Travel & Adventure Photography School – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of the Travel & Adventure Photography School Podcast, we dive into the business side of travel photography. Discover how to turn your passion for capturing adventures into a profitable career. We explore the current market trends, discuss strategies for building a unique brand, and share practical tips for monetizing your work. Whether you're a novice looking to start your journey or a serious amateur aiming to go pro, this episode is packed with insights to help you succeed. 
 Don’t miss it!

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

Join me for a walk with the fantastic photographer Katie Goldie (@goldiekatie_) to talk about breaking into commercial photography, ways to set yourself apart and engaging your creativity.
You'll learn essential business insights for running shoots, engaging with clients, and backing up your work. Plus, some fun insights into the fantastic world that Katie has been in for the last number of years.
Give it a listen now to learn from one of Banff's best creatives.

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

This week we are talking about how to be a tourist wherever you are living and why it is so important to do this. We will give you five tips for ways to explore like a tourist in your own home. We really focus on the fact that you don’t need to get on a plane to love where you are at.

We also talk about YYC Hot Chocolate Fest, which just ended! Such an awesome month!

The Tips:

1. Go out and take in the big tourist sites
   • Whatever they are in your town, go and see them, photograph them like you would if you were in a new destination and try to see them from a new perspective.
2. When you are getting ready to leave, don’t treat this like any other day heading out.
   • Don’t plan to run errands.
   • Don’t think about the things you should be doing.
   • Be present in the moment.
3. You will likely meet new people.
   • This is such a great byproduct of being a tourist in your own town. You will likely start having conversations with wonderful people from where you live. And who knows, these may turn into friendships or even business opportunities. 
4. You get to practice!
   • If you want to take your travel photos from wall art to snapshot, then you had better start practicing and there is no better way than to walk out your front door.
5. Don’t limit your photography because of what other people are saying.
   • Forget about those who try to bring you down and take your photos!

Connect with us here:

Instagram (@traveladventurephotoschool)

Facebook

Website

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

In Episode 4 we are talking about tips to take your travel photos from snapshots to wall art. We will present you with 13 tips to help improve your travel photography (or just your photography in general) regardless of the camera kit you use. 

Composition

1. The Rule of Thirds
   • Divide your frame into thirds both vertically and horizontally and place your subject in one of the cross-sections of those lines.
2. Leading Lines
   • Use lines within your frame to lead your viewer’s eyes to the main subject in your image.
3. Framing
   • Use buildings or other objects to frame your subject and draw your audience’s eye towards your main subject. Frames can also add an extra interesting foreground element.
4. Backgrounds
   • Look for simple backgrounds to put your subject against. Busy backgrounds can distract the viewer’s eye, but a simple background keeps the focus on your subject.

A New Perspective

1. Go Low. 
   • Get low to the ground to show objects bigger than the traditionally are and to create a new perspective on an area. 
2. Go High. 
   • Look for a way to, safely, get up above your subject. See if there is a hill or building that you can legally climb to look back down on a subject from. This can reveal patterns on the ground around your subject.
3. Search the Area.
   • Look around an area for unique perspectives that other people aren’t shooting.

Wide-angle or close up?

1. Wide-angle
   • Great for showing off scenes, whole buildings or cityscapes. Gives people a feeling of an area.
2. Close-up
   • Shows off the details of one part of a scene. You can isolate a specific item like an animal’s face or a statue on a building. 

Get the Light

1. Golden Hour. 
   • Roughly one hour before sunset or one hour after sunrise. There is typically lots of soft light and long, gentle shadows that lead to beautiful images. This is also when the sky lights up into beautiful colours (if there are clouds for the sunlight to reflect off of).
2. Blue Hour 
   • Roughly an hour after sunset and an hour before sunrise. It’s when the sun is still illuminating the sky but it is below the horizon.
3. My Favourite App for Finding Light
   • Sun Surveyor. Tells you the time of sunset, sunrise, moonrise and moonset as well as the approximate length of golden hour and blue hour.

Isolate your Subject

1. Depth of field:
   • For close-ups, set your aperture to a low f-stop value (such as 2.8, 2.0, or 1.8 or lower). This blurs out the background behind your subject.
2. Use Colour
   • Place your subject against a contrasting colour to have them pop out. Think of it this way, a person wearing a green coat standing in amongst green trees is going to blend into the trees. But a person wearing a bright yellow or orange coat is going to pop out from amongst the trees, drawing your viewer’s eye to them. 
3. Background
   • Simple backgrounds really help

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

Welcome to part 2 of our Canadian Winter Photography Special! Last week we covered everything you need to be ready to go shooting outdoors in cold, Canadian winter. This week, in part 2, we are talking about actually getting out there and taking photographs! This is your chance to go out and take photos that other people are avoiding because of the weather. 

In this episode we cover:

1. Things to be aware of when taking photos outside in the winter:
   • Your camera’s internal meter can be tricked by sunlight reflecting off the snowy ground. Compensate by using full manual and setting everything yourself or, when using auto modes, use your exposure controls.
   • Autofocus can be tricked by falling and blowing snow, causing your camera to focus hunt or miss-focus. Switch into manual focus to compensate. 
   • You can freeze your nose (or other boy parts) to your camera if you aren’t careful.
2. Some awesome photos you can take:
   • The boiling water trick to create an ice-crystal fog around you.
   • Creating frozen, crystalline soap bubbles.
   • Using falling snow to create dynamic foregrounds and backgrounds as well as framing your subject.
   • Interacting with winter’s elements to create an engaging image.
   • Incorporate strong light effects and ice to create dynamic night-time portraits.
   • Getting protection from the elements to make your photos better.
3. Safety
   • Snow can cover up crevasses and holes, be careful where you step.
   • Watch out for cornices, snow-ledges that develop on ridge-lines. 
   • Learn about avalanches and how to avoid them.
4. Coming home
   • Protecting your equipment so it doesn’t develop moisture inside, using large plastic bags or your backpack.

Products mentioned in this episode:

• Lume Cube

We are aiming to grow a photographic community of like-minded adventurers and travellers. I’d love to chat with you more and see your photographs. Join us online in any of the following spaces:

Facebook

Instagram (@traveladventurephotoschool)

Website

Thanks for joining us today! Can’t wait for next week when we talk about 10 tips to take your travel photos from snapshots to wall art. 

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

Winter is one of my favourite times to take photographs. The world looks magical all covered in snow, and there are some amazing things you can only photograph when it gets freezing cold. We understand that lots of people dislike being out when the snow is flying, but given the right preparation you can have a great time taking photographs in the cold and you can create some unique images.

So join us for this special two-part series that is all about Winter Photography. In part 1, we cover things that you need to have and think about before heading out to shoot in the snow. We cover the gear you should have with you, the clothing you should wear, and the type of carry system that works in winter. 

In this episode, we cover a number of things including:

• Three reasons winter photography is awesome

1. There are photographs you can only take when the temperature heads into the negatives
2. Snow changes the way common landscapes look, giving you new shots and new perspectives
3. There are very few other people out, take advantage of the quiet and stillness

• Things to look for in your bag/backpack
  • Made from a durable and weather-resistant material
  • Waterproof bottom
  • How is your gear accessed?
  • Enough space for extras beyond your camera kit
• The bags Robert uses:
  • Peak Design Everyday Messenger Bag and F-Stop Gear Loka UL
• What else should you bring?
  • Water/Food
  • Extra Layers
  • Microfibre Towel
  • Mini air-blower
  • Micro-spikes
  • Hiking Poles
  • Heat Packs
  • Large Plastic Bag
  • Dry-sack
• Clothing
  • Layer up on your clothes
  • Baselayer
    • Merino wool or synthetic equivalent to keep you warm
  • Mid-Layer
    • Jacket: synthetic down equivalent that stays warm when wet.
    • Pants: Water-resistant material that you can move in
  • Hard-Shell
    • Weatherproof (wind and waterproof)
    • Think Gortex or something similar
    • This goes over your mid-layer
  • Super warm outer shell to put on when you stop for a while
    • Big puffy down coats work great for their warmth to weight ratio
• Think of where you pack your electronics, as batteries die far faster in the cold

Links to some of the things talked about in this episode:

• Peak Design Everyday Messenger (this is version 2.0, Robert uses version 1.0)
• F-Stop Gear Loka UL
• Helly Hansen Odin - Robert's mid-layer jacket
• Kahtoola Microspikes

Enjoy the episode and look out for episode number 3, Winter Photography part 2, next week! 

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

Welcome to the Travel & Adventure Photography School podcast episode #1! Thanks for taking the time to be here with us from the beginning. Today, we are here to talk about storytelling in your photography.
How can you help your photographs stand out in a crowded medium? 
One of the best ways to do this is to start using the elements of storytelling in your photography. A photograph with a story is much more likely to speak to people, then just one of a pretty location. 
But how do you start using storytelling in your photography?
We will discuss the five elements of storytelling, and how you can apply it to your photographic vision to create more engaging pieces.
The five elements we will discuss are:

1. premise
2. Subject
3. Style
4. Conflict
5. Narrative Arc/Plot

Integrating good storytelling is one of the greatest things you can do for your photography, so let's talk about it today!

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

On today's adventure, we're hanging out on the shores of Moraine Lake - in the rain, of course - after hiking into Larch Valley during larch season and talking about five little things you can do to elevate your images.
One of the things I find people asking about fairly consistently is what starts separating people when you know the rules of composition, and you know how to break them, and when to break them, when you know your exposure triangle and how to use your camera and all those good pieces, why is it that some people's images have an extra spark or just something a little bit different or better about them?
And so that's what we're going to talk about. Here are some of the things you can do that could possibly be that next bit you need to elevate your people photos.

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography

Welcome to the podcast!
This week, we are talking to creator, influencer and short-form video specialist Sam Reid (@SamanthaLReid) about creating content, staying authentic, and how you can make the best short-form videos. Sam is a 2-time Olympian in synchronized swimming turned mountain athlete and content creator with an incredible journey from Australia to Banff. Tune in to hear all of her tips for creating the best content, staying passionate and finding a balance between the side hustle and the full-time job.

Show Highlights:

• Learn how Sam has used short-form video to drive engagement, grow an audience and build brand partnerships.
• Delve into the best tips for making short-form videos (including music choice and scene selection).
• Understand the differences between TikTok and Instagram and how to create content for both platforms.
• Explore Sam's decision-making process when considering brand partnerships. Learn why authenticity and alignment with her lifestyle play a crucial role in her choices.
• Discover how Sam balances a full-time job, her influencer side hustle, and ensures that she can still have time to hike and explore the great outdoors.
• Hear Sam's top secrets for capturing the best content no matter where you are in the world, even in a busy place like Banff National Park.

Follow Sam:
Instagram: @SamanthaLReid
TikTok: @SamanthaLReid

Join us bi-weekly as we explore the world through the lens, uncovering hidden gems, and sharing insider tips to elevate your photography game. From capturing breathtaking landscapes to immersive cultural portraits, each episode is packed with practical hacks, creative ideas, and inspiring stories to fuel your wanderlust and unleash your creative potential.

Subscribe now and join our global community of adventure seekers and photography enthusiasts on the Travel and Adventure Photography School!

Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography