Tips for Better Travel Photos

Aside from writing Moon Guatemala [2], I also write and do photography for several magazines. I recently traveled to Guatemala on assignment for Caribbean Travel + Life [3]. People often ask me about tips for taking better travel photos, and so I'd like to take this opportunity to address this in a blog post. Here are six tips for better travel photos:

1. GEAR WILL ONLY GET YOU SO FAR. Unless you're a pro, you don't really need the latest and greatest gadgets to get decent images. Your time (and money) might be better invested in learning how your own equipment works and using that knowledge to make the best with what you've got.

2. LOOK AT LOTS OF PICTURES. Before heading out, buy a copy of your favorite travel magazine. Looking at the work of others will influence how and what you shoot. It will inspire you to see things in new ways and you'll notice this in what you shoot. You'll come back with better pictures.

3. GET CLOSER. The tendency with many amateur photographers is to see and shoot things from afar. That's fine if you're shooting a landscape, but life is in many ways about the details. Look closely at patterns and abstract features in the world all around you. Portraits of people you meet in your travels are often some of the most engaging photos you can make. Don't be afraid to get close.

4. PAY ATTENTION TO THE LIGHT. Good photos aren't just made in the daytime. The cool blue light of dusk is one of my favorite times to photograph, along with the hour or two just before sunset when the world is filled with a warm, liquid light.

5. DON'T BE AFRAID TO USE FLASH. Flash (or strobes as we say in the biz) aren't just for photos of your friends in dark-lit rooms. You can use strobes to shoot in broad daylight and bring out color and texture that would otherwise be lost in the extreme contrast of bright sunlight. Check out www.strobist.com [4].

6. USE THE DIGITAL MEDIUM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. Most folks these days are shooting digital, which means you have a number of modern-day tools to make your photos into works of art. Programs like Adobe Photoshop and Aperture allow you to bring out your images' full tonal and color range with ease (for starters). It's easy and your photos will look much better than when they emerge from the camera in their raw form.

So get out there and shoot! The more you shoot, the better you'll get.