The Traveling Image Makers

Clint Burkinshaw, a Travel Photographer from South Australia, grew up spending most of his time engrossed in sport and the beach. That was until he started looking elsewhere to expand his mind further from the life that he knew and was content with, and turned to a map of the world. He was not a hundred percent sure yet of what he was to get from it, but in 2005 he tested the waters by taking off for several months and headed towards Europe where he hit the road and backpacked through well over a dozen countries before returning home. Little did he know, this was just the tip of the iceberg and just a taste of what was in store for him.In the following years, Clint spent many months on the road, visiting South America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe numerous times. The year 2016 sees him and his wife cycling across Europe one more time, from St. Petersburg to the Baltics, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland and France.I have been following this trip for a while, waiting for Clint to settle down for a f

Some people explore the world right and left, north and south. Others, like my guest for this episode, Erin Babnik, prefer to explore it by going up and down and by climbing the peaks of the Alps or of the Californian Sierras to capture some amazing photographs of the high mountains.Erin is a full-time landscape photographer, writer, and educator based out of California and Slovenia. She teaches photography workshops worldwide and shares her ideas about photography through articles for popular photography publications and through public speaking engagements. Her dedication to the medium of photography evolved out of her years working as an art historian, photographing at archaeological sites and in museums throughout Europe and the Middle East for the purposes of teaching and research. She subsequently spent years producing photographs on assignment and for licensing, all the while expanding her personal photographic excursions to increasingly remote outdoor locations. Erin draws upon her background in art hi

My guest for this episode of the podcast is my long time friend Andy Bitterer. Me and Andy have a lot in common, but one thing that truly sets us apart from many other travel photographers is that we both still have a full-time job–doing stuff other than photography–that keeps our families well fed. We take photos in our spare time, but photography is our true passion and our side job, so we try to practice it as much as possible. That often means exploiting every business trip we take for opportunities to visit new places and create new images.Andy Bitterer is an award-winning freelance photographer from Hamburg, Germany. As a frequent traveller around the world, Andy focuses mostly on travel and nature photography, but his interests also include event, portrait, architecture, and fine art photography. His work has appeared online and in print, from news websites and corporate intranets to book and music CD covers, magazines, and various marketing collateral.I have been wanting to interview Andy for a long t

My guest for this episode of the podcast, Robert Van Koesveld, is a passionate travel photographer from Australia who has a deep knowledge of the culture and traditions of the geikos and maikos of Kyoto. By striving to really getting to know those women and developing an intimate connection with them, he has managed to capture some sublime images that go beyond the surface to reveal their inner world.We discussed at length about what is necessary to approach those communities and how much work and patience it took Robert to produce the images that are contained in his beautiful book, Geiko and Maiko of Kyoto. We also briefly talked about that other place that is reputed to be quite inaccessible by many, the Kingdom of Bhutan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Many people dream of quitting their day jobs, leaving everything behind and living a nomadic life of full-time travel. Very few people actually resolve to do it.My guest for this episode of the podcast, Flemming Bo Jensen, is one of the few who did.Flemming Bo is an official Fujifilm X-photographer from Denmark who only comes out at night. He is a music photographer and all his work is done in dark clubs and venues. Music, especially electronic music, is a big part of what makes his heart beat, and being able to combine music and photography is a dream come true to him.Since November 2009 he has lived as a nomad. He was the former Head of IT in a Danish Government agency, but wanted to see new horizons and left Copenhagen and his job in 2009. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Patagonia, the southernmost portion of the American continent, is a land of stunning beauty, unspoilt wilderness and extreme weather. As of recent, it has also become one of the most sought-after destinations for landscape photographers. Having recently read Sean Bagshaw's article about his trip to Patagonia, I wanted to know more, so I asked him to be my guest on the show and to tell us about that remote land.Sean is an outdoor photographer, digital image developing enthusiast and photography educator based in Ashland, Oregon, where he resides with his wife and two sons. In the 1980s and 1990s he did some rock climbing and mountaineering and enjoyed being expedition photographer because it allowed him to present slide shows to anyone he could corner in a dark room with a projector. Over time he moved away from documentary images and became immersed in the art of photography. Now he photographs mountains instead of climbing them. He spends about a quarter of each year sleeping in his truck or on the ground, s

This podcast is all about travel, but sometimes people cannot travel. My old friend John Butterill, who I interviewed for this episode, founded Virtual Photo Walks a few years ago to act as the eyes and the cameras of people who can’t walk the walk because of their disabilities.Virtual Photo Walks is a non-profit organization that uses smart phones and video conferencing to enable people isolated by illness or disability to travel the world in real time. Thanks to their technology partners and a group of dedicated virtual volunteer guides from all over the world, they are able to make the world bigger and brighter for a community of people with disabilities.Using Virtual volunteer guides equipped with a smartphone, the disabled can participate in immersive, real-time experiences of places they will likely never see first-hand, an African safari, a war veterans’ reunion, a hike in the forest.Virtual Photo Walks Inc is a 501c3 public charity in the USA IE 46-1674634 and welcomes your donations. Click here to do

I have to admit I’ve always been a big fan of my guest for this week’s episode of the podcast, Doug Kaye. I have been following Doug’s work since when he was an IT expert and author, a renowned podcaster, and as of late, an excellent photographer. So it was a great pleasure and honor for me to finally be able to talk to him personally.Beginning his visual explorations in his father’s wet darkroom, Doug earned a degree in theatrical lighting design at U.C. Berkeley in the ’60s and studied cinematography at NYU’s Graduate Institute of Film and Television in the ’70s. In the ’80s he began a two-decade hiatus from photography, when he started a system-software company that he ran for 18 years. He sold that business in 1996 and decided to work his way down the corporate ladder, service as CTO of four dot-com startups in four years. He retired in 2000, wrote two technology books and started a non-profit podcasting network.Doug got back into photography in 2008. A trip to Kenya convinced him nature photography wasn’

My guest for this episode of the podcast is Cherie McKay.Melbournian to the heart, divorced mum of four boys, Cherie is an entrepreneur, photographer and writer. She ventured into photography after spending over ten years in the corporate sector but quickly realised the world didn’t need another portrait photographer – instead the world needed beautiful camera bags specifically designed for women.Cherie went on and designed her own range of camera bags and founded the company SHUTTER|bag in 2009 and after establishing international distributors, Cherie sold SHUTTER|bag in 2013.Cherie is currently working towards incorporating more travel and street photography into her life. As part of this, she decided to embark on what many would consider a crazy adventure: flying to the US, renting a campervan and driving coast-to-coast from Los Angeles to New York on her own.I found Cherie’s story captivating and her sense of humor extremely entertaining. She has lots of funny anecdotes to share about her road trip.Durati

I think Lauren Bath's story is exemplar of how dedication, commitment, and maybe a bit of luck can turn a passion like travel photography into a six-figure business in the matter of a few year. As her bio says:"Lauren Bath is a chef turned photographer thanks to her early success on top photo sharing site Instagram. Quitting her job in early 2013, Lauren launched full force into a career in the tourism industry, effectively becoming Australia’s first professional “instagrammer”!Since then Lauren has diversified into other social media platforms, as well as travel writing, and has also become involved with project management and education. With a passion for tourism and a hands on approach to social media Lauren has grown her online community to upwards of three quarters of a million followers."What I loved most about my conversation with Lauren is that, despite her huge success, she is still very much a down-to-earth person and I believe this comes through very clearly in the interview. See acast.com/privacy

My guest for this episode of The Traveling Image Makers podcast is Swedish travel photographer Jens Lennartsson.I got to know Jens through some articles he had published online and I immediately became a fan of his writing and of his photography. I though he has some truly inspiring opinions on the subjects of travel photography, writing, and visual storytelling, so I asked him to be a guest on my show. He graciously accepted and we recorded this conversation shortly afterwards.I hope you will find this interview to be as insightful as I did. Below the fold, you will also find links to some of the articles we discussed during our chat and I encourage you to read them, if you want to know a bit more about Jens's outlook on photography and travel. I am sure you won't be disappointed. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Natalia Stone is a travel photographer based in New York. Her passion for adventure and photography has taken her to over 40 countries and some of the most remote corners of the world. Whether standing on a rim of an active volcano in Ethiopia, photographing the northern lights in Norway or navigating through glacial waters of Greenland, her goal is to capture the moment and tell a story of the incredible treasures our planet holds. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I have known Australian travel and landscape photographer Paul Pichugin for a few years and I was always attracted by his positive personality and admired him for his work and his huge success on social media. It was therefore a big surprise for me to read about the struggles and doubts he described in one of his recent blog posts, Let's Be Honest.As I think Paul's difficulties are common to many photographers, who sometimes find it hard to translate popularity into real business, I wanted to interview him for the podcast and I am truly happy that he accepted to be my guest and open his heart once more to talk about art, business, social media and their relationship.We didn't just talk about the business side of things, of course, but we chatted at length about Paul's recent trip to Antarctica, which is such a fascinating and sought-after destination for photographers. If you ever intend to go there, you should definitely listen to this episode. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Deborah Sandidge is known for her creative approach to travel photography. She is a professional photographer specializing in world travel and artistic imagery. Her passion and skill with creative techniques such as long exposure, time-lapse, and blue hour photography has earned the respect and admiration of both corporate clients and peers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Shiv Verma is a published author, photographer, educator and technologist. He has been photographing for over 50 years and has evolved his photography to express his intense devotion to wildlife and nature. Over the years has earned numerous awards and recognition both nationally and internationally. Shiv devotes a great deal of his time formally reviewing photography related products, to education in digital photography and is a speaker and competition judge. He conducts photo tours and workshops worldwide and typically has one tour a month. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here is the second interview I did while I was in Venice for the carnival. I was introduced to Jim Zuckerman by my other guest, Robin Yong and of course I asked if I could interview him.Jim was very kind as he invited me over to his hotel for a coffee and a fifteen-minute talk on the sofa, that you can listen to in audio and watch in video below. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In recent years, I've taken the habit of going to Venice at least once a year for the Carnevale, a great festival where people dress up with fancy and elaborate costumes for two weeks. It's just one big feast for photographers, especially considering those people will pose for you for free. Naturally, it tends to attract lots of photographers, many of them from abroad.This year, I went to Venice with the aim of meeting up with and interviewing a few of those photographers and this is exactly what I did. One of them is my good friend, popular photographer and traveler extraordinaire Trey Ratcliff.Besides being a great artist, Trey is just a nice warm-hearted person, who has some very interesting insights on travel, life, the universe, and everything. Let me just say that this interview was not just about cameras and places, even though we did talk quite a bit about the countries he visited on his way to Italy. You will just have to listen to it to know what I mean. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out

When I first read the story of how a photographer traveled through Asia with a limbless man, I knew I had to interview that photographer. Luckily for me and for you, my dear listeners, that photographer, Anna Tenne, graciously accepted to be my guest and to tell the story of how she decided to embark on a journey that changed her life forever.Anna is an Australian photographer that has spent the last 10 years traveling the world. She's had many unique experiences from living in remote Hill-tribe villages, riding ostriches, walking 25km just to eat cheese-cake and diving with sharks - always living to tell the tale. Obviously. She absolutely loves meeting and photographing people but hates wearing shoes.As she says of her journey:I think most people would assume that traveling South-East Asia with a man with no limbs wouldn’t exactly be easy, let alone practical, but that didn’t stop me asking quadruple amputee Chris Koch to go on a crazy adventure with me. Thankfully I did. Traveling with Chris was easily one

Travel photography instructor, author and international guide Ralph Velasco has organized and led a variety of cultural tours around the world, including to Egypt, Mexico’s Copper Canyon, Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia, Iceland, Central Europe, Morocco, Vietnam, the Adriatic, Romania, Turkey, Spain, Death Valley, Chicago and San Francisco and others. Additionally, as of this writing he’s organized and led more than a dozen fully-licensed People-to-People programs to Cuba. Listen to this episode if you want to know more about Ralph, hist travels, and his photography. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Justin and Armando are famous as the founders of The Photo Frontier, "a fellowship of explorers, guided by creative principles, who believe that photography can enrich their lives and the lives of others."To put things in perspective, being on the Photo Frontier means being part of a community of photographers, doing jamborees and expeditions and cultivating the values of respect, encouragement, and creativity. Due to distance, I never had a chance to participate in one of their expeditions, but just by reading the reports, they must be a lot of fun. I especially like the quirky and a bit nostalgic way they manage to capture images of the destinations included in those trips.In my conversation with Justin and Armando, we talked about some of the locations they recently explored, including Route 66, Uncompahgre, and the Palouse.Listen to the episode, if you want to know more about The Photo Frontier and its artisans. Duration: 37m 11s. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.