When did you first become interested in photography and what sparked your interest?
I’ve always been very visual and fascinated by the beauty of the world surrounding me. When is was very young my father used to be a keen amateur photographer.
I started taking my first pictures using his analog slr (canon av1) when i was in my early 10s and soon became very passionate about the possibility of capturing moments and freezing time, places, people and emotions. I took a course in photography alongside high school and now, 25 years after using my first analog dslr I can say that one of the main joys of photography is when I successfully manage to communicate something with images and convey part of those emotions to other people looking at the pictures.
What did you do in your life before shooting travel stock images?
I have a degree in communication and a brief past spent working in IT for a couple of years. I’ve been lucky to be able to make a proper living with travel stock images when still relatively young (24) and when the market in stock images was changing quickly.
How many photo trips do you do in a year and how long do you spend on the road?
When I was 25 in order to build my portfolio I embarked in a long 25-month incredible journey around the world. Certainly one of the most incredible experience of my life which also helped me a lot in my job. Nowadays i am usually on the road for work for a total amount of 3 to 4 months a year, in trips that could be 15 days, 3 weeks, or sometimes 5-6 weeks.
What have been your favourite destinations you have photographed and why?
My favourite region where to travel and photograph is certainly Asia for its rich culture, relaxed vibe, relatively low cost of travel, good food, safety, impressive landscapes, monuments, tropical scenery etc. If I were to mention individual countries i would say Myanmar for the impressive monuments and unspoilt land, Japan for the unique culture and superb travel experience and the US for the concentration of stunning national parks and beautiful big cities. And of course my home country Italy where the food and relaxed travel experience is always very enjoyable.
Do you have a favourite technique of piece of photographic equipment?
Well if I were to pick a piece of photographic equipment i would say my neutral density filters !
What do you find most challenging shooting travel stock images?
It’s challenging because we as photographers are basically doing nothing new. the challenge is to do it better 🙂
What’s your favourite image or images, and what do you love about them?
I am particularly satisfied with my set of images from the US national parks and from my last trip to Japan, i find them to be very evocative and some of them have a real dreamy feeling
Is there somewhere you’d still love to shoot?
Yes. i would love to go back to many countries in Middle East, especially Iran and Jordan. Iceland is also on top of the list, during the aurora season in winter. Alaska, more south america, russia and then some more tropical islands in south pacific.
Have you had a situation where it all went wrong and you didn’t get the shots you planned?
It could happen. Apart from logistic accidents/delay the biggest problem could be bad weather, and sometimes you just need a lot of patience and time. During the 2015 cherry blossom season I waited for a week in the same little town in Japan at the edge of Mt Fuji to get the proper weather for the volcano which was always covered my clouds. Luckily i have never had health or safety-related problems.
Is there any advise you’d give to a young person thinking of getting onto this business?
Starting today would be extremely difficult and challenging, especially with all changes in the market. i would suggest to try to go for quality than quantity. in my experience is that what pays at the end!
If you weren’t a photographer what would you be?
An architect maybe given my passion for architecture and interiors.
Do you specialize in a particular subject, geographic area or style?
I am specialized in high-end travel photography and my style is distinctively clean, vibrant and crisp. I love to produce striking and evocative images, sometimes with almost a dreamy feel. I am quite obsessed by tecnical aspect of my job and a lot of time is spent fine tuning those images in post production.
How do you make your images stand out?
I try to make them stand out by using strong compositions and especially dramatic lighting effects. For example I love sunflares or shooting directly towards the sun to give an image a distinctive dreamy/dramatic feel. Proper work is then needed to balance those often extreme contrast/light situation but at the end the result can be very satisfying and the image particularly evocative and intense.
To see more of Michele’s work click here
