Veni, Vidi, Snapped it!

You travel. You swear you are going to get the photos right this time. You learn the difference between the f-stop and the ASA. You frame the pictures with care and artistry. You get the film back from the developers and you have a handful of blurs that could be the work of a chimp. Where did you go wrong? A bit of good advice is needed. This month KS talks to some of the people who know how to get their photographs right and we tell you about a book that could convert your snaps to art.

Richard I'Anson

Travel the world, take photos, get paid. For some this is a dream. For Lonely Planet's Richard I'Anson it is reality. KS probes the man himself to find out how to get that perfect shot.

“I just love to travel.” Ask Richard I'Anson how he got into travel photography as a career and the answer comes without hesitation.

“The connection between travel and photography is obvious. Everybody knows it instinctively. But it really clicked for me, and I came back from [a] seven-month trip and thought 'this is really the direction I'd like to head in.'”

I'Anson's career is now more than 15 years old. His work is perhaps most closely associated with Lonely Planet, the travel guidebook publishers — his photos have appeared in roughly 300 of their publications — but his work has also appeared in Wanderlust, Escape and Condé Nast Traveller and his images have been used by several other well-known publishers. He has put on photography workshops and courses and helps to produce travel photography tours. He also helped set up and run Lonely Planet's photo library Lonely Planet Images.

But from the point of view of many travellers, perhaps his most welcome contribution to travel photography is his how-to guide, succinctly titled Travel Photography.

It is clear from I'Anson's photographs that he is an artist — the technical mastery of the equipment, the colour, the light, the composition, the unnervingly good eye for a subject are all there. But when you talk to the man about the development of his career, you see underpinning this an enor-mous pragmatism. We talked about how he got started in the business. His first trip, although adventure, was also partly working: “As a working photographer I couldn't help looking for opportunities as I traveled to sell some of the pictures”.

However, it was his second major photo-graphy expedition that launched I'Anson's career and the key in making the most of the trip was the meticulous preparation and very clear goals. “So I worked pretty hard for the next two years while I was at home learning an awful lot about my photography from that first trip and what I could do to improve it.

It was then that I started to make contacts with potential clients and finding out what they needed. Two years after I got home from the first trip, I set off again for two more years the difference is the second trip, the two-year trip, was very much photography focused, the whole itinerary was aimed at shooting material that when I got back I could then market and sell and would be relevant to the clients that I had made contact with.”

The hard work paid off. “I did that trip '88, '89, '90 and that trip set me up to this day for what I do now, because it was so intense photographically, I produced so much material and by the time I set off on that trip, I sort of knew what I was doing ... and, yeah, I'm still selling a lot of pictures from those days.”

While on the road, other travelers on learning I'Anson was a photographer were full of questions and cries for help over their own imaging needs. From this experience I'Anson saw a need and along came the book. Travel Photography was first published in 2000 and following up on its success, this year sees the second edition, with an expanded text and a lot of new photographs.

Travel Photography is not aimed at professionals — although working photo-graphers may be able to pick something from I'Anson's experience. The book is designed for anyone who wants to get the most from their travel photography and therefore includes advice on a range of cameras from point-and-shoot compact types to top-end SLRs and includes new sections on digital photography. The book includes extensive information on just understanding the camera — presented in a common sense way for everyone to get
a grip — and advice on composition and creative tricks.

Most of us will never equal I'Anson's competence, but the book is inspiring. On opening the book for this article, my own SLR came straight out of mothballs and is now with me whenever I go out.
Travel Photography is also revealing about some of the non-technical qualities a good photographer requires. You need good social skills to get the trust of people you are photographing, but also an ability to work alone. From the tales of hours of vigil on windy mountain tops and wading through Himalayan rivers, you realise you need tenacity and patience to get just the shot you are looking for.

How about that crucial advice for photographers?

“Ok, If I can say only one thing, I would say fill the frame with the subject so that the viewer is in no doubt about what this is a picture of. One of the common mistakes that a lot of people make is that they just don't get close enough and so you are not sure if this is a picture of the person in the shot or if its a picture of the statue they are standing next to or if it's a picture of the bag they are carrying or whether it's meant to be a view of the whole city ... the picture should have a main point of interest.”

And what of the future? Has the man who has traveled the world feel that he has been there, seen it and done it? I'Anson's appetite for his work is undiminished. He hopes to publish a book on Nepal, which has been 19 trips to the country in gestation. He looks forward to projects about India and his native Australia. I'Anson is a man with energy and a lust to wander, we will be seeing a lot more of what he has seen.

Text: Chris Page • Photos: © Richard I'Anson

From the photographer's mouth

In our search for perfect understanding KS interrogated some of our travel photographers to find out how they do it.

Kate Crockett

What photo equipment do you use/carry?
A secondhand Canon A-E1 with 28-70 mm lens given to be by my parents as a birthday present when I was younger, and a Minolta compact.
What does travel photography mean to you?
Fun.
While traveling, what kind of subjects do you feel most moved to photograph?
Daily life.
Pros and cons of digital photography?
I don't know, as I don't use digital. But, with the SLR, I like the challenge of getting it right first time — and the surprise when the film is developed.
What is your greatest achievement in photography so far?
Being asked when I'm going to exhibit my work in a gallery!
What is your burning photographic ambition?
To improve.

Jono David

How often do you travel?
I travel about five months of the year in three separate trips. I have traveled to 90 countries on six continents. The one place I really want to visit is Antarctica but prices remain prohibitive.
What photo equipment do you use/carry?
I use 35 mm Canon AOE 1V. I carry only two lenses, a 17-35mm and 28-70mm. I like to get close to my subjects so I don't feel the need for a longer zoom. I also hate carrying more weight. I also carry a selection of lens filters, an attachable flash, and a compact tripod. I usually bring about 60 rolls of Kodak Ektachrome 100vs professional slide film.
What does travel photography mean to you?
I find little interest in bland generic scenics which anyone can shoot. That is why I carry short lenses. It forces me to get closer to my subject, particularly people. Portraits or subjects unaware of being photographed are most interesting.
What subjects do you feel most moved to photograph?
People. At the end of the day, a place is memorable for its local inhabitants and the encounters you have. A scenic or cityscape may be eye catching, but a good shot of a local person is truly memorable.
Pros and cons of digital photography?
The obvious advantage is being able review, even share, your images right at the moment. Also, there is a lot less weight to carry because film is bulky. I have yet to go digital. I feel that slide film is still unsurpassed in terms of clarity and sharpness and depth. Slides and negatives can be digitalized. Digital images cannot be made into slides and negatives, however. I feel this gives me greater latitude. And most photo agencies still want the hard image for their libraries.
Which travel photographers do you most admire?
Oh, I admire just about anyone who gets their work published.
What is your best achievement in photography so far?
I have just published a 2005 calendar with the World Jewish Congress. It features synagogues of the world.
What is your burning photographic ambition?
To get a few books published.

Anand Vimal

What photo equipment do you use/carry?
SLR camera: Cannon AE-1 Program with Cannon 28mm, 50mm and 100-280mm zoom lenses. Digital camera: Nikon Coolpix 5700 with a pair of 132MB memory sticks.
What does travel photography mean to you?
Travel photography means trying to freeze my experiences into images.
While traveling, what kind of subjects do you feel most moved to photograph?
Mainly architectural sites, public activities, nature and smiles of people around the globe.
Pros and cons of digital photography?
Plus points: Shoot and see. Shoot maximum and delete any number of photographs. Can be sent across the globe easily. Modification and refinement of photographs are also easily possible. Minus points: Digital projection is not true to its color and clarity when seen through most of the LCD projectors. It is not always possible to view the pictures unless one prints them. Always need to be sure about the battery of the camera and its access to recharge even at the most remote place in the world.
Which travel photographers do you most admire?
Any photo or any photographer who brings a subjective interest in the image by being more original. Those [who have] a great interest and a passion of the subject.
What is your burning photographic ambition?
My ambition is more in a form of desire where I want to step out to travel more and more and get back with loads of good photographs to share with my friends and family.

Noriko Hasegawa

What photo equipments do you use/carry?
Pentax MZ-S with Tamron telephoto lens. I am a Pentax lover! BUT I have just got Lumix FZ20, the newest digicam, at last.
What does travel photography mean to you?
Taking photos on a travel means framing something special, interesting or impressive for my heart out of this vast world.
While traveling, what kind of subjects do you feel most moved to photo?
Anyway, all nature makes me feel so moved. Especially, the sun on the sea in the twi-light or in the dawn. On the other hand, I love the local foods as a subject, too.
Pros and cons of digital photography?
Plus Points: I can take photos a LOT. No hesitation and no wasting. And I can try various exposures while checking the LCD view. What's more, much lighter than my SLR! Minus Points: Still the shutter speed and clarity worry me. We can crop or adjust the photos on the PC very easily, but this is not so good because we payless attention to the composition when capturing. And the battery! No battery means a digital camera is just a box.
Which travel photographers do you most admire?
Mr.Kazuyoshi Miyoshi. His photos can take me to the Paradise on the earth.
What is your burning photographic ambition?
Actually, I don't have a great ambition! Taking photos means the expression of a moment as pleasure, happiness, grandness, beauty or some-thing fun in front of me. I hope many people can share my photos with me.