TPX28: Dan Westergren – Travel photography for the National Geographic

Dan Westergren of www.danwestergren.com and I were recently exchanging emails about his PhotoBizX premium membership.

It turns out he has a love of cycling, like I do, used to race and even spent time in South Australia from the USA while on assignment for wait for it… National Geographic!

My ears pricked when I read this and I poked a few more questions at Dan via email and he told me…

I'm a NatGeo and commercial Travel photographer, stuck at home trying to decide how to make money without getting on an airplane.

Right now, I'm putting my efforts towards commercial real estate/architectural things but honestly don't know what's going to work out. I keep listening to the podcasts about Facebook marketing for portraits etc. thinking maybe that's the way to go.

Another email exchange with more questions from me and he said…

For more than 20 years I was Director of Photography for National Geographic Traveler Magazine. I had an Editor who let me photograph a couple of stories a year, usually adventure type stories. I was lucky to photograph stories for the magazine such as Climbing Mt Blanc, The Matterhorn, and skiing to the North Pole.

Following that exchange, I invited him on for this recording and am glad I did!

Here’s some of what we cover:

• A look into Dan's career as a travel photographer
• How travel magazines work
• Conceptualizing storylines and the photos that go with each story
• Is Dan a real-life Water Mitty
• Dan's main role as a director of photography for NatGeo
• The difference between National Geographic Magazine and National Geographic Traveler
• Understanding the language of photography for travel magazines
• Dan's photo assignments
• Dan's thought process for capturing perfect travel photographs
• Camera gear Dan takes on an assignment
• How Dan found himself on unusual photography adventure trips
• How to determine what to shoot for a magazine story
• Successful photographers are hyper-aware of how they are framing their pictures
• People's heads in photos should not be the same size
• How Dan learned what types of photos magazines need
• How to create an interesting magazine layout
• The wide-angle disease and how to avoid it
• Dan's editing process
• Why Dan never deletes a photo
• A peek into the world of how stories get published in magazines
• How writers and photographers work together to come up with a travel story
• Do photographers have any say about what goes into the articles written by writers
• How Dan's commercial real estate photography business is doing
• Figuring out how to take photos without leaving home
• Finding unique opportunities to stand out from the competition
• What Dan will be doing in 12-months time, hopefully
• Dan's goal for his architecture photography business

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to read your feedback and comments. Was there something from this interview that struck a chord, inspired or motivated you?

Will you take any kind of action after hearing what Dan had to share?

The beauty of being a photo editor or a director of photography at National Geographic is that you're really shaping the magazine, you're not just finding pictures. – Dan Westergren

Let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Dan or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them below too.

Whenever I go to a place, I'm treating that destination as a background. I want to meet somebody who is there. I want somebody to take me. – Dan Westergren

I wanted the word editors to respect my opinion about the photographs and the design, and I was not going to make too many suggestions about what I thought they should do because that was their sandbox, I had mine. – Dan Westergren

Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:

Dan Westergren Website

Dan Westergren on Instagram

Dan Westergren Portfolio on Issuu

Dan Westergren Architectural Portfolio on Issuu

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

USB Memory Direct – save 15% off your first order with the code FLASH15

Tony Hoffer's very USB Designs

Thank you!

Thanks again for listening and thanks to Dan for coming on and experimenting with a new and different format for this photography podcast and for sharing his thoughts, expertise, views and ideas.

If you only have one lens, then you're going to shoot some pictures from a foot away, you're going to shoot some pictures from across the street. You just really need to be sure to mix up those angles of view. – Dan Westergren

Also, big thanks to USB Memory Direct for sponsoring this episode of the podcast! If you're looking for the most unique and custom USB drives for your clients, complete with your branding, check out USB Memory Direct and use the code FLASH15 to save 15% off your first purchase.

And make sure you check out the designs – they truly are amazing and only limited by your imagination.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions about this episode, please be sure to leave them below in the comment section of this post, and if you liked the episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post!

That’s it for me, hope everything is going well for you in life and photography!

Thanks and speak soon

Andrew

Tony Hoffer of Hoffer Photography used USB Memory Direct to create this “H” designed USB drive for his photography clients who always comment on the unique flash drive and LOVE it.