Travel Pictures with Photographer Brad Riley

Travel photography has always interested me. The travel pictures of exotic places far, far, away – of lands that I could only dream of. It was only recently that I realized that, hey, you know what? I can do it too. I can be that person in the far away land. I can be the one eating the amazing food and documenting the crazy adventures in temples and forests. This is when my husband got me my Nikon D80 and it has been our travel companion ever since.

I have been posting my 365 days project on Flickr and have made quite a few acquaintances and friends. One person I met not only do I consider a good friend of mine, but I consider to be somewhat of a mentor to me. To start out my series on Travel Photographers, I decided to interview the awesome Brad Riley.

Heya Brad, tell us a little about yourself. 🙂

Hi I’m Brad, Principal photographer for Brad Riley Photography!

I like long walks along moonlit beaches……

Actually I think I’m meant to be talking about my Travel and Portraiture photography..

I currently work as a professional photographer shooting Stock, Portraiture and Commercial, and run a small Studio.

How did you get into photography and how long have you been doing it?

Forever I think? I remember my parents had an early Polaroid Spectra Instant camera, and I would be fascinated by the pictures that tumbled from this magical box when I pressed a certain button. I can’t say I started with the romantic notion of processing film in darkened recesses of our house from some well engineered slr body, more the instant gratification of shiny wet paper slowly dissolving into colours and shapes and revealing a world I knew, in sharp uncompromising detail.

As a teenager I remember always having a compact film camera, it wasn’t until I left high school that Digital SLR’s became somewhat affordable, and that was the start of something completely different for me. It’s only now in my early 30’s that I’ve started mucking about with some older film SLR’s. I’ve been very lucky in that a number of family members have always been involved with the Arts in general, painters, illustrators, opera singers…… so it just seemed like a really natural hobby that grew into a real passion.

What do you love and hate about it?

For me the greatest thing about photography is the conversation you have with what you capture, it really is a dialogue. A scene changes from second to second, a ripple of breeze across some arid scenery, or a glimpse of vulnerability from some 7 foot blonde glamazonian fashion model, and in one moment you can share with the world something very private and intimate. It’s about trust and expression. I know personally for me the things that really work are the things I work hard on, for example I took this photo of a tree… in itself totally uninteresting, but I drove past that tree for about a month before shooting, saw it in different light, different weather.. and really appreciated what it was before I even contemplated taking some shots. In some crazy way there was a moment when I felt it was “ok” to shoot it, and I think a photo is a realisation of a relationship like that, trusting and sympathetic, at least my best ones are. What I hate is the number of really bad photos I take and no-one else sees!

What is your weapon of choice? 😀

I currently use a Canon 5D MK II, with a backup Canon cropped sensor body. My favourite lens of all time is my Canon 70-200mm F2.8L IS. I remember the first time I used this lens and shot some portraiture, I just had total confidence I had what I wanted, before I got anywhere near processing.

My other standard is my 24-104mm F4L IS, which I have to say I have a real love hate relationship with. Pretty much my travel landscape lens, it has delivered some of my favourite photos, but I just never feel like I’m getting the shot when I’m using it…

Everyone has their favorite locations to shoot pictures. Where is yours?

When it comes to travel photography, somewhere well away from tourists! Personally I prefer to work somewhere isolated, or with people culturally significant to an area. There’s nothing like a loud hawaiian shirt to mess with the balance of downtown Madrid.

And your favorite picture? I know I have mine. 😛

Tough one! For me, given my Irish background, probably this one.

This was in a street in Dublin where Guinness is still transported by horse and cart in some places, and you can just make that out in the background. The man featured in this image just really represented what Ireland was, and still is. There was a real sense of determination, but also resignation set in his face, and I really wanted to capture that.

I can just relate to it in a lot of ways, but having said that, people normally don’t go for the ones I like!

Most crazy travel experience? I don’t have many crazy stories to tell, but I definitely love to hear them. 😀

Being followed through Tangier’s Medina in Morocco by secret police was a little intense! Luckily the day was capped off by joining in a wedding feast that night, with a group of percussionists and trumpeters announcing the arrival of every one of some 500 guests…. not a lot of sleep that night… it was like some crazy spy novel, all capped off by the local brew of choice Casablanca.. You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried!!

What is the most awesome thing about living in Australia?

Definitely the food! I think our food demonstrates how culturally diverse Australians really are. We’re from everywhere! One of the things that inspires me to travel is the number of people from different countries I’ve been honoured to consider friends along the way. I think traveling is a very significant part of the Australian DNA, as most of us have our heritage sprawled amongst a number of countries.

Where are you looking to visit next?

I think Japan, a lot of friends traveling there recently and I’ve been really interested in their photos!! For someone who lives in the Australasian zone, I haven’t seen nearly enough of Asia!

I loved Japan. It probably was my most favorite place to date! And what do you consider your almighty dream photography trip?

One where you have time! No jumping on and off buses and planes and camels and junks… well maybe a bit.. but somewhere you can enjoy the culture over a period of time and really identify with what’s happening in a place. I think the Middle East is amazing for that, everything is alive and vibrant and human. One place I haven’t been in that region is Israel, it would be an amazing from a photographic point of view. You’ve got that juxtaposition of modern life along with the aesthetic of religion and orthodoxy. I could name a hundred places but for me it would always come back to the people.

Thanks a million Brad for sharing your photographs and your insight on travel and photography! If you would like to check out more of his photography, please go to www.bradrileyphoto.com for more awesome photos. He is truly an awesome photographer and a great traveler.