Travel Photography How To

Early on I lived in Paris, shooting fashion photography. I saw all the iconic places and landmarks, of course, and observed hundreds of people shooting them. When I became a travel photographer, my initial thought was to shoot lots of subjects other than the icons; to make untypical, evocative images of marketplaces, shop fronts, and unexpected details. Pretty quickly I found out the icons defined a place, and even more important, the icons made the money.

When I realized that this column would be in the magazine’s lighting focus issue, I looked at the data for the photos I’d taken earlier this year during a nearly month-long combination of safari workshop, assignment, and stock shoot in Africa. What I found surprised me: I’d used flash on about one-third of the 13,000 photos I’d made on that trip. I had no idea I’d used my Speedlights as often as I had.

You don’t start off talking about photography when you talk to Paul Edmondson about how he creates his striking fine art landscape images. You talk about what he notices and what he chooses from all that the landscape offers. 

The idea of flying above the earth in a craft composed of a wicker basket and a large balloon lifted by heated air and at the mercy of air current and vectors has always been a subject of wonder and fascination. Indeed, it was the first method by which humans went aloft, a sensation witnessed by amazed crowds in Paris way back in 1783. Fast forward 232 years later, and add hundreds of balloons more, and you get a sense of the thrill you can experience at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, held this year from October 3-11 in New Mexico.

You've probably seen the photos of these exquisitely sculpted sandstone buttes; like colorful waves set in stone. You may have assumed--as I once did--that this area was part of some out-of-the-way corner of a national park.

For a long time, I couldn't find much documentation on this region, nor any information in guidebooks of the...

Each of the major Hawaiian islands--Hawaii, Oahu, Kauai and Maui--has its own unique flavor. Each offers an endless number of photo opportunities, beautiful resorts situated on exotic beaches, balmy weather, and a variety of activities that lure throngs of vacationers from around the globe on a year-round basis.

I recently visited Kauai, which has more of...

If you’re looking for a destination offering unlimited photo opportunities, great history, amazing food, and a bit of debauchery, look no further than New Orleans during Mardi Gras.