Instagram of the Month: Vivid Sydney

Lauren Bath (on Instagram @laurenepbath) makes a living off roaming the globe with a camera in hand.

She’s currently on the ground in Sydney and brought herself—and her great photographic eye—to our attention by tagging her photo with #NatGeoTravelPic on Instagram.

Here’s a peek into how she got this winning shot of the Sydney Opera House:

Tyler Metcalfe: Where are you from? How does photography play a role in your life?

Lauren Bath: I’m from the Gold Coast of Australia and am a professional Instagrammer. I work full-time in the tourism industry traveling around the world and promoting destinations, travel brands, and events to my online audience. I consider myself equal parts marketer and photographer. My approach is to showcase a destination through a series of moments rather than concentrating purely on landscape or “hero shots.” Before Instagram, I was a chef.

You took this shot in Sydney during a festival. Tell me about it.

Vivid Sydney is a free weeks-long festival of “light, music, and ideas” that celebrates creativity. This is my third consecutive year working with Destination New South Wales to promote the event through my photography. This year, Vivid wraps up on June 8.

You were a part of an “Instameet” while you were there. How do those work?

My role was to select ten Sydney-based Instagrammers to lead and promote the Instameet to the public. As with any Instameet, you find out [about these gatherings] through word of mouth on Instagram. In this case I enlisted @igerssydney to help me to get word out.

Instameets are a great way to meet like-minded individuals, shoot with new people, and talk about Instagram. I host and attend them regularly in my travels.

Do you have any tips for people traveling to Sydney?

The picture that you’ve selected shows the view from the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb (@bridgeclimb) and I was incredibly fortunate to get up there with my camera on a climb arranged for the media. Though this kind of access isn’t generally offered to the public, I would still highly recommend the climb at any time of year.

As for food I definitely recommend Ternary Restaurant at the Novotel Sydney at Darling Harbour. I also love visiting the Taronga Zoo when I’m in Sydney and use the city’s amazing public ferry network to get around.

This trip, I stayed at the Harbour Rocks Hotel, which is just far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the city center to be the perfect home base.

Tyler Metcalfe (on Instagram @TylerMetcalfe) is an associate photo producer on Nat Geo Travel’s digital team and manages the @NatGeoTravel Instagram account.

Want to see one of your photos featured on Intelligent Travel? Tag your Instagram photos with #NatGeoTravelPic.