10 Tips for Travel Photography

Once upon a time, a lone traveler wound his way through the beautiful paths of an exotic location. He longed for something, something with which he could make those breathtaking scenes immortal, until he discovered – the camera.

This was the beginning of a long romance between a traveler and his camera – the Travel Photographer.

He practiced and practiced, discovering images never seen by the common man. Then he thought, ‘Why not share these experiences so that many more like me can gain knowledge from my experiences?’

What followed was a precious collection of ten Travel photography hints and tips, which were his simple tools to that winning picture.

They are:

1. Lighting: The term Photo means light. Thus an image can be captured only when there is an optimum level of light reflected on the object to be photographed. Once there is a good source of light, the picture can bring out amazing results.

2. Composition: This is the art of knowing what to include in the frame and how to. You can be as creative as possible, but the image within the frame of the picture must attract attention. An eye for detail will do the trick.

3. Motion Blur: Many a times, while traveling in a bus or car, an image is made, but you just cannot decipher what it contains, since it is sooo blurr! There is a solution to that too – simply increase the shutter speed if you have an SLR(Single Lens Reflex) or use a faster speed film(400ISO) for film cameras.

4. Memory: For the digitally savvy, remember to carry along many memory cards and transfer chords (USB chords), a good number of roles if analogue.

5. Alternative camera: This is very important for adventure enthusiasts. Small, one time use cameras for adventurous trips like glacier climbing, river rafting, etc. prove to be reliable even where your latest state of the art camera would fail.

6. Tripods: They work like an extra, extendable pair of hands. You can attach your camera to it for basic shots for a complete family picture or explore the wonders of night photography in your favourite travel destination. Tripods come in handy the most for telephoto shots.

7. Click through glass: For SLR cameras, it is wise to use a polarizing filter if one is taking a picture of an object through a glass door. If shooting with a compact camera, stand sideways to avoid getting a big bright white circle (bounce of camera flash light) as your picture!

8. Filters: Use of yellow filters on a very sunny day can give you great detail and deep tones of a beautiful sky.

9. When taking photographs of people, come in close for a tight shot unless the main focus is the background. Don’t make the mistake of taking pictures of people who are 15 feet away, due to which they cannot even be recognized!

10. X- Ray: For air travelers, get your films hand-inspected as you go through security. Many a times, exposure to x-ray can damage your films.

But most of all, always carry your camera and keep practicing, just like the lone traveler did and you will get a ticket into the magical world of travel photography!