We’ve interviewed Tom Robinson on a couple of occasions for TravMonkey.com, about his travels and how he’s progressed as a photographer. We first caught up with him about his experience in Marrakech, then after his assignment in Stockholm with easyJet magazine.

Since then he’s been very much in demand, so we decided to interview him again ahead of his photography workshop at blogging conference Traverse 2013 and after his recent project at the Uttarayan Kite Festival in India.

Your most recent trip was for Gujarat Tourism to photograph the Uttarayan Kite Festival. How did that come about?

I received an email from the marketing manager at Gujarat Tourism inviting me to photograph some of the upcoming festivals in Gujarat. After researching them online I requested to photograph the Uttarayan kite festival because it looked really interesting and I knew I could capture some great photos. He agreed and put together a rough itinerary for me. At the end of the trip when I finally met him, I asked how he found me – it turned out he saw some of my photos through a blog post online. It may well have been from this website.

What was the highlight of your trip in Gujarat?

Photographing the kite festival in the white salt desert of Dhordo was probably the highlight of my trip. When you’re photographing something, you sometimes get so engrossed with looking for new angles, composing photos and checking your camera settings that you don’t actually appreciate the environment you’re in. I had to keep telling myself to just stop and take in what was in front of me – white salt as far as the eye can see that crunched under foot, hundreds of kites in a perfect blue sky, ranging from a 1 meter stunt kite to a 40 meter killer-whale and Bollywood tunes pumping out of a massive sound system. It truly was an amazing and very surreal experience – and an absolute pleasure to photograph.

Was there a strict itinerary to your trip, or certain things you had to capture?

The main focus of the trip was to photograph the Uttarayan kite festival, which took place at 3 different locations across Gujarat but I also had to photograph a number of landmarks and activities – some of which I didn’t know about until we arrived there. I had to be very spontaneous about how to photograph things to their greatest potential and with the light I had available – which wasn’t always great.

One day we spent an afternoon visiting small villages where traditional crafts were made. At each village I had to come up with unique ways to photograph the crafts and the people who made them. It was quite full on at times, especially as I was staying up late most evenings editing the photos, but it was a really enjoyable trip and I’m pleased with the shots I got.

I see that you got some nice portrait shots on your trip, was it difficult persuading people to have their photo taken?

In some countries nearly everyone you ask doesn’t want to have their photo taken, but in Gujarat it was quite the opposite – pretty much every person I asked was willing to have their photo taken and then their friend also wanted to have their photo taken. As a photographer this is a huge bonus and make my job so much easier. I also had my photo taken about 100 times by intrigued locals on their camera phones.

How do you see your travel photography progressing? Do you have any aims for the future?

One of my favourite commissions during 2012 was canyoning in Madeira for easyJet magazine. I’d love to do a few more sport/activity shoots this year. I also have a list of clients and publications I really want to work with in 2013 – fingers crossed.

Last time we did an interview, you said that you contacted Picture Editors for work. Do you still do this?

Absolutely – self-promotion is so important and the key to breaking into the photography industry. I get more direct commission enquiries these days, but if I see a nice magazine that I’d like to work with I always try to make contact with the Picture Editor or Art Director.

We’re very pleased to have you speaking at Traverse 2013 blogging conference. What can bloggers expect from your workshop?

My main focus will be how to take more creative and interesting photos. I think far too much emphasis can be given to the technical side of photography and I want to show that it’s far more important to understand things like composition and narrative when learning photography. Having said that I will also be answering any technical questions people may have and will also be showing some techniques I use when processing my photos in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Have you found that you’ve progressed or developed your style of photography since experiencing commissioned travel projects?

Definitely. On every commission I will learn something new – whether that be a camera technique or simply how to interact with a person to get a great photo of them. This is something I really enjoy about travel photography – no two jobs are ever the same. I’m also constantly pushing myself, trying to take better photos and see things in a more creative way – which drives me crazy sometimes. I find www.featureshoot.com and www.oitzarisme.ro two great sites for finding photographic inspiration.

What future projects do you have in the pipeline?

Food photography is high on my agenda for 2013. I have a few shoots lined up with some nice independent food companies based in London. We’re just waiting for the weather to get better – watch this space.

Check out Tom’s Uttarayan Kite Festival photography, he is also hosting a photography workshop at Traverse 2013, come along and meet him!