Easy Travel Photography Tips
For me, it doesn’t get much better when I can travel and photograph at the same time. It combines my two greatest passions and is actually what I am devoting my life to right now.
I know I am not alone in this desire. I know you all love to travel and bring home the beauty you encountered along your way. To prolong the feel and sense of the trip, to be able to enjoy it over and over again once you are back home. I would like to help you with a few easy travel photography tips for when you are photographing while traveling.
To encourage you to shake up your creativity. To intensify the look and feel of your travel images. If that is what you are looking for these Travel Photography Tips will be of great help.
By the way, these tips will also work on a smartphone! Because your smartphone is great for travel photography. Find out why your smartphone is the best camera for travel here.
Are you ready for 7 super easy travel photography tips? Okay…here we go!
#1 Spots & Cards & Plugs
Prepare your trip wisely. Clean your lenses and go to a shop where they can check and clean your sensor. It’s so annoying coming back after a trip and in every image, you have that same spot. Or a lot of spots.
Especially after you have visited dusty places you need to have your sensor cleaned. Once I climbed the Etna volcano and my camera was a mess afterward. Spots all over the place!
You also need to check your memory card for available space. If necessary upload the files to your computer and format the card. So you can start photographing with a clean slate.
Do not forget your charger and check if you need a world plug for your destination.
There’s a lot more you can do to prepare your trip. Find out what in this post with Travel Photography Safety Tips.
#2 Shooting in Low Light
You probably have an integrated flash in your camera or your smartphone. It seems the most logical solution for situations where the light is scarce. But in a lot of circumstances, it is better not to use your flash.
Because if your subject is far away it’s no use at all because your flash will not reach that far. If your subject is close the light from the flash will illuminate your subject from the front. This will result in hard, flat light and the shadows behind your subject will become very black. You will lose the surrounding light and the atmosphere of the scene.
So if at all possible, try to increase your ISO value and/or your shutter speed.
Go here if you wanna dive deeper into low light photography.
#3 Horizontal or Vertical?
I have a huge preference for horizontal photographs. Of course, this is a personal taste but then again there are reasons for it.
In a horizontal format, we have a greater sense of connection because we are right in the middle of things. Horizontal images have more of a personal and dynamic feel to them. This is because we have a horizontal view ourselves.
A vertical image comes across as more formal and static. Of course, there are situations where it will be more effective to take a vertical image.
Try to make a conscious choice. Ask yourself if what you are going to photograph is best served with a horizontal or a vertical orientation.
#4 Up Close & Personal
I devour the details. It is such a joy to photograph them!
So essential of photography to be able to get so close to something, to be able to almost crawl into something. To highlight a tiny part of reality and to give attention to a small thing. Details can tell a small story and when you put them together they become part of the greater story.
Crawl on top of it
Get as close as you can
Look for the small things
Enjoy the beauty of the seeming insignificance
#5 Get Obsessed
What I love to do when I am traveling is choosing one special subject to photograph. This is a super easy travel photography tip because it can be anything you want.
You can stalk your daughter and photograph her every morning as she wakes up.
Or every colorful souvenir you encounter.
Or your feet in the water, while you are walking, or on the dashboard.
I can continue forever but you get the point.
Sometimes an idea gets a hold on you and it becomes an obsession.
One time when we were staying in an apartment in Crete in the middle of a beautiful garden. Every day the soft, warm wind would blow the petals into our room where they would settle down under the bed. What beauty! I became obsessed with the flowers under our bed and every day I would crawl down on my knees and photograph them.
#6 Change your Perspective
When you are in a place that attracts a lot of tourists you will probably all take your photographs from more or less the same standpoint. The place where everyone is standing. It can be very satisfying to walk away from the crowd.
To look at your surroundings from a different point of view. In doing so you will discover more than the rest of the people.
Super bonus is you will have more interesting photographs. So walk away, or come close, or turn to the left, or the right, see if you can go up or try kneeling down. Changing your perspective opens your mind to new possibilities.
#7 Try Candid Photography
Of course, it’s great to photograph your travel companions posing in front of that breathtaking landscape or an old cathedral.
But after a while, that can get a little bit boring. They all look the same.
What I like to do is taking photographs when people are not aware of me photographing. While they are busy doing something.
Give it a try! You are traveling, so you should have the time to explore a new approach in taking photographs. I assure you it will challenge you and excite you to experiment with this type of photography.
Check out the post about candid photography here to learn more about this type of photography or you can go here for tips on photographing children!
Want more? Check out 11 Travel Photography Mistakes and How to Easily Fix Them.
Traveling and being away from your everyday surroundings is the perfect time to start to look around you in a new way.
I sure hope these Easy Travel Photography Tips helped you to become more observant, attentive and inspired.
To open your eyes to all the beauty this world has to offer us and to capture it with your camera. So you can take it with you when you go back home.
Did you try one of the tips? Share your photos on Instagram and mention @photography_playground!
Thank you for the great articles.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
very useful tips thanks, my pictures will hopefully be better now…
Thank you! I hope so too 🙂
What was the most helpful tip for you?
I absolutely loved your article, very useful tips- and the pictures speak for themselves! Pinned it 🙂
Thank you! 🙂