Enhance your Journey Pictures – Get Artistic and {Photograph} the World
Journey pictures affords a inventive alternative to doc your adventures and seize the world round you. The locations you go to, faces you see and cultures you expertise.
As an expert journey photographer, I’ve photographed icebergs in Greenland, elephants in South Africa, distant lodges in Canada, and the temples of Japan. There are such a lot of extremely photogenic experiences and places on the market simply ready for us to {photograph} them on our travels.
Should you’re trying to work as a journey photographer, constructing a portfolio is among the finest locations to begin, and what higher manner to try this, that in your travels? This information under shares 12 journey pictures suggestions that may show you how to seize extra inventive photos in your subsequent journey.
From composition to packing your digicam bag, and storytelling to climate forecasting, browse the information under and let me know within the feedback the place you’re travelling subsequent!
Journey Pictures Ideas
1. Analysis and Plan Logistics
Should you’re severe about taking nice photographs in your subsequent journey, you should definitely analysis the very best locations to {photograph} within the places you’re visiting. Should you’re heading for a serious metropolis, you’ll discover numerous on-line guides and sources obtainable that share some photogenic places and experiences. Should you’re in search of journey and need to {photograph} landscapes a little bit extra off the crushed path, I’d counsel heading straight for Google Earth or Google Maps first. That manner, you may zoom in on the areas you’re going to, browse the maps, search for pure options like lakes, waterfalls, and mountains and begin to see the way it could also be doable to achieve them.
By planning to keep away from the primary viewpoints and well-liked spots, you’ll find yourself with extra distinctive photos and little doubt, a much more thrilling expertise!
When planning the logistics, attempt to analysis the very best occasions to {photograph} the situation, what the climate situations will probably be and the way a lot time it takes to hike/drive/fly to the situation.
2. Test your digicam bag, then recheck it
Being ready to {photograph} your travels is a vital step in making the journey a little bit smoother. There’s nothing worse than arriving someplace, solely to search out you’re out of batteries, forgot to cost them, or forgot a reminiscence card. This piece of recommendation comes from expertise by the best way! When photographing for purchasers or on assignments, I examine my bag a bunch of occasions earlier than ever leaving the home. Once I {photograph} for enjoyable although, it’s simple to get a little bit extra relaxed and I’ve undoubtedly gone to take a photograph, solely to search out I forgot to place the reminiscence card in my digicam…oops!
Should you’ll be mountaineering or spending an excessive amount of the day open air, packing your digicam bag good and light-weight will imply you’ll benefit from the expertise extra. I journey with my OM SYSTEM cameras (examine my package right here) that are actually light-weight cameras, then go for solely 1-3 lenses based mostly on the place I’m going and what I’m aiming to {photograph}.
3. Hunt down Dawn and Sundown
Golden hour presents essentially the most lovely heat mild and works wonders for panorama pictures. Capturing the glowing solar earlier than it dips under the horizon is certainly one of my favorite issues to {photograph}, and I all the time ensure that I do know precisely what time sundown is and arrive practically an hour earlier than!
Planning your day round the place to be and what you’ll {photograph} throughout the golden hours of dawn and sundown, helps you optimize what number of places you may go to and {photograph} in your travels. When photographing dawn, intention for someplace near your lodging, then for sundown, you may enterprise a little bit additional!
Photographing dawn and the pastel tones of nightfall are what I intention for in my very own panorama pictures because it helps illuminate the scene in a stupendous manner, and usually has much less crowds or wind.
4. Assume Artistic + Search for Distinctive Angles
When you arrive at a location, don’t simply attain to your digicam and snap away. Go searching, assess the scene and begin to get a really feel for the tales you may inform together with your digicam. This fashion you’ll produce extra thought-about photographs, and uncover thrilling options and topics to incorporate inside the picture.
I all the time like to maneuver round too, not simply stand nonetheless at a marked viewing platform, however actually discover the encompassing space and hunt down the potential of distinctive angles. Don’t overlook to bend down, search for methods to include varied parts of the scene inside the picture! It’s superb what number of angles open up as soon as you are taking a second to go searching and observe the scene and what’s occurring inside it.
5. Get inventive with Composition
This matter is my favorite of all inside pictures. Throughout the on-line programs I educate, composition is one thing I all the time take pleasure in sharing recommendations on, as a result of it’s so unimaginable what you may obtain with only a easy adjustment in your inventive course of.
Composition is actually, the way you compose the weather of a scene, inside a single picture. So in a panorama {photograph}, a lake for instance, it may very well be that you just’ll be composing the rocks on the shore, the water and distant mountains. How one can method that creatively, is by getting actually low to {photograph} by the rocks so the water leads viewers in the direction of these mountain peaks. Or you could possibly choose to utterly exclude the rocks, as an alternative zooming into the mountains and utilizing any seen greenery close by to border their form.
Composition is the place you have got the possibility to make your pictures stand out. Should you’re photographing alongside pals or different photographers, you’ll in all probability all find yourself creating one thing fully totally different! Search for main traces, reflections or foreground options. Have to work in your composition expertise? Be a part of The three-Week Composition Reset beginning quickly to refresh your creativity and study to ‘see’ the world in a brand new manner – register your curiosity right here.
6. Doc Cultures
Are you visiting someplace with cultural experiences or native traditions? In that case, analysis previous to visiting to know what you may and may’t {photograph}. Being culturally delicate is essential as a photographer, no photograph is price invading somebody’s privateness.
Nevertheless, if it’s doable to doc the expertise or vacation spot, attempt to seize photos that spotlight the candid moments, finer particulars and cultural intricacies that solely exist there. Portraits are an exquisite technique to showcase individuals and each day life, all the time ask earlier than taking somebody’s photograph although, and I prefer to attempt to be as fast as doable, so it doesn’t make them awkward in any respect – the primary smile is normally essentially the most pure!
7. Create Journey Pictures with Goal
Much like composition, famous above, creating with function merely means considering earlier than clicking that shutter button. We’ve all returned residence from our travels with hundreds of random photographs that we’ll by no means take a look at once more, however what if we stopped to contemplate what we’re photographing, how, and why?
Creating images with function will assist to provide a group of journey images that join, showcase the place you’ve been, and assist to doc and inform a narrative of your adventures.
I like to attempt to seize a group of assorted photos, a mix of element photographs, panorama photos, portraits and patterns once I journey. Truly, I’m exaggerating, I’ve been very obsessive about photographing patterns in nature currently so an enormous portion of my photographs have been patterns in sand, dust, rocks, water…I ought to in all probability get again to some selection haha!
8. Keep Regular
Sustaining stability when photographing is the important thing to sharp, detailed photos. You’ll know when stability was missing as a result of your photos might end up a little bit blurry!
You need to use a tripod if you understand you’ll be photographing in low mild or aren’t tremendous regular when holding a digicam, nonetheless when you’re like me and don’t take pleasure in carrying a tripod round, there are different methods to maintain regular when taking photographs.
My digicam, the OM SYSTEM OM-1, has in-built stability, that means that it’ll regulate and maintain regular, even when there’s slight motion on my half. In any other case, in case your digicam isn’t geared up with in-built stability, you may lean on one thing stable, like a fence, constructing or desk high when taking a photograph.
The ‘Photographer’s Stance’ is a little bit of a joke, however take a peek at individuals after they’re taking a photograph…all of us stand a little bit like a tripod, don’t we? This stance can really assist with stability, bracing your self whereas taking the photograph to remain good and nonetheless and keep away from any blur in your photos.
9. Experiment with Shutter Velocity
That is one thing I’ve loved rather a lot lately, significantly producing journey photographs with a extra inventive end result. Shutter pace is said to the time your shutter is open, exposing obtainable mild on to the digicam sensor. The longer a shutter is left open, the extra mild is let in.
A quick shutter ends in a fast shot with much less mild, a sluggish shutter means your cameras shutter is left open longer, leading to an extended publicity picture. You may really hear the sound your digicam makes when taking a picture, if it’s a merely click on, you’re in all probability capturing with a quick shutter pace, or on auto. Should you hear a click on…pause…then one other click on, it’s in all probability an extended publicity. Finally you’ll study to know precisely how lengthy the shutter pace is and be capable to rapidly regulate for the end result you’re in search of.
Experimenting with shutter pace is a good way to include motion and light-weight into your picture. You may learn a information right here about ICM Pictures, and one other information right here that I wrote about utilizing Reside ND with the OM SYSTEM.
10. Get comfy together with your digicam settings
Travelling is a good alternative to study pictures and get comfy together with your digicam whereas taking journey photographs. We’re normally a lot extra impressed to make use of our digicam when exploring a brand new vacation spot, so use this opportunity to press a couple of new buttons in your digicam or flick over to guide mode and problem your self to study the way it works.
Controlling the ISO, shutter pace and publicity may help to provide a picture that displays the scene round you. Be taught to work with mild and seize it accurately so that you’re exposing the highlights and shadows nicely.
Don’t stress your self to leap straight to guide mode, journey pictures specifically is normally stuffed with capturing quick moments, and twiddling with guide mode by no means works (for me anyway!). I favor to shoot in aperture precedence mode, this allows me to rapidly regulate the ISO and publicity, whereas the shutter pace is then calculated by the digicam. Alternatively, if I must seize a picture in a sure manner, I’ll then change to guide and play with the shutter pace.
11. Edit and Improve your Images
Whereas AI is presenting some attention-grabbing enhancing alternatives in journey pictures (hey pretend scenes and fantasy dream places), enhancing your journey photographs can kind a part of the inventive course of. I like saving my photos from a time out, looking by to select the favourites, then enhancing them that evening whereas travelling.
Enhancing doesn’t should make your picture wildly totally different from the unique, it may merely improve the tones, colors and scene a little bit. Keep away from adjusting the saturation an excessive amount of as this will simply lead to your journey photographs wanting a little bit too vibrant.
When enhancing, consistency is essential. Should you’re trying to compile a group of images from one location or vacation spot, intention to maintain the enhancing and tones to a cohesive type. This will even assist to establish the work as yours, relatively than a random assortment of presets and color mixtures.
12. Develop into a Storyteller
Journey pictures provides you the possibility to create tales in regards to the locations and faces you see in your travels. Whenever you decide up a journey journal, the photographs assist to inform the story alongside any written articles. They visually share why you must go to, what you may see, or creatively spotlight the gorgeous options of a scene or topic.
Should you’re eager to work as a journey photographer, telling tales together with your work will present alternatives to method publications and pitch article, or photograph function concepts. Producing a group of photos that join collectively to create a visible narrative, will go a good distance when sharing your work with editors or tourism professionals.
You may learn extra in regards to the ‘Artwork of Storytelling right here’, or when you’re trying to work professionally as a journey photographer, The Freelance Journey Photographer Course guides you thru all of the steps required to develop an expert portfolio, community, discover work and create longevity together with your profession within the journey trade. You can begin on-line anytime, with no time stress as the whole course is designed to be self-paced!
The Advantages of Journey Pictures
Journey pictures is such a rewarding technique to see the world. By taking photographs once we journey, we’re staying current, working towards mindfulness and peering deeper into the world round us. With all inventive pursuits, observe all the time helps so I’d encourage you to maintain your digicam out, and seize as many photographs as you may, being thoughtful of which compositions work finest, and artistic strategies you need to use to reinforce the end result of your journey photographs.
Associated Journey Pictures Articles on The Wandering Lens –
How you can Develop into a Skilled Journey Photographer
The Advantages of Working Freelance as a Journey Photographer
Pictures Ideas Archive – Digital camera Settings Recommendation + Artistic Strategies
7 Journey Pictures Jobs to take you across the World
Need to study with The Wandering Lens? Discover the self-study programs and uncover your potential in journey pictures!
Are you craving a inventive profession, battle to know the place to begin as a photographer and want a little bit steering?
These inventive programs have been written for you and convey collectively over 17+years of expertise and classes from working within the trade. I need to see others share their abilities and get printed, promote prints, discover purchasers – to have the boldness to attain no matter it’s you need to inside the subject of pictures.
My three complete pictures programs at the moment are obtainable for self-study enrolments and upon signing up, I’ll be in contact with immediate entry to get you arrange and logged into the educational portal! You’ll obtain entry to each workbook inside the course program and may work your manner by in whichever order you selected.
Which of the next sounds such as you most?
#1 You need to discover work as a contract journey photographer? The Freelance Journey Photographer Course is open for enrolments! Be taught extra right here.
#2 You want a inventive enhance and need to remodel your pictures? Begin with The Artistic Pictures Course and work by the composition and pure mild challenges.
#3 You’re eager to begin a enterprise promoting prints? The Print Retailer Launch Pad will information you thru the whole course of from curation and logistics to advertising + gross sales.
Take a peek on the course choices under, when you’d like to debate which one will swimsuit you, ship me an e mail through hey@thewanderinglens.com and we will chat!

Good day! I’m the founder and photographer behind The Wandering Lens.
With 17+yrs expertise as an expert journey and panorama photographer, all recommendation discovered on this website is from my private expertise on the highway. I hope it’s helpful to your personal travels and would love to listen to within the feedback about your journeys and experiences around the globe.