It might be the border between humanity’s last dwelling at the edge of the Arctic, or the thin red line between continents, where migrants are trapped in a limbo and forgotten, or mountains of trash, where a few desperate people live precariously between life and death.Valentina Tamborra, the guest of this episode of the podcast, is a young travel photographer and photojournalist, but she has already explored many of those borders.She tells the stories of the people who live on the border with her images and her words. If you listen to this podcast, you will be transported there too. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The guest of this week’s episode is not a photographer, but we thought the story she wanted to tell deserved recognition.The reason we travel to and photograph certain locations is because we love them and we would do anything to preserve them. High on the list of most-loved places for us sits the Cinque Terre region in north-western Italy.This region is strikingly beautiful and extremely fragile. What not many people know is that the landscape there has been shaped by millennia of farming grapes and olives on narrow terraces, held together on the side of precipitous mountains by dry-stone walls.Maintaining and constantly rebuilding those walls is the key to avoiding the destruction of the villages below, that we so love to photograph, by the elements.This is why, when we heard about the Grapes & Heroes campaign, whose aim is to help the winemakers maintain those walls, we immediately wanted to help spread the word.So one day Ugo, who has been photographing the Cinque Terre for years, sat down o

After a few months of absence, The Traveling Image Makers Podcast is back on air!In this episode, Ugo and Ralph discuss how fear of the consequences of recent events, including the spread of the coronavirus infection in China, is impacting world travel and what travelers can do to ensure their own safety and minimize the chances of bringing home bad memories, instead of beautiful photos, from their trips. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our guest for this episode of the podcast defines herself as a photographer, a philosopher, a writer and a wanderer.Stefania Boglioli is also a blogger, a visual story teller and a travel companion with a passion for sharing her journeys and her perspective with fellow curious travellers.She was born in Italy, but spent many years in Africa before returning to Europe to continue her work. She changed career path more than once and lived many lives.She is either out exploring and taking photos or locked up in her home studio researching, writing and planning her next chapter.Ugo caught up with Stefania to mainly talk about her second home, Kenya and its incredible variety of scenery, wildlife, and people.Ugo and Stefania will be leading a photo tour of Kenya in the Spring of 2020. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pedro Kin is a Portuguese landscape photographer based in Slovakia but you’ll often find him chasing the light in the most beautiful mountains, forests and fjords of Europe. Favouring the cold landscapes and the raw nature of northern Europe, the weather does not stop him from going after the perfect shot — be it the northern lights in the Lofoten Islands, a snowy beach in Lithuania or a powerful waterfall in Iceland. When not travelling the world with his camera, Pedro is found back home helping others improve their photography and editing skills through personalized one-to-one online courses.Ugo caught up with Pedro recently to talk about his latest journey to Patagonia, his tips for cold weather shooting, and their upcoming photo adventure to the Italian Dolomitestogether. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This episode of the podcast was scheduled to be recorded months ago. On the day we were supposed to be interviewing our guest, Erin Babnik, she emailed us asking to reschedule, since she was being evacuated from her house in Paradise, California.Erin Babnik is known internationally as a leading photographic artist, educator, writer, and speaker. Her ambitious and expressive style of landscape photography brings together an unusual integration of adventurous exploration, progressive techniques, and formal education in the arts. In her writing and public speaking, Erin explores topics with a unique blend of art historical, philosophical, and instructional ideas, an approach that has made her one of the most notable voices among the current generation of landscape photographers.During this interview, Erin recalls those dramatic moments when seemingly she had lost almost everything she owned and talks about how she managed to recover and bounce back, at least in part, from that dire situation, thanks also to the

An award winning photographer and photo educator. Primarily interested in landscapes, he travels the world seeking out beauty in those wild and remote places on earth that still remain untouched by civilization and where nature commands ultimate attention.Self-taught as a photographer, he spent time with Freeman Patterson, Canada’s renowned photographer, to learn the art of making great photographs. His training as a graphic designer continually shapes what he sees through the lens in order that elements such as light, shape and colour all work in harmony. His never-ending search for off-beat adventures have led him to explore the Himalayas of Nepal and Ladakh, along with South America’s Patagonia. He feels right at home paddling his canoe or hiking in his backyard, the country of Canada.As a photo educator, his goal is for students to come away with not just better photographs, but a better understanding of photography, better compositions and most importantly, a skill set they now have and can use on f

The guest for this episode of the podcast is Jason Teale, a Canadian photographer who has made South Korea his home for more than ten years now.Jason’s work focuses on travel landscapes and cityscapes as well as cinemagraphs. He is a brand ambassador for Flixel and managed their photographic team for Visa during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. His work has been featured by National Geographic and Travel and Leisure Asia.Ugo asked Jason about what makes Korea such an amazing place to live and to photograph.They also chatted about Jason’s latest creating endeavor, that is creating cinemagraphs. If you don’t know what cinemagraphs are or are curious to learn more about them, Jason has a lot to share in this interview. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Recently Ugo bought a couple flight tickets to Japan, a country he will be visiting for the first time this year. Wanting to learn more about the place and how to photograph it best, he naturally thought of the photographers he knows that are intimately familiar with it?Looking at the list of past guests of this podcast, it is obvious that Martin Bailey is the expert, when it comes to Japan, having lived in Tokyo for many years.Martin is a nature and wildlife photographer based in Tokyo. He’s a pioneering podcaster and blogger, Capture One Ambassador and X-Rite Coloratti member. Fueled by his passion for nature and travel, and a tireless desire to share his knowledge and artistic vision, Martin is a popular international tour & workshop leader, helping photographers from around the world to experience and capture the wonders of this awesome planet we call home.Ugo and Ralph interviewed Martin about all things Japanese, most notably about the abundant wildlife and spectacular landscapes of Hokkai

The guest for this episode of the podcast is an old friend of the Traveling Image Makers podcast. We recorded episode TTIM 66 – David duChemin and The Soul of the Camera with him a while back.David is a world & humanitarian assignment photographer, best-selling author, digital publisher, and international workshop leader. Based in Victoria, Canada, when he’s home, David leads a nomadic life chasing compelling images on all 7 continents.He just reopened for enrollment his travel photography course, The Traveling Lens. You can sign up for it only until January 24.Ralph and Ugo ask David about his course: How is it structured? What can students hope to learn from it? Why shoot it in Varanasi, India?They also discuss other, more general topics pertaining to photography and travel, like what it means to be compassionate, how to grab the subject’s attention, being present in the moment, quantity vs. quality, visual inventories, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out inf

In this week’s episode of the podcast, Ugo interviews Mike Holp.Mike is a digital nomad and travel photographer from Austin, Texas. He’s been traveling in South America for over a year, capturing photos of beautiful destinations, and meeting new friends from all over the world! Mike is offering a coaching program to other aspiring digital nomads with the proven techniques for long-term travel on a budget. He recently launched an online course and free eBook on how to generate passive income with Airbnb every month without owning property or renting out your space. It’s now possible to work from anywhere in the world on your laptop.Mike and Ugo had a conversation about what it means to live as a digital nomad, how to generate passive income through photography, writing, affiliate marketing, and traveling across South America. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Last week’s interview with Jay Patel, where we discussed the topic of creativity is a great segue into today’s episode, because we are going to have a conversation with an artist that has chosen creative photography as his trademark of sorts.Simon Bond is a professional freelance travel photographer who focuses on the Asian continent for his work, he has travelled extensively in this region and is dedicated to producing the best quality travel photographs. Simon cut his teeth in the dark room when he was 15, from there he learnt how to use an SLR camera, and has subsequently moved on into the digital world as he now owns a Canon 5D MkII. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today’s episode of the podcast sees the return of one of our best friends, who was with us already in episode 36, Jay Patel.In the course of the conversation, Jay and Ugo discuss such topics as getting the shots when the weather is not cooperating, researching a destination to make the most of limited time, and finding ways to be creative beyond the iconic shot that many limit themselves to. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As you might know, we are doing a bi-monthly photo contest on our Facebook group, The Traveling Image Makers’ Corner. We invite the group members to submit one of their best photographs and, at the end of the period, we pick two winners and invite them to come on the show and tell us about their winning images and their photography.The winners for the month of October 2018, Peter de Hoog and Mathew Browne, submitted photos taken in Venice, Italy and Singapore, respectively. We thought those two stood above the rest, but it was a tough choice, since we got so many amazing submissions.Would you like to be one of the next guests on the podcast? Head over to our Facebook group, ask to join (if you’re not already a member) and look for the post pinned to the top for instructions. Let’s see your best travel images! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our guest for this episode is Marc De Tollenaere, a photographer from Venice, Italy.Marc works full time as a photographer and is proud to be a teacher of photography for the most famous brand of cameras, Leica. He published several books about Venice and its countryside, as well as on countless newspapers and magazines.Starting from 2010, up to nowadays, he organized many photo workshops and photo tours, especially in Venice, of which he has a thorough knowledge, and in several others countries such as India, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Turkey and Iceland.In 2014 he became Leica Ambassador and in 2018 he was “Certified by Leica”. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s always exciting to listen to Karen Hutton talk about her travels and her passions and, after having had her as a guest on episode 34, it was about time that we invited her back.Karen Hutton is an International Landscape and Travel Photographer, Artist, Speaker, Author, Educator, Voice. She has over 2 million followers on social media; with over 11 billion views of her photographic work. She is a Professional Fujifilm-X Photographer and has been featured in Talks at Google, Photo Plus Expo and on Stuck in Customs, TWiP, Macphun Software, Forbes.com, The Grid, Rick Sammon’s DPE Podcast. Karen lives in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. You can find her at Karenhutton.com.Karen just returned from a trip to Slovenia, a country that we deeply love, so this was the perfect opportunity to have her on the show to talk about it.We didn’t just talk about Slovenia, but also about Karen’s photo retreats, the demise of Google+, and many other topics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-ou

The guest for this episode of the podcast, as his LinkedIn profile states, is a Business Manager, Communication and Social Media Specialist with over 15 years of marketing, communication and sales experience, working for a major manufacturer of photo equipment.But first of all, Leigh Diprose is a photographer and a friend.After having known each other virtually for more than six year, Ugo and Leigh had finally the chance to meet face-to-face and to spend a few days together when Leigh was traveling across Europe on his honeymoon, or his elopement, as he prefers to call it.For this experience, the interview you can listen to here was born. Ugo and Leigh discussed about Europe as seen through the lens of an Australian on his first voyage to the Old World, but also about what Australia has to offer to a visitor from abroad, photographically speaking. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week’s edition of the podcast is a bit special. Unlike our typical episode, where we have a conversation with a guest, what we’ve done this time is to contact some of our previous guests and ask them one question. We’ve already done this twice in the past, when we published our “expert roundups” but this time we’ve also asked them to record their answer, so you can hear it in their own voice.The question we asked was the following:What makes a great travel photo?We received and collected answers from 21 of our guests, so there’s a lot of information here for you to consume. They shared some great stories and we hope that listening to them will better equip everyone who wants to take up photography a little bit more seriously to avoid some mistakes at the beginning of their journey.We also have a transcript of all the answers, that you can find below the fold, if you’d rather read them than listen.Stay tuned for more expert roundups coming soon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, a conversation between Ralph and Ugo about the former’s recent trip to a pair of small, not very well-known, but beautiful and welcoming countries: Georgia and Armenia.These two countries with a long history, which regained their independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, haven’t seen much tourism until recently and this means their beauty is still largely unspoilt, even though they are rapidly modernizing and the infrastructure is almost on par with European standards. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.