Travel Photography Tips

If you're planning a trip and want to take some great photos while you're there, a bit of advance planning can often make the difference between frustration and a great photo album. There are also some different techniques that you can use to help get the most out of your limited time.

Plan on bringing an accessory bag or pack - it’s not a problem if you don't have a custom camera accessory bag, depending on the size of your camera and accessories, a small backpack or purse will do just fine. One essential to bring is an extra charged battery or two - you never want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, with the perfect shot composed in front of you, and have your battery die - most trips only provide for limited opportunities at a particular photo op, so take full advantage of the time you have. Another must-have accessory is extra storage space – either an additional memory card/stick or two, or some way to download photos while on the road to free up space. A common frustration is being ready to take a photo, realizing that you’re out of space, and being forced to delete previous photos to make room – you never want to be in the position of having to delete one great memory to capture another. Another travel photography accessory that often gets forgotten about is a tripod. Many companies sell small portable tripods that can be thrown in a purse or camera bag, and are invaluable when taking highly composed shots, low light pictures, or capturing a great photo of friends and family at a get-together.

It's also a good idea to brush up on your photography skills before going on a trip, various photography websites such as Digital Photography Tips provide advice and tips to help improve your picture-taking - the more you practice in advance, the better your travel pictures will turn out.

Different techniques can also be used while traveling to make the most of your photos. One technique that’s easier to do with digital photography is to take multiple photographs of the same scene. As long as you have enough storage to spare, take more than one photograph of the same scene, as it’s too late when you get home to say “I wish I had moved a bit to the right”, or noticing after-the-fact that someone’s eyes were closed. When taking photos of landscapes, objects, or landmarks, a good technique is to start out by taking a photo with the widest angle your camera will allow, and then zoom in closer until you are tightly framing the landmark, people, or objects of interest for your photo. Also try different vantage points for the same scene, and different angles for the composition. This helps to ensure that you have a broader range of compositions to choose from once you’re gone, as many trips only come once, so you might not have the opportunity to go back and take the picture again.

One final thing to remember is that you can't go back in time. Taking photos is a great way of capturing the memory, but don't forget to enjoy the trip itself - this sounds like simple advice, but many enthusiast photographers find that they get so caught up in taking all the 'perfect shots', that they end up missing the vacation itself, and they lose out on enjoying the trip (as well as missing the time spent with their families or travel companions). So don't forget to put the camera down, smell the roses, and enjoy the trip - if you miss that perfect shot, you can always buy a postcard!