I’ve been doing travel photography since I was 13 years old on a school exchange to Japan.
Back then, I used one of those bright yellow disposable Kodak cameras and a curious eye to capture the world. I still remember setting my eyes through the plastic viewfinder and loving the sound of the shutter flipping. I loved how I could take a world of motion, and twist it to a stop. I loved how I could steal an emotion from a scene and remember it forever. It was addictive even then.
I’m sure I must have wound that camera dial half a mile in length on that trip. Forget memory cards, back then I had to pack multiple cameras. It was an instant love affair with both photography and travel. And of course, the two really do go hand in hand.
I still have all the photos from that trip. The film slides sit in a box somewhere in the basement of my parent’s house collecting a vintage tint that instagram could only dream of capturing. On the rarest of occasions when I do find myself in my hometown, you might find me sitting cross-legged on the floor basement of my parent’s house flipping through the images with a childish grin on my face.
Since that trip to Japan, I’ve set the sights of a camera and lens on six different continents and more destinations than I’d ever dare to attempt to count. I’ve gone from shooting that simple disposable camera to packing about 20 kilos of camera gear with me wherever I go. I never leave home without it all strapped to my back or slung around my neck.
Over the past 15 years, the equipment and technology has changed, but I like to hope that the curious eye I once saw the world with has never been lost. Regardless of the type of equipment you use, it’s that eye – and the propensity to constantly explore – that makes the photo.
It wasn’t until I made the decision that I was going to try to make a career out of travel journalism that I really started shooting photography seriously. About 4 years ago, I upgraded my equipment so I would stop using that as an excuse as to why my shots weren’t spectacular. I picked up dozens of photography books and picked the brains of people in the industry to make sure I was doing everything I could to steepen the learning curve. I also made myself a promise that I would start editing my photos properly. The first program I ever used was Photoshop Elements 7. Thus, you can imagine how excited I am to announce that I’ve agreed to be a part of Photoshop Elements latest ambassador program.
Over the next couple of months, you can expect some posts on this site about Photoshop Elements. These articles will generally be of the tutorial variety where I show you how I bring certain travel photos to life, or create a certain effect in my photos. I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I also think that you’ll benefit tremendously from the tutorial aspect of things. Whenever I see a cool travel photo, my first thoughts always slip to “I wonder how she/he shot that”. Through this process, I’ll be able to let you into my process to help you answer that question.
How can you Follow Along?
Of course, if you follow me already on social media and check into the blog regularly, you won’t miss a beat. However, if you’re interested in the project and Photoshop Elements I can’t recommend to you enough to follow them on facebook where they are constantly tossing out great information to get the most out of your photography. Also, if you’re on twitter (or I guess you can hashtag on facebook too now right?) you can follow the work of the various ambassadors on the hashtag #PSElements. You can also check them out on pinterest.