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Profiled Photographers – Tim Bird

Pro photographer Tim Bird first got really interested in photography when he arrived in Finland 40 years ago. For Tim, Finland was “a completely clean visual slate where everything was novel and alien.” He says “Finland then felt as close to its eastern neighbour, the Soviet Union, as it did to western Europe. So I started to see things through the 50mm lens of my first film camera, a Russian Zenit, totally manual, built like a little tank, ideal for learning the basics. So I was completely self-taught, except for a few very instructive courses and workshops later on.” But it wasn’t photography that first pulled Tim to Finland…

Originally from the South East of England, Tim moved to Finland to work as an English teacher. But what he really wanted to do was to work as a freelance journalist. He says “I made contact with English language outlets in Finland, including the magazine of the Finnish Tourist Board and the inflight magazine of Finnair, Blue Wings, the latter being my most regular outlet for travel material over the last three decades.”

But rather than just supplying copy, he found that he could accompany his articles with his own pictures, although in his own words “it took him a long time to feel confident enough to call himself a photographer as well as a writer”. Since then Tim has had several coffee table books published and contributed words and photos to dozens of books and magazines. Finland and the Baltic and Nordic regions are his specialities, but he has also had the chance to travel widely on commissions, to Southeast Asia (especially India), right across Europe, Africa, and North, South and Central America.

Tim, where are you from?

I’m from Southeast Kent in England. I haven’t lived there since I was in my early 20s (I’m now 65) but I visit my family there whenever I can.

Where do you currently live?

I’ve lived in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, since 1982.

What genre of photography do you specialise in?

I’m a travel photographer, and that covers portraits, landscapes, wildlife, food, festivals and events!

Describe your style of photography?

Hmmm, I think that’s up to others really! But I realise that I am increasingly following the concept that photography is an art of exclusion, consciously and subconsciously trying to leave out superfluous detail from shots. I love shooting people, including children, and I think it’s a great shame that we can’t do that without attracting suspicion anymore, although I understand the reasoning. I like to make a connection, however fleeting, with the people I shoot, trying to make sure they are not intimidated by the camera. I’m attracted to extremes, in events, in climate and weather, in cultures, but also to extreme calm, and I love the escapism, the thrill and the total immersion of shooting the Northern Lights, for example, or foggy mornings on the river near my Helsinki home.

What are you working on at the moment?

My ongoing Women of India project, telling stories of women from different Indian regions, cultures and backgrounds, has been interrupted by Covid! But I recently held an exhibition on that theme in Helsinki. I’ve been rediscovering Finland with my camera over the last 18 months, not having been able to leave because of travel restrictions.

What is your next project or assignment?

Things have been very quiet on the commission front, so I’m trying to use the time to do some archiving and to make and maintain contacts for when things – hopefully – return to “normal”. I continue to contribute articles and photos, including ‘slide show’ galleries, to a website called This Is Finland, published by the Finnish Foreign Ministry.

Are there any photographers whose work/style you admire?

The Indian photographers Raghupir Singh and Raghur Rai; Sebastião Salgado; Steve McCurry; Tiina Itkonen, a Finnish photographer who specialises in Greenland.

What is your favourite memory of your experiences?

The first time I saw the Northern Lights on a frozen lake in Lapland. Jumping around and yelling like kids with a couple of mates, not quite believing that anything so incredible could be possible and not knowing in which direction to point my camera.

What’s the biggest photographic challenge you overcame?

Escaping the crush at dawn on the main bathing day of the Kumbh Mela Hindu festival in Allahabad, India in 2013, when untold millions gathered to bathe in the Ganges. I managed to escape to a pontoon on the river from which I could get a view back towards the banks of the river. Terrifying.

What’s in your camera bag?

Fujifilm XT3, 18-55 zoom, 55-200 zoom, Zeiss 50mm macro, Samyang 12mm, Sirui travel tripod, ND500 filters, polarising filters, several spare batteries, several spare SD cards.

What photographic equipment would you never leave home without?

Fujifilm X100V.

What advice you would give anyone who is starting out?

Look at as much photography as you can but follow your own instincts and develop your own ‘voice’. Experiment. Know the rules, break the rules. Get to know your camera. Be bold and persistent if you want to sell or publish your photos. Identify the best competitions and enter them. Don’t give up!

Any pitfalls they should avoid?

Try not to get sucked too deeply into social media! Instagram is a great way to show your photos, but it can become too time-consuming and too much of an end in itself rather than a means of raising your profile – at least, that’s what I think. Be careful about what rights you give away if your pictures are published or entered into awards. It’s not always possible and it’s getting harder, but try to stick to the general principle of getting paid for your work!

Lastly… if you weren’t a photographer what would you be doing?

Not an option. I’ll always be a writer but I can’t imagine not doing both!

To see more of Tim’s work visit www.timbirdphotography.com.

You can follow Tim on Instagram.

Interview by Kav Dadfar.

6 Ways To Research And Find New Shooting Locations

One of the biggest elements of any travel photographer’s workflow includes research and planning prior to going away on a shoot. A common question I get asked is how I go about finding spots to shoot from. Thankfully these days there are lots of ways in which you can research and plan your shoot so that you can almost have the picture composed in your mind before you even turn up to a shoot. Here are a few different ways in which you can work out how, where and when to take your shots.

Google Maps

Google maps is one of my most important tools in researching a shoot. Not only does it allow you to create your own map with pins that you can save, but you can also work out walking times between places and even terrain information. But for me, the biggest attribute of Google Maps is street view. This allows you to literally look at the view from where you will be standing. It’s not available in every location but if where you are going is covered be sure to check it out.

The way I use this is to often find the location I want to shoot from and then move around within the map to see if there are any angles or places that I should go to. This is useful as it’ll potentially stop you from wasting time unnecessarily trying to find a location. You may also stumble across somewhere that you didn’t know about.

Taking this a bit further, Google Earth is also a useful tool as it allows you to check out elevated views. Again this can be useful in finding locations like rooftop bars or accommodations with balconies.

Books

Sometimes good old fashion methods of research yield the best results. As much as I love what the online world offers, nothing beats having a guide book or a map and finding potential locations from it. But it doesn’t just have to be guidebooks. Photography books, non-fiction travel books and even magazines and newspapers can all be a great source of information.

Another great way to find new spots is to simply explore places from a guidebook or just use a map to walk around. This is a really great thing to do on the days when the weather conditions aren’t suited to photography.

Post Cards

Another useful resource for finding potential spots for shots is having a look at postcards when you are on location. Of course, there will be plenty that are from the obvious spots but there might be ones that give you alternative angles you didn’t know about. The important thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t be looking to copy the postcard shots. But rather to find potential locations that you can shoot from in your own style or a unique way.

Locals

This is one of my top tips when it comes to finding locations for a shoot. The easiest option is to hire the services of a guide who will undoubtedly have knowledge of places that you didn’t even know about. But this can be expensive if you are on a budget. Another option is to simply speak to locals. Taxi drivers, shop keepers, market vendors and even waiters or waitresses can all help you with local knowledge that you wouldn’t know otherwise. Obviously, there may be a language barrier (this is another benefit of having a guide) but thankfully there are apps these days that can help navigate this.

Another option is to get in contact with photographers who may be happy to guide you around a place. Or sometimes they may be willing to even give up some of their knowledge of a location. But don’t count on this as many will understandably want to protect their unique shots.

Social Media

Social media is often misunderstood by photographers and not used to its full potential. For many, it is simply a vanity tool and too many people get caught up on “likes” and “followers”. For me, one of the biggest value of social media is in being able to research and plan a shoot and get ideas for potential spots. As a Londoner, there is no denying that I will know far more about London and potential shooting spots than say someone from another country. So by following people and looking at their feeds you can often find some amazing spots that are removed from the usual places. The people you follow don’t have to necessarily be photographers. Just locals that share their smartphone pictures can offer a wealth of ideas.

Walking

There is also something to be said about simply getting to a destination and just exploring it. Walk around a city and you will stumble across a whole multitude of locations and photo opportunities. A really good habit to get into is to set yourself an endpoint in a city and just walk to it over the course of a few hours. Allow time to venture off in different directions to explore side roads and other places. But doing this instead of getting a metro or taxi will allow you to see places for potential photo opportunities that you may not have thought of before.

If you want to capture the very best travel photos that you can, the best way is to plan and have an idea of what you want to shoot. But as I said earlier the key when you are researching is not to copy other people’s work, but try to think of new ways of shooting them.

6 Attributes You Should Develop To Become A Better Travel Photographer

Becoming a better travel photographer takes time and practice. But you also need to actively try to improve areas that you may struggle with. Some of these areas of improvement will include things like settings and specific scenarios. For example, you may struggle with capturing sharp photos when handholding the camera. So you will need to practice to become better at doing so. But there are also certain attributes that will help you become a better travel photographer. You may already have some of these attributes. If not, try to develop them as they will help you in your photography.

Be an early riser

Most travel photographers will tell you that their favourite time for photography is early morning around sunrise. This is mainly due to the soft golden light that appears at this time which can transform a scene. But another reason for getting up early is that you will generally benefit from fewer people being around. Go to a famous landmark in the middle of the day and there will be lots of tourists and visitors. But visit at sunrise and you will only find a handful of people. Obviously there are some exceptions. Some experiences have become so famous at sunrise that they can be even busier than during the day. For example, Angkor Wat at sunrise pulls in huge crowds. But generally speaking, you will find yourself alone in most places early in the morning.

Left: Alhambra viewing spot in the afternoon. Right: the same spot at sunrise

Become an explorer

I’ve lost count of the number of times that I have walked down a street in a city and hit a dead end. But I have also on occasions come across some great spots for photos that most people would miss. Part of being a travel photographer is capturing images of already photographed destination and locations in a new way. Sometimes the only way to do this is to explore places on foot to try and find new shot locations. Sure it can be frustrating as you might find yourself walking around and not finding somewhere. But ever now and again you will come across somewhere that gives you a unique shot.

Keep a positive attitude

Travel photography can be incredibly frustrating at times. After all, you are at mercy of everything from weather to unplanned closures and construction work. Sometimes even other people (like for example a truck parking in your carefully composed shot). Unfortunately most of the time you can’t do anything about it. So the best way to approach the situation is to keep your calm and be positive about the shots you can capture both at that time and for the rest of the shoot. For example, can you crop out the truck that has parked in your shot? Or can you come back another time? If there’s bad weather, is there something else that you can photograph? Such as museums or parks and waterfalls? The more positive that you are, the more chance that you’ll be able to find those hidden gems to make the best of a bad situation.

I was disappointed to see building works on Angkor Wat. But with a careful composition, I was able to capture a good photo.

Leave your “shyness” at home

This is by far one of the most common reasons that amateur photographers give me for not wanting to photograph people. I can certainly understand why people may feel uncomfortable photographing strangers. I always say to people; imagine if someone took a photo of you? Or even if you were asked by someone who wanted to take your photo. Would you be offended or angry? Or would you be flattered? Most people would react in the same way. If someone really doesn’t want their photo taken, they would normally just wave a hand to indicate it. So don’t worry unless you are taking a photo of someone you shouldn’t be photographing, like military or police, you shouldn’t have any issues.

Learn to relax

Being a travel photographer can be difficult. You are often getting up early in the morning and usually not getting back to bed till late. You spend most of the day on your feet walking around. Meals become a distraction and so you are often eating as and when you can and there’s no time to just sit by a swimming pool and relax. But whilst you may not be able to relax in the same way as someone who is on vacation can, it is still really important to try and give yourself a bit of time to relax. That might just mean a few hours during the middle of the day to relax and catch up on some sleep. Or it might mean giving yourself a morning off to sit and enjoy a coffee. Depending on how long you are going to be away, having a bit of time to relax is important as it will keep you fresh and able to shoot more.

Get into a routine

When you are on location, it is important to ensure that you don’t forego some of the admin and maintenance parts of the process. For example, you need to ensure that your camera equipment is in working condition and clean. So get into the habit of giving your lenses and camera a wipe every night. They will no doubt get dirty from the dust and smog in a city. Or make sure that you charge all of your batteries and clear your memory cards by backing up your photos on a hard drive. You can also give your filters a clean and even prepare for the next day by packing your bag, checking your shot list locations and laying out the clothes you will wear. By getting into a routine you won’t suddenly find yourself running out of batteries or memory card space.

Travel photography is such a rewarding branch of photography that everyone does it to a certain extent. But beyond your skills as a photographer, you also need the skills above to be able to maximise your creative output when on location.

8 Things That You Learn When You Become A Professional Travel Photographer

Becoming a professional travel photographer is for many a dream job. After all who wouldn’t want to be paid to travel the world to take photos for a living. How hard can it be? The reality of being a professional travel photographer is very different. Whilst there are lots of positives there are also a lot of negatives that you learn through the years. So, here are 8 things that you learn when you become a professional travel photographer.

It is not a free pass to travel the world

Often the first thing that hits people when they decide to become a travel photographer is that it isn’t going to suddenly mean you are going to be travelling the world for free. Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more competitive these days and with falling fees, the golden age of being commissioned for thousands of dollars for a feature are long gone. So, don’t expect clients to be knocking down your door to send you to exotic places.

It’s not a holiday

It dawned on me pretty early in my career how different a photography trip or assignment was to a holiday abroad. For one, you are pretty much always short on time and having to survive on just a few hours’ sleep a day. There are also the missed meals not to mention the blisters and aches and pains from walking around all day with a heavy backpack. On top of all of this, there is also that sense of loneliness. There is no time to lay by a pool or spend an afternoon in a bar. Your entire focus and energy will be spent on capturing the next great shot.

You become a CEO and cleaner

Most people don’t realise that to become a successful travel photographer you have to become a one-man company. That means you are the CEO, the Finance Director, Marketing Manager and even the cleaner. You have to be willing to get out there to get clients and devise marketing and promotional strategies to get more work. You need to learn to do everything from expenses to research and logistics. You’ll also have to clean your camera equipment and workspace whilst answering every day emails from clients. It’s not just a full-time job, it’s a full-time job of an entire company.

It’s an easy job

When you tell people what you do, most will look at you through the eyes of someone who thinks what you do is easy. After all, it’s not a real job it’s just a holiday! After a while, you won’t bother responding and will just leave people to think what they think. You will need to develop a thick skin as there will be a lot of people ready to try to knock you down.

You need to have your finances in order

When you first transition to becoming a pro photographer you automatically assume that your first paid gig will be just around the corner. But in reality, paid work can take a while to begin to come through and even then, don’t expect to get rich. So before quitting your day job to pursue becoming a professional photographer make sure you have enough money saved up to keep you going for a few years. But not only that, but you also need to factor in expenses such as marketing and even going on trips yourself. Because you won’t get any work without some marketing and promotion. So, make sure you are prepared financially.

Everyone will want to offer you credit

The number of times I have been told by a client “we don’t have a budget, but we will credit you instead”. To be honest that should an absolute minimum offer even if you are paid for your work. Unfortunately, these days most clients don’t appreciate the value of photography. With stock agencies around which offer free images, it’s easy to understand why. Whether you decide to go down that route of offering your work for free is ultimately up to you. But consider this. If you don’t value your work enough to get paid for it then why would someone else? At the very least try to strike a deal to get paid even if it’s a small amount. That will at least show the client that you value your own work.

Other photographers won’t bite

Photography is a lonely profession and most photographers are wary of sharing any info with other photographers. But if you can find a few likeminded individuals and share information, help each other and even team up you will often find that you will all end up being more successful. But it has to be a two-way street you have to be able to offer something in return even if it’s just hard work.

It’s the best job in the world

From the above, it sounds like no one should ever become a travel photographer. On the contrary, being a travel photographer is one of the best jobs in the world. For all of the hard work and uncertainty, when you do capture that amazing photo it makes everything worthwhile. But when that photo goes on to be sold to a client, well there aren’t many more satisfying moments in a photographer’s career.

Becoming a travel photographer is easy but actually making money from it is tough these days. But with hard work and persistence and as long as you are willing to accept the ups and downs, there are opportunities out there. In the meantime here are 8 things that you will learn for yourself along your journey.

The Skills Needed To Be A Travel Photographer

Travel photography is a wonderful profession or hobby to be involved in. Being able to travel the world and take photos in exotic places can seem like the perfect job. But as any travel photographer will tell you, taking photos on your travels as a job is completely different from taking photos whilst on vacation. As a travel photographer, you have to sacrifice everything when you are away in search of the perfect shot. Often this involves tiredness, hunger, boredom and even time spent with loved ones if you’re travelling with them. So what does it actually take to be a travel photographer? Here are the skills that you need to be successful.

Expert planner

It’s no surprise that travel photographers just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Often this doesn’t happen by luck. A lot of planning and research has gone into any trip that a travel photographer goes on. The reality is that the majority of the time when you are travelling you won’t have enough time to photograph everything you want to. In addition to this, you will often have to make do with unforeseen circumstances. Bad weather, closures and even unexpected events can all happen. That is why it’s so vital that you plan as much of your shoot as possible in advance. This involves not only creating a shot list but also understanding the direction of the light, the sort of photos that already exist and even have a backup plan in case the weather is not great. As a travel photographer, you also have to be an expert planner.

Know how to photograph everything

Whilst it’s impossible to be an expert in every genre of photography, as a travel photographer you have to be able to photograph anything. This includes everything from landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, sport, food, close-ups and even occasionally wildlife. You have to be comfortable photographing in low light conditions as well as the midday sun. You have to know how to compose cityscapes as well as portraits. As mentioned above it’s impossible to be an expert in every single field but you need to know the basics of what it takes to capture images in any situation. The reason being that every destination is different and every shoot will be different also.

Hit the ground running

One of the biggest limitations you have as a travel photographer is the amount of time you will have at a destination. It is never long enough. So one of the key skills you need is to be able to start the moment you arrive at your destination. For Example, if your flight lands in the morning you need to be photographing the moment you get to your hotel and get your camera equipment out. You won’t have time for culture shock or jetlag. Some people are naturally more comfortable at adapting to new places. If you struggle with this sort of thing the only way to improve is to practice. The more you do it and the more places that you experience the more confidence you will have to be able to cope with new environments.

Strong visual analysis

There is a photography term known as previsualization. It is the concept of being able to see a photo in your mind before actually taking the picture. This is one of the key skills that set apart good travel photographers from ordinary tourists taking photos on their vacations. Being able to look at the scene and analyse it in your mind and put together the composition is usually what will give you those amazing photos. For example, you may get to a scene and think that it would look better with a person or a cyclist in your foreground. Or it could be that you imagine how the photo would sit on a double-page spread so you leave enough room for a headline to be written. The key to being able to do this well is to practice. The more you get into the habit of being able to do this previsualization in your mind before taking a photo, the quicker and more efficient you will become at it.

Fast reflexes

The vast majority of the time you have to be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity to capture the photos that you want. But there are also occasions that you need to work fast. It might be because there is a fleeting moment in front of you that you only have one chance at capturing. Take too long and you won’t get another chance to capture that photo. This, of course, involves knowing your camera inside out. You also need to have a good understanding of the technical elements of photography such as the exposure triangle and composition. But the real challenge is being able to do all of that in a split second. Again like most things in photography you will improve with practice.

Being confident

As a travel photographer, you have to immerse yourself in the destination that you are visiting. It’s culture, it’s people and even it’s food are all vital components that make the destination unique. So you need to be able to get out there and be confident enough to approach people to take their photos. But you also need to have confidence in your own ability to be able to capture photos in a foreign country. This often means putting yourself beyond your comfort zone. But if you can do it, you will end up with fantastic photos.

Enjoy your own company

Travel photography is a lonely profession. The best way to capture the photos that you want to take is to travel alone. One of the things that I learned very early in my career was how difficult it is to be able to have a successful shoot whilst you have family or friends around. After all, no one likes to hang around for hours on end to wait for you to take a photo at the perfect time. Inevitably travelling on your own means you have a lot of time for yourself. So you have to be able to enjoy your own company but also be comfortable enough to be able to go to places to capture the photos that you want to take.

Commit to the photo

It often astonishes me when I see photographers turn up to a location take a photo and leave faster than it has taken me to even set up my tripod. Every time you decide to take a photo you should be making a commitment to making that photo the best it can be. That means taking your time analysing the scene and visualising it in your mind. Then once you have taken the first shot, be willing to critique it and look at how you can improve on it. Don’t ever settle for your first photo. Make it the best it can be.

Be optimistic

I always find it funny when I get to a location out in the wilderness when the weather isn’t great and I see a load of photographers all set up and waiting. They are of course waiting for that off chance that the weather might just change and give them something special. Being a travel photographer also means being optimistic. Because I have lost count of the number of times that I thought a shoot wouldn’t happen only to be surprised by the most amazing sunset or light I have ever seen. There are of course times when it doesn’t happen and you are left frustrated. It’s in those times that you need to be able to lift yourself to try again tomorrow. Because after all you never know what opportunities will present themselves.

An insatiable wanderlust

It might seem obvious to say but to be a travel photographer you need to love to travel. But whilst most people enjoy going on vacation not everyone loves to travel. For travel photographers, it is often more than that. It is an insatiable appetite to be able to see the world and capture it in photos. There won’t be time for sunbathing by the pool or spending an afternoon in a bar, as a travel photographer all your thoughts are on where and how to capture the next amazing photo.

Know how to edit

There is no way around it. If you want your photos to look the best that they can do, you have to be willing to edit them. Whether it’s subtle changes or more extensive ones, editing your photos in a post-processing software will make them look better. So, without a doubt, one of the key skills of a travel photographer is being able to use post-processing software.

Travel photography is often a lonely, tiring and high pressured profession. It is also one of the most exciting and rewarding. But to be a great travel photographer takes time, discipline and hard work. So ask yourself if you have the skills above to be a travel photographer? Don’t worry if you don’t because like anything in photography, the more you practice the more you can develop those skills.