Travel Photography Tips

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Since all of us here are travel fanatics and love to capture and share what we experience while traveling, I though why not start a thread where all of us can share few invaluable Travel Photography Tips, which would help us capture those experiences and moments in a beautiful manner.

This is how this is going to work, people add their own tips by posting in this thread and the first post would be updated with their tips (along with their ids) to help make it easier to read.

So let’s get started…

Travel Photography Tips from Yogesh Sarkar:

• Golden rule of travel photography is to always carry your camera and keep it at place which is easily accessible to you to ensure you can capture that magical moment as they happen.
  
• Follow the rule of thirds, it helps you compose photographs more cleanly, be it of people or landscape. Quite a few digital cameras have the ability to show grids, which help you compose image according to the rule of thirds.
  
• By keeping a person or an object in foreground, you can help the viewer understand the vastness of a landscape (especially of that of water bodies and mountains).
  
• Try to keep the flash off as long as possible, it helps you capture the mood of a place.
  
• It is always easier to capture the photograph in the manner you want (composition, sharpness, contrast etc.) then to enhance it later in an image editing program. So spend a couple of extra minutes to get it just the way you want.
  
• If your digital camera has Image Stabilization (IS), make sure you disable it before taking long exposure shots with the camera placed on tripod, since IS at that time would either induce a blur or make the image soft.
  
• Respect people you are trying to photograph on street, if someone says no then don’t take their photographs!
  
• When transferring pictures off your camera in a cyber café, make sure you lock your memory card to read only mode (if it has the feature), this would save the photographs from getting corrupted if there is a virus on the computer.
  
• Understand your camera modes before you start your trip, while experimenting is good, it can sometime ruin a crucial photograph if you are not careful.
  
• Carry plenty of spare batteries, usually in cold temperatures, batteries die fast.

Travel Photography Tips from KonfuSed:

• Please please please, test your any new equipment/accessories that you buy just before the trip(we tend to do that a lot) . I've learnt the lesson hard way and don't wanna others go through it.
• Wake up as early as possible, you'll get many more days at your home to laze around, shoot during the golden hours (Ok if you are going to Ladakh then every hour turns out to be golden hour though ) , take rest or travel during the other time. And get ready during the evening golden hours again.
• Don't pack up just after the Sun sets, actually till 30-40 mins after sunset you'll see very different hues in the sky. Obviously you'll need a tripod that time.
• Be careful about the horizon, a tilted horizon can kill a potential great photograph.
• Never ever waste the chance to shoot Just stop the car or bike whenever you feel that you've a chance to get a good photo. Don't even think that on the return journey or later you'll shoot. You'll never get teh same magical light again.
• Look out for unusual things, actually speaking you can find the unusual in very subtle things itself.
• Don't just only use the wide angle lens for landscapes, use your telephoto(long lens) also for landscapes. You can leave out the unwanted subjects from your frame and isolate the subject of interest using Telephoto.
• And the last but not the least, please don't forget to carry plenty of Memory Cards.

Travel Photography Tips from colours2u:

• For cold weather, if your camera have rechargeable battery after charging keep it in ur shirt pocket/jacket near to your body so body heat will help it to last long.
  
• Always carry an umbrella (preferably with wooden handle) so your shooting doesnt stop in rain/snow

[KonfuSed]

Ok here goes my list from my short experience,
1. Please please please, test your any new equipment/accessories that you buy just before the trip(we tend to do that a lot) . I've learnt the lesson hard way and don't wanna others go through it.
2. Wake up as early as possible, you'll get many more days at your home to laze around, shoot during the golden hours (Ok if you are going to Ladakh then every hour turns out to be golden hour though ) , take rest or travel during the other time. And get ready during the evening golden hours again.
3. Don't pack up just after the Sun sets, actually till 30-40 mins after sunset you'll see very different hues in the sky. Obviously you'll need a tripod that time.
4. Be careful about the horizon, a tilted horizon can kill a potential great photograph.
5. Never ever waste the chance to shoot Just stop the car or bike whenever you feel that you've a chance to get a good photo. Don't even think that on the return journey or later you'll shoot. You'll never get teh same magical light again.
6. Look out for unusual things, actually speaking you can find the unusual in very subtle things itself.
7. Don't just only use the wide angle lens for landscapes, use your telephoto(long lens) also for landscapes. You can leave out the unwanted subjects from your frame and isolate the subject of interest using Telephoto.
and the last but not the least, please don't forget to carry plenty of Memory Cards.
Regards,
KonfuSed
PS: there are few more things, will update when I recollect..

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Good tips there, couldn't agree more with the fifth one, god knows how many opportunities I have missed by thinking that way.

[Yogesh Sarkar]

added five more tips

[colours2u]

-- for cold weather, if your camera have rechargeable battery after charging keep it in ur shirt pocket/jacket near to your body so body heat will help it to last long.

-- always carry an umbrella (preferably with wooden handle) so your shooting doesnt stop in rain/snow

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Couldn't agree more with the last point, though one can also use motorcycle helmet as shelter for the camera. However framing is a bit difficult with the camera inside the helmet .

[colours2u]

Originally Posted by Yogesh Sarkar

Couldn't agree more with the last point, though one can also use motorcycle helmet as shelter for the camera. However framing is a bit difficult with the camera inside the helmet .

hmmm but prob is neither my wide or tele fits in helmet... :P

[Roadliner]

Wonderful....Thanx guys for your specific points...Now i can be more precise while clicking those great shots.

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Glad you found them useful Roadliner, welcome to BCMTouring. Do tell us a little about yourself in the introduction section

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Respect people you are trying to photograph on street, if someone says no then don’t take their photographs!

Saying this because I watched an aged foreigner (must be 60+) take photographs of camel traders despite them saying no in English and even gesturing with their fingers to not do it! despite this, that fellow had the audacity to keep clicking photographs of them till one of them got up and came up to him was about to beat him for it (which this foreigner truly deserved at that time)!