Beyond The Lens with Richard Bernabe

Charlie Hamilton James is an award-winning wildlife photographer, documentary filmmaker, director, and author renowned for his work with National Geographic and the BBC. Beginning his career at age 16 working on Sir David Attenborough’s The Trials of Life, he has spent decades documenting conservation, animal behavior, and human ecology, earning international acclaim for his deep visual studies of kingfishers, river otters, the Peruvian Amazon, and the East African Serengeti. Recipient of the National Geographic Photographer’s Photographer Award alongside multiple Emmy and BAFTA nominations, he is widely recognized for his raw, intimate storytelling that bridges natural history and pressing envi...

Margot Raggett and the Newest Wildlife Photographers United Book — Remembering Giraffes.

Margot Raggett MBE is a British wildlife photographer and the founder of Remembering Wildlife, a series of collaborative photography books that has raised more than million dollars for conservation projects across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Her images are published worldwide, and in 2015 she won the Animal Antics category of the Nature's Best Photography Awards.

After encountering a poached elephant in Laikipia, Kenya, Margot launched Remembering Wildlife in 2015, bringing together the world's leading wildlife photographers to donate their work for a single cause. What be...

Complexity is the Next Step — Street Photographer Julia Coddington on Moving Beyond Simple Images, Flow State, and Compositional Evolution.

Julia Coddington is an Australian photographer specializing in street and documentary photography. She's the co-founder of the Unexposed Collective, administrator of Women in Street, and member of the Little Box Collective, Julia championsdiverse voices in contemporary street photography. 

Julia embraces complexity in your images, capturing intimate, unguarded moments that reveal the fascinating diversity of human behavior, emotion, and connection, seeking to capture the joy in humanity in return, experiencing joy through the photographic process.

Not...

Photographer Nick Brandt: African Animal Portraiture to Environmental Injustice and the Climate Crisis — 25 Years Behind The Lens

Nick Brandt is a photographer, author, and conservationist whose work explores the intersection of animals, humanity, and environmental collapse. He is the author of nine books, including the acclaimed trilogy On This Earth, A Shadow Falls, and Across the Ravaged Land, along with Inherit the Dust, This Empty World, and the ongoing global series The Day May Break. In 2010 he co-founded Big Life Foundation, which today protects nearly two million acres of wilderness across Kenya and Tanzania.
His work ha...

Scott Wilson is a Denver-based conservation photographer and photo advocate for America's wild mustangs. Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, he spent over twenty years as a landscape photographer and corporate communications executive before a stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis changed the course of his life. Sunlight restrictions during chemotherapy pushed him to photograph wildlife from the shade of his car, and that habit led him to Colorado's Sand Wash Basin, where an encounter with a wild pinto stallion named Picasso set him on an entirely new path.

What began as an artistic pursuit became an advocacy mission once Wilson...

Living on Mars with National Geographic Explorer and Photographer, MacKenzie Calle.

Mackenzie Calle is a photographer and National Geographic Explorer based in Brooklyn. Her work has been recognized by institutions that include World Press Photo, Magnum Foundation, and the Sony World Photography Awards.  She’s a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Cinema Studies and was awarded the Director’s Fellowship to attend ICP’s Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program. 

Prior to her photography career, she was a Photo Producer at NBCUniversal across networks that include NBC, MSNBC, and...

Photographer Art Wolfe on Acts of Faith, Religion, Culture, and Celebrations of Humanity Through Photography.

Art Wolfe is an American photographer and conservationist, internationally known for color images of landscapes, wildlife, and native cultures. He's photographed wildlife, scenes, and people on every continent.

Wolfe has published more than 120 books over his 50-year career including Vanishing Act, The High Himalaya, Water: Worlds between Heaven & Earth, Tribes, Rainforests of the World, and The Art of Photographing Nature. His newest book, Acts of Faith, will be released in October, 2026.

Notable Links:

Art Wolfe Website<...

Books That Matter for Photographers: Elizabeth Gilbert's ‘Big Magic' — Recalibrating Your Relationship with Fear While Living a Bold, Creative Life.

Fresh off a month in Botswana, Richard tackles Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert for the 'Books That Matter' series, and makes the case that fear isn't the enemy of creativity: it's a necessary ingredient. Seneca, mall cops, perfectionism, and why fear is just plain boring, all in service of one idea: stop waiting to feel ready and make the next frame anyway.

Big Magic (2015) is Elizabeth Gilbert's book on creativity and fear, arguing the two aren...

National Geographic Photographer, Anand Varma on Zombie Parasites, Wonder, Mystery, and Photographic Problem Solving.

Anand Varma is a National Geographic Explorer and photographer based in Berkeley, California. He has devoted years of his life to developing innovative and creative techniques to create intimate, dramatic and surprising images of nature most people never see. He earned a degree in integrative biology from University of California and he's become a photographic regular contributor to National Geographic.

Anand's ultimate goal is to spark a sense of wonder about our natural world. He highlights creatures whose incredible details typically...

Photographer of 9 Olympic Games — How to Capture the Thrill of Victory and Agony of Defeat on the World Stage

Jeff Cable has photographed the last nine Olympic Games for Team USA, from Beijing to Tokyo, Paris, and Milan. But he didn't start there. For over 25 years he was a marketing executive, shooting on the side until 2016, when the side passion became the whole career.

In this episode, Jeff joins Richard to talk about the evolution of his photography career, making pictures on one of the largest stages in the world when the moment is unrepeatable an...

Karabo LeBronpeter is a Botswana-based wildlife photographer, teacher, mentor, and storytelling officer for the Nkashi Trust, the local implementing arm of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project (NGOWP).

Launched in 2021, Okavango Eternal is a partnership between the National Geographic Society and the De Beers Group to help achieve long-term, sustainable protection of the Okavango Basin and support livelihood opportunities for its communities. The partnership aims to expand and accelerate the work of Nkashi Trust and the Wild Bird Trust family of organisations underway through the NGOWP. Storytelling is a major focus of Okavango Eternal - because in...

Landscape photographer Isabella Tabacchi: Chasing Caravaggio Through the Shadows, The Tenebroso Landscape, and Creating Emotional Intensity.

Isabella Tabacchi is an Italian landscape photographer who captures the essence of nature in all its majesty. Specializing in landscape photography from around the world, Isabella is renowned for her ability to transform ordinary scenes into highly emotional and dreamlike photos.

Isabella's awards include the prestigious International Landscape Photographer of the Year (ILPOTY) and the Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA), Siena Awards, Xposure Awards, DJI SkyPixel Annual Contest and she's been published on National Geographic. She is also a...

Dr. Diane Boyd is a world-renowned wildlife biologist who has spent four decades studying and advocating for wolves in the wilds of Montana near Glacier National Park. When she started in the 1970s, she was the only female biologist in the United States researching and radio-collaring wild wolves.

A Woman Among Wolves: My Journey Through Forty Years of Wolf Recovery, winner of a 2025 National Outdoor Book Award, is the captivating story of Diane Boyd's work as a wildlife biologist studying wolves. Often alone in remote northern Montana, she encounters cougars, grizzly bears, and, of course, wolves.

Photographer David duChemin: Thinking Inside the Box for Transformative Creative Breakthroughs, the Virtue of Imperfection, and Finding Your Magic.

David duChemin is a Vancouver Island-based photographer, author, educator, and avid traveler who has published eight books and spent much of his three-decade career teaching others to make creative photographs all across the world.

Richard asks David about the content in his newest book, Light, Space & Time: Essays on Camera Craft and Creativity. Some of the topics discussed include self-knowledge, vision, intention, purpose, expression, and the virtue of imperfection. David explains how he made the transition...

Books That Matter for Photographers: John Szarcowski and ‘The Photographer’s Eye’ — The Thing Itself, The Detail, The Frame, Time, and Vantage Point

In this episode of Beyond the Lens, Richard revisits John Szarkowski's 1966 classic The Photographer's Eye for the latest episode in the Books That Matter series. Szarkowski spent nearly thirty years as Director of Photography at MoMA, studying thousands of images across every era and genre. What he discovered was a quiet internal logic that the best photographs share, regardless of style or subject.

Richard breaks down all five of Szarkowski's core themes, includin...

Photographer Ami Vitale: National Geographic Explorer at Large on Przewalski's Horses, Jane Goodall's Legacy, and Finding Hope in the Face of Extinction.

Ami Vitale is a National Geographic photographer, documentary filmmaker, writer, and a newly-named national Geographic Explorer at Large who has traveled to more than 100 countries. She began her career as a photo editor for the Associated Press before becoming a contract photographer with National Geographic. A six-time World Press Photo award winner, she has also received the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting, the Lucie Humanitarian Award, and was named Magazine Photographer of the Year...

Babak Tafreshi, National Geographic Photographer on Solar Eclipses on All Seven Continents, Art of the Night Sky, and a World United Under One Roof. 

Babak Tafreshi is a National Geographic photographer, science communicator, and founder of The World at Night, an international project dedicated to documenting and protecting the night sky. 

In this episode, Babak shares what it was like growing up in post-revolution Iran and how a feeling of isolation drove him toward the stars. We talk about the four elements of a great photograph and which two most photographers consistently get wrong, the me...

Travel, Landscape, and Bird Photography with Deborah Sandidge.

Deborah Sandidge is an American Travel, Landscape, and Wildlife Photographer, a Nikon USA Ambassador, and KelbyOne Instructor. Deborah is the author of Digital Infrared Photography and has collaborated with the Nikon Learn and Explore site demonstrating star and star trail photography, along with long exposure photography.

In this episode, Deborah and Richard explore the creative tension between still photography and video, how to find emotional resonance in birds as a photography subject, why technical mastery is the price of admission for genuine creative freedom, and what does...

Extreme time-lapse photography with Louie Schwartzberg.

Louie Schwartzberg is a filmmaker who has spent more than four decades revealing the hidden beauty of the world around us. A pioneer in time-lapse, macro, and high-speed cinematography, his work has appeared in National Geographic, Netflix, and DisneyNature films and series including Fantastic Fungi, Moving Art, and Wings of Life, helping millions see nature and time itself in an entirely new way.

In this episode, we explore:
• How Louie pioneered modern time-lapse cinematography
• Why awe and gratitude can reshape your outlook on life
• The hidden intell...

What happens when you walk away from the life you’re supposed to live and follow your curiosity and sense of adventure instead?

In this episode, I sit down with Leoni Kolberg, better known as LaserLeo the Cyclonaut, who has spent the past several years living on a bicycle, cycling across continents, sleeping in a tent, and navigating the world, and her inner landscape, one mile at a time.

This isn’t just a story about adventure. It’s about choosing uncertainty over comfort, learning resilience through hardship, and discovering what really matters when you strip...

Wildlife Photographer Suzi Eszterhas on Quiet Wildlife Photography, Cultivating Vulnerability, and the Power of Patience.

Wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas joins the Beyond The Lens Podcast to talk about ethical wildlife photography, patience in the field, animal behavior, and photographing mothers and baby animals. We discuss vulnerability, stillness, conservation, long-term projects, and what it takes to build a meaningful career in wildlife photography.

She’s been published in TIME magazine, Smithsonian, BBC Wildlife, GEO, Popular Photography, Ranger Rick, and National Geographic Kids plus many other publications. 

She was also awarded as the 2021 Outstanding Photographer of...

Kiliii Yüyan: National Geographic Photographer on Creative Vision and the Magic Sweater Exercise, The Art of Observation, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

Kiliii Yüyan is a photographer, filmmaker, public speaker, and National Geographic Explorer. He captures life of the polar regions, beneath cold seas, and within the heart of human communities. His photographs are intimate and sensory, crafted from deep, long-term immersion. Of Chinese and Nanai/Hèzhé (East Asian Indigenous) descent, he works through a cross-cultural lens, exploring how humanity—inseparable from nature—lives in relationship with land and sea.

Notable Links:

Kili...

Books That Matter for Photographers, Artists, Writers and all Creators: Steven Pressfield and The War of Art, Resistance, and Professionalization. 

Recorded on New Year’s Day from a busy coffee shop in Bali, Indonesia, this solo episode of Beyond The Lens is a deep, honest meditation on why photographers, artists, writers, and creators struggle to do the work that matters most—and what to do about it.

Drawing from The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, Richard unpacks the idea of Resistance: the invisible, internal force that shows up whenever we try to create, grow, or ch...

Landscape photographer Joseph Rossbach on Landscape Photography and Manufacturing Inspirado, Desert and Swamp Vibes, & Finding Your Creative Flow.

Joseph Rossbach is an American landscape photographer and educator who has built a life around wild places, quiet light, and the type of images that reward patience. Over the past two decades, he’s explored everything from the slot canyons of Utah to the cypress swamps of the American South and everywhere in between. His work reflects a deep respect for the land and a belief that the strongest photographs say as much about the photographer as they do ab...

Commercial photographer Patrick Fore on the Terrible Photographer, and Negotiating the Emotional and Psychological Landscape of Professional Photography.

Patrick Fore is a commercial photographer and art director from San Diego, California. He spent four years as the lead photographer and brand designer for Taylor Guitars and now runs his own commercial photography studio.

He's also the host of the Terrible Photographer podcast, where he talks about photography, creativity, and the struggles of being a pro.

Notable Links:

Patrick Fore Photography
The Terrible Photographer
Patrick Fore Instagram

*****

Bryan Grieg Fry is an Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland. He’s a herpetologist and venomologist who leads the Venom Evolution Laboratory, working on venoms from a wide range of reptiles, centipedes, insects, scorpions, spiders, and venomous mammals. He’s also known as the “Venom Doc.”

Dr. Fry completed his undergraduate training in molecular biology, scientific philosophy, and psychology at Portland State University, and he received his PhD from the University of Queensland, where he now works and lives.

He was the recipient of the 2011 Fenner Medal from the...

Photography with Katie Orlinsky: National Geographic Photographer on Vanishing Caribou, Managing Solitude, Obsession, Endurance, and Working the Edge of the Arctic.

National Geographic photographer Katie Orlinsky has spent the past decade documenting life in the Arctic, a place where climate, culture, and survival are all intertwined. Her latest exhibition, Vanishing Caribou, now showing at the Natural History Museum in Siena, Italy, captures the heartbreaking decline of Arctic caribou and the Indigenous communities whose lives depend on them. In this conversation, we talk about how she built the project, the balance between beauty and loss, and what it...

Sean Tucker on Photography and Meaning, Protecting Highlights, Embracing Shadows, and Authentic Creating From Failure.

Sean Tucker is a photographer, filmmaker, author, and public speaker from the UK. His YouTube channel, which has more than 600,000 subscribers, features videos about photography, creativity, and living a creative life.

He is also the author of the highly acclaimed book The Meaning in the Making: The Why and How Behind Our Human Need to Create, which takes readers beyond craft to explore the deeper impulse behind creativity, including photography.

Notable Links:

Sean Tucker Website
...

Beyond The Lens with Richard Bernabe - 100 episodes of photography, the arts, travel, conservation, entrepreneurship, and creative culture.

This special episode of Beyond The Lens features listener questions and answers about the podcast as well as some favorite moments from the past 99 episodes. 

Episode References:

Ami Vitale, Matt Richtel, Samantha Brown, Frans Lanting, Kaylee Greer, Sam Abell.

Connect with Richard:

Website, Instagram, Facebook, X, Beyond The Lens Newsletter

Beyond The Lens:

Website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify

Follow Richard Bernabe:

Substack: https://richardbernabe.s...

Wildlife Photography in the Heart of New York with Jacqueline Emery and David Lei.

Jacqueline Emery and David Lei are wildlife photographers and authors of Finding Flaco: Our Year with New York City’s Beloved Owl. In this episode, we explore what it meant to follow Flaco day after day over the course of a year, the lessons his story holds for photographers and wildlife lovers, and how one bird captured the imagination of an entire city.

On February 2, 2023, Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl escaped from his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo and took to th...

Lifestyle Photography with Alanna O'Neill, Embracing Mother Maui, How To Become Your Own Creative Lighthouse, and the Power of Intuition.

Alanna O’Neil is a lifestyle photographer, designer, and author who left the runways of New York fashion for the slower, more intentional rhythm of Maui. Her work — including her books The Art of Picnics and The Outdoor Table — is rooted in visual storytelling, seasonal living, and a soulful connection to nature. But her journey wasn’t linear. From Vermont to Manhattan to Maui, she’s navigated imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and the constant pull of outside expectations in order t...

Landscape Photography with Matt Payne, the Colorado Way, Personal Vision and Pride, Authenticity, and Vulnerability.

Matt Payne is a landscape photographer, accomplished mountaineer, podcaster, and now published author. He has climbed Colorado’s 100 highest mountains, completed the entire 500-mile Colorado Trail, and spent more than a decade building his landscape photography podcast, F-Stop, Collaborate and Listen. His new book, The Colorado Way, pairs his photography with essays on the lessons he’s drawn from a life in the high country—resilience, discipline, and the pursuit of meaning.

Matt’s accomplishments extend beyond the mountains and the came...

Tiger Photography, Biology, and Ecology with Dr. Latika Nath.

Princess of India on Tiger Photography, Biology, Ecology and the Killer Tigress of Champawat

Dr. Latika Nath, often called the “Tiger Princess of India,” is a wildlife biologist, photographer, and conservationist who has spent her life studying and protecting one of the planet’s most elusive predators - the tiger. Featured by National Geographic as the first Indian woman to earn a doctorate on tigers, she has combined science, fieldwork, and art to tell the story of these extraordinary animals in ways few others can.

In t...

Photography with Jim Wright: Camera Adventures from Hollywood to Nashville, Celebrities, Music, Creative Collaborations, and Americana Photography.

Jim Wright is an internationally recognized photographer who has traveled the world photographing some of the most celebrated names in the movie, fashion, music, and pop culture industries.

An award-winning photographer, Jim has shot hundreds of magazine covers, including Rolling Stone, GQ, People, Town & Country, and InStyle, to name a few. Some of the celebrities and pop icons he has photographed include Beyoncé, Jon Bon Jovi, Robert De Niro, Jeff Bridges, Luke Bryan, Kevin Costner, Sheryl Crow, Claire D...

Luis Benitez: Conquering Everest and the Seven Summits, Life Advice from the Dalai Lama, and Outdoor Recreation Evangelism.

Luis Benitez has worked as a high-end international mountain guide, with six Everest summits to his name, as well as having conquered the "Seven Summits" — the highest mountains on each of the world's continents. He’s also an outdoor educator and a policy leader in the outdoor industry. In 2015, Benitez was appointed by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to lead the Outdoor Recreation Industry Office. He is currently the Vice President of Government Affairs for Lululemon.

Benitez holds an e...

Fine Art Photography with Brooks Jensen: The Making of LensWork, Lessons in Finding Your Photographic Voice, Creative Constraints, and Seeing in Sixes

Brooks Jensen is a fine art photographer, publisher, teacher, and writer. He's best known as the founder, editor, and publisher of LensWork, an award-winning periodical dedicated to fine art photography with subscribers in more than 70 countries. Under his leadership, Lens Work has become one of the most respected photography publications in the world. 

His online platform, LensWork Online, offers a staggering amount of material, literally terabytes of content, including videos, podcasts, workshops, and c...

Landscape photography with Marc Adamus: Chasing the Light, the Magic of Discovery, Essential Wilderness, and His New Book 'The Way Home.' 

Marc Adamus is one of the most celebrated landscape photographers working today. Known for his dramatic compositions and fearless pursuit of remote wilderness, Marc has carved out a unique space at the intersection of fine art and adventure. He spends 300 days each year making images, often in extreme conditions and far-flung locations, which have been featured in National Geographic, Outdoor Photographer, Digital Camera, and Photo District News, among many others.

His new book, T...

Adventure photography with Chris Burkard: Adventure Photographer and Filmmaker on Embracing Uncertainty and Discomfort to Discover Creativity and Joy.

Chris Burkard is an American adventure and landscape photographer, filmmaker, speaker, creative director, and explorer now living with his family in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is best known for his inspiring photojournalistic work that weaves together the stories of surfing, adventure, and travel to cold and foreign places. His work has led him to deliver TED talks, partner with Fortune 500 companies, and to create films like Under an Arctic Sky and The Forgotten Coast.

Notable Links:

Wildlife and travel photography with Sue Flood: Lessons From David Attenborough, Blue Planet, The Perfect Penguin, and a Life of Polar Photography Travel.

Sue Flood is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker, zoologist, adventure travel leader and public speaker. Her work takes her all over the world but she has a special passion for the wildlife and icy beauty of the Polar regions and is one of the very few women professional photographers who returns again and again to Earth’s harshest and most demanding environments.

Her first visit to the Poles happened during her 11 years in...

Photography Book Release Party with Quintin Lake: The Perimeter — A Photographic Journey Around the Coast of Britain.

Quintin Lake  is a multi-award-winning British photographer specializing in landscape and architecture, with twenty-five years of experience. A fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Royal Society of Arts, his work has been featured in leading publications such as National Geographic Traveler, the Guardian, and Der Spiegel. In 2020, he was named The Great Outdoors’ Outdoor Personality of the Year. He lives in Cheltenham with his family.

On an April morning in 2015, Quintin embarked upon what would become a five...