Traveling the world is a wonderful experience, whatever your hobbies and passions happen to be, but for photographers, it is a particular pleasure. Travel photography is one of the most enjoyable and exciting forms of the medium and gives both pros and amateurs the chance to develop new techniques and improve their skills.
Travel photography does require a specific skill set, and photographers will need to get out of their comfort zone and learn new techniques to ensure they get the best images and shots.
So whether you are planning to go cruising during the weekend, or are heading off on a month-long road trip, here are a few hints and tips to help you improve your travel photography skills!
This post is part of our travel photography series
Get closer to your subject
One of the best ways to improve your travel photography is to get closer to your subject. For moving objects – vehicles, wildlife, etc – this might be tricky, but it is perfectly achievable when it comes to architecture, flora, and even landscapes. Getting up close helps capture more details and adds vital texture to your shots.
Use the right equipment
Whether you are taking a timelapse video of the sunset or shooting brightly-colored fish underwater, the right equipment is key. Travel photography is such a varied discipline that it often requires more kit than other styles of photography, but being prepared will help you guarantee incredible results when it comes to your final images. At the very least, a couple of extra lenses and a tripod will give you the flexibility to take better photos wherever you end up.
Use a polarizing filter
If you are lucky then bright sunshine and glittering water will be standard features of your vacations. But shooting in this kind of light, and with reflective surfaces, can be tough. A polarizing filter is a great way to reduce glare and reflections in your photos and keep your images looking perfect.
Shoot in RAW
One of the things a photographer learns early on is that actually taking the photo is only part of the process. Editing can be as important as capturing an image, so making the editing process as simple as possible can help you get better results. Shooting in RAW gives you more control over the editing process, with a higher-quality image that you can tweak to your heart’s desire.
Edit your photos
And if you are shooting in RAW, then taking the time to edit your travel photos is a no-brainer! While amateur photographers might be daunted by the prospect of editing their vacation pictures, in reality, it is not as complicated as it first appears. There is a huge variety of intuitive, user-friendly editing software out there, and even just something as simple as a good set of filters will make a huge difference to the end result of your travel photography.
Use leading lines
Including leading lines in your shot set-up is a great way to create a sense of depth and perspective and makes for far more interesting and complex photographs. Leading lines can be anything from roads and railways to fences and rivers, and including them in the frame is not hard, but it makes a huge difference.
Shoot at different times of the day
One of the best ways to add a little variety and interest to your travel photography is to shoot at different times of the day across your trip. This helps keep things fresh and capture the different moods and atmospheres of the destinations you visit. Even shooting the same images at sunrise, midday, sunset, and night can produce wildly different results and makes an interesting composition.
Check out more ideas from our travel photography collection
- How to make a video story from your family travels – bring more to your vacation memories than just still images; here’s how to get started with family video making
- Top tips for photographing your children on vacation – from an award-winning family photographer
- 10 cool ways to use your travel photos and videos – let’s get imaginative with all those travel photos
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