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Young Australian travel photographer visited 49 countries in six years and the most beautiful places on Earth

By Annie Dang

Updated October 5, 2020 — 11.14am

Robert King has travelled close to 50 countries over the past six years - 49 countries to be exact. The 31-year-old Australian photographer just missed ticking off his 50th country this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has grounded millions of Australians and put on pause many overseas work and travel plans.

Travel has been a constant theme in the life of Sydney-born King, who by the age of 12 had lived in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh and visited a number of Middle Eastern, south-east Asian and European countries, as well as Chile. His dad, who was a public health professional, worked on projects around the world taking his young family with him.

In recent years, King has focused his travels on the places he loves – Canada, Fiji, Greece, Bali, the US and Patagonia – places which he has been multiple times. "If I look at the miles travelled, it gets a bit crazy," he says. King's American accent takes you a little by surprise. He spent his teenage years on the Central Coast of New South Wales but at 18, the world called and he moved to California to play college soccer. After graduating, he worked in sales for a software company and later a start-up – both jobs involved a lot of travel, so he would use his spare time on the trips to practice his photography.

King says there are a number of things you can do to make a photo better but "standing a foot closer to the edge of a cliff" won't help.Credit: Kelly Serfoss

Starting out was challenging, King, who still calls Australia home, explains. He felt like he was working two jobs – one to earn money and the other to develop his photography skills – but it's something he wouldn't change. "It's best to have a paying job that helps you pay for your gear and your travels as you build up your portfolio." The set-up "gives you time to build your career" - which he did. In 2017, at 28, he made the decision to become a professional photographer, picking up shoots for commercial products as well as travel.

Working as a travel photographer, King says there are two aspects to be aware of. First, knowing that your working hours can fluctuate, so it's important to always be building a funnel of work, and second, knowing how to take great photos. For King this means trying not to obsess over getting "the" shot but to focus on the experience of the place. "My goal is to capture and share that experience with people. If you focus too much on the photo you might miss out on the experience."

King has been in some hairy situations while shooting but admits his tolerance for risk has declined as he gets older. While at Katmai National Park in Alaska, known for its brown bear population, in 2017, he came face-to-face with a cub and its mother. The park, accessible by seaplane, has two main viewing platforms connected by a trail. On his way back from the second location, King saw a cub come running around the corner. "By the time I could raise my camera to take a photo of the bear, his mother was already past him bounding towards me," he says.

Applying the knowledge he had learned in the 30-minute bear training program he did before arriving at the park, King made a lot of noise but it didn't deter the mother bear. "She was closing fast". He didn't run either – he knew that running away from a brown bear is a last resort in terms of survival.

"Luckily, I was able to duck into the trees. As the sow got closer she slowed down to check me out, realised I wasn't a threat and kept walking. When I got back to the campground, my pilot asked me if that was me he could hear shouting."

Despite the close encounter, King says it was an amazing experience and one that he "would do again tomorrow even if it was a little hairy". One experience he wouldn't repeat was a close call he had at the Jordan-Israeli border.

King was visiting the Dead Sea in Jordan, in 2016, and had woken up early to photograph the sunrise. He wandered past an unguarded post and ended up near the Jordanian-Israeli border. "This wasn't a great day for me and it definitely wasn't a good day to wear an army green T-shirt," he says. "I was supposed to fly out that night but ended up missing my flight."

He can't go into too much detail. "Let's just say it was a terrifying experience, even though it ended up being a big misunderstanding."

King is careful to add: "Doing what I do I'm always cautious and respectful of the local people and environment. This is probably the most important thing for travellers to think about when they're visiting someone else's home."

As a travel photographer, King gets asked many questions. One perennial question is "what is your favourite place" – a question he says is more personal than universal. "Destinations have a lot to do with your expectations. I've had really high expectations for some places and been let down and really low expectations for some places and been blown away."

SIX OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Here are King's top picks for the most photogenic places on earth.

Moorea, French Polynesia

"I'm obsessed with the ocean and there's no better place to visit for marine life. I swam with humpback whales, oceanic white-tip and hammerhead sharks, sting rays, pilot whales and dolphins - all in the span of the week. I even had a humpback breach in front of me in the water." King visited the island for the first time a couple of years ago but the impression it left was life-long. "It's a place I will continue to visit for the rest of my life".

The Hawaiian Islands

"I was torn and I know this is cheating a little bit, but I've been to Maui, Oahu and Hawaii Island – Kauai is still on the list – and when it comes to beauty it's hard to top the hikes and beaches in Hawaii."

Namotu Island, Fiji

King, who spends a couple of weeks on this small island each year, says he "feels like a kid" every time he is here. "The people from the Namotu village are some of the kindest and happiest people I have ever met. The activities [you can do here] are endless - surfing, fishing, free diving." He adds: "It has some of the healthiest reefs and clearest waters I've ever seen."

Patagonia, Chile

"The most connected I've ever felt to nature," King says of Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile's Patagonia. He's done the W and O circuits twice. "You can drink the water out of the stream, walk past icefields and glaciers. It's one of the most uniquely beautiful places for landscapes and wildlife I've ever been."

South Island, New Zealand

For his 30th birthday last February, King took a trip to the South Island of New Zealand. "I flew in a helicopter over Milford Sound, hiked Roys Peak and saw the Wanaka Tree and did a trip to Mount Cook National Park. This is somewhere I can't wait to get back to given its proximity to Australia."

Iceland

"Iceland is stop after stop of awe-inspiring waterfalls, cliffs, canyons and views," King says. He's been to Iceland three times; the first was with two of his good friends. They drove around the ring road in a week. "I personally recommend going in summer - the days are long and you get these wildly cool sunsets and sunrises that happen within a few hours of each other." It is must-see for anyone who's passionate about landscape photography, he says.

TOP TIP FOR TAKING TRAVEL PHOTOS

King says there are a few things travellers can do to improve the chance of getting a better image, like waking up for sunrise if you want a to get a photo with no one in it or doing a bit of research to understand the conditions you'll be shooting, using apps like Photopills that help you "plan" your shoots. "Standing a foot closer to the edge of a cliff won't make your photos better," he says.

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY IN COVID-19

Having completed hotel quarantine, King is keen for his next grand adventure. "For me it's all about travelling where you can and making the most of this time to explore my backyard. I'm going to spend the next three months planning out an epic Australia road trip that will take me around Australia in 2021, something that in a weird way COVID has made possible."

He encourages those looking to start photography or improve their skills to use the pandemic and working from home as an opportunity. "Imagine if you allocated the time you normally spend commuting to focus on your photo skills. You can do workshops or even just look for YouTube videos on the particular topic or area of photography you're trying to improve on.

"Use the restrictions as a challenge, find somewhere in your area you've never been and go shoot it and then edit and do it again."

HOW TO TAKE PHOTOS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

1. Shoot what you love shooting

"For me personally I'm always focused on timing, I think composition has always come more natural to me. I think getting up early and trying to capture a landscape or landmark without people and in good light is a great start."

2. Adapt the photo to the platform you're sharing it on

"Once you have a RAW image file you like, you can really play with it in your preferred editing program (such as Lightroom or Capture One). I then recommend using an app like Snapseed to really get ready for social (set your phone brightness to 50% so you can see what the photo will look like on the average screen).

You can follow Robert King on Instagram or visit robkingphoto.com

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The Sydney Morning Herald