As we are also publishers it is much easier for us to drag the JPG images into. Adobe InDesign when designing our books.
Travel Photography
10 tips to get you started
What is Travel Photography? Travel photography is a subcategory of photography involving the documentation of an area’s landscape, people, cultures, customs and history. The Photographic Society of America defines a travel photo as an image that expresses the feeling of a time and place, portrays a land, its people, or a culture in its natural state, and has no geographical limitations.”
Excerpt from Wikipedia
Travel Photography requires you to be a bit of a jack-of-all-trades as you will need the knowledge and skills to cover more than just one genre of photography. You will need the skills to do landscapes, street, portraits, architecture, interiors, documentary and food photography just to mention a few. You need to know the capabilities of your equipment inside out and to be able to shoot no matter what the weather conditions. At times it requires you to think and act quickly to get the shot. Compared to a Landscape Photographer whereby they often set up at a given location and wait for the perfect light, a Travel Photographer quite often does not have the luxury of time to stand around. At the professional level - the days are long and tiring but nevertheless the benefits are extremely rewarding.
St Marks Square, Venice, Italy
) ISO 125 200mm F8 1/250sec
1. Knowledge As a beginner, with todays technology and resources its easy to pick up a camera and take the occasional great shot, however not with consistent results. Most great travel photographers spend years perfecting their craft through trial and error to a point where it becomes second nature to them. We have met so many photographers over the years who have bought the best equipment but have not armed themselves with the knowledge or experience to excel in the art of photography. Therefore, our first tip is for you is; • • • • • • •
Carry your camera with you everywhere Do a Photography Tour - ours of course :-) Join a camera club Talk to professionals Attend trade shows Share your photos on Social Media sites Online resources , blogs and ebooks
All these points will help you gain the knowledge and experience that will benefit you in your long term goal of being a better travel photographer. Even though there is a lot of information available online there just is no substitution for hands-on experience to get to where you want to go.
Leptis Magna, Libya
) ISO100 27mm F11 1/60sec
2. Equipment In todays world it is more important to concentrate on the craft of photography rather than the equipment. A Pro camera body and the best lenses put into the hands of a beginner/amateur will not ensure that you capture better images. Here are our recommendations when starting out in Travel Photography. • Start off with a camera, lenses and f lash that fit your budget. Move up to bigger & better once your photography improves. • Make sure you invest in a sturdy but light tripod with a ball head to carry around on your travels. • Attach UV(0) filter to all your lenses. • Buy a good quality comfortable weatherproof camera bag that is also suitable in size for aircraft carry-on luggage. • Make sure you always carry spare batteries, memory cards and a cleaning kit including a good quality blower brush.
Kotor, Montenegro
) ISO100 18mm F22 30sec
3. Planning Good planning & research in combination with good photographic techniques will reward you with great Travel Photography images. You should research your destination before you leave and create a “shot list” of the things that you want to photograph. Things won’t always go to plan with your list but it gives you a great starting point. Use resources such as • Google Maps • The Photographers Ephemeris for sunrise & sunset times as well as full moons etc • Information online from other travellers and tourism sites. Once at your destination visit a souvenir shop and check out the postcards. These usually are a great source for locating elevated viewpoints for shots and seeing the “classic view” of well known landmarks. This will help you to shoot different angles of the landmark to make your image more unique. Remember that there are great opportunities for taking photographs at any time of the day when you have done your planning and research correctly.
Venice, Italy
) ISO 1600 18mm F8 1/15sec - Grain for Effect
4. Travel Light We have seen so many photographers on our travels burdened by huge and heavy camera bags bent over from all the weight. You really don’t need that much equipment to be a successful Travel Photographer. Helen carries most of her equipment in a Lowepro sling bag and Paul carries his in a Lowepro sling backpack but neither of them are heavy enough to stop us from walking up to 15kms every day when travelling (and we’re not that fit!) You really only need the following for travel photography • • • • • • •
Camera Body A wide angle zoom lens A mid range zoom lens A telephoto zoom lens Specialty lens - Macro/Fisheye Flash & Tripod Filters & gadgets
If you wanted a fast lens then we would suggest a 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 lens however we have never bothered as the above combination has worked well for us. If you wanted to travel even lighter then try taking an all-in-one zoom lens similar to a 18-200. Once again this lens will cover the majority of the shots.
Mt Field National Park, Tasmania, Australia
) ISO100 10mm F22 6sec
5. Raw or jpg? JPG (JPEG) The JPG file format is a lossy compressed file which is much smaller in size than a RAW file. When using this setting the camera will apply any in-camera settings that you have applied. Unfortunately, due to compression there will be some loss of quality especially if you are editing images. It really depends on your planned output and what you’re shooting. If you are shooting family photos for display in your home with little editing required then a JPG Fine file will be just fine for your needs. RAW This file format is an uncompressed file that records the data exactly how you see it without any in-camera manipulation. Most professional photographers shoot in this format as they will always want as much information as possible to edit to the style that they want. For files that will be possibly printed to large sizes, RAW is essential. Although it is a larger file than a JPG file, it is still essential to shoot in this format if you are serious about capturing the best possible quality images. When we travel we always shoot RAW and JPG Basic. Most cameras these days let you shoot the two files simultaneously. Why do we shoot in both? As we are also publishers it is much easier for us to drag the JPG images into Adobe InDesign when designing our books. Binalong Bay, Tasmania, Australia
) ISO100 24mm F22 8sec ND400 - 9stop
6. Exposure Triangle Understanding the “Exposure Triangle” is one of the most important technical aspects in mastering the art of photography. Basically it refers to the relationship between the 3 main settings in the camera; Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed. These 3 settings work together to create the effects that you want from an image. Each of these settings controls exposure in a different way: Aperture: controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor Shutter speed: controls the duration of the light exposed to the sensor. ISO speed: controls the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor to the amount of light present. There are many combinations of the above three settings to achieve the same exposure however each setting when changed can have an impact. Aperture: changing the aperture affects your depth of field. Shutter Speed: changing your shutter speed could cause motion blur in the image. ISO: an increase in ISO can increase sensor noise.
La Fenice Theatre,Venice,Italy
) ISO1600 8mm Fisheye F5.6 1/60sec
7. Backup Images As a Travel Photographer you must have the ability to backup you images while on the road and back home. These days many people will upload their images to the “cloud”, which is fine if you are shooting JPG files and have regular access to an internet connection while travelling. If you are shooting a lot of images every day in RAW then the easiest solution is to backup to at least 2 Passport External Hard Drives. Why 2? Well there are a couple of reasons; • Hard Drives can sometimes fail. • You can carry one around with you during the day and leave one in your bag at the hotel (in the safe). Once you return home you should rename your files, convert RAW files to DNG files and backup all files to a local hard drive and a hard drive kept off-site (either the cloud or a hard drive). Over the years we have mainly carried Western Digital Passport Hard Drives as they have never let us down however there are many brands on the market. Here are just a few; • • • • •
Western Digital Lacie Seagate Toshiba Transcend
Now that the capacity of these drives has increased and the price has come down make sure you use them to protect your valuable images.
Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy
) ISO100 40mm F13 1/100sec
8. Filters Filters when used correctly can take your photography to another level however keep in mind that most filter effects can now be simulated in software with the exception of the Polarizer Filter. We do not use filters a great deal in our photography with the exception of the following which is enough to cover the majority of images you will take when travelling • UV(0) filter - attach to all your lenses. These are good for filtering UV (Ultraviolet) rays and as a protection for your lens. • Circular Polarising Filter - have one for all your lens sizes. A must have filter for reducing ref lections and bringing out saturation in skies and foliage. • Graduated Neutral Density Filters (1,2 & 3 stops) - these are useful when doing landscape images with a bright sky or foreground however are used mainly for scenes with a mostly unimpeded horizon seperating land/sea and the sky. • Neutral Density filter (Variable, 9 ,10 stop) - a must if you want to take photos during the day and want a slower shutter speed. eg, blurring water for effect.
Tarawa, Kiribati
) ISO100 52mm F10 1/60sec
9. Editing There are many tools out there available to edit your images to the creative level that you want to achieve. Please note however that while editing is a crucial part of the photographic process, emphasis should still be placed on your need to master the capabilities of your camera and the techniques in producing great images. Here are some of the applications that we recommend for editing your images; • Adobe Lightroom - an awesome application that not only allows you to edit your images but also catalogue them and more. • Adobe Photoshop - the master of image editing software. • OnOne Perfect Photo Suite - this suite of applications is possibly all you will need to edit your images. It can also be used as a standalone application. • Topaz Labs - all of their plug-ins are fabulous to use and can really make your images pop. Our favourites are Detail, ReStyle, Adjust and B&W Effects. • Google Nik Collection - another suite of plug-ins that are great to use especially Silver Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Viveza.
Weldborough, Tasmania, Australia
) ISO100 12mm F11 1/500sec
10. The 3 P’s Planning, Patience, Practise “If I have any ‘message’ worth giving to a beginner it is that there are no short cuts in photography.” Quote by Edward Weston
The 3 P’s as we call them are essential in the art of Travel Photography. Planning - it is essential that you plan meticulously before a trip. Regardless of whether you faithfully stick to the plan or not, you should always have a structure in place to maximise the opportunities for taking great images. As a result you will arrive at a destination and navigate with a purpose rather than stumbling around with a map and a guide book. Patience - be patient with your photography. Success, like any job does not come at once but after perserverence and passion. Gradually, by gaining experience and knowledge your patience will be rewarded. Practise, Practise, Practise - in the age of digital it doesn’t cost you to take an endless amount of images. At every opportunity, walk around your town/city and take lots of images. Just because it is your home location doesn’t mean it’s not travel photography! Go back to the same locations under different weather and lighting conditions and just keep practising. Sydney, Australia
) ISO100 27mm 12mm F8 8sec
About Us
We are professional photographers, travellers & publishers with close to 50 years experience combined. These days we specialise in Travel & Tourism photography, tourism products, training, image licencing & fine art prints, but mostly just for the love of it. We have also published 5 photography books which you can check out here. Like to know more about us?
Our Camera Gear
In our professional photography we have used many different formats of equipment over the years, from Minolta, Pentax & Nikon 35mm film cameras, to digital with a cropped and full frame sensors not to mention over 20 years experience with a large format Panoramic camera. We also carry a compact waterproof camera for reference and everyday shots. However at the end of the day, it’s not the gear you use, it’s how you use it, so learn the fundamentals of your equipment and photography skills to be a great travel photographer.
Forster, NSW, Australia
) ISO50 34mm, F22, 1.6sec
Take off with us.... Take the next step by joining us on our tours, designed for those starting out, the photo enthusiast or for like-minded photographers (and travellers) wanting to visit inspiring and unique destinations. On our tours we’ll share our vast knowledge of photography through tips & techniques in the field for capturing that great scene and using your equipment effectively under a variety of conditions. So travel with us and learn on location while experiencing great destinations and return home with captivating images and the skills and experience for your future travels, whether it is with us, at home or further afield. Tours are kept to a maximum of 8-10 to ensure each person receives quality one-on-one support as required.
Click here to view our tours
Tuvalu, Pacific Islands
) ISO100 18mm F9 1/80sec
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Fine Print
All images unless specified are copyright WideScenes Photography. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitter in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of WideScenes Photography. The information in this book is of a general nature only and represents our personal experiences and views. It is to be used as a guide only. Cover Image: Canowindra, NSW, Australia ) ISO640 24mm F8 1/250sec
Niue, Pacific Islands
) ISO400 70mm F16 1/100sec
