Interview: Lisa Michele Burns, Founder of The Travel Photography Club
Photographer: Lisa Michele Burns
Based: Brisbane, Australia
Instagram: @the_wanderinglens
Portfolio: www.lisamicheleburns.com
Travel + Landscape Photographer | OM SYSTEM Ambassador | Founder of The Wandering Lens + The Travel Photography Club
Quick-Fire Questions
Favorite lens? M.Zuiko 40-150mm f2.8 by OM SYSTEM.
Presets or manual editing? Manual edits
Sunrise or sunset? Love sunrise conditions and the calmness, but my brain works better at sunset!
Favorite snack while shooting/travelling? Museli bars have fuelled so many adventures of mine.
The #1 photo location you’ll always recommend or return to: Ilulissat, Greenland.
Photographic Journey
1. How did you first get into photography? What sparked your interest in travel photography specifically?
I was not really interested in photography growing up, I was more dedicated to tennis and wanted to travel the world and play at Wimbledon. Photography came about via my work as a journalist, I’d been working as a newspaper journalist while studying journalism and had decided that to fulfil my travel obsession, after gaining experience I’d pursue work as a travel guidebook author or train to be a pilot. Taking flying lessons during my journalism studies quickly revealed how violently airsick I got on small planes, so the author dream took pole position and I gained a few years of experience in media before taking a summer job on an island as a resort photographer.
Long story short, while I was working as a resort photographer, I also entered a travel writing contest with Lonely Planet (my dream gig) and ended up winning. Funnily enough I avoided the congratulatory email for an entire week because I thought it was spam. The prize was to meet with two authors and the three other winners from the US and UK for a week of training in Morocco.
It was this trip that changed my life by opening my eyes to the world of tourism, my career direction, and saw a love of photography take hold. I was still focused on travel writing primarily and had purchased a camera for the trip with almost no idea how to use it, other than to document the culture and colours of Marrakech as best I could. Upon pitching my stories to Lonely Planet, they recognised my imagery and asked if I’d consider putting together photo features instead.
This one question led to me deciding on the spot to move to Dublin, Ireland (the only place I could get a visa at the time), so I could travel, write and photograph as much as possible to take advantage of the opportunity. While working freelance for Lonely Planet, I was also pitching to every travel magazine, sending postcards to editors, saying yes to every assignment and getting a job as a travel writer with an Irish travel agency which helped to grow my portfolio, networking and camera skills. Travel photography became my everything.
Over the years my interests have shifted within the tourism space, from initially photographing backpacker hostels and city experiences, to destination weddings, luxury hotels and remote lodges. Early on (before social media) I was photographing for publications and covering city breaks, festivals and adventures, now I focus more on the environment and natural wonders, with a sprinkle of cultural experiences, hotels and outdoor adventures too.
2. Are there any photographers, destinations, or personal experiences that influence or inspire your photography style or motivate you to pursue it more seriously?
I’ve always been inspired by the early pioneers in travel media, the Lonely Planet story of Maureen and Tony Wheeler, but also the photographers who dared to see the world differently like Elliot Erwitt, Ansel Adams and Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Yann’s aerials were a huge inspiration in turning my eye toward patterns within the environment. Chris Burkard’s approach to creative outdoor missions and adventures is always inspiring, also Tom Hegen and Ante Badzim’s minimal compositions, plus the work of Michaela Skovranova and Ami Vitale and their focus on environmental issues and wildlife.
Personally, a huge growth point for me was when I opened a gallery and print lab within an island resort in 2009. Learning about the printing process, lab chemistry, retail side of photography, framing/product development and dealing with customers, events, and hotel marketing, my six years running that business was a big turning point for my travel photography career, with many lessons learnt!
“I love to showcase the tones and textures of a landscape, this is something that I not only enjoy visually, but in the moment when capturing these images, it’s so special to be out in nature enjoying the elements with my camera.”
Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland
3. What cameras and lenses do you usually pack for your travels? Are there any accessories you never leave home without?
I’m an ambassador for OM SYSTEM and have used their gear since 2017 when I was seeking out a more lightweight kit for my travels. I love that I can take the cameras and lenses out in any condition due to the incredible weather-sealing, and they’ve been with me on every trip since February 2017. The OM-1 MKII is my current go-to body as it has things like an ND and GND Filter built-in which have been a game changer for my landscape work. I also pack the OM-1 and sometimes the OM-D EM-1 MKIII, and for lenses my three most used are the 40-150mm f2.8 pro lens, the 12-40mm f2.8 pro lens, and the 7-14mm f2.8 pro lens.
The accessory I never leave home without is the MC-20 2x teleconverter, it’s so handy to have in my pocket when I’m hiking or photographing wildlife because I can quickly add it to the 40-150mm lens and extend the focal length when needed. Oh, and sunglasses are my must-have non-photography accessory, I start sneezing or crying if the sun is too bright haha.
4. Do you have any favourite camera settings or post-processing techniques you rely on for capturing travel moments?
Anyone who has been on a tour of mine knows I’ll always suggest switching to ‘cloudy’ white balance to capture warmer tones. It’s an easy adjustment, but one that works for the outcome I like to achieve with my work, that and a wide aperture to enhance the bokeh.
5. How would you describe your photography style? What kind of stories or emotions do you aim to convey through your images?
It was never really intentional, but my work features a lot of pastel and warmer tones and now that I’ve got a workflow habit, they’re the tones I’m drawn to most and really enjoy capturing in the field, but also working with when editing. I love to showcase the tones and textures of a landscape, this is something that I not only enjoy visually, but in the moment when capturing these images, it’s so special to be out in nature enjoying the elements with my camera.
In terms of emotions, I also love photographing wildlife, the expressions, eyes, and movement is really inspiring to document.
6. Which editing software do you prefer to use, and how important is post-processing in shaping your final images?
My post-processing workflow is pretty simple, I’ll either use the travel photography preset collection I created for Lightroom, or make minimal adjustments in Photoshop to the brightness, warmth, or just remove any distracting elements.
I’d say the Curves tool is my most used editing tool, I love using it to create consistency within my work and produce those pastel, warm tones.
7. Can you share one of your most memorable photography moments while traveling?
Getting to Greenland and seeing the Ilulissat Icefjord for the first time was a moment I’ll never forget. I’d been documenting regions of environmental significance for a print project, and wasn’t sure I’d be able to get to Greenland, due to the expense, but also my schedule.
At the last minute, I managed to arrange two weeks there back in the summer of 2019, and quickly flew over from Canada and travelled solo to work with a local tour company and document their excursions and lodges. Nothing prepares you for that first iceberg sighting though, and I wasn’t expecting them to be so, so huge! One evening while photographing a kayaking tour, I was in the support boat which was a tiny dinghy, floating amongst these 50m+ icebergs, feeling so teeny tiny and so in awe of the icy wonders around me.
I left Greenland completely obsessed with glaciers and icebergs. You should see how many textbooks I now have about glaciology, I find extreme environments and natural processes like this so fascinating.
8. Which destination surprised you the most or left the greatest impact on your photography?
While Greenland would probably be my answer again, I’ll say the Atacama Desert, because just like the glaciers took my breath away, so did the lunar-link landscapes of Chile’s Andean Altiplano.
Most of my photography career has been focused around coastal destinations, so visiting the Atacama Desert felt so foreign as a subject, but so incredibly inspiring. There’s not many places you can photograph flamingos dancing across salt lakes, with volcanic peaks in the distance and a soundtrack of wild donkeys. I also never expected there to be so much colour in what’s known as the driest non-polar desert on earth.
Photographing the chiselled patterns of the desert and challenging myself to compose images creatively when the scenes are quite vast definitely made an impact on how I photograph today.
9. What do you enjoy most about being a member of The Travel Photography Club and do you have a favourite resource so far?
As the founder, I spend so much time smiling at the screen, grateful for the community that has formed within the club. It’s an idea that’s been brewing for a while now, and seeing it come to life and to now have members from over 18 countries coming together to connect over a shared love of travel and photography….it’s the best!
I have so many plans for the club to grow, am really enjoying creating the resources that are released each month, can’t wait to make new benefits available to members soon – lots ahead in 2025.
10. Have you pursued any study for photography?
At university I studied journalism and did a second smaller degree in tourism operations. I’ve never formally studied photography and learnt everything either on the job, or as I travelled.
I’ve been working as a professional photographer now for 19 years, and those first few years of my career, from 2007-2010 were definitely filled with a lot of lessons! Learning how to use a camera, I believe, is best done by getting out there and using it in various conditions and photographing a variety of subjects until you find what you’re drawn to and your style.
One of the reasons I created the online courses was to reduce the overwhelm of camera settings, learning composition techniques and in starting a print store or freelance photography career because I know it can seem like a maze of information sometimes! A lot of the time education is quite expensive and time-pressured, which is why I’ve made the courses the complete opposite, we’re creatives after all, and we need time and space to create and experiment while learning.
11. What are some challenges you’ve encountered as a travel photographer, and how do you overcome them?
One thing I’ve noticed throughout my career is that it’s essential to adapt, adjust and to pivot when need be. With the constant demands of content and the growing pool of creative talent, it’s a very different media landscape to when I first started as a travel photographer. In my early career it was far easier to set yourself apart from others, I was one of the first people shooting split-level underwater landscapes and secure a lot of work because of this, now though, due to technology and gear development, it’s much easier for people to capture these so there’s no longer a need to specialise in this area.
It’s all part of being in a creative industry and I believe these changes also help us grow as photographers, pushing us to continually develop our skills, seek new directions and to think outside the box to remain creative for our own fulfilment, but also to produce quality, refreshing work for clients.
12. What one piece of advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in photography, or may have just purchased their first camera?
To take the time to explore and enjoy using your camera, make all the mistakes and have fun trying new techniques to see what’s possible. The image below was an experiment captured by spinning in circles to see how it would turn out! Try to reduce the overwhelm by looking at all the beautiful images on social media, and just venture out with your camera, play with the settings, adjust them, press all the buttons and see what magic you can create.
I believe one of the best skills you can develop is the ability to assess and creatively compose a scene and to use light to enhance and highlight your subject. Experimenting with your composition techniques and use of light will make you a better photographer!
13. Do you have any exciting trips or photography projects planned? What are you looking forward to capturing next?
I’m heading back to Japan this year, maybe twice as it’s one of my favourite destinations and one that I’ve been to 12 times now. I’m hoping to visit some of the more remote mountain areas and villages in winter, the snow monster trees of Zao Onsen have been on my wishlist, plus the winter landscapes of Hokkaido, but we’ll see if I can make it there in time! I’m also currently learning Japanese, so any visit will help me improve my language skills – I started learning back in 2000 when I lived with a family in Sapporo, however over the years it’s only been during my trips there that I speak it, so I need to get better again.
I am also hoping to continue my work with glaciers and have an idea in mind that could turn into a print collection and coffee table book.
14. How do you plan to continue growing or evolving as a photographer? Are there any new techniques or directions you’re keen to pursue?
I always need to remind myself to separate the work side, from the fun side. Because photography has been my career for so long, the line is easily blurred and taking photographs for fun is always a priority of mine to ensure I’m still growing as a photographer.
The past few years have seen less of a focus on aerial and underwater work, so I’d love to focus more on this again as it’s two areas where I have the most fun creatively, it’s a whole other world from above…and below!
