Efraín M. Padró is a full-time professional photographer specializing in nature and travel subjects. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Efraín speaks fluent Spanish and has led numerous photography expeditions to destinations including Spain, India, Morocco and Turkey.
Efraín’s work has appeared in Travel+Leisure.com, Geographic Expeditions catalogs, Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine, and many other publications. He is also the author of The Photographer’s Guide to New Mexico and The Beginner's Guide to Magazine Photography: Professional Secrets for Fast Results, which ranked as a Kindle best-seller last year.
When not behind the camera or leading workshops, Efraín likes reading about history, art, and philosophy, and collecting antique maps (copies!). As a former bicycle racer, he still exercises every day and follows Le Tour every July.
Today: I travel to beautiful places to take pictures, teach or on assignment. I also teach locally. I am my own boss and enjoy my daily commute to the basement.
Love to: Get up early in the morning when nobody else is around.
Hate: Writers who use fancy-pants words when a simple one will do (For example, instead of “Know All Men by These Presents”, just say “Hey!”).
Favorite book: Selling the Invisible, by Harry Beckwith, was very helpful when I started my photography career.
I’ve been a full-time travel photographer for years, and throughout my career, I’ve heard this mantra from countless other photogs: Carry a camera at all times. Their rationale is that the “shot of a lifetime” might occur at any moment. You don’t want to miss it, right? Like a hawk, the thinking goes, a photographer […]
Ranger Rick: Find out how you can sell your photos to kids’ magazines by reading on…
photograph moving water
There’s a sign at the beginning of a trail in Rocky Mountain National Park that reads: “The Mountains Don’t Care.” In other words, even if you love nature and its beauty, nature couldn’t care less about you—so be prepared for anything. The same applies to travel photography. Even the best laid travel and photography plans […]
Over the past 14 years, I’ve worked on a number of assignments, ranging from a simple image of a cup of hot cocoa… to a magazine cover shot involving models, lights, and assistants… to a six-week assignment for a Frommer’s travel guide about Puerto Rico. During the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Photography Expedition this week, we […]
I’m fascinated by the creative process. I want to understand it so that I can be creative myself and share my knowledge with others. During our photography workshop at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, we talked a lot about photo composition—something that will definitely help to improve your work. But I also encouraged attendees to […]
In 2002, I was in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile over the Christmas holiday. Because of the park’s isolation, changeable weather, and rugged terrain, hotel options are limited and camping is often the only way to be in the right place at the right time—when the light is at its best (first and last […]
“How we spend our days… is how we spend our lives.” — Annie Dillard Before I was a full-time travel photographer, I used to be a lawyer—a government lawyer to be precise. Back then, my former attorney colleagues and I used to joke that there were three kinds of closing arguments you could make to a […]
Whenever I travel to photograph, I usually have a couple of story ideas to work on during the trip. Creating pictures with a story in mind is a great aid in determining what I’ll photograph on a particular day, since it’s impossible to photograph everything anyway. Of course, you should also be open to the […]
As a travel photographer, I always have at least a couple of stories in mind when I travel to photograph a location. Regardless of how long my stay is, I never have enough time to photograph everything, so having themes helps me focus my photographic effort. During a trip to Puerto Rico a few years […]
