How To Get The Best From Your Travel Photography

How To Get The Best From Your Travel Photography

For all the travel bugs in us, we understand that traveling without clicking a few pictures is incomplete. When we visit new places, we want to capture those moments and keep with us forever and what equipment can do this best if not a camera. Most of us don’t just get up in the morning and decide on a whim to go on holiday. So, before traveling and during your stay, there’s a whole load of things that we need to do to get the best from your travel photography.
Make every effort to find important information about where you are traveling to. Read travel guides, books, newspaper and magazine articles, search the internet, watch television programs. Knowing a little about what life is like in that part of the world can go a long way to getting the most out of your time there. For example, how would the locals react to someone trying to take their picture? Some cultures can forbid taking pictures of certain places and people. This is especially true of women in Islamic countries. In some places, people will practically beg you to take their picture. Sometimes, you will be expected to pay for the privilege. Make your due diligence and act accordingly. No matter where you are traveling to, kindly avoid taking pictures of military bases, government buildings and off the limits places. Usually there is a sign with a camera crossed over where you know that you can’t take pics while you’re around. Remember never to take a new smart phone or camera on a trip without shooting at least for a couple of days as a test. Familiarize yourself with its operation thoroughly before you leave. Same thing apply to your old camera. Don’t be over-ambitious, be realistic about what you can achieve. Travelling through different places means you’re on the move, with little time or opportunities to wait for the light to improve, or return at a different time of day to get the shot. Quite often, you have to get what you can while you can, and if conditions are not ideal, if the weather is poor, if it’s the wrong time of day when you happen to be there, then you just won’t be able to replicate that famous picture you’ve seen of this exact place. But sometimes you’re lucky, and everything falls into place just when you need it to – so make sure your smartphone or camera is locked and loaded, accessible in your gear, and ready for action at a moment’s notice. To help your creativity in composition consider taking new angles of famous buildings, photograph local people – but ask first, think about your point of view and try and avoid the popular viewpoints. The best pictures are produced when you immerse yourself in the places you visit. Spend some time engaging with local people, taking part in normal life, and try to capture the essence of a place photographically. When you get back, your pictures will form an indelible record of your trip of a lifetime.