Travel Photography Tips & Tricks
Being there and doing that… By Rowan GillsonI like to think of myself as a travel photographer, and truth be told, I have traveled farther and shot more than most. I have found that taking pictures on missions trips is a great way to show friends and family what God is doing and remember what God has done. Here are a few tips that just might add a little more impact to your images the next time you pull out your camera…1. Fill the frame. If you never learn anything else about photography, and shoot for the rest of your life on completely automatic, fill the frame. Decide what you want to take a picture of and get rid of everything else around it!
2. Add people. I have returned from amazing trips to far off places only to discover that I have no pictures of the people on my team! Sure… I have that one group shot we all posed for at 3 in the morning, but somehow I missed the fact that I was traveling with a group of people. Make a conscious effort to add people to your pictures of amazing scenery and architecture. Don’t forget to jump in a shot or two yourself!
3. Shoot signs. Information signs are everywhere, and even the most remote of countries you can often find them in English. If I find myself at a historic place, or needing to remember an important piece of information, I take a picture of the sign. These pictures rarely make it into my photo albums, but they do help a lot when it comes to writing captions or retelling stories.
4. Shoot the norm. Even when you are far away from home some things will become normal and commonplace. Shoot them anyway! It’s really nice to have pictures of hotels, churches, favorite restaurants, homes, etc., to help tell the general story of the trip. If you’re extra ambitious you can even tag locations in Google Earth with pictures to show people where you were and what you did.
5. Be bold. Avoid being obnoxious, but realize that most people will give you extra grace to take pictures because you are a tourist. Take advantage of this to get in close, take your time, and get the picture you really want.
6. Watch your angles. It is easy to be a lazy photographer and simply snap shots of whatever catches your eye without really thinking. However, you can almost always find a better angle from which to shoot if you put a little thought into your images. One of my favorite perspectives is from down low, looking up at the world. Few people seem to use this idea, and it will give your images a fresh, new look.
7. “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” This worked well in the Battle of Bunker Hill and will do wonders for your photography too. The back of a person’s head is rarely as interesting as the front, so shoot for faces. Ask people to smile. Get people to turn around. Sit and wait until you get the candid expression you really want.
You do not have to create a perfect image every time you push the button on your camera, but if you start to think through some of these ideas you will find that the pictures from your next overseas adventure are one step closer to prizewinning photography.
Rowan Gillson is the director of the Institute of Photographic Studies (IPS). He and his wife Jocelyn are working to raise up a new generation of missions-minded photographers, and they strive to make the organizations and causes they believe in more effective in communicating their core messages through the excellent use of media.Photography in this article is copyrighted by Rowan Gillson. Used with permission.