ART PARTY: LISA MICHELE BURNS
Art Party is a celebration of the art we create and the story behind it.
Each feature includes a curated list of questions to help you dig deeper into sessions you may see on Instagram and want to learn more about.
If you have a session, series, or collection you would like to celebrate, send me an email with all the details and a link to the gallery.
Meet Lisa
Lisa photographs regions of environmental significance, wildlife, and outdoor adventures, with a little sprinkle of aerial photography, luxury resorts, and remote wilderness lodges on the side.
Her work aims to document the beauty and fragility of nature, the small patterns and textures within a landscape carved over millions of years by geological processes and the elements.
When at home
Lisa loves to soak up the morning sun with a coffee and spend a lot of time in her home office working on projects, and is forever distracted by maps, locations, and potential adventures.
To be honest, everyday life always feels a bit unfamiliar. She feels extremely lucky to be able to travel and explore remote locations that fuel her creative energy and help her feel most authentic.
Describe your work…
I like to think that many of my images are observations of tone, shape, and light. I’m naturally someone who prefers to find quiet locations, stay a little longer, watch or wait for those beautiful moments to unfold in natural settings, so it’s nice to hear those characteristics are appearing in my work. The boldness isn’t intentional, and probably relates to the colour palette of the destinations I photograph, more so than the composition. I do love working with colour!
Your photos are beautifully full…
I’ve always loved the concept of taking the viewer with you on the journey while exploring a scene. Peeking through bushes, lying low on the ground, and using foreground elements so they feel like they’re right there beside you, watching the world go by.
I’m also a big fan of minimal composition, though, finding those key subjects, lines, or patterns in a scene that allow simplicity within the environment to shine.
My work is probably a balance of both minimal and fuller frames, particularly when foliage is involved. I love incorporating florals, greenery, or twisty branches into a shot where possible.
In terms of stepping outside the box of classic landscape photography, I put this down to my curiosity, I never like to stand at a marked viewpoint and take a photo, I prefer to wander around, look for subjects and features of the scene that I can include within a composition. Once I start to explore, I always feel like a kid in a candy store, having fun experimenting with different angles, some that work, some that don’t and end up just being part of the adventure.
What do you pack?
Throughout my career, I’ve definitely used a lot of gear, but these days I tend to keep it quite simple and compact, with two camera bodies and two lenses on most trips.
My underwater camera and housing only come with me if it’s a project that requires diving or split-level shots, like hotels with pools or coastal landscapes, otherwise I’ll take my little compact TG-7 as a ‘just in case’ underwater camera.
In terms of drones, I’ve just got the one tiny DJI Mavic Mini and actually haven’t used it too much, as I don’t love that they can disturb other people in the area, or wildlife, so I keep drone use to a minimum. However, a lot of my aerial work was from small planes or helicopters with the doors off. I wouldn’t necessarily put a ‘plane’ on my gear list. Still, they have been crucial in capturing a lot of my landscape work over the years, particularly for my project around Australia, from sunrise over Uluru, to the Great Barrier Reef, or Shark Bay. Australia is so stunning from the sky.
Currently, I’ll always pack my OM SYSTEM OM-1 MKII, OM-1 + OM-3, with the 12-40mm f2.8 pro lens and 40-150mm f2.8. The MC20 2x teleconverter is in my bag too, and has been such a game-changer for wildlife photography and capturing details within a landscape!
Most of my trips will have a certain creative brief, but if it’s one of those ‘capture everything’ adventures, I love to ensure I’ve got enough time in each location to explore properly, to have additional days built into an itinerary if the weather is bad, or if I need to film video footage too. I’ve recently been doing more of this and have loved the creative process of filming short cinematic clips in slow motion.
The thread of colour…
When I was travelling around Australia, I was trying to document the colour palette from east to west, and that’s why this collection is quite varied in tone. I’ve always been drawn to the softer pastels or icy whites, desert sand, ocean blues, but this trip really forced me to see the beauty in darker hues, too.
I really enjoy working with colour, and love a good golden hour, even more so when the dusk light presents those gorgeous pinks and purples!
You made a book…
I was approached by a publisher about making the book and said yes instantly, without even realising how much is involved or what the process is really like. It took so much longer than I imagined (mainly due to COVID interrupting my shoot schedule and travel plans), but I’m really happy with how it turned out, and love that the book has found a spot in so many homes around the world. Hearing from people in the UK, Europe, the US, and even here in Australia, that they’ve purchased the book and love flicking through it, is so, so special and rewarding. I never thought to ask where the book would end up, assuming it would just be sold on the publisher’s website, so I was pleasantly surprised when it started appearing in art gallery bookstores and major retailers. I’d absolutely do it again, maybe focusing on glaciers or deserts next!
Bucket list and pinch-me moments…
I’d still love to see Esperance one day. On my road trip, we got hit with really bad weather as we approached the Western Australia border, so we opted to skip the southern coast as the forecast wasn’t looking good for weeks. The images I see look spectacular, so it’s absolutely on my list.
Driving toward Uluru was something I wasn’t prepared for; it was truly magnificent. Spending four days there, photographing it from sunrise to sunset and exploring the national park resulted in not only some of my favourite images, but moments of awe. While standing at one of the viewing platforms, a storm approached so fast that we didn’t have time to drive away, so we ran to the car and got pelted with hail, heavy rain and crazy winds. Within minutes, it passed, and then suddenly, rain started pouring down the sides of Uluru; it was incredibly magical to witness.
Travel Photography Club…
I started publishing The Wandering Lens guides about 12 years ago, and the site grew such a large audience that I then turned to offer photo tours in 2017, and online photography courses in 2020. In 2024, I wanted to create a space that connected the readers of The Wandering Lens with the students of the courses and design a space where they can learn, get inspired, and meet fellow photographers from all over the world.
It’s such a fun community to be a part of. While there is the magazine and resource library, more than anything, it’s so lovely to see people chatting, asking questions, or sharing their recent adventures in the private chat forum. The Travel Photography Club now has members in over 20 countries, and I can’t wait to watch it grow as new photographers join and share their photos and insights. If anyone reading this is interested in joining, please use the code ARTPARTY20 for $20 off membership.
