Travel photography

A marvellous way to bring back something from your travels is to make a photographic record of your adventures. Travellers often spend a lot of their time and money trying to record the places they have visited as means of witnessing that they actually went there. But they are often deceived, not only by the results of their efforts, but also by the way taking pictures intrudes in their travel experience. Successful travel photography requires particular attitudes toward the act of taking pictures, the subject and the medium. Unless your principle objective in travelling to a certain place is to photograph the geography and nature, it is better to learn how to capture the spontaneous sights and insight as you pass. A detail of a beautiful flower or a surprising lizard on your path may really be of greater value than waiting for the 'fantastic' sunset that doesn't happen that evening. Profoundly question what is your motivation in making photographs? How best can you capture those memorable moments you wish to bring back home?

People first

Nothing is more fascinating to us than other people. Our interactions with the people we meet while travelling are probably the most significant experiences of our adventure. Tell a story about your encounters with photographs. Carefully "read" the visual context of the subject and concentrate on details which best expressed the story . A good "people" photograph shows a connection between the subject and a photographer. When photographing people don't be shy. Approach with confidence, smile, take a sincere interest in the individual and what they're doing. If you are not familiar to the subject, once you've established contact be polite and ask permission to take a photograph.

Take your time, do it right

Don't rush, take your time to move in capture the essential elements in your frame. Focus carefully and choose the moment. Faces are fascinating. The eyes and mouth are most important so crop your photograph tightly in the viewfinder so you have just the essentials that represent the individual. Be perceptive of lighting and how various choices can render your interpretation more effective. Ultimately, there's only one rule with regard lighting and exposure; don't abuse the total range reproducible by your film, determine the optimum to capture your image and express the atmosphere.

Compose for visual interest

When someone looks at an image within a frame, their eyes travel about the frame examining different parts successively. Where the eye is attracted, and how it travels, determined the effect of the image on the visual cortex of the brain. Many studies have been done on the visual dynamics of images within a frame. It has been found that any object centred in the middle appears static. The four points, defined by the intersection of vertical and horizontal lines that divide the frame in thirds, are perhaps the most dynamic positions within the frame. The two horizontal and to vertical lines that divide a frame in thirds also define regions of visual interest. When the eye is drawn diagonally across the frame, we perceive the image as being of greater interest. These are some ideas that can be kept in mind as you composing your photos.

Explore alternate points of view

The traveller often sees interesting buildings and landscapes to record. Take time to study a building or landscape in order to interpret the subject and make effective an image. Often one feels limited because the optics of our camera do not permit us to "get it all in". If we can, the resulting photographs are quite bland. Consider instead photographing details rather than the whole. When photographing landscape express depth by a connecting foreground objects with the background. You will probably gain more pleasure in taking a bit of time to make one well photographed image than rushing on trying to capture everything the stimulates the eye.

Master your equipment, or keep it simple

The best photographs are made when we are not preoccupied with the mechanics of our equipment. If you have to fiddle with some technical problem before you make your shot you may lose your subject. Be entirely familiar and confident with your equipment. A simple point and shoot camera, which is easy to use, may be a wiser choice than a highly sophisticated single lens reflex. If you use a complex camera, familiarize yourself with all its functions (particularly the flash, if you use one) and do a reasonable amount of test photography before you leave. You should be so familiar with your camera that you can load film or change lens in the dark!

In coming months we will present "how-to" information for neophytes. We will also feature the work of some international renown photographers. We hope that photographers of all levels will gain inspiration and insight from these examples .

Further Reading