Back in the day, when we were on vacation with our parents, taking pictures used to be a big production haul out the Polaroid or Kodak Instamatic (with Magicube for interior shots) or a fancy Pentax or Nikon insert the roll of film, take the rolls to be developed, choose matte or glossy finish, with borders or without, then wait to week to see how all the shots turned out. Or didn’t.
Today, in the age of the iPhone, social media and the selfie, most of us take the art of travel photos for granted. After all, you can shoot people, places and things endlessly, over and over, and delete bad pictures immediately.
So, with summer vacation season on its way, we thought it was the perfect time for a few vacation photo pointers. Here are some of our favourites:
People first, attraction second: If you’re shooting the Eiffel Tower, frame the tower. But if you’re taking a pic of your friend in front of the Eiffel Tower, concentrate on framing him properly. No matter how good the tower looks, his cut-off head will look bad.
Be unconventional: Speaking of the Eiffel Tower, there is no shortage of pictures online and in millions of photo albums of the tower surrounded by blue sky. If you’re going to take a photo of this or any famous landmark, do something special. For instance, shoot your travel partner “leaning” against the tower in the background or wait for a flock of birds or balloons to enter the frame or try a different angle, like underneath!
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Watch the edges: The vista you’re photographing might be spectacular but if there’s a half a person in the bottom corner, that’s what you’ll notice later.
Don’t shoot into the sun (most of the time): This seems like an obvious one and yet we see endless photos of faces in the shadows. The one exception may be if you’re looking for a dramatic and graphic special effect for instance, shooting the Statue of Liberty with the sun behind can create a dramatic effect:
Avoid tourists: Technically, you’re one too, but it can be a challenge taking great photos with dozens of people straying in an out of the frame. If you can, arrive during off hours.
Wait for the rain: Travelling when it’s raining can be annoying and, well, wet but it can also make for beautiful photos.
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What are your best vacation photo tips and tricks? Share them in the Shop Talk Blog community forum!
Did you know? What’s the most photographed site?
If you thought the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty, you’d be&.wrong! It’s actually the Guggenheim Museum in New York followed by the Spanish Steps in Rome. (Source)
So often people take great photo’s and in a world of newer technology a lot of those photo’s never get seen again.
I like doing 3 things;
1. Have a cloud where I can upload my photo’s into files so that if friends come over I can play them that particular file on my TV, on my “photo frame” etc. to show off the “vacation”.
2. I make a CD of the “file” I created above and make a point of printing off at least 2 photo’s to put on my fridge!
3. I pick out my favourites and send them to a company that prints them off into a book. They make great presents for people as well as a lasting memory, that can be seen by anyone at any time, in your own library!
thanks for theheads up. My pictures are always taken in a hurry no focus as I fear subjest move before centred
should we buy a camara , or cel phone ??
All valuable tips for good photography. Thanks to all who have contributed – beautiful photos and great tips.
I do a lot of scrapbooking. We have some of the pictures in frames… it’s hard to take a bad picture depending on the subject. My husband’s rule is the best… take lots of pictures. Mine is perspective. I love winding roads, a row of columns, layers… a picture taken at an intersection down the street tells a story of the culture, the architecture, the wonderful textures narrowing in the distance. One of those hundreds of pictures will take your breath away. And just don’t limit your pictures to places you’ve been. If it catches your eye… an old building in front of a glass tower reflecting the sky and the back of that old building… awesome.
Thanks for the tips. Coreen
Great information!
Very informative I totally enjoyed it the pictures were outstanding and the advice very simple and I have been abroad and also I’m the photographer and all your points were banging on thank you so much Charles wood
Having seen London and Paris, many sights in southern France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland can also make the list of beautiful sights.
I didn’t know that the Guggenheim Museum was that popular. It looks like a three layer cake…Ciao…Pardo
Brought along an external hard drive to download pictures, so we could take many, many more.
Thanks for all the tips on traveling.
I enjoyed all your comments and took a few tips but, please remember photo’s is not good English. In these cases there is no apostrophe before the s. The apostrophe is when someone possesses something. or in an abbreviation. e.g. It’s (this is where it is a short form for it is Albert’s (Albert possesses the book) book. Your comments about how to take good photos are well documented. Hope you don’t mind the correction.
Laughable !!! I corrected you but couldn’t even spell my name…..ha-ha.