On the cover: Ken Ross has been to some of the most remote corners of the globe, but he still manages to find intriguing images closeto home, as seen in this minimalist arrangement of sun, spray and sunbather in Phoenix, not far from his studio.

Cover photo: © Ken Ross

Location: Scottsdale, Ariz. Ross has a 300-square-foot studio in his home, for portraits and still-life photography.

Latest assignment: "Last year I did a number of books, or partial books, for Fodor's "Travel Guides,' including a month in Costa Rica."

Favorite assignment: "They're all great. I am living my dream life by traveling around the world and using my camera to meet peoples I would not otherwise talk to."

Advice for aspiring travel photographers: "Stay diverse. Shoot many subjects to pay for the bills, especially when you are starting out. Portraits, corporate, weddings, your neighbor's dog - whatever."

Website: kenrossphotography.com...

Travel shooter Ken Ross has been roaming the globe taking photographs since he was a kid in middle school. It's not that he was some sort of prodigy; his mother was a famous author who lectured worldwide.

"The only way to see Mom was to travel with her," Ross says. "Twice a year I got to go wherever she went, and so I grew up taking photos all over the world – in great places like Brazil, Japan, the Nile – from the age of 13 or 14."

Ross' mom was Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, world-renowned author of "On Death and Dying" (which outlined the now-ubiquitous "five stages of grief"), as well as scores...