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Standing in the observation carriage of the Eastern & Oriental Express train, Alixe Lay leaned into the breeze and considered her 10 years as a travel photographer. “The open-air car really allowed me to feel connected to the outside,” says the Lightroom Ambassador. “The warmth and the humidity made me appreciate the sheer luck of being able to experience this journey on such a beautiful, historical train in my home country, Malaysia. It’s a very special way to see a familiar place with different eyes.”

Standing in the observation carriage of the Eastern & Oriental Express train, Alixe Lay leaned into the breeze and considered her 10 years as a travel photographer. “The open-air car really allowed me to feel connected to the outside,” says the Lightroom Ambassador. “The warmth and the humidity made me appreciate the sheer luck of being able to experience this journey on such a beautiful, historical train in my home country, Malaysia. It’s a very special way to see a familiar place with different eyes.”

Alixe onboard the Eastern & Oriental Express train.

Alixe snapped photos constantly during her three-day journey from Singapore to Bangkok, as the luxury train chugged through the Malaysian heartland. Through the window, she saw scenes from her childhood, long before her photography became more than a hobby, before she moved to London, England. Not long after the train journey ended in January of 2020, the world suddenly changed.

Dramatic lighting, and a golden patina, are signatures of Alixe’s work.

“The pandemic hit me hard as a travel photographer who relies heavily on photographing places,” she says. “I found being stuck at home looking at the same four walls really difficult. When I was finally able to travel again, it made me realize how much of this I missed.” 

 

Before lockdown, Alixe’s work had appeared in the European and American editions of Condé Nast Traveler. Soho House, Belmond, and Relais & Châteaux have commissioned her to shoot their hotels. The secret to capturing interiors, she says, is the ability to find interesting compositions and details that add soul. “You also need the patience and openness to allow the room to reveal its story to you.”

Alixe onboard the Eastern & Oriental Express train.

Alixe snapped photos constantly during her three-day journey from Singapore to Bangkok, as the luxury train chugged through the Malaysian heartland. Through the window, she saw scenes from her childhood, long before her photography became more than a hobby, before she moved to London, England. Not long after the train journey ended in January of 2020, the world suddenly changed.

 

 

“The single most consistent source of inspiration for me is ‘golden hour.’”

 

 

“The pandemic hit me hard as a travel photographer who relies heavily on photographing places,” she says. “I found being stuck at home looking at the same four walls really difficult. When I was finally able to travel again, it made me realize how much of this I missed.”

 

Before lockdown, Alixe’s work had appeared in the European and American editions of Condé Nast Traveler. Soho House, Belmond, and Relais & Châteaux have commissioned her to shoot their hotels. The secret to capturing interiors, she says, is the ability to find interesting compositions and details that add soul. “You also need the patience and openness to allow the room to reveal its story to you.”

Dramatic lighting, and a golden patina, are signatures of Alixe’s work.

“The single most consistent source of inspiration for me is ‘golden hour,’” says Alixe. “Everything looks so beautiful at this time of day — even the mundane can be transformed into something special — simply because it’s covered in a veil of golden light.” These rich colors make her photos of historic English buildings look like they’re from another time. Vintage bookstores, reading rooms, and schools are aglow in the dim light of candles and lamps.

Alixe says patience is the secret to interior photography.

Alixe is a lean photographer who carries one camera and one lens: a Sony a7R II with a 24–70mm f2.8 GM lens. She shoots everything raw and underexposed, turning “unusable” photos into works of art through post-production. “Color grading is a huge part of my creative process. The editing part can take me anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours,” she says. Alixe created her free Adobe Photoshop Lightroom preset to give any photo a “golden hour” glow. “I also wanted it to feel nostalgic and a little cinematic, hence the grain and the green undertone.”

Alixe says patience is the secret to interior photography.

“The single most consistent source of inspiration for me is ‘golden hour,’” says Alixe. “Everything looks so beautiful at this time of day — even the mundane can be transformed into something special — simply because it’s covered in a veil of golden light.” These rich colors make her photos of historic English buildings look like they’re from another time. Vintage bookstores, reading rooms, and schools are aglow in the dim light of candles and lamps.

 

Alixe is a lean photographer who carries one camera and one lens: a Sony a7R II with a 24–70mm f2.8 GM lens. She shoots everything raw and underexposed, turning “unusable” photos into works of art through post-production. “Color grading is a huge part of my creative process. The editing part can take me anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours,” she says. Alixe created her free Adobe Photoshop Lightroom preset to give any photo a “golden hour” glow. “I also wanted it to feel nostalgic and a little cinematic, hence the grain and the green undertone.”

Alixe’s free Lightroom preset allows you to add that “golden hour” look to any photo.

Alixe also relies on several other Lightroom edits. “They usually involve warming up a photo by increasing temperature, lightening it by increasing exposure of the raw image, adding a slight contrast, automatic lens and perspective correction,” Alixe says. “As someone who really loves a rich color palette, I also intensify the colors with the RGB panels of the tone curve, and color grading. If I find that specific colors in the photos are not quite where I like them to be, I adjust their hue, saturation, and luminance in the Color Mix panel. Finally I add a bit of clarity to enhance interior and architecture details.”

 

“The process of improving your photography forces you to become a keen observer of the world,” Alixe says. “I find it’s completely changed the way I see and experience everything. This constant shift is what inspired me to become a photographer in the first place. It also keeps me inspired throughout my journey.”

 

See more on Instagram.

Alixe’s free Lightroom preset allows you to add that “golden hour” look to any photo.

Alixe also relies on several other Lightroom edits. “They usually involve warming up a photo by increasing temperature, lightening it by increasing exposure of the raw image, adding a slight contrast, automatic lens and perspective correction,” Alixe says. “As someone who really loves a rich color palette, I also intensify the colors with the RGB panels of the tone curve, and color grading. If I find that specific colors in the photos are not quite where I like them to be, I adjust their hue, saturation, and luminance in the Color Mix panel. Finally I add a bit of clarity to enhance interior and architecture details.”

 

“The process of improving your photography forces you to become a keen observer of the world,” Alixe says. “I find it’s completely changed the way I see and experience everything. This constant shift is what inspired me to become a photographer in the first place. It also keeps me inspired throughout my journey.”

 

See more on Instagram.