10 Tips for Taking Extraordinary Travel Photos
By Andrew Gibson
21 August 2007
I've had the good fortune to visit over 60 countries in the last five years or so and along the way I've learnt a few things about the art of travel photography. Here is some advice for anyone wishing to improve the standard of their travel photos.
Tip One
Go somewhere amazing. Travel stimulates my mind, imagination and creative vision. The experience is heightened when I'm somewhere truly wonderful. In Machu Picchu, for example, I got up early to catch the first bus to the ruins, waited for the fog to clear, and watched the ruins as they were slowly revealed by the rising mists. Experiences like this are the sensory high points of my travel and inspire me to take great photos.
Tip Two
Go somewhere ordinary. I like walking along the streets where regular people live; I like to look for details and I'm fascinated by the simple observations I make. The idea is to move away from taking photos of well known landmarks and scenes, and to find a more personal way of interpreting the location. It's a more challenging type of photography, but can often result in more original, personal and evocative photos
I was looking through some photography books in a book store in Venice and I realised that the beauty and popularity of the city makes it an incredibly difficult place to photograph with originality. Since then I try looking past the obvious and exercising my creativity by searching for the extraordinary, the special and the different in the ordinary.
Tip Three
Shoot the people, especially if you're somewhere exotic. Even small in the frame their figures are like visual punctuation marks and add depth and atmosphere to the photo. The accompanying photo from Iruya, Argentina is a great example of this. It can be difficult and challenging but the results are worth it. I find it best to ask for permission to take a photo (unless the subject is so far away it doesn't matter). It's important to respect the wishes of local people if they don't wish to be photographed.
Tip Four
Don't shoot the people. It can be difficult, stressful and sometimes even dangerous to take photos of the local people. The solution? Relax and take photos of other things instead. Rise to the challenge of taking a stunning, evocative photo without any human beings.
Tip Five
Take photos of the kids. Children are great to photograph because they're uninhibited and often love to have their photos taken. I found this out in Bolivia during a sports day in the town for the local schoolkids. I took out my camera to take photos and within seconds was surrounded by a crowd of excited and enthusiastic kids shouting 'Take my photo gringo!' The resulting photos were full of energy and life.
Tip Six
Research, research, research. There's nothing worse than finding out after the fact that I missed out on seeing or photographing something that I really would've loved to experience. It's so important to read books, search the internet and speak to other travellers to find out what there is to see and do. For instance in Argentina I never realised that the ruins of Quilmes were easily accessible by bus from the town where I was staying, and never got to see them.
Tip Seven
Search for magical light. This is perhaps the single most important thing you can do to improve your travel photography. Just about anything will look better in the right light, and the light is at it's best around sunrise and sunset. This is one of the first things I learnt as a photographer and one of the most vital.
Tip Eight
Be alert for opportunity. Recently in Argentina I said hello to a girl on a bus and it turned out that not only was she travelling to the same town as me, but was going there to see an Inca ceremony to welcome the sunrise on the year's shortest day. She needed a companion because she wasn't comfortable travelling to the site alone in the dark. I got to see something very interesting and unusual.
Tip Nine
Look for inspiration. It's so so easy to take ordinary or mediocre photos even in the most magical or extraordinary places. It's important to look at the work of great travel photographers to see how they approach photographing a place and it's people, and to take inspiration from their vision. I like to look in National Geographic to see if they've shot a story on somewhere that I'm going to see their approach. I've also found it worthwhile browsing in local bookshops, there are often books by local photographers that aren't readily available overseas.
Tip Ten
Never be satisfied. Always be pressing on to learn new things, find something new to photograph, and develop your style. I'm reminded of this every time I find a new photography book full of amazing photos or discover the work of yet another talented travel photographer online.
Bonus Tip!
Shoot digital! It gives tremendous freedom and since using digital I've taken lots of photos I would never even have considered when using film because I was conscious of how much film I was using (and what it was costing). If you prefer film (or are put off by the cost or practical difficulties associated with digital) it's worth taking along a good quality compact digital. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the photos and how much fun you can have with it.
