Shaded from the scorching sun by rustling coconut palms and cooled by a light sea breeze, we’re sitting on wooden benches at a beachside eatery with our bare feet caressed by soft sand. Lunch of the day is spicy som tam (Thai green papaya salad), freshly caught grilled fish, and massaman curry with rice, washed down […]
My friend gasped when I headed toward the crocodile pit and said, “Quick, hold my legs.” But being the perfect travel buddy, she then laughed out loud and anchored me so I could lean in to get this shot: Now, don’t worry—I wasn’t in any real danger, they were small crocodiles. As a travel writer […]
One of the most frequent questions I get from photographers breaking into the field—“What is the difference between rights-managed images and royalty-free images?” It’s an important question, and the answer can mean the difference between making $500 on one sale and making $5,000 with a hundred sales. Every image sold through a stock agency falls […]
One of the fastest and easiest ways to increase your value as a travel photographer—and boost your income—is to develop your visual storytelling skills. When I first started photographing stock for National Geographic Creative 15 years ago, my editor encouraged me to think in terms of developing stories, rather than focusing my efforts on making […]
When it comes to photography, anyone can point a camera and take an average photo. However, by slowing down and paying attention to composition, a skilled photographer can create a more compelling and visually pleasing photo that stands out and holds the viewer’s attention. Basically, composition is the framing of your image and the placement […]
Now more than ever we’re living in a world dominated by social media. A billion users across the globe use Instagram every month, and with continued growth it’s predicted there will be 112.5 million users in the U.S. alone in 2020. Instagram’s growth has helped bring beautiful, creative images to users everywhere, meaning that our […]
During years of traveling and living overseas, the unusual, the unexpected, and the unknown have brought joy and excitement to my life. Living in foreign countries makesme step away from the ordinary and turn everyday into an adventure. My experiences exploring distant countries, immersing myself in different cultures, and learning new languages have also been […]
Last week a friend took me to lunch. It was such a treat: the rooftop oceanside views overlooking the Caribbean were gorgeous. But what really got my attention and intrigued me was the style of pizza on the menu. It was my first slow-fermentation pizza experience. Simple, delicious, and with a nice cold glass of […]
Adobe Lightroom can magically transform a drab image into a saleable photo that pops with just a few quick, simple edits. As I always shoot in raw, the difference between the original file and the final edit is like night and day. Raw images look dull, flat, and unimpressive—the magic happens during processing. Making presets […]
If you don’t have a fancy camera, it doesn’t matter. You can start enjoying photography now with just what you carry around in your pocket—your smartphone. Smartphones these days can do just about everything. All of the old myths—cellphone photos aren’t good enough for magazines, cellphone photos don’t have enough pixels for publication, etc.—were debunked […]
