About

Tom Grimm has been a photographer, author and worldwide travel journalist for more than 50 years. He began his peripatetic lifestyle by hitchhiking around the United States one summer while in college. Upon graduation with a bachelor's degree in journalism from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, Tom spent 15 months hitchhiking around the world. It was to be the first of eight globe-circling adventures that has brought him and his cameras to all seven continents and more than 130 countries.

Tom met his wife, Michele, when he was hired to photograph the first group of tourists to fly to Antarctica during a world tour in 1970. They married a few months later and have continued globetrotting to take photos and gather material for books, magazines, newspapers and websites. The Grimms are authors of a number of how-to photography and travel books (see WORKS below). Their photographs also have illustrated seven children's and adult books.

For 16 years the husband-and-wife team wrote a weekly travel column for the Los Angeles Times. They also were the photography columnists for Travel-Holiday magazine for a decade. In addition, the couple wrote a monthly travel column for the Southern California auto club's Westways magazine and a weekly travel column for La Opinion, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in Los Angeles.

The couple's list of article and/or photo credits includes Travel & Leisure, Sunset, Cooking Light, Seventeen, Woman's Day, Modern Bride, Four Seasons Resorts Magazine, San Francisco Focus, Passport Newsletter, Scholastic, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Toronto Star, and many others.

Tom and Michele maintain a stock photo library of more than 150,000 color transparencies and digital images taken during their global travels and assignments. Their photographic work is represented worldwide by the photo stock agency Alamy.com.

In addition to traveling more than five years in motorhomes on several photographic odysseys of North America, the couple has lived in Bend, Oregon, Islamorada in the Florida Keys, and Laguna Beach and San Clemente in Southern California. They currently reside on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the Sarasota area.

Featured Work

THE BASIC BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY

2003, 1997, 1985, 1979, 1974

Tom wrote the first edition of his how-to photo guide in 1974 while teaching photography at the University of California Irvine. Now co-authored with his wife and fellow photographer, Michele, the greatly expanded 5th edition – with 672 pages and 395 illustrative photos – features the technologies and techniques for both innovative digital and traditional film photography. This venerable guide has been the best-selling handbook for amateur and expert photographers for over 40 years and has sold more than 400,000 copies. An all-inclusive glossary of photographic terms makes THE BASIC BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY of extra value to all photographers, whether a beginning snapshooter or an experienced pro. You'll discover that this classic guide is a wonderful reference for any photographic question, and it will help you become the photographer you have always wanted to be.

Other Works

  • THE BASIC BOOK OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: How to Shoot, Enhance, and Share Your Digital Pictures

    2009

  • THE BASIC DARKROOM BOOK: A Complete Guide to Processing and Printing Color and Black-and-White Photographs -- for Beginners through Experts

    1999, 1986, 1978

  • AWAY FOR THE WEEKEND--SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Great Getaways Less Than 250 Miles from Los Angeles

    1993, 1989, 1986, 1984

  • THE GOOD GUIDE FOR BAD PHOTOGRAPHERS: How To Avoid Mistakes And Take Better Pictures

    1982

  • FAITES DE MEILLEURES PHOTOS -- Comment Eviter Les Erreurs Les Plus Frequentes

    1982

  • ALL ABOUT 35MM PHOTOGRAPHY: A Complete Guide to Choosing and Using 35mm Cameras and Equipment

    1979

  • FLORIDA: This Beautiful World--Vol. 59

    1977

  • HITCHIKER'S HANDBOOK--The Thumb-tripper's Bible! The Original and Complete Guide to Hitchhiking in the United States Now Expanded to Include Europe and the World

    1972

  • HITCHHIKER'S HANDBOOK -- A Most Unusual Guide to Hitchhiking in the United States

    1970

Awards and Recognition

  • Tom is a longtime member of the Authors Guild; ASMP, the American Society of Media Photographers; ASJA, the American Society of Journalists and Authors; SPJ, the Society of Professional Journalists; and SATW, the Society of American Travel Writers.