In the first in a new series of articles profiling members of our talented team, Joanna James talks to photographer Ron Yue about his early inspiration, working with On the Road’s guests, and the occasional shot that just doesn’t work out…
JJ: How did you catch the photography bug?
RY: Reading National Geographic and various travel publications contributed the most to my desire to be a photographer. The incredible photographs from alluring places made me want to go out and create my own images.
JJ: What was the first photograph you took that made you think, “I could go professional”?
RY: There wasn’t a single image in particular. I like the shot below, partially because of the circumstances. I was on a summer backcountry hiking trip in Canada almost 20 years ago and I was carrying just a small, entry-level film camera and a single lightweight lens.
I wandered out of my tent in before dawn one morning and looked around until I found this area of an icefield that had partially melted and refrozen into particularly interesting patterns.
I needed to get low to give the undulations more prominence, stop down the aperture to f22 for maximum depth-of-field and use a graduated filter to balance the brightness of the sky and clouds with the foreground.
JJ: How did you come to make the change from desk worker [Ron used to work as an accountant] to professional photographer?
RY: Essentially, I jumped straight into full-time photography after leaving my office job. It’s probably not the way I would recommend others to do it, but I had photographed a fair amount on transparency film so I already had a solid understanding of light, tones, and composition.
JJ: Do you still shoot film?
RY: I haven’t used film for 7 or 8 years now, but I’m thinking of going back to film in the future for a personal project.
JJ: On journeys, you always seem to charm the most beautiful portraits out of people you meet. Has anyone ever gotten angry at you for taking their photo?
RY: So far, on photo trips I have not had anyone become angry at me for taking their photo. However, before I became a professional, I nearly had a handful of rice thrown at me by a woman in a market here in Hong Kong. I hadn’t even taken her photo yet! Perhaps it wasn’t that bad though – her colleagues were laughing and even making fun of her for her overreaction.
JJ: Where in the world would you like to take your camera next?
RY: Perhaps working with a naturalist in the Canadian Rockies to photograph the wildlife.
JJ: A bit of a change of scene from Hong Kong’s mean streets and the wilds of China! What’s been the biggest surprise about working with our guests on On the Road Experiences’ photography journeys?
RY: I am amazed at how enthusiastic and energetic our guests have been. I am happy to have been asked far more photography questions than I originally expected, and have given impromptu demonstrations of photographic techniques or editing lessons late into the evenings.
JJ: Can we see a photo that didn’t work out? Please?!
RY: The photo below could have been much better. The background behind the jumping cat is too busy so the cat doesn’t stand out very well. The image would improve if the man wasn’t in the background and if taken more from the left so that the cat would be better isolated against the black background of the hallway. The shutter speed is also too slow as the cat is a bit blurred.
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Ah well, nobody’s perfect! We hope you’ve enjoyed this opportunity to get to know the man behind the camera a bit better!
If you feel inspired to learn more about travel photography or even to learn from Ron himself, please visit the photography itinerary section of our website. To see more of Ron’s gorgeous images, visit his website, ronyue.com.
Warm wishes and happy travels,
