By Grace Tan

26 August 2008

I absolutely love traveling and photographing the people I meet along the way. A lot of my travel is in Asia, and I find the people and culture fascinating. Here are 10 tips on how to take great travel portraits:

1. Find a Story to Tell.

An image without a story in mind may make a beautiful shot, but it can lack meaning behind the shot. Think about the country or place you are in, the social or political issues facing the people there. Or perhaps a theme related to the place you are in. Don't just create a photo, make a statement.

2. Search for the Light

Photography is all about lighting, and I am constantly aware of the colour, time of day and quality of light wherever I am. Whenever I spot beautiful light and shadows, my radar is on the alert for people to photograph. I rarely use flash when I am traveling as it is too cumbersome and not so discreet.

3. Spend Time with People

Be genuine with people and they will open themselves to you. In my travels, though language is an issue, I find my best people portraits are taken after I have spent at least 5 minutes with them. Once in Nepal, I spent an hour with a family, just chatting with them in my broken Nepali, drinking tea with them and playing games with the children. Once they are relaxed, and unaware of you as a 'foreigner', you can take better shots of people.

4. Learn their Language

It would be best of course, if you can take time to learn another person's language. Even if you can't speak well, just a simple hello and my name is... will generate a smile.

5. Learn How to Read Body Language

Ok, so maybe learning a new language is something that is waaay beyond your capacity. The next best thing is to learn how to read a person's body language. Whether they are about to bolt from you, or are potentially friendly, or can pose a threat to you if you snap their photo. Understanding body language also creates great people photos because it's those little nuances that can help with the story telling (remember point 1?).

6. Be Bold

It's not easy to approach a complete stranger to take a close up of them, but I always feel that if I am afraid to approach people, the results will show in my photos. Get close, smile, and ask if you can take their photo. Of course, if you are taking candid photos, this approach wouldn't work!

7. Use the Right Lens

Which comes to my next point. A telephoto lens would be great if you wanted to take people shots without being spotted. Most of my portraits of people are taken with a 50mm f1.8 lens, which means that I have to get close in order to get a good shot. I love the bokeh that this lens creates (no money for a better one yet!). Having lenses like these would make the person stand out against the background. Unless of course, you want to take a photo of a person against his surroundings, then a wide angle lens would be better.

8. Get Creative with Angles and Composition

Understand the rules of composition well and look out for interesting angles or foreground objects that can help with the image. Try a low angle or an extreme high angle to see the effect.

9. Look for Emotion

Create images that generate emotion. When people look at a photo, they want to smile, laugh, cry or feel angry. It MUST make you feel. Look for little details, for example, I shot a portrait of this really old grandma in Nepal wearing a Nike beanie. I love it!

10. Be Adventurous!

Explore places, nook and crannies that you have never been to. Move off the beaten track and you may find something different. Getting lost is not always a bad thing. And who knows, you may meet some fascinating people in the process. (If you're a solo female traveler, do be wise about where you wander though!).

Hope that these tips help. Do message me if these notes have helped you take better travel portraits. I'd love to see them!

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