Travel Shaper Scott Herder – Brooklyn – Hyperlapse Photography
Scott Herder (Bobo) and I were fellow speakers in TBEX Asia (Manila, Philippines). We were both speaking on related topics – he on hyperlapse photography, and I on architectural photography. We hit it off leading us to exchange notes and tips during our fam trip to Cebu and Bohol. He had come there with his then-fiancee, now-wife, Megan (Chichi). After the Philippines, we have met again during other TBEX conferences in Huntsville (AL), and Jerusalem. And, we have stayed connected. His hyperlapse technique inspires me. Read on to know more about Scott, the Travel Shaper!
What got Scott Herder into travel?
My name is Scott and I am a creative based out of Brooklyn. I got started in travel because my partner at the time really wanted to travel after we graduated college. I thought it was a TERRIBLE idea. She wanted a month in Thailand, and I said, “Well flights are expensive, so let’s do six months, and that way we don’t have to pay for multiple flights and worry about interrupting our careers after that.”
During that trip, I met many people who lived abroad and just asked any and everyone I met about how they were doing it.
A lot of the people I met taught English and so I looked into that. Once our trip ended, so did our relationship and I decided why not move to Korea to teach English and the rest is history.
Travel facets that interest Scott
I’d have to say my areas of interest when I travel are definitely food and the outdoors.
Growing up, I was a terribly picky eater. Basically limiting my food world to pancakes, cereal, chicken fingers, burgers, and pizza.
But through travel, I realized just how much I was missing out on food so it’s one of those things I guess I’m trying to make up for the lost time. But I’m always so fascinated with how food shapes the culture or vice versa.
For example, when living in Seoul there is this dish – Budajjigae or Army Stew. A delicious hodgepodge of ramen, rice cakes, spam, sausage, beans, and cheese, and it’s all thrown in a pot in a delicious bowl of food. This dish was born out of necessity after the Korean War where food resources were exhausted. So people were resourceful and used the surplus food from the U.S. army bases and added them to their soup base.
I’ve since learned there are hundreds if not thousands of stories like this revolving around food and I just find it endlessly fascinating.
I also am a fan of the outdoors and architecture as those are the things I love to photograph.
His favourite destinations
Oh my, that’s tough. This is a game I play with my wife A LOT. It’s always changing based on where we were last or what food/experience we are craving.
I’d say the five top-of-mind places that are my favorite right now are going to be Seoul Korea, Nova Scotia Canada, the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, Czech Republic, and Scotland.
The cherry on top is definitely the people for me in Scotland. Just like in Nova Scotia Scots are just the friendliest bunch. I guess it makes sense why I feel the same way about Nova Scotia considering it translates to New Scotland.
Again, these are always changing but these were some of the places that we have spent the most time daydreaming of. We were planning on going back to Korea for the first time in over six years for my wife’s birthday which obviously didn’t happen. We lived in Mérida, Mexico for half a year and have friends and a lot of food we really miss in the area.
What makes them favoured?
For me, Nova Scotia just felt like a playground for its food and craft beer scene with endless areas to explore and photograph and some of the friendliest people on earth. There is a picturesque town called Lunenburg that just might be one of my favorite places in the world.
In the Czech Republic, of course, we absolutely love Prague. But getting out and exploring outside of Prague is just a dream. There are dozens of towns that are mini Pragues sans tourists and you have entire baroque cities and castles all to yourselves.
Last but definitely not least, is Scotland. It’s the whole package for me. Rugged scenes that are otherworldly, the historical cities with intricate castles and ruins. Not to mention the delicious food and great beer scene.
Scott and his interaction with destinations
One of the first moments that I vividly remember and wanting to pinch myself was in the Czech Republic. My wife and I were filming our first commercial project for Czech Tourism and got to do it in the incredibly beautiful town of Cesky Krumlov. We rented a place for a week that had a coffee maker but I didn’t realize the coffee was all espresso. So each morning I’d wake up at 4:00 am and unknowingly have an entire pot of espresso, and begin shooting. I never felt so alive, partly because I was heavily caffeinated, but every morning I got to watch a sleepy UNESCO heritage city come alive all by myself.
Another time is in Lunenburg Nova Scotia. We met a couple of local business owners who just were exceptional people. One was a generational local woman who did tours and created this culinary experience onboard a historical boat. As she talked about her story, and how this venture came about my wife and I both just were amazed that we had the privilege of hearing, and sharing her story. One of her partners were this amazing couple who run a distillery called Iron Works who organized a rum-running experience where we went out to do a “Rum run” to learn about the history of the prohibition and how it shaped the town, the economy, and their lives and it was through the attention to detail in everything they did.
Scott’s short but drool-worthy bucket list
Bucketlist destinations are another one that we are always changing the definition of. But, we’ve both had our eyes on Antarctica for Northern Lights, Glaciers, and wildlife.
Another one on the list is Namibia. I really love time-lapse and I’d love to get some star time-lapses of the trees in Deadvlei and the Quiver Tree Forest.
I’d also love to do the Trans Siberian railway. It’s the longest railway in the world and I’ve never been to any parts that lie alongside it. So that would be a total dream to do that.
Scott Herder’s recent travels
Our most recent pre-pandemic trip abroad was to Montreal in Quebéc. We went to cover the Lumiere festival which is a celebration of winter with gastronomy and cultural exhibits all throughout the city. It felt like the whole entire city was outside and it really opened my eyes to how much fun winter can be.
Besides that, we’ve stayed in New York doing a couple of staycations in the woods a couple of hours outside of the city to attempt to try and celebrate our anniversary.
Scott and COVID-19
Like everyone, it completely changed them. At the time 80% of our income came from us traveling. So that turned off immediately. It was humbling. We’ve had to cancel a lot of our work, trips to see our family, trips to celebrate engagements. It’s just put everything on a halt indefinitely.
Future travel plans
Yes and no. We have trips tentatively in the plans for when it’s safe and responsible to promote tourism. But there isn’t a specific date on it just yet.
There really are extraordinary people out there in the world putting so much care and love into what they do. The more we travel, the more we meet people like that. For us, it’s really a constant reminder that there are amazing and good people everywhere we go and that we have a lot more in common and to share. It can be hard to remember that when are getting our information solely from the news.
Scott on how to get started in travel as a profession
Sure, tough question. I guess don’t wait for motivation/inspiration. If you are always waiting you won’t get started. Show up, make something, share it, and repeat. Try to improve just a little bit each day and over the course of your creative journey, things will take shape. But it only will take shape if you keep creating.
It’s like going to the gym, going every day for fifteen minutes is better than going once a quarter for four hours. It just doesn’t work like that.
Lastly creating is only 25% of the equation. The rest is mental. So take a lot of effort to work on your mental health. I use the app calm and have monthly calls with other creators to discuss what we are struggling with and how to overcome obstacles. Nothing happens in a vacuum.
Hi, You have shared amazing pics of photograpy and I would love to visit the all places in the world. Thank you & keep sharing these amazing images,
Thanks for your kind words! I am sure if you wish strongly enough, you’ll get to go to the places you want to visit!
Superb Blog! I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for sharing this!
I am glad you liked my blog, Vipin! Thanks for your kind words!