Eight simple tips for taking unforgettable travel photos
Knowing just a little bit about photography can make a huge difference in the pictures you take. Here are my eight simple tips for folks who aren’t trained photographers, but who want to take good travel photos:
Get lots of pictures of YOU
There are lots of great subjects when traveling, but it’s the pictures of you in new places, or doing new things, that you’ll treasure for life.
Use fill-flash if the light is coming from behind your subject
We’ve all seen it: Pictures of someone standing in front of a spectacular scene, but the person seems like they’re in the dark. That’s what happens when light is coming from behind your subject, or when your subject is otherwise in the shadows. Shooting with flash on even though it’s daylight is called fill-flash, and it will ensure that you’re subject is well-lit, and that both subject and background look great. Remember that the camera doesn’t always figure out when you need flash!
Take pictures in early morning and late afternoon
During the middle of the day the sun is most harsh, and tends to wash-out colors in your pictures. In the early morning and late afternoon colors are rich and deep. Pictures taken when the sun hits a subject at the start or end of the day can take on a beautiful rich glow.
Take pictures of people doing something, not posing
When people, especially strangers, pose for pictures, they tend to be very stiff. Instead of having people pose, take pictures of them “doing what they do.”
Look for color
Pictures with lots of color, or with lots of contrasting color, can be spectacular.
Always ask permission before taking a close-up of a stranger
Would you like it if Japanese tourists ran up to you every few days, stuck a camera in your face, and pushed the button? If you answered “no,” then show the same courtesy you’d expect by kindly asking before you take someone’s picture. Though there are some cultural exceptions, the great majority of the time people will say yes.
If you’re still using a film camera, then dump it and go digital!
If you haven’t yet made the move to digital, they you should! With digital, you no longer need to worry about your film getting ruined, and you can instantly see what your pictures look like instead of waiting days, weeks or months. You can also backup your digital photos while traveling via the web, ensuring that you’ll still have your best photos even if you lose everything.
Practice with your camera before you leave.
Figuring out that you didn't know how to properly focus your camera once you've been on the road for a month is a disaster. Before you leave, take a few hundred pictures of various types of subjects (portraits, buildings, landscapes) from different distances, under various conditions (e.g. indoors, backlit, in sunlight, in clouds, etc.).
I can’t over-emphasize the importance of understanding the impact of light as it relates to taking good pictures. I wasted a whole lot of film (yes, it was film back then) before I understood some very simple concepts, and you can easily learn the critical basics by doing two simple exercises over the course of a single day.
- Go outside during daylight (preferably morning or late afternoon) and within five minutes or so take a picture of the same subject from all four sides. Compare the results. You'll see that colors come out ok when light is behind the photographer or to the side, but if the photographer is shooting into the light (e.g. facing the sun) then colors are not nearly so vibrant.
- Similarly, on a nice day get up early and take pictures of random subjects in early daylight, in the middle of the day, and then in late afternoon. In each case, ensure the sun is hitting the subject from the front side. You'll see that colors are much richer in early morning and late afternoon, and that colors are washed out during the middle of the day.
I hope this helps. Best wishes for Good Photos and a Fat Passport!
Bob