Ten Tips to help you bring home the best travel photos

 

1.) Bring the right equipment.

The ideal is to have two good cameras – one larger TTL camera for shooting scenery and doing the big landscape shots and a small compact camera for nights out and places where you don’t want an extra bag to carry around. If I have to choose between the two, I would just take the small point and shoot camera. Bring extra memory cards and don’t forget your battery charger and an extra battery pack.  Your smartphone may very well be an extra camera for you.  The cameras on phones nowadays are actually very good.  Although, they may lack the controls of your other camera, the quality of the images is often pretty high. 

 2.) Know the essential controls of your camera.  

Reading operation manuals isn’t a lot of fun.  But if you just spend a little time with your camera learning the basics of what your camera is capable of will pay off big time when you are out there shooting photos for your after vacation slideshow.  Today the digital camera has so much capability that it’s a shame not to know how to get the most out of it. At the minimum know how to cut your flash on and off. If you are still unsure of what camera is right for you, here are some options for a good point and shoot camera. Click Here

 3.) Take your camera with you whenever possible. 

Of course if you are going skinny dipping in the Tigres (bad idea; believe me) you might opt to leave your camera at home, but your travel photos will be that much better if you can include at least a few shots of every activity.  The smaller point and shoot cameras can easily fit in a pocket or a small carry bag. There are water proof covers and cases that you can get if part of your trip is going to include recreation in water.   And again don’t forget your phone.  It can sub for a point and shoot camera on many occassions. 

 4.) Get closer. 

This is a tip that applies to all photography, but is still true of travel photos. If you are taking photos of the Grand Canyon than "getting closer" might be treachorous advice, but often the difference in a professional photographers work and the snapshots of an ameteur is the subject of the professionals shot fills the frame.  That is if you are taking a photo of your two traveling companions in front of Buckingham Palace then you want to get something of the Palace in the background, but don’t try to get the whole Palace in the shot. Also, by "get closer" I don’t mean get right in people’s faces, rather use the zoom feature on your camera and increase the size of your subjects in the frame.  A wide angle lens will distort your subjects face – so get closer to people figuratively. Not literally.  

 5.) Heads  at the top.  

This tip applies to all your photography with people in them.  Amatuers usually center the subjects face in the middle of the viewfinder, leaving waisted or blank space abover their heads.  Professional photographers, in most cases, put the subjects head at the very top of the frame.  This one tip can dramactally improve your photographs more than just about anything else. Peruse any magazine and notice where the faces of the subject are in the shot.  Now of course there are exceptions.  When you are taking shots of our friends in front of monuments or other notable scenery you want to include some of it.  If possible position them to the side.   

 6.) Take multiple photos.

In the old days of film, you had to worry about running out of film and missing the "money shot."  Well those days are gone and memory cards are inexpensive.  When taking group shots always take multiples because I can just about guarantee, SOMEBODY BLINKED, or looked away or something.  Also, if you think you have a really good shot lined up take several and change your angle slightly.  A step to the right or left can make a tremendous difference sometimes and you just might find that the Brazillian flag in the background just in the frame beside your subject turns your ho hum snapshot into a frame worthy masterpiece. 

7.) Give your group a 3-count.

Unless you are touring with a group of professional models, you will find the average person has problems holding a smile for any length of time.  The "say cheese" cliche has it’s uses, but what I’ve found helpful when taking group shots is to tell people to smile on 3 and not before and then count slowly "1, 2, 3" and snap the photo right on three.  If you want to go for the laugh, tell them to smile on 3 and then count "1, 2, 4."   Oddly, it works everytime.    

 8.) Get lower. 

If you are shooting something low, get low, squat, sit or even lie down to get your camera low.  Now if you lie down in the street, have someone watch for oncoming traffic.  

9.) Shoot at "Happy Hour!"  

Actually I meant to type "Magic Hour" but the idea of taking photos at happy hour is pretty good as well. Some call this the "Golden Hour."  There is a wonderful time of day an hour before sunset when the sun is going down and cast a beautiful glow. The light is more diffused, richer and has more red in it.  You get a similar effect at sunrise, but it’s usually that easy to get folks on vacation to join you for a sunrise photo shoot.  Many movie directors will shoot important scenes in this light because it makes things look so much richer. Even buildings photograph better in this light.   Next time you are on the beach shoot your companions in the light just before the sun goes down, and see what I mean.  Warning:  Magic Hour isn’t really a full hour so be ready to shoot. 

10.) Don’t loose site of what’s important. 

It’s nice to have a travel photo of Notre Dame or the Space Needle, or the seal bouncing the ball on its nose , but in twenty years is that travel photo going to mean as much to you as your daughter watching the seal or a photo of her getting splashed.  Make sure you take photos of the people that are enjoying the adventure with you first and then shoot the other stuff.  After all, you aren’t trying to create postcards. You can always buy postcards of the grand scenic shots taken by a professional with a three-grand camera.  Most of us can’t buy postcards of our family.  

Bonus Tip:  When travelling with a group and you want to get good travel photos, find ways to take photos of the group from the front.  Get ahead of them if you need to and shoot back or get in the lead boat, car, bicycle or gondola, hovercraft – whatever.