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20 Photography Tips Every Travel Photographer Must Know

As much as we say, Photography is an art, there is much more to it! Apart from being artistic and imaginative, a good photographer needs to get all the techniques and rules of photography in mind to be able to get the best pictures of the lot. In this post, we’ll discuss 20 essential tips of good photography and how you can make most of each.

1. Capture The Natural Morning Light

A good picture definitely needs the best lighting and there is nothing better than natural light. Ask any renowned photographer and the one piece of advice you’ll get is to use as much natural light as you can in your photography. Morning light i.e an hour after the sunrise, is considered to be the best light to capture most types of subjects.

2. Do Thorough Research On Your Subject

This is most appropriately applicable to those who are willing to capture the beauty of nature by travelling to different destinations. You must be aware of the place and its significance before you begin clicking it. Knowing the subject well will help you take some of the amazing and intelligent clicks.

3. Get Familiar With Your Tool

This is undoubtedly the first and the foremost thing you should so before packing your gears. Learn about each and every aspect of your camera. Get familiar with different functions and how they can be helpful in delivering unique photographs. Make sure you do your homework well before setting out on the spree.

4. Pick The Right Place To Stay

Most photographers die to get a room with beautiful views. This not just help them to wake up with fresh ideas, but also give a lot of opportunities to capture the view from different perspective without having to do any hard labor. You just need to be ready with your camera and capture the view at different points of time in a day and night.

5. Learn To Greet

Subjects are everywhere. You just need to have an eye for them. A person reading daily newspaper on the bench on the bank of a river can also be a great click if you know how to seek permission well. Just learn to greet people in several different local languages and it will get you on the right path.

6. Get Inspired, Get Innovated!

There’s nothing wrong with seeking guidance and inspiration from the portfolios of great personalities of your field. Knowledge gathered from practical observation is much more reliable and useful, than any theoretical technicalities.

7. Discover The Place

A good photography is not just about clicking some beautiful landscapes of the place. You need to feel the place from within to be able to capture the best things that others may not even able to think of.

8. Find A Good Company

So, you are new to a place and don’t to know from where to start? Well, a local can help you find all the good places where you can get some of the great photo opportunities. Just talk to some locales and pick a person that can take you around places too.

9. Travel As Light As You Can

The key to better photography is to avoid stuffing everything you have in your bag. Just focus on essential things like a pair of zoom and prime lens, battery charger and some daily essentials. Travelling light will help you explore more places, than you would ever do with heavy baggage.

10. Come Out With a New Point Of View

Yes, we all know Thailand has some beautiful beaches and that India is famous for some beautiful temples. It’s time you come up with some fresh ideas. Everything has been discovered and published, it’s time to be innovative and creative.

11. Keep It Slow

It’s not at all a good idea to stuff everything at one place. Try to come out of your comfort zone, forget about the time constraint and prepare yourself well before clicking the red button. Things need to be organized and well understood before they get captured in your small handy device.

12. Travel With Locals

Pulling up a private taxi will not help. Take a tour of local buses or city metro to get into interactions with the locals. This will help you find the best photography opportunities, that you may not bother t explore on your own.

13. Enjoy Your Vacation Too

Don’t just get too involved with your camera and lenses. Even your brain needs to relax a bit. Take a ride around the city or town without photography in your mind or hand. Enjoy your time staying at a new place and explore it like any other tourists would.

14. Believe In Being Natural

It’s always advised to go for natural lighting as much as you can. There are many renowned photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson, who have never used flash light in their photography. This not juts saves you on heavy expenses, but also help you give best quality pictures ever.

15. Get On To Vantage Point

Every good travel photographer will always have a bird view image in his collection. Find yourself a higher point from where you can look down and see the entire city or town of the place.

16. Leave The Excuses Behind

“I don’t have a good camera”, “My lens is not of good quality”, “I didn’t have much time”. Well, all these excuses won’t get you anywhere if you don’t start accepting what you have and get the best out of it. Remember, camera is a tool and whoever learns to use it in the best way, will have the trophy in the end!

17. Find A Guide

As mentioned earlier, practical guidance is more beneficial than theoretical knowledge. Try to find a photographer who is ready to make you his assistant. You can learn a lot just be observing his moves in terms of lighting, choosing places, communicating with locals and so on.

18. Look Around For “Exotic” Picks

As much over exaggerated as it sounds, it is not at all difficult to find “Exotic” places to shoot. If you’ll run deep into your imagination, you’; realize that the place you are standing on right on can be given an exotic makeover with just few simple fantastic clicks. As it says, be creative with what you have and you can achieve the heights!

19. Don’t Get Stagnant

A travel photographer should always be exploring and clicking. Keep your portfolio alive and fresh with new collections. There’s no need to travel to far off places. Just a round trip to nearest hill stations will also bring in new opportunities every time you step into a new town.

20. Be Careful With Your Subjects

Try to be courteous and decent while you are shooting around. Respect your subjects and treat them with dignity. Don’t shoot the ones who don’t want to. If you’ve promised them to send their pictures, please do so. These small things will keep your subjects happy and give you some of the best shots.

Follow these simple rules of photography and you’ll see a remarkable difference in your collection then and now. These tips will help bring out the best skills in you, giving you an altogether new perspective of the art of photography.

Rachel is a passionate blogger about travel and photography and works for Sarre Photography.





Photographic Hot Spots On An East Cost US Road Trip

New York 2012

America’s East Coast is home to some of the country’s most photographed locations, from New York, where every street corner is like a still from a film, to the immense political architecture of Washington D.C. If you’re thinking of taking a trip down this side of the country and you’re looking for the best locations for collecting memorable images of your trip, then here are some photographic hot spots to look out for.

Boston is without doubt one of the highlights of America’s East coast, with its numerous historic buildings, pretty parks and coastal vistas. The Boston Tea Party ships are moored at a reconstructed version of Griffins Wharf and offer insight into a turning point in the city (and the country’s) history in one single shot, particularly when populated by re-enactors in period costume. The Old City Hall, Copps Hill Burial Ground and the numerous historic churches across the city are also bathed in interesting events in America’s timeline and distinct architectural styles.

Just outside the city is the gorgeous Walden Pond, more than 250,000 square miles of mirror like water reflecting the sky, or to capture another very well known part of America’s history head to nearby Salem and the ghoulish Witch House.

New York is one of those places that is simply a photographer’s dream, with even a simple yellow taxicab causing cameras to be whipped out. The Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, Central Park (and Central Perk…!), 5th Avenue, Times Square, and the Rockefeller Center are just some of the buildings that will have you reaching for your camera. And then there are the other city landmarks that we all want to capture for posterity – Carrie Bradshaw’s Brownstone, Ghostbusters HQ, The Seinfeld diner, the Breakfast at Tiffany’s apartment building and the Fame Music High School are just a few of the very famous locations in the city.

Washington, DCWashington D.C. is the political capital of America and as such there are some pretty recognisable sights here that make perfect photo fodder. The White House, the Washington Monument, Union Station and Rock Creek Park are some of the city’s most famous and most photographed sights. Those with a particularly keen interest in law and politics might also be interested in seeing the Supreme Court, Capitol Hill and the Ellipse. To take home some images of a different side of Washington, head for the C&O Canal on the north bank of the Potomac River, one of the most impressive surviving examples of the American canal building era.

If you’re looking for swathes of natural sea swept beauty and wide-open spaces for your photo album then Maine on the northeast coast is the state in which to find it. The Arcadia National Park is located in this part of America, a fascinating series of islands off the eastern Atlantic coast populated with all sorts of wildlife, such as moose, beaver, bobcats and black bears. Maine also has four of the US’s National Scenic Byways or All-American Roads, of which there are only 120 in the country, and the name should be a clue as to how many scenic shots there are to snap here. Then there are the famous Maine lighthouses – you can’t truly photograph the East Coast without capturing one of these.

If you’re travelling to the East Coast of America then these photographic hot spots are a must see. Whether you want to capture the wilds of Maine or America’s political jungle, you won’t be short of subjects for your pictures.

Attached Images:

Amy Sawyer is a freelance travel feature writer working with Alamo USA.

7 IPhone Photography Tips

The iPhone opened a whole new world of digital photography. Amateurs and budding photographers can take pictures whenever and wherever they want. And the pictures are amazing, on par with the pictures that you can take with traditional cameras. Plus the camera on your phone is easier to take pictures with than your DSLR camera, and it’s a lot lighter too!

Here are some tips for taking amazing pictures with your iPhone.

1.Hold The Phone Like A Camera

Don’t use the one handed snap approach with your iPhone. Instead, position the phone just as you would a standard camera. Use the screen to position your picture so it’s positioned the way you want to final picture to look.

2.Use Your Feet To Zoom In

The iPhone has some amazing features, including the ability to zoom in. Maintain the quality of your photos by walking closer to your object when possible to zoom in. After you’re as close to your object as possible, you can use the zoom feature and maintain the integrity of the photo.

3.Take The Shot A Few Times

Digital photography is quite forgiving. If the first shot doesn’t look right, then you can take it again. The speed of the iPhone’s camera makes it possible to retake a shot within seconds if you messed up the first one. Just to be certain you get the second or third, don’t stop to look at the picture. Assume that the first shot is not what you wanted and take subsequent shots immediately after the first. Some of the shots will be better than others, but at least you’ll have a few options to choose from.

4.Light

Lighting is important when it comes to camera phones. You’ll have grainy, poor quality pictures in lower lighting. Keep the light behind you can make sure that your subject is well lit. That doesn’t mean that you cannot shoot great images at night. Play around with light and you phone settings and see how you can improve upon the resulting pictures.

5.Keep The Phone Still

Calm your shaky nerves and keep the phone as still as you can when you’re taking pictures. A shaky hand will result in blurred images, so keep your jitters in check. Keep your hands still by resting your arm or the phone on something stable while you take the shot.

6. Clean The Lens

This obvious tip is not so obvious when it comes to smartphones. We easily remember to clean our camera lens on traditional cameras but overlook the lens on our smartphone. Your phone can pick up dust lying around in your handbag or on your desk. Not to mention the fingerprints and food from grubby fingers. Clean the lens to improve the quality of your resulting picture.

7.Edit

Use the camera app on the iPhone, or download another app from the iTunes store to edit all your pictures before you share them. From tweaking the contract to adding borders, there are hundreds of edits you can do to make your pictures look better.

Crystal has written this article for Michael Ward Stout, lawyer who administers Mapplethorpe’s estate.

Shooting For The Album – Keeping The End Product In Sight

During a session with a photographer you may hear the phrase ‘shooting for the album’, but what does this mean? It means that while they are undoubtedly getting some great session shots, they have come into the session with the end product of the shoot firmly in the forefront of their minds. One of the first questions that your photographer should ask you is what you intend on doing with the images from the sessions, as this will enable them to add an extra dimension to the shoot to ensure that you get an end product that you love.

Though your photographer may issue you with some session prints for you to keep, which you will no doubt share with your friends on Facebook and other social networking sites, these prints are only a taste, a sample of what the finished product is going to be. The end product that the photographer is aiming for could be anything from a bespoke album to a canvas print or a true to life acrylic. So whether you are the photographer or the client the end product should never be far from your minds.

Planning the Session

Once you know what the end product is going to be, the photography session can be better planned to ensure that not only does the photographer have a clear plan of how the shoot is going to go, but the client too is in the right frame of mind to get the best results. For example if the client is looking for a piece of photographic artwork to proudly display over the fireplace, then the photographer should take the time to appreciate the décor of the room and advise the client on the best wardrobe and color scheme that will complement the décor of the room in which it is going to be displayed. The finished piece, the end product is not only a creative venture between photographer and client, it should perfectly match the personalities of the people in the picture.

An Unsure Client

It can be difficult to plan a shoot effectively if the client is unsure about what exactly they want to achieve with their images. So it is worthwhile for the photographer to have a portfolio of work with them whenever they meet a new client.  This allows the client to see a range of finishes, products, and styles that tell the photographer what appeals to them to enable the shoot to be planned effectively. The more relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera a client is, the better the end result is going to be, whether it’s a family shoot in the client’s home or a special day that is photographed so that it can be remembered forever.  A good session can allow personalities to shine and inner beauty to surface and be shown on the finished product.

About the author: Claire is a blog writer that appreciates the creativity expressed by artists such as Raleigh Wedding Photographers. She understands that a good picture can express far more than any other creative genre and provide tangible memories that can be kept forever whether they be in albums or printed artworks displayed for all to see.

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