The Wandering Lens
A PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMUNITY OF TRAVEL LOVERS AND CREATIVES
The Wandering Lens is the leading publisher of travel photography guides, listing photogenic locations around the world alongside outdoor adventures, photography tips, creative career advice and travel experiences.
If you get sent into dream mode simply by looking at an idyllic screensaver image, flicking through guidebooks, or browsing travel images on Instagram then we’ll get along just fine!
As a publishing company and photography business, The Wandering Lens has worked with global brands and publications including OM SYSTEM (formerly Olympus), Visit Greenland, Destination Canada, Lonely Planet, VOGUE, Tourism New Zealand, Tourism Queensland, Tourism South Africa, Visit Japan to name a few, in addition to luxury lodges with Wilderness Safaris, Hoshino Resorts and remote wilderness cabins, island resorts and local tour operators from Chile to Namibia.
The courses, articles, and resources are all based directly on these real world experiences in the industry, aiming to inspire your inner creative to capture the world with a refreshed approach. You may wish to find work as a travel photographer, to build a portfolio, or to simply improve your landscape photography - hopefully, you’ll find something here that’ll suit your goals.
I look forward to connecting and seeing your photography one day soon!
Like-minded people from
all corners of the world!
The Wandering Lens was launched back in 2015 as a travel publishing company. The readers, photographers and followers have helped shape its direction since then, and I’m so proud of the creative community that’s evolved.
Now, we still publish and share destination guides, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about connecting like-minded photographers through creative development with online courses, resources and every so often, the chance to meet up in person!
So far, we’ve met up in Iceland, Finland, Japan, the Cook Islands, Australia, Namibia and France to photograph together. Online, there’s a new group mentoring membership on the way to better serve those keen on building their portfolio, pursuing goals as a photographer and networking with other freelancers and photographers.
If you’re keen to join us on an adventure, or would like to take part in a course and join the group mentoring program, get in touch directly via hello@thewanderinglens.com or sign up to any course and be invited to the private Facebook group, exclusive for the course community of photographers.
Meet the Editor, Educator + Photographer behind The Wandering Lens
Lisa Michele Burns (aka me, hello!)
This is me in my happy place; cameras in hand, walking on a glacier, traveling, and on assignment. It’s also me at work, and while some aspects of my job include computer time, I’m forever grateful that a lot of it involves being outdoors and photographing scenes like this.
Now, it’s not the typical posed and perfected bio shot that people tend to use when offering courses or talking about their careers, but it sums up mine beautifully and if you’ve ended up here, perhaps it’s what you’re hoping to make yours too. I’ve been working as a travel and landscape photographer for over 17 years, with clients ranging from Lonely Planet to Vogue Magazine, and Visit Greenland to Visit Arizona.
The courses and resources found on this site, along with the information published on The Wandering Lens are written based on my own experiences in the industry. I’ve learnt some harsh lessons along the way, experimented a lot, failed, pitched, been rejected, and eventually, found my place as a photographer. I spill everything I know onto the pages of the course workbooks and it’s all with the intention of giving you a head start, so you can jump straight into the industry and not feel overwhelmed about what to do first.
My aim is to raise the standard within the industry, the opportunities are endless when it comes to publishing, marketing, and tourism, I hope you’ll join me in the industry soon, even if it’s just to do the odd freelance job while still having a home base - it’s so rewarding and life-changing!
Some fun facts about me:
I’m a weather geek and love tracking storms, checking forecasts, and watching cloud formations…especially in remote alpine areas when lenticular clouds appear!
I’ve lived in Australia, Ireland, and France, plus spent 6 years living on a small island by the Great Barrier Reef where I owned and operated a print lab, landscape gallery, and wedding/event photography business.
I have run photography tours in Iceland, Finland, France, the Cook Islands, and Japan, and loved meeting like-minded people and exploring these destinations with groups of photographers from all over the world.
My photography career actually started out in journalism, I worked at an Australian regional newspaper before working for travel magazines and eventually getting into travel photography and publishing that way. It was an editor way back in 2007 that mentioned they preferred my photos to my writing which made me consider switching and taking photography more seriously!
I taught tour guides in Namibia how to use the OM SYSTEM gear, one of my favourite experiences to date! They showed me their home, wildlife, and landscapes in return - such a special assignment. (see image)
I’m a cautious adventurer. My portfolio might make it look like I’m fearless, but I get those anxious butterflies, get wildly seasick, need to stop regularly and ‘take photos (breathe/recover)’ while hiking, and have been in tears while driving across Australia because I suddenly realised I can’t change a tyre if I got stuck out there.
