Traveling is one of the most exciting experiences that you can have, and we all want to be able to capture some of the magic of the experience, whether it is surfing in Hawaii or seeing a Hindu festival in India. The memories of our travels stay with us for a lifetime.
Taking pictures is one way of keeping that memory and of sharing it with other people. Uploading pictures to a website allows your friends and family to share in the experience and can be very useful to other travelers who may be considering visiting the area. However, badly taken photographs can be a disappointment, so how do we take the perfect picture to document our travels?
When taking pictures on your travels you will not always have ideal conditions, so a few tips on how to take a good photograph are essential. Before you even set out, researching the location will ensure that you know what you want to see before you arrive. Getting up early to miss the crowds can be a good idea, especially if you are visiting a city. Sunrise and sunset are also great times for creating memorable shots when everything is suffused with a warm glow.
If you want to get some ideas of what sort of pictures to take, try looking online at some stock photos and images. These will give you an idea of how people create memorable pictures, and who knows, you might be adding your memorable pictures to the site. Don’t forget that to build up a good travel portfolio of images you need to keep traveling and enjoying the experiences the world has to offer.
Understanding your camera is vital if you want to go beyond the normal holiday snaps. Practice with the different controls at home, so that when you are traveling you know how to get the most out of your camera, regardless of its price range.
When taking pictures of landscapes, you want to achieve depth, and choosing Aperture Priority Mode can do this. This allows you to select a large aperture if you want to focus on something in the foreground and blur out the background. One thing to remember is that in this mode the camera chooses the shutter speed and this might be too slow for handheld photography, so if you do not have a tripod, try resting the camera on a wall or post to hold it steady.
Shooting in RAW can be a good way of achieving great pictures, as with RAW software and technology continuously improving it means you can do more with your images.
Try to take candid shots rather than posed shots. For shooting people, try using a telephoto lens to capture natural portraits. Using fill flash in a sunny location can bring out the shadows and colors. Think about where you take your pictures from – getting up high or choosing an unusual angle can make even the most mundane of subjects look interesting.
