Balancing Photography as a Physician

October 30, 2019

Welcome to Episode 132 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast. This week's episode features a nature and landscape photographer living in Seattle, Washington - Mahesh Thapa. Mahesh is a Pediatric Radiologist and is known as "The Starving Photographer." He is a Sony Alpha Ambassador and has been an active photographer for over 20 years.
Mahesh and I explored several interesting topics this week, including:

  • How he got into photography.
  • The overlap and parallels between landscape photography and radiology.
  • Managing a busy schedule as a father, photographer, and physician.
  • What motivates him as a photographer.
  • His relationship with Sony and other brands.
  • and... Instagram!

On the podcast introduction, I told you about one of our patrons, Gary Randall.

You might remember Gary from episode 37 and from episode 63 - he is a fantastic photographer and human being. Here on the podcast we are all about supporting each other as photographers through collaboration. Gary has been a huge supporter of the podcast for a long time and I encourage you to support him. He actually just announced his 2020 Kenai Peninsula Alaska Photography Tour - which will be August 9th through the 15th. I can promise if you go with Gary you will have an amazing time.

Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers!

Here are the photographers that Mahesh recommended for the podcast:

1. Eric Ward.

2. Rishi Sanyal.

I love hearing from the podcast listeners! Reach out to me via Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter if you'd like to be on the podcast or if you have an idea of a topic we can talk about. Join the discussion over on Nature Photographer's Network! We have weekly discussions about each episode of the podcast. It's also free! We also have an Instagram page and a Facebook page for updates.

I'm really excited to announce that we have finally reached our $1,000 / mo goal on Patreon and we have officially launched our Landscape Conservation Award.

The “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen” podcast Landscape Conservation Award will recognize an individual photographer who is highly involved in conservation issues within their local communities or within the landscape and nature photography community. This can be through their writing, speaking, photography projects, or community organizing efforts. Additionally, this award seeks to recognize an individual that is actively practicing the Nature First Principles. In partnership with our Patreon supporters, the “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen” podcast presents the prestigious honor, which currently consists of at least $1,570.

We aim to grow the total award amount through donations and sponsorships. We are looking for nominations for the award. You can nominate yourself or someone else through the google form linked in the liner notes. Since our launch we have raised $550 towards the award and have garnered some great sponsorships from some great photography brands.


We are working on getting more in-kind donations and financial donations to sweeten the pot for the deserving award winner. If you are interested in either, please check out the award page on our website.

Thanks for stopping in, collaborating with us, and listening. See you next week.


As a reminder, you can also support the podcast by shopping at B+H for your photography gear using our Affiliate Link.


Please find a transcript of today's podcast episode below:

Mahesh Thapa - Balancing Photography and Life as a Physician
Mahesh Thapa - Balancing Photography and Life as a Physician
Mahesh Thapa - Balancing Photography and Life as a Physician
Mahesh Thapa - Balancing Photography and Life as a Physician
Mahesh Thapa - Balancing Photography and Life as a Physician
Posted in Photography Podcast and tagged Podcast.