Some of my favorite travel photographs come from places that are visually interesting because they're completely different from anything I see in everyday life.
While traveling through Costa Rica with Shari, we took an excursion into a volcanic region that included hiking, geothermal areas and hot springs. As a photographer, I found the landscape fascinating.
This particular location immediately caught my attention.
Steam was rising through the lush tropical vegetation in the distance, while the foreground contained this strange muddy pool surrounded by rocks stained with different colors from the geothermal activity. The combination was almost surreal. You have all of this beautiful green vegetation associated with Costa Rica, but running through it are reminders that there is tremendous geological activity taking place beneath the surface.
We were required to keep our distance from the pool. My understanding was that the water and surrounding geothermal area could be extremely hot and potentially dangerous. From a photographic standpoint, however, that separation actually gave me an opportunity to show the entire environment rather than concentrating only on the pool.
Finding Photographs While Traveling
I'm a South Florida-based professional photographer, and much of my commercial work involves weddings, corporate events and other celebrations. But I've always enjoyed photographing subjects far beyond the work I'm hired to do.
Travel photography gives me the opportunity to slow down and look for completely different kinds of images.
Instead of anticipating a fleeting expression during a wedding or waiting for the perfect moment during an event, I'm looking at landscape, color, texture, atmosphere and the relationship between different elements within a scene.
In this photograph, the muddy geothermal pool provides the foreground, while the layers of tropical vegetation lead your eye toward the steam rising in the distance. That steam is what really makes the photograph for me. Without it, this could simply be an unusual pond in a forest. With it, you immediately understand that something is happening beneath this landscape.
Photography Beyond the Assignment
I've spent many years making photographs professionally, but I've never wanted photography to exist only when somebody hires me.
Whether I'm photographing a wedding in South Florida, a glacier in Alaska, glass artwork in Seattle or volcanic activity in Costa Rica, I'm still doing essentially the same thing:
Looking carefully at what's in front of me and figuring out the most interesting way to turn it into a photograph.
That's what keeps photography interesting to me—even after all these years.
Location: Volcanic Region, Costa Rica.