TRAVEL DOCUMENTARY
Like many photographers, my passion for the medium developed through travel photography; in my case this commenced by documenting the incredible landscapes I beheld during my first backpacking experiences in Latin American. My photography then advanced steadily through my time spent living in a variety of countries, increasingly incorporating capturing people. This began with street photography and soon moved on to spontaneous portraiture (portraits of strangers), which is largely what motivated me to turn a serious hobby into a profession.
CAMERA EQUIPMENT FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
Before becoming a professional, personal photography was a huge hobby of mine, hence I’d often pack a great deal of gear whenever I thought an excursion or trip could present opportunities to capture a great images. Since becoming a professional, my desire to carry a heavy full-format camera around with me for personal use is virtually non-existent; I get great enjoyment and perfectly acceptable image quality out of a trusty hand-held fixed-lens compact camera (and, for those rare occasions where even that’s too cumbersome, a decent smartphone!) My personal blog, therefore, is now composed of images taken with a variety of devices.
PORTRAITS OF STRANGERS
A simple concept: convince a perfect stranger to let you take their portrait. Then and there.
Simple in theory and often in practice, but always dependent on the person and the moment. This is a great exercise for any level photographer, professional or amateur: firstly, it necessitates effective communication (sometimes without the aide of a common language...) and, with that, the essential ability to convey both your good intentions and your credibility; secondly, it tests your capacity for quick-decision-making with regards to composition and lighting.
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
I get as much pleasure out of candid personal photography as I do out of impromptu portraiture. Street photography adds the great challenge of discretion - some people simply do not wish to be photographed to any degree, especially by someone who is, essentially, a tourist. For subjects that become aware of your presence, the same skills apply as for when photographing strangers: conveying your respect, credibility, and good intentions.
NATURE:
LANDSCAPES & NATURAL SUBJECTS
As a keen hiker, when I first got into photography, all I wanted to capture was landscapes. Though undeniably better with a full-format camera on a sturdy tripod (as I did religiously during my first years of landscape photography), provided you're not looking to make large prints etc, you can certainly get some worthy compositional shots out of a good compact camera.
URBAN:
ARCHITECTURE & URBAN SUBJECTS
Capturing cityscapes, particularly at night, got me into HDR photography. Whilst I've never been a fan of heavily-edited images, a good knowledge of this technique has proven indispensable (in modest amounts) in professional contexts (such as for my interior photography assignments).
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY
Though animal photography has never been the primary focus of any trip, whenever the opportunity presents itself, one can’t deny themselves the pleasure of photographing all creatures great and small :)
PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG
Below are examples of my personal and travel photography, grouped (depending on the amount of documentation) by country, region or city.
All of my travel documentary photographs are available for purchase. For details, simply get in touch, stating which image(s) you are interesting in using.
