Travel Photo Guide Part 1 - Basic Concepts

Photography while traveling is probably one of the most important souvenirs you can bring back from your trip.  A lasting memory kept in a digital or print file will last a lifetime and be a constant reminder of the wonderful sites you have seen. If possessing great travel photos is a passion of yours, like it is mine, why would you allow yourself to return with something less than stellar for all the amazing places you have been?  An amazing place deserves to be recorded in an amazing picture, and anything less does not give the location the justice it deserves.

You don't need a fancy SLR camera to get amazing photographs.  Most point and shoot cameras only really need to be above 5 megapixels (MP) to capture the full beauty of the world.  Now there are pocket sized cameras that range all the way up to 14 MP in picture size, with included HD video.  A bit overkill if you ask me, but added features the camera's posses, other than picture size, is something that should be highly valued.  In order to take some pictures that absolutely wow your friends and family, as well as become a travel keepsake worthy of display, I've come up with a list of tips that I use while taking photographs abroad that have allowed me to obtain some wonderful shots.

Avoid Blur - Use Anti-Shake/Vibration Reduction/Multi-Shot Mode

Image blur is the most common ruiner of pictures that I have experienced.  The culprit? Low light conditions such as being indoors in restaurants, outside after dark, and more.  In order for a camera to properly take a picture, the exposure time increases to allow more light in for the photograph.  The longer the exposure time, the more camera motion comes into play.  Most point and shoot cameras, as well as SLRs, often come with an optional anti-shake or vibration reduction mode which helps decrease blur in long exposure based images.  However, this mode has to be turned on as it often consumes extra battery life in the process.  Couple the reduction modes on a camera with a multi-shot burst, where the camera continues to take pictures while the shutter button is pressed, and you are bound to get one good shot.  A good burst speed is 3 pictures per second although newer model cameras, especially SLRs can do near triple that value.  Sure, retroactively deleting photos is a pain, but having a blurry picture forever is more of a buzz kill.

Optional more elaborate techniques: Use a sturdy base like a table or tripod and turn on timer mode. Even if you are not in the photo, timer mode allows for the camera to be perfectly still to take the shot.  SLR cameras even have remotes to perform this task as well.  (Photo taken with a Nikon P4 Point and Shoot on a mini-tripod with timer in Paris, France)

Lose the Crowds, They Ruin Pictures

Unless you are wanting to show the human scene in a photo, it is best to take pictures of sites with no people in it at all.  Crowds often draw the eye away from the significant object being photographed and can take away from the overall enjoyment of the picture.  Of course, getting to a location without any people involves off hours (first hours of location opening), during questionable weather, or just plain off season.  If you can't avoid crowds completely, waiting around for a minute or two will sometimes provide a brief enough gap for you to snap an amazing photo. (Photos were taken towards the same object below at different times of the day on a Nikon D80 SLR - Nikko, Japan)

Get Up Close and Personal - Top and Bottom Too

Far to often every single picture of a site is taken head on, with the object being photographed displayed directly infront of the camera.  While still stunning, you'll have the same picture a thousand other people will have just that day alone.  Looking at the object at a different angle (from the ground up or from above) and close up in macro mode can produce some stunning shots that not everyone may think of trying.  Can't get to the angle you want?  Put the camera down and snap away.  Digital film allows you to delete any bad ones, and a random attempt to get a shot can produce something wonderful.   The picture illustrated for this point was taken without looking into the viewfinder on a point and shoot camera.  Luck just oriented the camera perfectly for the beautiful image (Photos were taken on a Nikon P4 Point and Shoot in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Dayton, Ohio respectfully)

Use the Rule of Thirds Loosely - Offside Images Are Just As Nice

Any obsessive photographer will likely bust out the rule of thirds as something that is required to take wonderful pictures.  While this does prove to be true, you don't have to be completely obsessive about lining up shots to the magical proportions for them to be amazing.  For those who are unaware, the rule of thirds goes something like this.  If you were to segment the vertical and horizontal of your pictures with two lines each, producing three segments in the horizontal and vertical, main lines within a picture should be oriented to fall along the imaginary lines.  Whether that is a horizon line falling in the top or bottom third of the screen, or a person being situated to the left or right of the image, it is up to you.  Most point and shoot cameras will actually incorporate the rule of thirds segmenting if you adjust your display features to show it.

I am not a fan of using the rule of thirds.  I'm not obsessive enough to care to line up every shot within the particular designated areas and hate having the feature turned on my camera's display while taking pictures.  Still, the important thing that should be noted from the rule of thirds is this: off-sided images look amazing.  Like the previous tip, taking a picture of an item dead on in the center of the picture every single time will get order.  Try putting the object to one side of the frame and capture more of the surroundings.  Give it a bit of depth by recording more, or less of the overall picture.  The results are often stunning. (Photo was taken on Accra Beach in Barbados with an Olympus 1030 SW Point and Shoot)

Pictures of You Are Good - But Do Something Interesting

I can only stand having pictures of myself standing straight up in front of a significant object so many times.  After a while I want to start doing goofy things.  Making faces, doing gestures, or my favorite: jumping.  Multi-burst mode on a camera is great at capturing it, and something about pictures of a person completely in mid-air looks more unique than just about any pose that can be done.  So next time you are at a travel site, do something different! You'll come up with something fantastic as a result.  (Photo was taken in Wadi Rum, Jordan with a Nikon D80 SLR on multiple exposure mode)

The best part about all of these tips is that they are not for everyone.  With the digital age being in full swing and almost everyone having a digital based camera, it is far to easy to take multiple shots and delete one if it doesn't turn out.  With these abilities, why wouldn't you want to try some amazing and different shots?  Sure, maybe 10 in every 5,000 pictures will be epic unless you wait around at your photo site for the right conditions, but you never know what you might come up with by changing it up a bit.

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In later posts in this series I will discuss specific picture taking techniques for unique scenes as well as some more advanced techniques for SLR users!

Posted in: On the Road,Photo Guide,Random