My Top 10 Travel Photography Tips
Are you planning a trip soon? Here’s my top 10 travel photography tips to help you capture amazing travel photographs.
1. Focus On What You Love To Shoot
One of the best things about travel photography is that it encompasses multiple genres of photography. It can include landscapes, street photography, environmental portraits, food and architectural photographs. Experiment with all of them, and focus on what you love to shoot.
2. Get Up Early
If you’re not a morning person, now is the time to become one! Your reward for crawling out of bed is you the beautiful light of the golden hour. Your photos will be magical! Also, there are less tourists wandering around popular landmarks, so you’ll get cleaner shots!
3. Research Your Destinations
You don’t have to go crazy with research, however it is helpful to have some sort of plan. Travel guides, Pinterest, and Instagram are great for inspiration. Create a must have shot list, so you don’t forget all those important things you wanted photos of.
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4. Bring A Travel Tripod
Why should you bring a travel tripod? Well if you want to capture gorgeous sunsets, sunrises, and night scenes they are a must have. When you’re shooting at longer shutters speed and using longer focal lengths, a tripod provides the stability you need.
5. Make Sure To Get Off The Beaten Path
Escape the crowds and wander. Explore areas that are less touristy. Ask the locals where their favorite places are. By venturing away the popular tourist areas, you’ll find unique scenes that often go unnoticed. Plus, your travel photos won’t look like everyone else’s!
6. Don’t Forget To Keep Notes
It’s always a good idea to keep notes to reference places you’ve visited or people you’ve met. Once you’re back at home the details may have slipped away. I like to carry a small journal, but sometimes use my phone for quick notes.
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7. Backing Up Your Photos
Sometimes it may seem like a pain to backup your photos, but it’s an absolute necessity. If you took the time to shoot them, you don’t want to lose all those images right? My travel photography backup workflow includes a backup on my laptop, an external hard drive, and an online backup.
Google Drive and Amazon have Online cloud storage for your photographs. Cloud storage is a great option because if your equipment gets stolen, you still have access to your images.
8. Always Have Backup Photography Gear
Equipment can fail, batteries go dead, memory cards can get lost. It’s always a good idea to have a backup camera, extra batteries, extra memory cards, and extra charging cords.
9. Stay Safe
Unfortunately, as a travel photographer, you are an easy target for pickpockets, thieves, and tourist scams. Be sure to check for any travel warnings for the destination you are traveling to.
Stay aware of your surroundings when you are out wandering. It’s easy to get distracted when you’re shooting. Don’t risk your life trying to capture the perfect photo.
10. Have Fun
It’s ok to put the camera down. Getting the shot is important, but so is appreciating where you are. Take some time to just get out and meet the locals. Learn about the local customs. Be social!
Need more photography tips? You can find them here.
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