THE BALANCING ACT OF A TRAVELING PHOTOGRAPHER
"I think you learn the most when things go wrong. Being able to react quickly to adversity makes a good photographer a great photographer." WNW Member #5591 Laura Austin recently walked us through her approach to photography, and the rewards and challenges of life as a traveling photographer. It's clearly a balancing act: "I thrive off traveling and am so thankful that my job allows me to do it, but it also involves a lot of jet lag, hauling gear around, and late nights editing photos in hotel rooms."
Laura also tell us why she redesigned her web portfolio to better cater to her personality and creative style, and why maybe you should too: "It was well worth the investment to create something unique and tailored to me and my work... A creative’s portfolio should let the work speak for itself. The last thing you want is a clunky/overly designed website that distracts the viewer from your work. Keep it simple."
Tell us about your creative background. Who is Laura Austin and how did she get here?
Oh man… that’s a long story, but I will try to give you the abbreviated version. I started as a graphic designer, moving to California when I was 18 to work as a designer at Quiksilver. After 2 years I was tired of sitting behind a desk and took a job at Snowboarder Magazine as their online editor. While there I was able to design, shoot photos, and write… satiating all areas of my creative interests. But I found snowboarding as a subject to be constraining so I quit. I then moved to Los Angeles to try to make it as a full-time freelance photographer since that seemed to be what I was most passionate about. Now, 4 years later, it has seemed to work out pretty well.
How often do you travel for work?
It’s funny, I thought I had to move to Los Angeles to be a photographer, but a majority of my shoots I need to fly to. I’m on a plane at least once a month… but I think at my busiest I spent 8 weeks in a row at airports.
Walk us through what it’s like to be a traveling photographer. What’s the most rewarding part? The most challenging part?
That’s a loaded question you’ve got there. Being a traveling photographer is probably a lot less glamorous than you think it would be. I thrive off traveling and am so thankful that my job allows me to do it, but it also involves a lot of jet lag, hauling gear around, and late nights editing photos in hotel rooms. But at the same time, the opportunity for travel was what originally attracted me to photography. So the most rewarding part is getting paid to experience new places.
The best work trip you’ve been on? Worst work trip?
The best work trip… probably traveling to Scotland to shoot Tiger Woods for Nike. I’m going to avoid the worst work trip question to avoid offending clients, but there have definitely been some unorganized nightmares.
What kind of research do you do ahead of your trip?
To be honest I feel like the less research, the better… for me at least. Sure I’ll do a quick image search to start developing loose ideas beforehand, but I like to let the locations inspire me when I get there. I feel like if you were to plan all your shots in advance, you’d miss out on opportunities that you never knew existed. But I work really well on the fly, so this ideology probably doesn’t work for everyone.
Do you usually pack light or bring suitcases filled with lenses and equipment? What’s the one camera you can’t live without and why?
I normally pack light to make the airport experience easier and lower the risk of damaging equipment in transit. My camera and all of my lenses fit into a backpack I bring as a carry on so that I am never separated from my gear. If I am on a shoot that requires more equipment I will set up a rental to pick up at whatever destination I am traveling to. Camera I can’t live without… Canon 5D MarkIII… I use it on all my shoots.
Argentina
What drew you to this subject?
This was a trip I took to Francis Mallman’s (a famous Argentine chef) island in Patagonia. I was so inspired how he lived life his life so I reached out to him to see if I could come to shoot him and his team. There is so much to be told about this experience… you can go to my site and read about the whole experience.
What inspirations helped inform this series of photographs?
All the photos from this trip were shot in a documentary style, so I drew from my surroundings including the people and landscapes.
Hardest part?
This photo in particular is a shot of one Francis’s staff on a two-hour boat ride on a tiny boat to his island in the middle of nowhere. The challenge here was battling the elements. It was freezing and water was splashing everywhere… so I had to try to keep my fingers warm and my camera dry by hiding everything under the poncho I was wearing.
White Sands
What drew you to this subject?
Every year I try to set out on a solo road trip over New Years to start my year off fresh doing exactly what I want to do.
What inspirations helped inform this series of photographs?
For this series I wanted to go off and create photos that were purely based around personal creating since most of my work is commercial. It was a chance to document myself in my element at my happiest.
Hardest part?
For all the photos of myself on these trips I had to set up my camera on a tripod and create the composition I wanted, then I would run into frame and snap the shutter using a remote in my hand. It was a guessing game, but I was able to capture some amazing moments of just me in the wild. You can see more from these trips here and here.
Rapha
What drew you to this subject?
This was from a shoot I did for my favorite bike apparel company Rapha of their female ambassadors riding in the hill country of Texas. I hop on any opportunity to showcase women in an environment/situation where they aren’t normally showcased.
What inspirations helped inform this series of photographs?
My goal with these photos was to showcase the beautiful landscapes they were riding through, but also showcase the high level of riding they were doing.
Hardest part?
I couldn’t make the ladies stop and ride back through to stage a perfect shot. I had to try to make the best photos I could on the fly. So I had to drive ahead of the pack a ways, stop when I found a good photo opportunity, set up my camera for the shot, and wait for them to ride through… hoping that I would get the photo I wanted on the first try. For this particular photo I had to lay in a bed of flowers on the side of the road and was stung by multiple bees while waiting for them to ride through my frame. More from this series here.
Tiger Woods
What drew you to this subject?
This was during a shoot I did for Nike with Tiger Woods in Scotland during The Open. I was giddy just to shoot one of the premier athletes of their sport.
What inspirations helped inform this series of photographs?
It is few and far between that you get opportunities to shoot such high profile people. So for this shoot I wanted to show Tiger in a way he had never been seen before. I wanted to make him feel human and relatable. This photo may not be the best representation of that, but if you look at this series you can see more of that.
Hardest part?
Once people walking around realize we were shooting Tiger they started to gather around since it was a public course. We had security holding back a crowd of over a hundred people while I was shooting him on course. The hardest part was avoiding getting people in the shot to make the photos seem intimate.
What are you working on now?
I just launched a new portfolio site which includes a blog so I’ve been trying to create interesting content in my downtime between shoots. It’s been really nice to have an outlet like that to do whatever I want and keep the creative juices flowing when I’m not working.
How’d you go about redesigning your web portfolio? When did you realize it was time for a major update?
My site began to feel stale and I decided I didn’t want to create a site through some template with a potential of having the same design as many other creatives. So I planned out exactly how I wanted my site to look and operate and enlisted the web design team East Of Western to build it from scratch. It was well worth the investment to create something unique and tailored to me and my work.
What tips can you offer to creatives who are thinking of retooling the way they present their work and personal brand online?
A creative’s portfolio should let the work speak for itself. The last thing you want is a clunky/overly designed website that distracts the viewer from your work. Keep it simple. There are a lot of great sites that provide templates to build off of like Format or Squarespace. But if you are design savvy and want something unique I highly suggest finding a local web designer to build something for you.
What are some top tips you can offer creatives, based on your experiences as a traveling photographer?
Travel aside, create work that is coming from inside you… don’t try to replicate someone else’s work. You’ll never stand out unless your work is authentic to yourself.
Tell us a story/experience where you learned something, either about yourself or your craft.
Oh man… I’m constantly learning. I think you learn the most when things go wrong. Being able to react quickly to adversity makes a good photographer a great photographer. With that being said I probably learn more about my craft on every shoot I do.
Who are some photographers who have most inspired you and influenced your style?
Hmmmm… as I mentioned before, I try not to pull from other’s work too much. But some of my favorites are William Eggleston, Ryan Mcginley, Noah Kalina, and Nadav Kander.
What would be your dream project?
Anything for National Geographic.
Who are some WNW members you most admire, and why?
Helena Price for her success in personal projects.
