Do you love traveling? Do you love taking pictures to commemorate your travels? Taking pictures is part of the fun of traveling. Documenting your adventures and looking back at your captures is one way to preserve that memory.
Are you looking to post your adventures on social media, or do you want to enhance your photography skills? Whether you utilize your phone or a digital camera, you can improve your captures by a margin by applying the following tips.
Know Your Camera
Ask any professional photographer, and they’ll first tell you to get to know your camera equipment. Whether you shoot with an old film unit, smartphone, mirrorless, or a dSLR, you should know how your camera equipment works by heart.
Spend many hours with your camera at home and when traveling. Take the time to read the instructions and spend hours playing around with the buttons and camera settings. Check the menu beforehand so that when you’re traveling, you won’t have to spend minutes finding a specific camera setting.
For example, Canon has an excellent camera for travel, specifically the Canon G7X Mark II – Your Perfect Travel Companion due to its lightweight and compact feel. The camera settings are also easy to maneuver. It has automatic features, which make capturing photos easy. It has a quick auto-focus and a large sensor. You may even have a high-quality vlogging experience if you want to record videos. Overall, it’s a great travel camera.
The camera you choose must feel comfortable in your hands, thus understanding how everything works. When you become one with your camera, you can take better pictures and faster.
Plan Your Shots
Travel photography consists of taking pictures of landscapes, architecture, people, and everything you find “out of this world” during your travels. Thus, it would help if you planned out your shots. Research the places you want to visit in a country. You can get inspiration from travel guides, Instagram, Google Maps, magazines, and more.
Once you find out the shots you want to take, please note it, then plan your day around it. With the following tip, you may also search for the optimum time to shoot your pictures and learn the importance of great lighting. Doing all this can help you get the shots you want as you have more purpose and direction in your travel photography journey.
Always Look for Great Lighting
Have you ever told yourself how great it would be to have your camera when you saw a beautiful sunset? Take charge and enhance your travel photography skills by planning. Research the times that the sun will rise and set. Plan it around your day to get the best light for photography.
In addition to great lighting during sunrise and sunset, look for the best places to capture these magnificent changing lights. You should also find out where the sun will rise and set in the place you’re visiting.
Be Sure To Ask Permission
As mentioned above, travel photography involves taking pictures of the people you meet. You may be interested in capturing the country’s culture and traditions on your travels. Don’t let your shyness stop you from getting fantastic portrait photos during your travels. Just ask permission; it’s polite and respectful.
If you ever have an incredible encounter with a local or someone of interest and want to use your camera to capture the moment, bring out your charm and ask if it’s alright with them if you take their portrait. Don’t worry since many people are happy to pose for a photo if you just ask. However, when they say no, respect their decision and make them comfortable.
On the other hand, if you want to take a candid shot with your subject looking natural and in their element, you can do it without annoying the person. You take pictures by ensuring that you don’t make it obvious. Be sure to act natural and take pictures of the environment around them. You can get numerous shots of the place and also the people.
You may also just place your camera on your side and point the lens in their direction. If you brought your zoom lens, you can also use it for this purpose. A zoom lens allows you to be on the other side of the street but still photograph your subject.
Create Your Style
There’s nothing wrong with taking pictures of iconic shots of tourist spots like the Eiffel Tower or the Colosseum. Indeed, they’re a tourist spot due to their great camera angles and astonishing architecture. However, don’t forget to have your unique style with travel photography. For travel photography, it would be best to focus on the following photography styles:
- Nature photography: Take pictures of wildlife and the great outdoors. You can take pictures of tourist spots, but look for angles that haven’t been captured numerous times to stand out. Plan with the right gear since weather and lighting can’t be controlled.
- Landscape photography: You may have to do your research ahead of time. You’ll have to learn about lighting, timing, and technical challenges when capturing beautiful landscapes, e.g., spectacular vistas, deserts, or forests.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to take great pictures may or may not come easy. It concerns how much you practice and learn from trial and error. You would have to learn how your camera works for you, which can take a long depending on how much you learn from your ‘mistakes.’ The first tip on this list is to know your camera.
Once you’ve used your camera, you can focus on crucial elements of travel photography. Be sure to enjoy your travels with your own eyes so that you can best capture the sceneries that attract you and, eventually, the people that would view your photographs.
