Lisa Michele Burns: Making Travel Photography Your Own – Beyond Social Media Trends
In this episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast, host Angela Nicholson speaks with renowned travel photographer and OM System ambassador, Lisa Michele Burns. Known for her breathtaking landscapes and environmental focus, Lisa is the editor and creative force behind The Wandering Lens, a photography platform that has inspired countless photographers with its guides, location tips and expert insights into travel photography. Lisa's journey is both inspiring and relatable; she started with a passion for writing and gradually transitioned into photography after an unexpected twist on an assignment with Lonely Planet. Now, as a self-taught photographer, she has carved out a unique space in the industry by blending her love for storytelling and travel.
During the podcast, Angela and Lisa discuss Lisa's evolution from writer to photographer, her experience of documenting remote locations and her focus on environmentally significant regions. Lisa shares practical advice on curating a distinctive portfolio and how she adapts her work to meet the needs of clients while staying true to her personal vision. They also delve into the challenges and joys of travel photography, particularly the need to research lesser-known spots and avoid over-photographed locations. Lisa is passionate about finding new perspectives, something she encourages in her students and mentees. In a social media-driven world, she believes photographers should focus on developing a personal style rather than constantly comparing their work to others.
Listen to another episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast
The conversation covers essential topics for photographers, from managing the pressures of social media to tips on staying warm in freezing climates, a necessity for Lisa as she frequently travels to Arctic regions. She shares her techniques for layering clothing and discusses the importance of weather-sealed equipment. Lisa also offers insights into navigating the industry, from pitching to potential clients to building a well-curated online presence. She explains how her experience in various roles, including her early days working at a rural newspaper and a tourism resort, prepared her for a career as a freelance photographer. This background has been instrumental in her success in securing photography projects with luxury resorts and lodges, work that allows her to explore some of the world’s most beautiful and secluded destinations.
Lisa's mentoring programme is designed to help photographers find their unique path, connecting with clients who align with their creative goals. She reflects on the rewarding experience of watching her students grow in confidence and skills. Lisa also emphasises the importance of reducing one’s carbon footprint, especially as a travel photographer. She explains her approach to minimising travel impact and the role her work plays in raising awareness about environmental issues, with recent projects even supporting wildlife conservation.
Join Angela and Lisa for an insightful discussion that covers everything from finding creative inspiration and personal resilience in remote locations to actionable advice for aspiring photographers. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced professional, this episode is packed with tips and wisdom from a photographer who has successfully merged a passion for travel with a commitment to environmental storytelling.
Connect with Lisa
Website
The Wandering Lens
The Travel Photography Club
Instagram
Facebook
X
OM System
This episode is supported by OM System. Empowering consumers and professionals alike with innovative digital cameras, lenses, audio recorders, and binoculars, OM System's precision optics and groundbreaking technology open up new possibilities for capturing life's most precious moments.
Episode Transcript
Lisa Michelle Burns
I think a lot of people compare themselves to others, especially with social media, it's easy to see someone's photo of somewhere that you visited and suddenly think yours wasn't as good. But that's what I enjoy sharing with people when I'm teaching them, is having your own vision and composition focus and just seeking out those creative aspects that you can find within a scene that may not be obvious to everybody that takes a quick shot and moves on, but the comparison factor is something that I know a lot of people struggle with, and just taking the time to kind of assess and challenge yourself to think outside the box, it definitely helps people kind of explore new ways of photographing in helps with motivation as well, I think too.
Angela Nicholson
Welcome to the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I'm Angela Nicholson, and I'm the founder of SheClicks, which is a community for female photographers. In these podcasts, I talk with women in the photographic industry to hear about their experiences, what drives them, and how they got to where they are now. This episode is with Lisa. Michelle burns an OM system ambassador, travel photographer and editor of the wandering lens. Lisa loves to photograph the patterns and tones within landscapes, focusing on regions of environmental significance. She also explores aerial photography luxury resorts and remote wilderness lodges. Hi, Lisa. Thank you so much for joining me today on the SheClicks women in photography podcast.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Thank you so much for having me. It's really exciting to chat.
Angela Nicholson
It's really nice actually, that because we've managed to time this so you're actually in the UK, so we're not trying to coordinate UK and Australian time zones, because I get so confused by those.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, it can be a little bit of a nightmare as well, just either morning for you or night for me, or it's just, yeah, yeah, much better to be in the same country.
Angela Nicholson
I think so much easier for it. So what came first for you? Was it travel, or was it photography? Or did they always go hand in hand?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Oh, actually, travel photography kind of just came along in a funny, coincidental way. Really, I was just hoping to write guidebooks. I wanted to be a journalist and just write really and then I ended up in Morocco with Lonely Planet, and was taking some photos to go alongside with the writing. And they kind of preferred those to my words. So the photography came after that. So it was quite fun to, I think, come from that angle without the not pressure, necessarily. But yeah, I just kind of went into it without any preconceived ideas or anything, and it just flowed naturally. So it's a funny little path.
Angela Nicholson
It's quite nice as well to sort of someone say, Oh, you're good at this, when you kind of were just doing it as a little backup thing. And then you said, Oh, okay, so I can explore that a bit more.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, it was funny because I didn't really know what I was doing, necessarily. I was just taking like. I had a camera that the person at the camera store said was good for travel. I had a little polarizer screwed on very wrongly. So all of my photos had this dark tinge in the corner, which I just thought was how it was supposed to look like. I really didn't know what I was so, yeah, it was kind of fun to explore and experiment as I went and tried to Yeah, eventually the polarizer fell off, so I knew that that wasn't supposed to be there.
Angela Nicholson
And what is it that you love about travel and travel photography?
Lisa Michelle Burns
I think it's kind of changed over the years. Initially, I just wanted to see lots of different cultures, and I think coming from Australia, it's kind of built into us that we want to get really far away and see the rest of the world. So I think the culture thing came first and trying to explore different areas, and then I just kind of fell in love with, you know, flying and arriving in new places and photographing it like seeing it through the lens, I think is really special. It just kind of helps you slow down and see those different details that are hidden within scenes and landscapes. So, yeah, I think over the years, I've kind of changed from exploring cities and cultures, and just now, I'm looking for isolated landscapes far, far from people so kind of progressed.
Angela Nicholson
And have you at any point done any formal training in photography, or are you entirely self taught?
Lisa Michelle Burns
No entirely self taught, which usually pops up every so often when somebody has a disagreement as to how you should shoot a certain thing, but yeah, I have my own little quirks and techniques that I like to play with, which may not necessarily be textbook, but I think it's Yeah, helps with the creative process to kind of find your own way through the buttons and things.
Angela Nicholson
Absolutely, I'm not sure there's ever a right way to do something like photography, you know, because it's actually about creating your vision, so do it your way.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, definitely, especially any creative art, I think, needs to be explored in your own time and at your own pace.
Angela Nicholson
So from my perception, it seems that photography has taken over a lot of your work now. Is that how you see it as well?
Yeah, I mean, I still do write a lot like I've got the wandering lens, which I started in 2016 I think it was I started publishing, and that was kind of in an effort to blend the writing and photography together. So yeah, I really enjoy writing still and publishing the guides and sharing little stories. I think I'd like to go down the narrative side a little bit more than the technical and informative side. But. Yeah, I still like even just writing captions and things to go with photos is always fun for me, but definitely photos comes first now.
How did you find your first clients as a photographer?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Oh, that's a tricky one I have. I've kind of to kind of set the scene. I've gone through different genres as my career has progressed. So I've been working professionally for about 18 years, and my first job as a photographer was at a rural newspaper that I worked at, but then that changed to a tourism resort that did dolphin we did dolphin feeding and sand dune tobogganing. So that was my first official job. But it was in 2007 that I won a contest with Lonely Planet to be a writer for them, which then helped the rest come together. But yeah, it was through Lonely Planet that I then started working freelance for different clients. And the funny thing is, I didn't really know how to pitch or how to find clients, so I just, I actually used to send them little postcards in the mail with my a link to my website and a photo on the front, and just hope that they'd get in touch one day. And did they? Yeah, yeah, some of them, especially because I was, I just kind of ended up in Dublin because I could get a working visa at the working visa at the time, I was only 20, I think it was, and I just used to send postcards to magazine editors, and a few got in touch, and that kind of led to more ongoing work. So yeah, that was that was before, you know, social media and things like that, probably a bit easier to send postcards.
Angela Nicholson
Then I really like that approach. But has social media taken over, or do you still sometimes send postcards?
Lisa Michelle Burns
I definitely don't send postcards anymore, but I think it would be nice actually. I think people might be going back in that direction, hopefully, but social media is definitely taken over a little bit. But I'm quite a shy person, so I don't really love getting my face on social media and approaching that way. I think I still prefer either approaching by email with a PDF portfolio where you can kind of piece everything together nicely that you want to share with them, or just, yeah, links to websites. I think for me anyway, is a bit more easier to approach people than social media.
Angela Nicholson
So you're more inclined to send an email?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah? Oh, yeah, absolutely, yeah. You won't find me in a networking event just running the room. I'm I'm in the corner, hiding right, yeah.
Angela Nicholson
Part of your business is photographing hotels and lodges. Did that come about organically, or did you it was something you definitely pursued?
Lisa Michelle Burns
I think I definitely pursued it. After I did a lot of freelance work in Ireland, in the UK, I moved back to Australia and took over a landscape gallery. It was kind of like a little print lab and gallery on an island, and that was within a resort. So I stayed there for about five years, and in that time, got to see how lodges and hotels run behind the scenes work with their marketing department. So I learned a lot of skills there that helped me kind of pursue hotels and lodges from then on. And I was very desperate after five years on the one little island to go to many more places after that. So the travel bug kicked in again, and I wanted to photograph every hotel. So again, I got back to the pitching and getting in touch directly to say that, yeah, I wanted to photograph their hotels.
Angela Nicholson
Actually, it's interesting that you say that, because I wanted to ask you about, how do you balance your desire to travel with the need to go to specific places, because that's where your clients want youto go?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Usually I kind of approach them before traveling somewhere. I kind of have places that I piece, piece together like a nice little plan for myself, and then try and approach the right people that align with either the projects I'm doing at the time or just places that I want to photograph. But sometimes people do come to me, and then usually they're attracted to what I already photographed, so it usually aligns with somewhere I want to go anyway. So so far, it's worked out quite well.
Angela Nicholson
Good, good.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah.
Angela Nicholson
How much time do you spend researching a place before you go for the first time?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Oh, probably a lot. I love Google Maps and Google Earth and just kind of scouring coastlines and looking at different vantage points that might be possible, I try and avoid just few points that every other tour of us arrives to. So I definitely like to do a lot of research about where I could go that might be slightly different angle, or different hiking trail or something that's not exactly the most popular one, but yeah, in terms of hotels and looking around and things like that, I have a bit of a little fascination with finding the best hotel close to certain locations, so especially for like shooting sunrise. I don't have to walk too far because I am not a morning person.
Angela Nicholson
I can identify with that. Yeah, actually, that's a bit of a running theme in our podcasts, is that, yeah, we're talking to people and saying, Do you prefer sunrise or sunset. Most people seem to say they like photographing sunrise. They just don't like getting up for it.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Exactly. Yeah. And anyone that says I do might be lying a little bit. I'm not sure.
Angela Nicholson
Well, yeah, I think so, yeah.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Well, the coffee hits a little bit harder. Maybe.
Angela Nicholson
I mean, I get the magic. But when you're researching, then, I mean, you're looking for places which are a bit more interesting, you know, find different angles and places that haven't been photographed. So you're kind of trying to fill in some gaps, I guess.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, I think, I mean, for me, for me personally, when I look at social media and I see the same photo that's been taken a bunch of times in the same place, it really makes me want to go somewhere. Else. So it's that that I'm kind of looking for, because I even just to take a photo, if there's a lot of people and noise around, I just don't feel creative or inspired to stand there and capture the shot. So for me, I need it to be really quiet and to kind of assess the scene and be immersed in it before I'll start taking photos. So that's another reason why I probably tend to do a bit more research as to where I could go before I get there.
Angela Nicholson
But does that mean you are closing the door a bit for yourself, because, like, you find a nice hotel near somewhere you think is going to be an interesting shooting point. You take the photographs, they go out, and then suddenly lots of other people want to go there, and you have in so you see lot more photos, so therefore you don't want to go back.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah. I mean lately, like the last few years, in particular, I've been working with more remote lodges, so it's really difficult to either get there or there's very limited accommodation in those areas. So I'm hoping across my fingers that it stays that way, because a lot of the places I've visited lately have been so beautifully remote and quiet, so hopefully they do stay that way.
Angela Nicholson
And where does the Wandering Lens fit into your story. I mean, you were traveling around, writing, taking photographs. How do you sort of fit that into what you do? And maybe you could just tell people a bit more about it.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah. So the Wandering Lens did start when I left Ireland, moving over to France, and just wanted to kind of have a platform where I could publish, like, get back to the writing side of things, publish guides and just have adventures and really share the visuals behind it without being constricted to what publications might want. So just kind of have a little online space for travel adventures. And it kind of grew quite quickly from the first article that I published to now, and it's kind of taken a different direction. I was just going to share stories, really, but now I think the photography guides, like specifying the locations that people can go and what they can photograph and experience, has been the main focus for the website. And now, in the last What's it been now, four years, it kind of turned to creative development as well. So it shares, essentially photography guides and the photography tips with a bit of career advice on the side. So it's a nice kind of mix of where the business is at the moment and where I'm at. So I kind of publish a little bit for the audience, a little bit for what I'm interested in, and then for the clients as well. So it's a nice mix. It's working quite well so far. But yeah, there's always things to you know, roller coaster and Google Analytics, updates and AI and all those things to contend with. So it's a learning curve always.
Angela Nicholson
And with your guides, your courses, your E books, and you also offer portfolio reviews. Were you being asked to do those? Or was it purely, you know, your desire to write and then people, you know, they were well received?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah. I mean, I was actually running photo tours in Iceland and Japan up until 2020 and so a lot of people still wanted to learn, like most people coming with me in person, in the field, to learn. And so I kind of transitioned towards the online space. And it kind of developed quite naturally, like I had the location e books already online, just because I like writing. But the, yeah, the courses and things developed as a way of still connecting with people and teaching that online when we're all a little bit stuck. So the first course group was actually really good, because there was, I think, about 45 or 50 people, and they helped kind of develop the next two courses, because what they wanted to know at the end of the first one helped me produce the programs for the next two so it's been really nice to work with a whole group of students that have progressed through the different courses. And yeah, it's just kind of unfolding naturally, naturally with what the community are after.
Angela Nicholson
So have you got any more in the pipeline?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Well, at the moment, I'm doing group mentoring, so kind of gone back a little bit, so they're smaller groups. The courses kind of run themselves like people can join up at any time they're all online, you kind of sign into a little portal, and it's a little realm of information and challenges and creative goodies. So I see the students pop up, and I still get in touch once they sign up, and I'm always there in the background for support. But the group mentoring program is going to start next month, which is fun. I've already done one session earlier this year. So yeah, it's going to be, I think, 12 people, Max, just a nice, little, supportive three month program to help people take the next step in their careers and things so.
Angela Nicholson
Oh that's really interesting. Mentoring is, is quite a tricky thing, isn't it? Because I think people have different requirements and different perceptions of what mentoring is. So some people think it's, it's training, but it's, it's not, is it a bit quite different?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Well, yeah, it's kind of funny. I've never really been mentored, or, like I said before, never really studied photography, so I kind of look at it as being a supportive person that's already worked through the industry, and kind of help people take that next step whilst listening to what that step is, rather than just seeing my own ideas and trying to bring my own experience to theirs. I want them to forge their own path, but then I can help them discover just to even just understanding who their audience or their potential clients might be. A lot of people are surprised once they share their work with me, when I share who I think they could work for or could approach, they're actually surprised that. To the genre. They think, you know, I think we all get stuck in our own work, kind of, we think we're not good enough for this, or we can't do that, but then once you sit down and look at it, you actually are good enough to approach people. It's just about how to package it and how to approach the right person.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, that must be really rewarding.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah. I was just Yeah. I was about to say that, yeah, it's really rewarding to see, especially because there's such diverse talent out there, and people going in different directions that I was even surprised by at the start of the mentoring program. So yeah, it's really fun to work with them, and especially from all different corners of the world. So that's always nice.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, that is the great thing, isn't it? I mean, as a travel photographer, obviously you you want to be hearing from people all over the world, but now, because we're so connected through the internet, you can have students or mentees from anywhere.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, exactly. I think the only tricky part is, with this program, I've decided to do like a live video chat once a month. And I think the first one that we did, I thought the time was perfect, and then I forgot that obviously, as travel photographers, everybody would be traveling, so I was basing the time on where they signed up from, right? And then we had people in South America and Asia, and the time was just way off for some people, so we've kind of smoothed that out. Now there's a good time that fits the whole world, but yeah.
Angela Nicholson
Good. Well, let me know what time that is, because I'd love to know.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah. Well, some people are still up very early, but yeah.
Angela Nicholson
Right. Okay. Now you're an OM System ambassador, formerly Olympus, but now om system, how did that come about?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, that was in 2017 I'd previously been using. Well, I did weddings for five years before that, when I was on the island, and my back was really, really sore from lugging two bodies around shooting weddings, and so I kind of approached them and wanted to trial their equipment, because I was living in Europe at the time, and had a trip to Iceland coming up, so the weather ceiling really appealed to me and just how light they were. So I approached them, and they gave me a little trial kit, and I kind of fell for the lightweight body and the system. So that kind of like the relationship between me and the brand just kind of progressed from kind of progressed from there. So it's been wonderful to work with them, and I feel like family now a little bit because it's been so many years, I think we're up to seven years now. So, yeah, it's been really nice.
Angela Nicholson
Wow. Oh, fantastic. Yeah,
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah.
Angela Nicholson
Well, I think that's probably a really good time to go to Six from SheClicks. I've got 10 questions from SheClickers. I would like you to answer six of them, please, by picking numbers from one to 10. So.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Oh, okay.
Angela Nicholson
If you'd like to pick your first number?
Lisa Michelle Burns
I'm an even number girl, so we're going to start with two.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, right. Oh, this is quite a tough one to kick off with.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Oh gosh.
Angela Nicholson
How do you justify and compensate for your carbon footprint? That's from Marie-Ange. I think she's particularly thinking, because, you know, you do quite a bit of traveling, and you're, you are quite conscious of the fragility of the earth.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, I mean, a lot of the destinations that I do photograph have that environmental significance. I'm always very wary of the footprint that I have, especially within traveling. I think in the planning stages, I do try and limit, like, the transport routes that I'm taking, and I always click that little button when you're booking flights that says, you know, offset your carbon footprint. But yeah, it's tricky, because with travel, you still need to get from A to B and from Australia as well. There's some big oceans either side, so it's quite hard to to navigate that one. But yeah, when I'm at home, I try and just do everything that I can do. But yeah, traveling, unfortunately, there's ways to get around it, but yeah, you just have to work at minimizing it.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah. And to an extent, you are putting your faith in a third party that they are doing what they say they're going to do.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, exactly, yeah. But I like to think that my photography has a way of coming back around and giving back, like a lot of photos that I produce, go towards charitable initiatives that then help the environment in other ways. So yeah, I'm working on something with an elephant orphanage at the moment in South Africa, which is very exciting. Oh, lovely. So, yeah, there's little projects here and there. So.
Angela Nicholson
Fantastic. My Instagram account is pretty much spammed by baby elephant videos, and I'm a complete sucker for them, so I imagine it'd be amazing.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Oh, but isn't that great?
Angela Nicholson
Yes, they are so cute.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, yeah, especially their big ears and the floppy little tails and bottoms so cute.
Angela Nicholson
And the fact that they can't seem to control their trunks either, which,
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, that's a thing,
Angela Nicholson
Suddenly discover they've got this thing on the end of their face and they don't know what it's for.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Exactly. It's all just everywhere.
Angela Nicholson
Must be fantastic to work with them.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, wildlife in general, I just find fascinating just observing them and then, you know, waiting for that right moment. But yeah, elephants are just stunning creatures. And I think it's, it's a, yeah, it's an orphanage in South Africa that kind of brought together orphaned elephants to form one herd. And it's incredible to see how they will kind of come together. And there's a few babies in there as well. So it's very adorable.
Angela Nicholson
Oh, that's lovely. So. Could I have your second number then, please?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Oh, okay, let's just go up the up the chain, four.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, what are your tips for staying warm in cold climates? Several people asked that question.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Okay, definitely layering. I'm from Australia. I've grown up by the beach, but a lot of my work over the last few years has been focused in Arctic environments, and I do still get quite cold, especially when you're out for hours photographing. But definitely layer up from your base layer all the way to the outside. So you want to start with really good thermal layers, and then cover that with a fleece layer and wind proof layer, and then you're out of shell as well. So, yeah, I think once you've got the thermals down and the really nice socks and gloves and everything, you can usually then pile on the rest and and hope for the best.
Angela Nicholson
I think a lot of people struggle with keeping their fingers warm because it's getting that contact on your camera. Have you got any kind of recommendations for gloves or mittens or anything.
Lisa Michelle Burns
For me, the gloves are the hardest part, because my fingertips just get frozen so quickly. I just came back from Greenland last week, actually, and it's the end of their summer, so I didn't think it would be as cold as it was, and I just took kind of standard woolen gloves. I survived, but it was still pretty chilly. I think I've told this story before. I think it was on the website, but I photographed with the drone in Greenland, and it was minus 31 I think it was over 24 I can't remember what it was, but the drone control wouldn't work with gloves, and so I had my bare hands out at that temperature, and I it was all fine to lift off, but then I forgot that I had to land, and obviously to take the photos. And by that stage, my thumbs and just everything had seized up, and I couldn't get the drone back, oh no, because they were just so cold. But, yeah, I think if anybody has any recommendations for great gloves, get in touch.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, um, what about your camera? I mean, how do you keep the the batteries warm? Any any tips for protecting your camera in such cold climates?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah. I mean, the cameras I use are weather sealed, so they handle really well. They do better than I do in the cold, and the battery life I find, doesn't falter too much or too differently from standard temperatures. But when I do travel, I have little heat packs, you know, those, the reusable heat packs that you can have, yeah, and I have them in my camera bag, or I'll have a battery in the pocket, like the inner layers of my pockets, just to keep them warm, just in case. But yeah, I've been up in Greenland in winter and and really haven't seen any issues with the batteries. But there's some ways that you can keep them nice and toasty. As long as they're warm, then they should be okay.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, okay, so your third number, then are you going to go for six?
Lisa Michelle Burns
No, let's go eight. Let's just jump up to eight.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, right. How much time do you spend on the road traveling, I guess in a year, your average year?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, it kind of differs per year. And a lot of jobs pop up last minute, or I'm a very last minute traveler, like, if suddenly I see the autumn foliage is going crazy in Japan, I'll try and get there. But yeah, I the last year, or this year in particular, has been quite busy. I was over in Patagonia in April, and then South Africa at the end of April, and then up to Greenland, and now the UK, and then Japan later this year. So really depends. Probably, I'd say six months is an average being on the road. And the two years prior to this year, actually, I was traveling around Australia, so that was a bit more slow travel, which was nice, but definitely always on the road.
Angela Nicholson
Did that feel the same, you know, traveling in your own country, compared to being abroad? Did you feel different about it.
Lisa Michelle Burns
It was funny, actually, because, well, it became about because of a book project. The book's coming out later this year. And I was initially hoping to publish a book on my Arctic work, but then the publisher was keen on Australia, and I hadn't seen, I'd seen bits and pieces of Australia and lived all along the east coast, but hadn't seen the center or, you know, the Deep South and things like that. So, yeah, it was really nice to to explore it, and a little bit scary, actually. I didn't realize how big Australia was, like, I knew it was big, right? But we drove around, and I think it was when I hit near Cooper. PD, and it was just hours and hours of just nothingness. I started to realize that I can't change a tire, probably can't survive, if anything, few little survival instincts came into play. And I went, oh gosh.
Angela Nicholson
It's funny, because, I mean, coming from the UK, which is, as you know, pretty small, we're always sort of told how huge Australia is. And then you kind of, you know, you turn the globe around, oh yeah, that's quite a bit bigger than the UK.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, yeah. It really didn't hit until I got halfway across, and then I realized I had, I realized I had the other half to do.
Angela Nicholson
It's a long way!
Lisa Michelle Burns
The east, for some reason, north to south feels okay, but then east to west it's no...,
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, yeah, it is wider, isn't it? I think
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, but it's populated, I think, along the east coast. So you don't really notice it too much, but once you're Yeah, just hours and hours of of desert. It's It's fascinating and gorgeous, but yeah, there's a whole lot of nothing out there.
Angela Nicholson
Very, very remote.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yes.
Angela Nicholson
Okay. Can I have your fourth number please?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Uh, oh, let's go back to six.
Angela Nicholson
What is the biggest mistake you see people making in travel photography? That question is from Liz.
Lisa Michelle Burns
I think that's a really good question, actually, because I think a lot of people compare themselves to others, especially with social media, it's easy to see someone's photo of somewhere that you visited and suddenly think yours wasn't as good. But that's what I enjoy sharing with people when I'm teaching them, is having your own vision and composition focus, and just seeking out those creative aspects that you can find within a scene that may not be obvious to everybody that takes a quick shot and moves on, but the comparison factor is something that I know a lot of people struggle with. And just taking the time to kind of assess and challenge yourself to think outside the box, it definitely helps people kind of explore new ways of photographing and helps with motivation as well. I think too.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah. I think when you see that you know your older images, and you think, oh, crikey, I've come a long way. That's much healthier than looking at somebody else's Oh yes, and thinking, Oh, theirs is better. It's just Yeah.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah. That's what. I think.
Angela Nicholson
It's just different
Lisa Michelle Burns
yeah, yeah, we all change and progress as we learn more things and new techniques. So yeah, it's important not to be too hard on yourself and just keep getting creative.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, can I have your fifth number please?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Let's do 10.
Angela Nicholson
Okay. This is from Philippa. Do you have any advice for getting published or getting noticed as a photographer,
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, my number one tip would be to get a website and have your own space that you can control and showcase your work on. But in addition to that, curating a gallery that ensures that somebody that's looking at your work for the first time without having any idea about what you photograph, where you photograph, or how completely understands how they could work with you, or why they would want to publish your work. I think that's what a lot of people sometimes miss. Like we we all want to just put everything out there and share everything that we've ever taken but curating and, yeah, putting together something that somebody who's never seen your work would understand immediately what you do that's very important. And then second to that is approaching the right people and not just writing to those info at tribal magazine.com email addresses. Kind of networking and finding a path in that way is really important, but definitely first curating a gallery and having an online space.
Angela Nicholson
You said that you don't like to put yourself out there on social media that much. But are you the sort of person? Do you follow certain people or, you know, certain businesses and comment and just try and get a rapport going that way?
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, I definitely follow a lot of people just to stay in the loop. I think it's more than on camera stuff that I I struggle with, and, you know, I don't, yeah, I like the landscape and the troubles to do their own story, rather than me saying what I ate today. Or, you know, where are you?
Angela Nicholson
Fair enough, fair enough.
Lisa Michelle Burns
But yeah, I do think it's important to stay in the loop and know kind of who's publishing what sort of work as well. You know, approaching a magazine that doesn't publish anything similar to your work is probably a bit of a waste of time. Whereas there's so many specialty publications, both online and in print, out there that it's worth kind of researching and seeing which ones might suit the style and destinations that you're focusing on.
Angela Nicholson
Okay, right. So your last question then, please,
Lisa Michelle Burns
Let's go five.
Angela Nicholson
Number five, do you have a favourite bag or backpack for your camera gear when traveling again? That was asked by several people.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, I do, actually, and it's been with me for about 10 years, and I'm really worried that the zips are gonna break.
Angela Nicholson
Wow, that's good going.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, I know I was researching it before this trip to Greenland, actually trying to look for a new one, but I just can't find anything that I like as much. It's a I've just got a Lowepro. I think it's an AW, 400 okay, but they don't make that model anymore, as far as I know, or they do, but they slightly change the back section. So yeah, I'm looking for a replacement for only because I think this is well worn and has been on a lot of adventures, yeah, but I think just anything that has good back support if you're going hiking, is really important. I love the clip around the waist, just to take that weight off, because I stuff mine with so many things.
Angela Nicholson
Yeah, I think thinking back if you had your bag so long, I mean, a lot of them have changed now to reopening so, like, they keep your stuff a bit safer as well. I think there's a lot more consideration.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yeah, oh, that's what my this one has, yeah, there's a lot of, yeah, definitely, a lot of bag designs out there that I'm keen on trialing. But yeah, I'm just have it click the purchase button. Yeah,
Angela Nicholson
It is worth getting to a shop, isn't it, or, you know, a trade show and trying them on, just to get the right Be sure you got the right size for you, I think, and the right fit.
Lisa Michelle Burns
Yes, yeah. I think it's such a personal choice as well. You really want it to feel good and have the pockets in the right areas and things. So yeah, this works for me, and I'm a bit of a creature of habits. So
Angela Nicholson
Lisa, thank you so much for answering those questions, for joining me today on the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast.
Lisa Michelle Burns
It was lovely. Thank you so much for having me such a great community. I've just joined the Facebook group, so it's really exciting to see everybody's work on there. It looks, looks great.
Angela Nicholson
Oh. Thank you very much. Thanks for listening to this episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. Special thanks to everybody who sent in a question. You'll find links to Lisa's website and social media channels in the show notes. I'll be back with another episode soon, so please subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform and tell all your friends and followers about it. You'll also find SheClicks on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, if you search for SheClicks net. So until next time, enjoy your photography.
