Brendan Von Son is a Canadian travel photographer and writer. He has been on the road as a travel journalist for over 5 years now and have seen over 80 countries. He is also the owner of the adventure travel magazine Vagabundo Magazine and is leading a photography workshop in Peru this coming May, find out more! To see more of his photos follow Brendan on ViewBug.

"I really like ViewBug. To be honest, I'm not so concerned with the "winning" of contests. I like to come to ViewBug because the contests stretch my creativity. They allow me to try to focus on a given shot. Then, I absolutely love going through and seeing who other photographers have expressed their vision based on the challenge. It's really inspiring and quite often inspiration has struck from seeing some of the contest participant's work." - Brendan

Tell us a bit about yourself, how do you describe your photography style?

I'm a professional travel photographer originating from Alberta, Canada. I've been on the road for the past 5 years consecutively without a break. During that time, I've seen around 80 countries on 6 different continents. I've done some crazy stuff like driving a scooter down the west side of Africa from Mali to South Africa. My travel photography has been featured my major publications such as the Guardian and Bing. My travel exploits themselves have been featured my The BBC, National Geographic Traveler, and loads of other publications.
As for style, I like to think that I don't have one. As a travel photographer, you have to be sort of a jack of all trades rather than a specialist. I think think is the same in regards to my style as well. I do a bit of everything. I do have a tendency to prefer really colourful images, though.

In one sentence what has photography done for you in your life?

Photography has allowed me to capture the world in a way my imagination and given mood sees it.

When did you start taking photos and what inspired you to get started?

I've been taking pictures since I was 13 years old on a summer exchange in Japan. I brought a couple disposable Kodak cameras and shot about 150 images. I still have the film prints in a stack somewhere in my basement. I started shooting professionally because I was working as a travel writer and needed images to go with my work. I found that my articles sold better if they were accompanied by great images. Then, it just took hold and I became completely photo-addicted.

Do you have any influencers?

Absolutely. I really like the old photographers who shot nature in Black and White. I think it's so hard to capture a really cool landscape in just black and white. Classic photographers like Ansel Adams and Nicholas Morant were so good at capturing the beauty without the need of colour. More modern photographers that really inspire me are people like Richard Bernabe who is an amazing nature and landscape photographer, and obviously the work of Steve McCurry speaks for itself.

What has been your favorite shoot and why?

It's really hard for me to pick as there have just been so many. Both Antarctica and Oman were such amazing places to shoot and probably two places I'd jump to get back to and shoot again. More specifically, my favourite location to shoot has been Moraine Lake at sunrise. I've shot that place so many times and I still keep going back. There's really nothing better than sitting on the rock pile at Moraine in the pitch black and then watching that beautiful blue water and those amazing 10 peaks start to develop in front of your eyes. It's such a special place.

Do you remember a difficult photo shoot session? What happened?

Well, there's not a shoot in the world that doesn't come without it's challenges. Especially when you're a travel photographer. So often, you've never been to a place before that you're expected to shoot that day. And no matter how much planning you do, something always goes wrong or come unexpected. Thinking to one recent shoot in particular recently, I can't help but remember a morning at Waterton Lake in Alberta, Canada. The winds were so high the I was nearly knocked over a couple times. Then, on top of it, the wind was knocking the water off the surface of the lake and specking my lens with water spots. It also didn't help that it was about zero degrees outside. But, as is often the case, the nasty weather actually helped create some stunning images. So often I find that the days I fight through the conditions are the ones I get the best images.

What do you carry in your camera bag?

Most travel photographers like to stay light, and I seem to just be accumulating more and more gear. I shoot a Canon 6D and a Canon 60D. For lenses, I have a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, 16-35mm f/4 IS, 50mm f/1.8, and a Sigma 10-20mm for the cropped sensor. I use a Brian Blue tripod by Three Legged Thing, and a whole heap of filters. I don't shoot a lot of flash and don't carry one 90% of the time. I also have a GoPro 2 for some action shots here or there.

Do you have a favorite subject to shoot?

I like variety. If I'm in Europe, I get sick of the buildings and architecture, and then when I'm away from it, it's all I want to shoot. Thus, it's variety I seek out. I think the one thing I never tire of photographing is wildlife. I don't really have the equipment to do it that well, but I try. I love a good landscape, too. Nothing beats some nice light at a location out in nature by yourself.

Do you have a favorite location and time of the day to shoot?

I mentioned this a bit above, but I love a good landscape at dawn. I love the fact that you seem to get it all to yourself. There's also something so powerful about watching the light hit a magnificent scene. It's like slowly watching an image develop in the darkroom, you just see the world wake up. It's almost an emotional feeling.

What are you currently working on?

I'm back in Canada after a 13 month round the world trip that had me in about 20 different countries, mostly in Asia. I'm about to embark on a trip to hit up ski season in Jasper National Park. Then, in the New Year I'm going to be doing a massive 2-month American Road Trip to try to capture some iconic spots and some less familiar ones too. After that, I'm heading down to South America where I'll be running a travel photography workshop in Peru.

Can you share a couple of tips with your fellow photographers?

Don't take shortcuts and don't be lazy. Lots of photographers seem to take the easy way out of a good image. They hand hold when they should be on a tripod, and they HDR when they should just get up at dawn for the good light. Good photos are about 90% planning and patience, and 10% execution. Also, don't blame your gear or make excuses. For the first 2 years I spent on the road, I did most my shooting on a Canon t2i and a kit lens. It's not the gear, it's getting the most out of it.