Just-In-Time: Travel Photography Resources By Photographer Tracy Zhang

Lake Huron Road Trip

2013-05-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

The first of many cottage weekends has officially started in Canada. As a first time cottage-goer, I could not pass up the chance to take a road trip from Toronto around Lake Huron for an unique cottage weekend. Six hour drive from Toronto, Lake Huron boasts pure natural, fresh air, quiet towns, and thousands of islands. On the drive up, Alex and I stopped at Parry Sound and spotted

Photographing Downtown Toronto in Evening Light

2013-05-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

On a Thursday evening, I came home from the gym to find this view from my apartment. The light washed over downtown Toronto just right, bouncing off apartment windows, catching the red tones in the street lights. I saw a beautiful image in the view and snapped a few shots quickly. A few minutes later, the light was gone. Good images is good light. Learning to recognize, create, capture, and

Goa: Paradise Found

2013-05-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

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Introduction to Food Photography for Travel Bloggers

2013-05-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

Lately I’ve been photographing a lot of food stories, including my most recent visit to the Toronto Underground Market. Food is an important and integral aspect of traveling - it is a window into culture, it brings friends and family together, it can improve a bad travel day. To help travel bloggers capture great photos of food that looks just as great as the dishes taste, here is a beginner’s

Toronto Underground Market

2013-05-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

I attended a weekend affair at the Toronto Underground Market this past Saturday. The Underground Market is a celebration of diverse cuisine and budding food entrepreneurs in Toronto. This community marketplace took place at the Evergreen Brickworks - the weather couldn't have been better, everyone was hangout out at the patios by the outdoor garden. My favorite story from the Market was the

Ancient China, Dali City

2013-05-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

There's an element of delight in coming across old images that you have forgotten about. Such was how I felt when I discovered a folder of unpublished images from Dali on my computer. A year ago, I spent a month in southern China as part of my bi-annual trip to China. The south has a lushness and abundance that I did not expect, it was a beautiful trip. My photographic style has changed a

The UK I loved

2013-05-01T07:07:00.000-04:00

London was a fine city, but it was really the English countryside and the rest of the UK that won my heart. Let me count the ways... Among Oxford Scholars - A few hours north of the London metropolitan hub is the Oxford University, full of would-be intellectuals. I loved the laid-back university town, completely hidden away from the sprawl of a big English city. I spent hours in the park, on

Visionmongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography

2013-04-29T06:50:00.000-04:00

For my second David duChemin book of the year, I chose Visionmongers. I didn’t know what to expect in this book, but I knew the bar had been set very high after reading and enjoying David’s Photographically Speaking. Not only that, in Visionmongers, David interviews a handful of successful photographers in various fields - including Chase Jarvis and Joe McNally - for their path to success.

Living in the United Kingdom

2013-04-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

In 2011, I spent 4 months living and studying in south England, United Kingdom. Not only was it a rewarding educational experience, I also got to discover many different parts of the UK. I loved London - the pub scene, the thames river, the abundance of museums. I could have lived there longer - and still might. But for now, here's a collection of my favourite trips and memories from my time in

Three Travel Startups To Look Out For

2013-04-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

I’ve always been close to the startup and tech scene, and if there’s an opportunity to combine tech and travel, I’m all for it. I have kept my eye out for travel start-ups. Here are three that I particularly like: Maptia Lately there’s been a lot of interest around map making and redefining what maps should look like, from creative designs to crowd-sourced images. Maptia has yet to be

A Budget Weekend in Birmingham

2013-04-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

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That Feeling The Night Before Traveling

2013-04-14T19:59:00.001-04:00

Moments after clicking “purchase” on a pair of roundtrip tickets that marked my next major international trip, I felt butterflies. Growing up in China, I did not have a lot of opportunities to travel when I was little. Every summer, my grandparents would take me with them on a week-long trip to the ocean. We would stay at a coastal town a few hours away, it was nothing special when I think

Toronto Neighborhood Stroll in Queens West

2013-04-10T07:13:00.000-04:00

My time in Toronto has been non stop client meetings, research, and writing. But once in a while, I get to take some time off, and if the weather also cooperates, I get to shoot. After thoroughly exploring Kensington Market on a photoshoot, I headed to Queen West. The fashion district is full of boutiques and restaurants. I’m no stranger to the coffeeshops in the area. My favorites include

Travel Quotes of the Day

2013-04-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

I started collecting travel quotes a few months back. Found in travel novels, old postcards, and worn notebooks, these quotes remind me that of all the reasons to travel, to be a responsible voyager, and to look at home differently. Whether being a connoisseur of travel quotes have made me a better traveler is up for debate, but at the very least these quotes makes me want to be.

What is Kensington Market

2013-04-03T06:55:00.000-04:00

After my afternoon spent in Kensington with Natalie, I’ve really started to love Kensington market. It’s got so much character and local flavour. I love that a lot of the businesses owners live in the market, and that residences in the area are long-time patrons of the shops and restaurants. There is a real sense of distinct community there that’s sometimes lost in big cities. At the heart of

Photographers Who Travel and Blog

2013-04-01T06:32:00.000-04:00

I haven’t been feeling well in the last few days, fighting a virus has left me stuck in bed for most of the day. I don’t exactly have the mental acuteness to write a lengthy blog post today but thought I would point you guys to the blogs of some travel photographers whom I follow. This is by no means an exhaustive list but I do genuinely enjoy the work of everyone on listed below. Here I’ve

Where to Shop in Kensington Market Toronto

2013-03-27T07:15:00.000-04:00

I love spring in Toronto because the energy in the city is elevated to an 11. It seems that the residence were weighed down by the darkness and cold of winter, and are now ready to come out of hibernation and welcome the warmer weather. I spent the first weekend of early spring wandering Kensington Market with Natalie of Near Afar who showed me her favorite shops in the Market. Here are 5 of the

Your Girl on Pinterest

2013-03-25T06:24:00.000-04:00

I purposely held out on Pinterest for a long time, not because I didn't believe it was a good product or doubt that it can be an effective marketing tool, but because I knew I didn't have time to devote to curating collections on Pinterest and did not want to start something I couldn't commit to. But that has come to an end. Your girl is now on Pinterest where I share my own travel images from

Travel Quote of the Day

2013-03-22T12:24:00.000-04:00

Sending you a travel Postcard with one of my favorite travel quotes of all time, from the ever so wise Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Happy Friday & happy travels!

The Best of France

2013-03-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

In late 2010, I spent four months in France. It was my first time in Europe and I couldn't have picked a better place to get my first taste of the continent. I remember spending my afternoons in local coffeeshops with Parisiens intently watching horse races on the television. I remember lining up outside all the museums and touristy sights hours. Later on, I would spend 4 months living in UK

Thoughts on Vivian Maier, Street Photographer

2013-03-18T09:45:00.000-04:00

For this month's photography book review, I'm moving away from technical photography literature to shed light on a case of posthumous photographic discover. Maier's story moved me, and as my interest in her life grew, I purchased Vivian Maier, Street Photographer. Vivian Maier’s story and path to becoming a recognized street photographer is a beautifully tragic one. Borrowing from Churchill’s

Travel Quote of the Day

2013-03-15T07:03:00.000-04:00

Every Friday, I write a segment called Postcards from the Road where I pair up my images with one of the top 50 most popular travel quotes. I began this project to keep myself motivated to travel, and to inspire readers like you to do the same. My plan is to do this for 52 weeks, making this a year-long project. “Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more

A Winterlicious Toronto

2013-03-13T07:01:00.000-04:00

While I am so pathetically unaccustomed to the freezing Ontario winter, I’m always surprised and impressed by the tenacity of Torontonians in the heart of Canadian winter. The snowfall, ice, and slush do not seem to deter my fellow Canadians from enjoying a weekend out downtown. There is nothing more comforting than spending my afternoons inside my favorite Toronto shops while watching the

8 Blogging Tips for Travel Photographers

2013-03-11T06:56:00.000-04:00

The previous post 8 Photography Tips for Travel Bloggers was so well-received it inspired me to flip the whole concept around and offer some blogging tips for photographers. I picked the blogs of 30 photographers and compared them to the top 30 travel blogs out there. Here’s what I came up with: 1. Plan ahead, way ahead Long-term bloggers will keep an editorial calendar with posts scheduled

Travel Quote of the Day

2013-03-08T06:40:00.000-05:00

One September afternoon, my college roommate told me about a tribe in China where people lived in matriarchy, a place where there is no concept of marriage nor paternity. 8 months later, I was in the back of a beat-up van, driving through the mountains in southern China to visit the Musuo tribe. My trip was picked up by WildJunk magazine who put up my images in a photo story in their Winter