More than a photographer, though, he considers himself a photo-naturalist.
People ask me what I do and the easiest thing to say is photography.
But that really isnt it.
So its like being a naturalist but using a camera as opposed to pen and paper.
We spoke to Tony from his home base of Tokyo, Japan, to find out how he travels.
What does your travel typically look likehow often do you travel and for how long?
I come [home] mostly to drop off clothes and get new clothes and gear.
So Id have to come back to home base just to both switch out gear and clothes.
Generally I like to be someplace at a minimum of two weeks to a month.
Some places [Ill] stay longertwo, sometimes up to three months.
Why so long?
You dont necessarily understand whats happening the first time you see it.
In fact, you almost never do.
You dont take photos by reacting to somethinglike, something happens and you press a shutter.
And the only way to really figure that out is by really knowing your subjects.
You take photos by knowing whats going to happen.
Where do you stay?
[Finding] places to stay can be difficult sometimes.
But if I want to be someplace for one month, I cant do that.
And everything every place, every country, every situation is different.
Whats always on your packing list?
So usually I end up taking more than I need.
So I tend to have a lot of camera gear.
I use mostly Nikon cameras now: a D850, D800 and D500.
The equipment I use to house and protect my gear underwater is provided byNauticamandZillion.
My underwater lights are provided byRGBlue.
I have acollapsible foam rollerwhich is just fantastic.
Normally foam rollers take up a lot of space because of the volume but this collapses flat.
If you use foam rollers, Im telling you, you should get one.
[I also bring]bands.
Whats your luggage like?
So I tend to convert things that look kind of bland and use padding inside.
When I do that, it just looks like any other tourist luggage.
And theres water splashing everywhere and you just want to keep everything dry when youre not using it.
There are a couple of pieces that I use a lot now.
One is [from a brand] calledOrtlieband they make stuff for bikers.
And then there is one thats Japanese calledStream Trail.
But Im not completely wedded to them.
I dont worry about it very much because if I did, Id just drive myself crazy.
Do you bring food or snacks with you?
I always have some powdered green tea.
Lots of fruits, lots of vegetablesIm lucky in Japan.
We get a lot of fresh stuff, a lot of fish.
I eat constantly throughout the day and I work out a lot.
So when I go away I eat as well as I can.
When Im traveling inside Japan I get almost anything I want.
In some places like a remote island in the South Pacific its impossible.
So I dont worry about it very much because if I did, Id just drive myself crazy.
What do you bring with you for entertainment?
But now, all that digital has just completely magnified the amount of equipment that [I] need.
So I keep [my books] on my iPad.
When Im out in the field, theres a lot of downtime.
What do you do when youve arrived at your destination?
And you just kind of forgot to do something or made a simple mistake.
And I dont want to do that.
I cant afford to do that.
So I attempt to arrive early.
I dont look at my gear for at least a day.
Then Ill prepare the equipment and get into thinking about what I need to do.
That is the ideal scenario.
For the most part I am able to get at least a couple of days in the front end.
I think its really important.
One of the most important things about doing this is having good relationships with people.
How do you fight fatigue and jet lag?
Pretty much since 1991, Ive been on the road for the entire year.
In the beginning, it was crazy hecticI would be hopping continents like every week.
So thats really helpful.
Ive been able to train myself to go to sleep and get 7-8 hours pretty easily.
What tech or apps do you use when you travel?
I get news off ofFlipboardandFeedly.
To write, I useByword.
Lately I use Apple Notes more often just because it syncs with the Cloud.
Im a big fan ofDuck Duck Goas a surfing app.
Just because you never know what internet connection youre using.
I always have VPNs on, like the one that was put out by CloudFlare, the1.1.1.1.
And also I have another one,Private Internet Access (PIA).
You never knowIm not overly paranoid but I use them anyway.
Do you bring souvenirs home from your trips?
Or skin from a whalea biology-geek throw in of thing.
(Important note: These are items Ive found.
In many places, people collect and kill live animals to get to sell trinkets to tourists.
I dont want to inadvertently encourage anyone to purchase shells and such from trinket shops.)
I dont generally buy stuff in storesexcept for my wife.
I do buy things for my wife.
Do you have any travel disaster stories?
The entire ecosystem is based on that.
But thats all part of the system.
Everything that was supposed to happen in the ocean did not.
So this year the current didnt show up, or it went elsewhere.
And the ocean froze.
It became a Slurpee.
Literally an ocean Slurpee.
And the tropical and semi tropical fish obviously died.
Even the more temperate water fish died.
The corals bleached and died.
Basically what I have been targeting didnt happen at all.
Clearlybecause nothing was happening.
And when that happens its too late for me to turn around and go someplace else.
Ive been dealing with nature for over two decades, so certainly theres been a lot of variation.
But it cycles in and out.
These are travel disasters for mebut more importantly, its a disaster for the animals.
Another example is being up in Alaska this summer.
And there wasnothingin the water.
It was crystal clear.
No one knows whats going on.
These are travel disasters for mebut more importantly, its a disaster for the animals.
Its been the same everywhere.
