Travel Photography

Marcel Proust, the French novelist, wrote in his autobiography: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Proust applied his maxim to life, but I think it applies equally well to travel photography. Recently I’ve been teaching myself to photograph with “new eyes.” This article describes some tips that I’ve come across that you can use in your photographic “voyage of discovery.”A few years ago, I turned pro by resigning my job and working full-time on a new series of travel guides for photographers called PhotoSecrets. The task appeared straight-forward – I would simply need to shoot photos of all the classic views in a geographic area. I soon found, however, that my amateur snaps weren’t sufficient for the requirements of a publishing venture. A book demands a different type of photograph than a personal photo album, and I needed to make my photographs more powerful, colorful, evocative and inspiring. Upon inspection, I discovered a whole dimension of skills I needed to learn to become ‘professional’ – making images suitable for publication instead of merely snapping to record memories. Like Proust, I didn’t just need new landscapes; I needed new eyes.

The first step was to better understand my objective. I started looking at travel books and magazines to discover which photographs I admired. As the adage goes, start with the end in mind. I analyzed the best photographs to determine what made them work, and why they were more effective than my pictures. This was a time-consuming task but I highly recommend it as a tool to improve your photography. The pictures I admired displayed bold colors, a simple composition, a good use of light, a three-dimensional depth, and an unusual and interesting view of a familiar sight.

After learning what I wanted to achieve, I read photography books and magazines, such as Shutterbug’s Outdoor and Nature Photography, to learn the skills I needed. The final step was to put the skills into practice, by setting up exercises and shooting many rolls of film. As with most skills, practice makes perfect, and practice is the fun part! This is a continuous-feedback cycle, and I continue to compare my photos to images I admire.

Here are five tips to help you improve your travel photography.

1. Aim for Impact

A great photograph catches the eye. It leaps off the page and demands attention. While a picture may say a thousand words, I think a great photo should say just one – “Wow!”

There are four keys to visual impact: simplicity, color, light, and depth.

 

Simplicity. When I look at many photographs, the element that is most often missing is simplicity – they’re just too cluttered. To deliver a clear message you must have a concise statement. In your photographs, crop out unnecessary items and resolve the view down to the most fundamental elements. Include only enough of the surroundings to give your subject some context. Banish distracting clutter, particularly from the edges of the picture. You can simplify a shot by getting closer to your subject and using a wide-angle lens, or zooming in more with a long lens.When photographing a California mission, for example, I like to use a strong foreground and a 28mm lens. I place the white mission in the top third of the frame and fill the lower two-thirds with colorful flowers or a fountain. I love to overflow the bottom of the frame for that endless feel. Using a small aperture, such as f22, keeps everything in focus.

On the cover of my San Francisco book is a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands. Other photographers choose to include the whole bay and scenery, but I used a 300mm lens, plus a 2x converter, to zoom in tight on just the north tower. Using a representative detail of the bridge, rather than the entire span, makes the image simpler and thus more powerful.

Color. My favorite way to create impact is to look for bold hues. I love shots with sports-car reds, soothing blues, vibrant yellows and luscious greens. Again, simplicity is key – try to minimize the number and types of colors in your shot for more impact. Generally a photograph should have one main subject and one main color. Concentrate on just one of the three primary colors: red, blue, or yellow. These dominating colors are best balanced with their respective complementary colors: red with green, blue with orange, and yellow with purple.For years I couldn’t record dramatic colors in my photographs; it was very frustrating. I tried filters and exposure bracketing, but nothing worked. And then I found the secret, which can be summed up in a word: Velvia. Changing to Fujichrome Velvia (ISO 50) slide film suddenly turned my tame amateur snaps into bold professional images. It was like a revelation. Kodak’s Ektachrome E100S and Elite II 100 are highly saturated films too, though not quite as “punchy.”

There are two other tricks for bold colors, both very simple. The first is to use a polarizer filter, a very inexpensive accessory. On almost every daytime outdoor photograph I use a polarizer to deepen the blue sky. It also wipes glare from surfaces, allowing rich colors to shine through. The second is to constrain your image to medium tones. Unlike the human eye, photographic film has a small dynamic range that can only capture a narrow range of brightness levels. So, exclude elements that are much brighter or darker than your subject is, and keep an even tone throughout the frame. Ansel Adams codified this theory in his famous “Zone System.”

Light. A good use of light is often the key to award-winning photos. Using daylight effectively can also improve your colors. The key to that rich “National Geographic” look is to photograph when the light is golden – the hours immediately after sunrise and before sunset, often called the “magic hours” by photographers. As the sun approaches the horizon, its light has to pass through a greater air mass, including ozone, dust and water vapor. Wavelengths at the blue end of the spectrum are scattered and absorbed more than those at the red end of the spectrum, so the sunlight appears to turn yellow, then red. This golden light paints your scene in the warmth of a log fire, creating stunning images. The dimmer light also contracts the brightness range of the scene, allowing camera film to better capture the colors.

Depth. Include some pointers to depth, to give your two-dimensional photographs a three-dimensional feel. For example, place the subject and context in different spatial planes by combining a distant background with a close foreground. Look for “leading lines,” such as a wall, fence or pathway to pull the viewer into the shot. Again, photograph in the “magic hours” as longer shadows enhance shape and texture, and help separate the subject from the background. 

. When I look at many photographs, the element that is most often missing is simplicity – they’re just too cluttered. To deliver a clear message you must have a concise statement. In your photographs, crop out unnecessary items and resolve the view down to the most fundamental elements. Include only enough of the surroundings to give your subject some context. Banish distracting clutter, particularly from the edges of the picture. You can simplify a shot by getting closer to your subject and using a wide-angle lens, or zooming in more with a long lens. . My favorite way to create impact is to look for bold hues. I love shots with sports-car reds, soothing blues, vibrant yellows and luscious greens. Again, simplicity is key – try to minimize the number and types of colors in your shot for more impact. Generally a photograph should have one main subject and one main color. Concentrate on just one of the three primary colors: red, blue, or yellow. These dominating colors are best balanced with their respective complementary colors: red with green, blue with orange, and yellow with purple. . A good use of light is often the key to award-winning photos. Using daylight effectively can also improve your colors. The key to that rich “National Geographic” look is to photograph when the light is golden – the hours immediately after sunrise and before sunset, often called the “magic hours” by photographers. As the sun approaches the horizon, its light has to pass through a greater air mass, including ozone, dust and water vapor. Wavelengths at the blue end of the spectrum are scattered and absorbed more than those at the red end of the spectrum, so the sunlight appears to turn yellow, then red. This golden light paints your scene in the warmth of a log fire, creating stunning images. The dimmer light also contracts the brightness range of the scene, allowing camera film to better capture the colors.

2. Conduct Reseach

The more you research a destination, the better your photos will likely be. This is the basis of my first book, PhotoSecrets San Francisco and Northern California, which catalogs all the classic views of the area so that you can capture your favorite views.

Before visiting a location, send away for free literature. Most cities and countries have convention and visitor bureaus or tourist boards that are happy to send you free booklets with color photos. Color travel guides and picture books include numerous photos. I find the Internet is great for pre-trip research. In any search engine, simply type in some key words, such as “California, San Diego, Tourism, Travel.” I maintain a list of useful sites on my web site at http://www.photosecrets.com.

When you arrive at a location, scour postcard racks and souvenir photo books, visit local tourist information offices, and talk with hotel staff and taxi drivers to learn what views are out there, waiting for your camera.

Before visiting India, I found a photo book with a fascinating view of the Taj Mahal, taken from the Ganges River. When I got to the famed monument, no one knew how to access the river, including the tourist information staff. Eventually a taxi driver recognized the view and he agreed to take me there before dawn. We drove down a tiny alley and arrived at the riverbank, which was deserted except for a small house. Just as the sun began to rise, a man appeared from the house for a morning smoke. After asking his permission, I took a few photos of him enjoying his cigarette and the dawn. The shot, taken on my last amateur trip, is one of my favorites and won an honorable mention in a National Geographic Traveler photo contest.

3. Explore the Area

Before you start taking photos, get orientated by taking a 2-3 hour guided bus tour of the major sights. Use the time to make a list of the views you want to capture, and map out a plan to re-visit when each sight is in the best light. Generally, sights that face east are best in the morning, as the sun rises in the east, and sights that face west are best in the afternoon. (In the Northern Hemisphere, south-facing sights are best in the winter, as the sun rises and sets towards the south, and north-facing sights are best in the summer, when the sun is more northerly.)

Take time to appreciate a sight. Most people tend to take one shot and then move on, but I recommend staying longer and exploring the scene with your camera. Search for interesting foregrounds and vary the framing and composition.

I was photographing Mission Dolores Church in San Francisco when a tour group came through. The tourists each took a few standard shots, then departed. I stayed longer and explored the adjacent basilica and its flamboyant Spanish Baroque facade. I loved the mass of sugar-candy decoration and the way the sunlight picked out the texture. The extra time paid off – my shot of the basilica was picked for the cover of The San Francisco Book, the city’s official visitor guide.

4. Include Personality

When I started publishing my travel photos, I noticed that picture editors were looking for one common element – people. Including one or two people in a shot adds a point of connection for the viewer, a sense of being there. It can also add a sense of scale to a vast landscape feature, such as the Grand Teton mountain range or Yosemite’s towering waterfalls.

San Francisco’s cable cars provide rich pickings, as people love to hang outside on the rail. The climbs up Hyde Street by Fisherman’s Wharf, and California Street over Nob Hill, are my favorites. Attend festivals, and cultural or historic events and shows, where people are dressed in colorful, photogenic costumes.

5. Strive for Variety

Variety is the spice of life – and photography. Think how your photos will look as a group and shoot accordingly. Try to vary your styles, mix wide-angle overviews and individual details, daytime and night, portraits and abstracts.

When researching a city, I search for subjects in several categories, such as icons, skylines, monuments, buildings, people, street scenes, festivals, places of worship, lakes and oceans, food, etc. Look for unusual views of familiar things, as well as views that combine several icons. In London, for example, I tried combining British icons, such as a pub and an old telephone box. Remember that when you show your photos to friends and family, you’ll be telling a story. So include shots of the more ‘ordinary’ parts of your trip, such as signs, transportation, and restaurants to illustrate your story and provide variety.

I hope that these tips give you some new ideas to try out on your next adventure. They’ve certainly improved my photography. Just keep in mind what Proust (almost) said to travel photographers: don’t just seek new landscapes but seek them with new eyes.

Incoming search terms:

• india travel

There are several factors to consider when photographing people:

Location

The first thing to do is find your location. Choose a spot with a simple, medium-toned background. Tree foliage, grass or the ocean works well. For darker skin, look for a similarly dark background to keep the highlight (and thus the camera’s exposure) on the face.Minimize patterns, shapes and colors. Keep that background simple, or include a famous landmark.

Lighting

Get the sun behind you and to one side. If it’s bright, put people in the shade (harsh, direct sunlight washes out the face). If it’s dark in the shade, use the fill-flash feature to brighten up the face.The best time is the late afternoon as it gives a nice, warm, golden glow. At other times, with an SLR camera, you can simulate this glow with an 81B or C filter.

A popular technique is to put your subject in the shade, then use fill-flash to lighten up the face. Bring a small reflector or white card reflect sunlight into the harsh shadow areas.

Occasionally, having the sun shine from behind the subject (backlighting) looks good as it creates a halo through the hair, showing form and drawing the face out of the background.

If you’re shooting indoors with an SLR, ‘bounce’ the flash off a wall or ceiling for more natural lighting. A separate hand-held flash is best and can be positioned far enough away from the lens to avoid red eye.

Lens

If you have an SLR, use a 135mm or similar lens for the most pleasing perspective. Use the widest aperture (lowest f-number) to blur the background and highlight the face for a movie-like look. If the background is important, use a small aperture (high f-number) to get everything in focus.

Positioning

Get close. Don’t include their full body but zoom straight in to the face. For close ups, crop out the top of the head and overfill the frame. Being at eye level usually works best, so for children, kneel down.

Proportion

Generally try to keep the eyes, not necessarily the head, in the center of the frame. If the person is looking slightly to one side, add extra space to that side.If your subject is to one side and there’s a lot of contrast in the shot, you might need to control the exposure. To do this, zoom or close in on your subject (perhaps a person’s face) then press the exposure lock button. Keep this button pressed down while you recompose and take your shot.

Relax Your Subject

Get your subject relaxed and happy. For friends or family, remind them of a silly event. With children, give them something to play with. For local people, ask them about the location, their job or skill, or complement their clothes. People hate waiting while you adjust your camera so always plan the shot and adjust your camera first, before asking people to pose.

Fun Shots

To add fun and action to a shot, hold the camera at an angle – 30 degrees with the right side up works well. It looks as though the photographer was caught off guard, emphasizing danger and action, and is great for parties! Stage a joke shot by pretending to interact with a statue. Or use a wide angle lens to distort the face.

Action

If your subject is moving (on a cable car or bicycle), deliberately blur the background to emphasize speed, excitement and urgency. Track the subject with your camera and, if you have an SLR, use a medium to slow shutter speed (1/60s). This will blur the background and, optionally, also your subject. Using the flash (particularly a ‘rear-curtain sync’ feature if your camera has one) helps freeze the subject in a moving background.

Don’t Forget You!

The problem with being the photographer is that you end up not being in your own photographs. Remind the viewer what you look like and ask someone else to take a shot. You can arrange a photograph by propping the camera on a small tripod or wall (use stones, paper or coins for adjustment) and using the self timer.

Photography is the perfect companion to travel. It encourages us – as travelers – to discover an area; it provides tangible memories of the trip; and it is an enjoyable way to express ourselves in art.A camera is really an excuse to delve deeper into a place than we otherwise would. Looking for a good shot forces us to seek out the unique features and scenic beauty of a location, to explore further, and to interact with our surroundings. When you press the shutter release, you’re making a personal connection to the place and it’s people. You are there. Photographs preserve the memories of our trip. We can show others the exciting places we’ve been, the wonderful scenery, and the great people we met. Our minds are triggered by images and reviewing our photographs helps everyone on the trip relive its adventures and misadventures.

Taking pictures is also a very accessible artform. With a little thought and effort you can create captivating images of your own creation and interpretation.

The Secret of Photography

Fortunately, taking good photographs has little to do with owning expensive equipment and knowing technical data. The secret is in seeing. Ask yourself: What do I look at, and how do I see it? A good photograph has qualities that display the skill, art, interests, and personality of the photographer. 

What Makes A Good Photograph?

A photograph is a message. It conveys a statement (“Here we are in …”), an impression (“This is what … looks like”), or an emotion. You are an author trying to convey this message in a clear, concise, and effective way. But how?Like any message, you first need a subject. This may be your traveling companions, a building, a natural vista, or some abstract form. The subject is the central point of interest and is usually placed in the foreground of the shot (towards the viewer). Now we compose the message by including a second element, a context, which is often the background. The context gives the subject relevance, presence, location, or other interest. It is the combination of the two elements – subject and context, foreground and background – that tells the message.

Just as important as knowing what to include, is knowing what to exclude. Anything that isn’t part of the subject or its context is only a distraction, cluttering up the image and diluting the message. So eliminate extraneous surroundings – usually by moving closer to the subject – and make a clear, tidy shot. A painter creates art by addition – adding more paint – whereas a photographer creates art by subtraction – removing unnecessary elements.

The recipe for a good photograph is:
“A foreground, a background, and nothing else.”

 

What Makes A Great Photograph?

A great photograph is piece of art. It captures the spirit of a subject and evokes emotion. Bob Krist calls it “The Spirit of Place.” You are an artist that can use subtle tricks to appeal to your viewer¹s senses. Let¹s see how.A picture is a playground, with places for our eyes to wander and investigate, plus spaces for them to rest and relax. When we first see something, we are defensive. Our eyes instinctually find light, bright areas, and look for people, particularly their eyes and mouth. Do we know the people in the picture? What are they feeling, and how does this relate to us? Are they drawing attention to something? If so, do we recognize it (a building, a landmark) and what does it look like? What is this picture about? What is the main subject or objective? How big is the subject? We determine scale by comparing elements to something of known size, such as a person, animal, or car. Once we’ve checked for people, we turn our attention to more abstract features.

We first notice the subject’s color or tone. Firey red, calming blue, natural green, foreboding black. Then we see shape. Soft curves, hard edges, sweeping lines. How the light strikes the subject gives subtle hints as to its three-dimensional form. You, as a photographer, can manipulate this by searching for shades and shadows, shifting intensities of tone and hues. How is the eye drawn into the picture?

Form leads us to texture, how the subject might feel to the touch. Is it soft, is it smooth, hard, or rough? Does it have character and warmth? The way the elements are juxtaposed and affected by the same light, makes us consider their qualities and interrelation. Balance draws our eye from one element to another, investigating their unity, contrast, and detail, each item adding pleasure to the next. What is the relevance of everything?

The overall composition, the proportions of layout, denotes importance of the elements. As the artist, you can decide which features appeals to you, and how best to emphasize them.

The recipe for a great photograph is:
“Consider how the parts interrelate with the whole”.

Photographs of fireworks are spectacular, colorful, and fairly easy to do once you know the tricks. For best results, you will need: an SLR camera, tripod, cable release, a long lens, and plenty of patience.Since you don’t know exactly when the fireworks will explode, and you are aiming to capture their trails, you will need to hold the camera shutter open for 2-30 seconds. Compact cameras don’t usually offer this long exposure feature so you will probably need an SLR camera with a manual exposure mode often called ‘Bulb’ (often marked ‘B’).

To get sharp images, you must keep the camera perfectly still. Propping your camera on a wall, car-top or table may suffice, but nothing beats a good, solid tripod. You’ll also need a cable release to activate the shutter without touching and moving the camera.

Waterfront settings are good as you can include the reflections of the fireworks in your shot. Cityscapes, landmarks, or people add context to the shot, but remember that they’ll come out as silhouettes, so don’t include faces or other details. High viewpoints, upwind from the smoke, are usually best. Get there early to secure your spot and select a lens (usually a telephoto) that will fill the frame with trails. Use the first burst to focus the lens (don’t rely on your ‘infinity’ setting).

To photograph the fireworks, open the shutter, wait for some bursts, then close the shutter. That’s it! Take lots of photos (which you can edit later) to get a few good shots. Try different apertures (f8 is the safest) and different zoom settings. Include only a few bursts to fill up the frame; too many will look messy. To reduce the effect of street lighting, cover the lens between bursts with your hand, a black card, or a black cap.

Looking for a truly spectacular shot? You can double-expose your film to include the full moon with the fireworks. (Only a few cameras provide a “multiple-exposure” mode).

 

Of all the various subjects, people reliably make the best photographs. Nothing is more fascinating to us than other people. A good ‘people’ photograph shows character, emotion and a connection for the viewer. Here are some tips to help you take great shots of the people in your life.Subject Placement. The biggest mistake many photographers make is to try to shoot a person’s whole body, head to toe. Don’t attempt this, unless clothes are important (such as a uniform). Instead, focus on the face. The eyes and mouth are the most important features, so start there and work out until you have just enough to represent the individual(s). Crop tightly, and don’t be afraid to overflow the frame with the person’s face.

Lighting. A standard lighting technique is to position yourself so the sun is behind you and to one side. This arrangement will shine light on the subject’s face, while the slight angle will produce shadows to illuminate form. A better approach is to put your subject in a shady area with a shadowed background. Unlike the human eye, photographic film can’t easily handle bright areas and dark shadows, as in direct sunlight, so use the shade for a narrow tonal range. Overcast days are usually best for portraits. Use the flash (‘fill-flash’ or ‘daylight flash’) to add light to the face and fill in shadows.

Lenses. Use a long lens such as 135mm – the ‘people’ lens. A wide-angle distorts the face, although it can be effective for parties. Find a simple, mid-toned background and use a wide aperture to throw it out of focus. I like to use tree leaves or a wall as a background and a 200mm lens set to f2.8. Center the eyes in the shot, not the head, to provide balance in the shot. When photographing children, crouch down so that you’re shooting at their eye-level.

Setting The Scene. Try to set-up your camera ahead of time rather than making people wait. Help relax your subjects by engaging them in conversation. Get them to laugh or smile with a joke from the day. Finally, be sure to put yourself in the shot — that’s what the self-timer is for!

 

Four elements are common to all good photographs: simplicity, composition, lighting, and practice.

Simplicity is actually a deceptively difficult element to capture. What you as a photographer need to do is let the camera help you simplify the things you see in front of you. You begin with a very busy canvas (everything in view) and have to work to simplify by eliminating some of the contents. You can do this either by getting physically closer to your subject, or by using a telephoto lens to zoom in and crop the shot tighter. When you photograph a person, for example, photograph his or her face only, rather than the whole person.

Composition is equally important. An artist’s technique, called the “golden mean,” is to divide the picture into imaginary thirds both vertically and horizontally, like a tic-tac-toe board. Then, place the subject of the photo on or near those imaginary lines or their intersections. Study photographs that you like and you’ll see that almost every one has thirds that you can find.

Lighting is the third key ingredient. Photos that win competitions almost always show a skilled use of light. Try to photograph only at dawn, in the late afternoon, and at dusk, when the low angle of the sun produces rich, warm colors and long shadows. Avoid shooting at noon, a time when light is very “flat.”

Practice: Taking photographs that you like won’t take a lot of special, expensive equipment. But it will take lots of trial and error. Even professional photographers take many photographs of the same subject to get just one that they like. Remember, only practice makes perfect!