On the Road Again - Stories from an International Photographer

I got the travel bug when I did a semester in London. I was 20 years old

My quest for knowledge of foreign lands started when I was talking with an English professor at Florida State University. During a conversation in between classes the professor asked me if I had considered the Study Abroad Program. I didn't know you could live in another country and get college credit; when I told my parents about the abroad program my mom said, "You could use a little culture in your life." The family pulled together and scraped up a lot of money for me to have the opportunity to live in England.

Little did they know that in winter of 1991 my life would forever be ruined at any chance of me having a normal life; I was hooked on travel.

Shot above: in 2014 I packed my SUV and drove across country to move to Hollywood. Shot is somewhere in west Texas.

I grew up in North Floria, The Redneck Riviera. Travel in my family had been limited scuba diving trips to the Bahamas and Mexico. I had never seen any other parts of the US other than the south and east coast.

But living in London gave me the freedom to travel without the parents. I had a ticket to travel and I had freedom to choose the foreign lands so close to England

It would be 20 years before I would buy my first real camera and document my travel experiences with images. I don't know why it took so long for me to discover my medium as an artist. This post has scenes from my travels since I bought my first camera in 2009. But let me continue to tell my story and how I got to where I am now with photography.

Shot above: on that journey to LA in the winter of 2014 I took shots of the places along I-10. Sometimes I would take side routes so I could see the back roads of the country. Shot of a red barn...post production to emphasis the red sky.

For many years I worked as a mortgage banker in Tampa Bay. During my mortgage years, I would make a pile of money for a couple of months and then take a month off and travel to different countries. I say broaden the mind and travel often. Most of my friends could not relate and to this day thing of me as irresponsible and crazy. After the US real-estate market crash of 2007, I started traveling to Panama in search of property to buy.

I bought my first digital camera in 2008, a Nikon D70, with an 18-70 kit lens

Shot above: The 450 year old Spanish city, Casco Viejo, in Panama. I ran around shooting anything and everything. I knew nothing about photography and just put the camera in auto model to the get the shots. I still didn't think about what I was shooting; I was just shooting. It wasn't until later than I decided to learn light and the inter-workings of the camera.

In Panama I started to see life differently. The culture was different and I became interested in the people living there; it was the first time in my life, other than my life in London, that I considered living in another country. I dove deeper into the meaning of living abroad and somehow the images I would photograph meant something to me personally, but I wasn't sure what that meant.

Shot above: an angel in a cemetery outside of Casco Viejo. Poverty was everywhere in Panama. The rich and poor; it was extreme. I fell in love with both side of the fence.

2008 was the first time in my life where I didn't really need to work. I had a couple hundred thousand in the bank saved up, I was figuring out the next chapter in my life. I could travel without any restrictions or responsibilities; I wasn't stressed and I was free.

My friend, Mark Bogue, had his pilots license and sometimes would go on trips with him in small 4 seater. The Keys, Bahamas, and short trips from Tampa Bay. I was along for the ride and would bring with my little Nikon D70. Above shot was taken somewhere between Florida and the Bahamas. We went for a fishing trip and general shenanigans.

By 2009 I had made the decision to call myself a professional photographer. I still had a pile of money in the bank, but liked the idea of travel and taking pictures. I became obsessed. I took pics of everything and eventually became known as a photographer around the globe because of social media.

Shot above: on the way to teach a workshop in NYC I shot this with my iPhone in 2011. I was hooked on travel again and photography became my ticket to world travel with a purpose.

In 2013 I taught a few workshops in England. My first time returning to the UK since 1991. My first stop would be Liverpool of all places. I was visiting a friend, Bruce Smith, who became one of my mentors in the photography world.

Shot of the beach in Liverpool, England (another iPhone shot)

Bruce and I taught a workshop in London on that trip and drove from Liverpool to London on the M5. We passed this biatch in this killer vintage convertible.

Lightenupandshoot project as some of you know from my previous projects took me around the world. The website that made photography fun again. Promo shot from my travels.

In 2010 I went to the Amazon and one of the most memorable experiences photographing the wild rainforest and indigenous people. What the hell is that animal climbing on me?

I have been to almost every continent in the world but my favorite place is the desert. It's mysterious and the desert is my oasis. For some people it's the ocean, for me it's the endless sea of desert, cactus and rocks.

I know my audience is small on steemit. I wish I could reach a broader spectrum of people on this platform. Spread the love as I have a lot of love to give.

I want to thank that professor in the fall of 1990 for giving me the gift of travel and photography. I didn't know it at the time but that single conversation forever changed my life. I have wanderlust and feel like I can never settle down in one spot. I also want to thank my mom for encouraging me to travel and telling me that "travel broadens the mind." She was exactly right and I am still broadening the mind.

Cheers and enjoy the Superbowl!
Michael

If you want to see my work as a commercial or portrait photographer look at my site: http://www.michaelthompsonphotographer.com