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Some Tips For Good Travel Photography
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Florence Belushi
Mar 30, 2010, 10:56:42 PM3/30/10
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Photography and travel photography in particular have been a passion
of mine for a long time and now I would like to share some of the most
important stuff I've learned over the years with our dear readers. I
started with a Nikon EM SLR making mostly slides and upgraded to
digital in 2002. The SLR had served me very well but I realized I
could cut the cost of photography to almost nothing with digital
technology. Making dozens of shots of the same subject means you're
bound to have a good one eventually! Only a couple of years later I
discovered the benefits of image editing software like Photoshop.
Enough history, let's move on to my tips. In this article I assume you
have some experience with (digital) photography already and I
concentrate on the specifics of "shooting on the road".
First, choose the right equipment. I like a semi-pro camera with a
fixed lens and long zoom. The Panasonic Lumix series for example has
exceptional value for money. Best travel photos happen fast. Most of
the time you don't have time to change lenses. Fixed lens also means
you have fewer problems with dust. I always keep my camera on auto-
focus and auto-exposure. Remember, best photos happen fast. You can
lose the action and/or the right light in seconds. Gone forever!
Also, have a decent quality back-up. I like my second camera to be
quite small. If you get invited to a party usually nobody objects to
photos taken with a small innocent looking "toy-camera". The same goes
for temples, gatherings etc. However, do respect other people's
privacy and local customs. A small light-weight tripod is useful for
night/sunrise/sunset photography. Make sure it folds into your day-
bag.
Secondly, learn to use your equipment at home before you travel. Know
it inside out. Practice, practice, practice. When you get that once-in-
a-lifetime shot you don't want to ruin it by fiddling with your
camera. Also, read a few good books about photography in general and
also on digital shooting techniques. Read them again and practice
different techniques.
Ok, so now you're on the road. You see something captivating. Start
shooting! Shoot a lot, maybe 10-20 shots of the same subject. Vary
angles, shoot from distance and go closer, by foot or with your zoom.
Where is the light coming from? What is essential for the shot? How to
compose the shot? If you have done your homework, it helps.
Photographing people: This is a sensitive issue. Basically, you should
always ask first. Even pointing at your camera and looking like a
question mark is usually enough and you get a positive nod. If you are
told "no", respect it. You'll find lots of people who actually want
you to take their picture. If you talk with people, maybe show them
some of your shots on your LCD they often get relaxed and trust you.
Hang around later and you can shoot all you want. They might even pose
for you voluntarily.
Photographing landscapes: Put your camera on aperture-priority and
experiment with different apertures. Do you want a full depth of field
or bring out details focusing on something interesting and using a
wide aperture setting? If you shoot early in the morning or just
before sunset you can get a much livelier and a more "three
dimensional" photo because of the shadows. This is especially
important for rural landscapes as fields of any crop look really flat
without shadows.
Some maintenance tips: Remember that moisture, salt and dust are real
digital camera killers! If the conditions are difficult keep your
camera in its bag until the last moment. Take your shots, wipe out any
visible moisture and dust (carefully!) and put your camera back in its
bag. If it starts raining heavily, wrap your camera bag in a plastic
bag. When you get back to your hotel, clean your camera at once. Don't
give corrosion a chance. Take out the battery, memory card and
everything else that comes off. Clean everything, preferably with a
camera care kit. Don't forget to wipe the lens and filters. Fully
charge your batteries and delete unwanted shots to free space on the
memory cards.
You get home and download the treasure to your hard-drive. Now begins,
at least for me, the most rewarding phase. But wait a second!
Calibrate your monitor first. Many monitors ship with calibrating
software. If yours didn't, most image-editing software come with
something similar. If everything else fails, just use your eyes! Do
pictures on this or any other site look natural to you? Adjust your
monitor's brightness and contrast if necessary.
Make a hard-copy of your photos on CD/DVD and start playing with image-
editing tools. Delete really bad shots. Copy the best ones to a
different folder and edit them to your liking. I like to crop my
photos a lot to bring out what is essential in every photo. Also
adjust colours, shadows etc. Print on paper, put on your website or
upload to Flickr or some other photo sharing site for everyone to
enjoy and comment on. Done! Can't wait for the next trip... Practice
more, read books, seek information over the internet, maybe join a
camera club, attend photo exhibitions, even have your own? Ask at
local libraries, shopping malls etc if they allow you to post your
pics.
This is the equipment I use currently.
1. Primary camera: Panasonic Lumix DMZ-FZ30 , a real bargain these
days with its 12x Leica lens, 8 MB and excellent usability
2. UV filter to protect the front lens of the camera
3. Polarizing filter for shooting early in the morning and late in the
evening
4. Manfrotto tripod . These are widely regarded as the best
5. Camera bag
6. Lots of 2 GB SD memory cards and spare batteries
7. Plastic bag to protect my camera when it rains
8. Camera cleaning kit
9. Backup camera: Nikon Coolpix 3200
10. Photoshop for image editing
The following are the best photography books in my opinion. I really
like Lee Frost's clear no-nonsense writing and step-by-step approach
to showing you things.
Lee Frost's Creative Photography Handbook covers photography in
general from basics to advanced issues, giving you lots of sound
advice on composition, using light and other essential stuff. This
book is a must if you want to learn from the master.
He has several other books published as well. I particularly like The
A-Z of Creative Digital Photography which is all about digital
shooting techniques as well as lots of very useful Photoshop hints for
polishing your photos. Some other tips show you how to make really
weird, yet interesting creations using Photoshop's filters. I've had
many days of fun with this book!
Thank you for reading!
of mine for a long time and now I would like to share some of the most
important stuff I've learned over the years with our dear readers. I
started with a Nikon EM SLR making mostly slides and upgraded to
digital in 2002. The SLR had served me very well but I realized I
could cut the cost of photography to almost nothing with digital
technology. Making dozens of shots of the same subject means you're
bound to have a good one eventually! Only a couple of years later I
discovered the benefits of image editing software like Photoshop.
Enough history, let's move on to my tips. In this article I assume you
have some experience with (digital) photography already and I
concentrate on the specifics of "shooting on the road".
First, choose the right equipment. I like a semi-pro camera with a
fixed lens and long zoom. The Panasonic Lumix series for example has
exceptional value for money. Best travel photos happen fast. Most of
the time you don't have time to change lenses. Fixed lens also means
you have fewer problems with dust. I always keep my camera on auto-
focus and auto-exposure. Remember, best photos happen fast. You can
lose the action and/or the right light in seconds. Gone forever!
Also, have a decent quality back-up. I like my second camera to be
quite small. If you get invited to a party usually nobody objects to
photos taken with a small innocent looking "toy-camera". The same goes
for temples, gatherings etc. However, do respect other people's
privacy and local customs. A small light-weight tripod is useful for
night/sunrise/sunset photography. Make sure it folds into your day-
bag.
Secondly, learn to use your equipment at home before you travel. Know
it inside out. Practice, practice, practice. When you get that once-in-
a-lifetime shot you don't want to ruin it by fiddling with your
camera. Also, read a few good books about photography in general and
also on digital shooting techniques. Read them again and practice
different techniques.
Ok, so now you're on the road. You see something captivating. Start
shooting! Shoot a lot, maybe 10-20 shots of the same subject. Vary
angles, shoot from distance and go closer, by foot or with your zoom.
Where is the light coming from? What is essential for the shot? How to
compose the shot? If you have done your homework, it helps.
Photographing people: This is a sensitive issue. Basically, you should
always ask first. Even pointing at your camera and looking like a
question mark is usually enough and you get a positive nod. If you are
told "no", respect it. You'll find lots of people who actually want
you to take their picture. If you talk with people, maybe show them
some of your shots on your LCD they often get relaxed and trust you.
Hang around later and you can shoot all you want. They might even pose
for you voluntarily.
Photographing landscapes: Put your camera on aperture-priority and
experiment with different apertures. Do you want a full depth of field
or bring out details focusing on something interesting and using a
wide aperture setting? If you shoot early in the morning or just
before sunset you can get a much livelier and a more "three
dimensional" photo because of the shadows. This is especially
important for rural landscapes as fields of any crop look really flat
without shadows.
Some maintenance tips: Remember that moisture, salt and dust are real
digital camera killers! If the conditions are difficult keep your
camera in its bag until the last moment. Take your shots, wipe out any
visible moisture and dust (carefully!) and put your camera back in its
bag. If it starts raining heavily, wrap your camera bag in a plastic
bag. When you get back to your hotel, clean your camera at once. Don't
give corrosion a chance. Take out the battery, memory card and
everything else that comes off. Clean everything, preferably with a
camera care kit. Don't forget to wipe the lens and filters. Fully
charge your batteries and delete unwanted shots to free space on the
memory cards.
You get home and download the treasure to your hard-drive. Now begins,
at least for me, the most rewarding phase. But wait a second!
Calibrate your monitor first. Many monitors ship with calibrating
software. If yours didn't, most image-editing software come with
something similar. If everything else fails, just use your eyes! Do
pictures on this or any other site look natural to you? Adjust your
monitor's brightness and contrast if necessary.
Make a hard-copy of your photos on CD/DVD and start playing with image-
editing tools. Delete really bad shots. Copy the best ones to a
different folder and edit them to your liking. I like to crop my
photos a lot to bring out what is essential in every photo. Also
adjust colours, shadows etc. Print on paper, put on your website or
upload to Flickr or some other photo sharing site for everyone to
enjoy and comment on. Done! Can't wait for the next trip... Practice
more, read books, seek information over the internet, maybe join a
camera club, attend photo exhibitions, even have your own? Ask at
local libraries, shopping malls etc if they allow you to post your
pics.
This is the equipment I use currently.
1. Primary camera: Panasonic Lumix DMZ-FZ30 , a real bargain these
days with its 12x Leica lens, 8 MB and excellent usability
2. UV filter to protect the front lens of the camera
3. Polarizing filter for shooting early in the morning and late in the
evening
4. Manfrotto tripod . These are widely regarded as the best
5. Camera bag
6. Lots of 2 GB SD memory cards and spare batteries
7. Plastic bag to protect my camera when it rains
8. Camera cleaning kit
9. Backup camera: Nikon Coolpix 3200
10. Photoshop for image editing
The following are the best photography books in my opinion. I really
like Lee Frost's clear no-nonsense writing and step-by-step approach
to showing you things.
Lee Frost's Creative Photography Handbook covers photography in
general from basics to advanced issues, giving you lots of sound
advice on composition, using light and other essential stuff. This
book is a must if you want to learn from the master.
He has several other books published as well. I particularly like The
A-Z of Creative Digital Photography which is all about digital
shooting techniques as well as lots of very useful Photoshop hints for
polishing your photos. Some other tips show you how to make really
weird, yet interesting creations using Photoshop's filters. I've had
many days of fun with this book!
Thank you for reading!
Learn Photoshop Elements On Your Own...: https://groups.google.com/group/lpsnow/
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