A Guide to Travel Photography: Taking Better Photographs
As travel becomes more accessible, more and more people are travelling with their cameras in tow. Many famous landmarks and places have now been photographed millions of times. The latest estimates show 60million images being uploaded to just Instagram every single day. So how can you take better travel images, images that stand out and gain attention, in a world where millions of photographs are taken every single day?
How to Improve
improve your TZ experience
Good travel photography is about understanding the people, the history and the culture of a place. Images that transcend your typical postcard shots to create an image that speaks of the mood, atmosphere and feeling of a place. In this article I want to look at a number of ways that you can improve your travel photography and begin to produce images that can stand out amongst the crowd.
Research the Location
location, location, location
The first step to creating great travel images is research. Finding great locations and subjects is almost essential if you want to make great travel images and all too often many people trying their hand at travel photography will stick to tried and tested locations. This is great if your only aim to produce pretty pictures, these tourist locations are famous because they are generally awesome. There are downside to this however. If you want to make your work standout you have to shoot a famous location better than the 5,000 other people who have photographed it just in the last week. As a rule of thumb If you can find a location or viewpoint that is great and hasn’t been shot as much before then you have much less work to try and stand out against.
Researching isn’t just limited to finding cool locations. Having an understanding of cultural differences, the history of a country, even the tide times and climate can be an advantage when you are on the ground shooting. For example, many people avoid India during the monsoon but if you spend a little time researching you will find out that in certain areas the rain is fairly sporadic and the rains often bring more comfortable weather and much greener, lush landscapes.
When I talk about research I don’t necessarily expect you to land in a foreign country with a 200 page dossier outlining every shot you wish to take. My own approach is to get an idea or places or people I wish to shoot and then visit them with a clear mind. By researching every last minute detail, you will more than likely end up disappointed or unwilling to deviate from your plan. Not being willing to adapt from your plan will also be just as damaging as not having one in the first place.
Think Outside the Box
Continuing on the theme of avoiding cliches, one simple way is to go beyond the beaten path.Travel photography doesn’t have to be images of exotica or famous landmarks. Often the culture and people of a country is just as magical and interesting.
Personally my interests revolve around capturing the magical moments in everyday life, those moments that are unique within cultures but also those that resonate across cultures, such as the love of a mother for her child. I find that people in areas away from the tourist infrastructure are often much more welcoming and authentic, and therefore make much more interesting subjects to photograph.
Be Comfortable With the Kit You Have:
Be prepared for anything
Being comfortable with your camera is probably the most simple way of taking better photos. Knowing how to get the best out of the kit, being confident in your kits and understanding exactly how to use it means that you can focus on what is happening in front of you instead of what is happening in your hands. When photographing people, this is also useful because as soon as you show incompetence, people will notice and the trust can start to deteriorate. Just like in business, if you portray yourself confidently, people will feel more comfortable in your presence.
Follow the Light
Light is unique in that it can completely alter the depth, contrast, mood, emotion and feeling in an image even if everything else remains the same. When photographing you should consider how to light can be used to enhance the narrative of your images.
The strong mid-day light can be used to add contrast and give a sense of harshness. If you compare it to the warm, soft golden hour light at sunset and sunrise, both scenarios can offer great light if it’s matched to the subject matter at hand. Light can also be used to add interest in an image with ‘beams’ of light as the light interacts with particles in the air. This is something I like to use a lot in my images, it’s visually stunning and can give your images a unique feel.
Consider Colour
Colour brings impact
After light, I’d argue colours are the second most important element in travel photography. Colour is one way we can give a real sense of place. Colours also allow us to add impact and contrast to our images. Using contrasting colours (known as complimentary colours) can allow us to add a lot of impact and contrast to an image, alternatively using similar tones (analogous colours) can help direct the attention to the light or the subject and away from the colour. When shooting always think about how colour impacts the narrative you wish to tell.
When I am shooting I am consciously looking for combinations of colours that will work well to complement or contrast each other. If I am trying to convey a sense of peace and tranquility I will maybe try to shoot early in the morning when the light is softer and the sky is generally filled with cool pastel colors which evoke the emotion I am trying to show.
If I want to shoot a strong impactful, vibrant portrait of a man wearing an orange turban I may search out a strong vibrant blue background to contrast the colour of his turban. On the other hand, I may want to take away the impact of a certain colour in which I will try to find a background that is a similar colour to the subject to reduce the colour contrast. Heck, the image might even work better in black and white if you are using light and dark to convey a mood. Again, the important point to consider is what role you want the colours Contrast to play in your images.
Contrast
Sharpen your image
Contrast is often thought of solely in terms of tonal range and as something that can be increased or decreased with a slider in photoshop. This is a fairly basic view of contrast and contrast itself is a word that encompasses much more than just light and dark or colour. We can use contrast to describe light and shadow but also things like sharpness vs out of focus areas, subject contrast (a slum next to a skyscraper for example) or as I mentioned before colour contrast.
In a photograph there are a number of ways we can use contrast to increase the visual weight of an element. By visual weight I mean how much it draws the eye. Below are just a few ways that elements can gain more visual weight in an image. This simple rules can be of use both whilst shooting and they can also help to inform your post processing afterwards. Adding some local saturation, dodging and burning or local clarity can really make certain elements ‘pop’.
• Light objects over dark objects
• Sharp elements over blurry ones
• Saturated colours over unsaturated colours
• Warm colours over cool colours
• Large objects over small objects
• Isolated objects over objects within clutter
• Elements closer to the center of the frame over those towards the edges
• Human figures over non-human elements
• Regular shapes over irregular shapes
Perspective
Crafting an angle
The use of perspective in your images is one of the easiest ways in which you can influence the feeling of a photo. Getting low down and close to your subject will really add emphasis to whatever is closest to the lens. It’s going to blow away any realistic sense of scale and even the smallest objects can potentially be made to look huge. When shooting images of people with a wide lens close up, you are also actively putting yourself into the scene. It’s neither a good or bad thing, just something to consider. People may react differently with you ‘in the action’.
On the other hand, by stepping away from your subject you are able to offer a true sense of scale whilst also removing yourself from the scenario. It’s a completely different effect to using a wide angle lens and as with the above, no way is right or wrong. The best photographers use the tool for the job to tell the story they wish to tell. Maybe next time just take a moment to consider why you are using the lens you have chosen and how the perspective of your shot plays into it’s narrative.
Composition for Context
Giving meaning to your images
Another way of controlling the narrative in your images is through composition. Traditionally the mantra of the rule of thirds has been repeated over and over but composition is more complex than a simple rule. The rule of thirds is a simple way to add visual harmony to an image, it helps to create a nice balanced, calm frame.
Composition is a complex subject that would need a book just to discuss it on it’s own. However there are a few simple rules that can help you when shooting. Firstly, if you want to direct the viewers eye directly towards a single element, putting the element exactly in the centre of the frame will do just that. Alternatively you can use other elements to ‘frame’ your subject which will also help to draw the subjects eye.
Hopefully from reading the tips above, one message is consistent. Always think about why you are doing what you are doing. Learning to use things like light, perspective and colour to influence the narrative of your images will only lead to stronger images in the long run. Consciously thinking about the effects these have whilst shooting and also whilst post-processing will also help you develop a consistent style to your images which again will help your body of images stand out. Many people have great single images, but few photographers have really great, bodies of work. My final suggestion would be to study the work of masters. Photographers like Alex Webb, David Alan Harvey and William Eggleston. Study how they used colour, composition and light to create work using film which is as powerful and impactful in today’s image filled world as it was when it was shot originally.
