Before I start writing like a man possessed, I think it is useful to set out what we expect from a trip and from taking photographs.
I assume we see a journey as more than simply moving from one place to another. I hope you see it as an experience: a chance to enjoy ourselves, feel alive and learn. We travel to see the world as people elsewhere see it, and to try to feel what they feel. Viewed this way, travel is an excellent opportunity to learn in a completely different way: first-hand.
Article by Roberto Alcaraz, head of training at Casanavoa Foto.
When I reflect on my 30 years of photography and what this hobby has given me, it is much the same as what I have gained from my travels, which are never numerous enough. Photography has changed the way I SEE the world forever. It has led me to study subjects that did not interest me at school, becoming an inexhaustible source of enjoyment and learning.
So... I can say that I travel for the same reasons I take photographs: to learn and enjoy myself.
So, assuming that neither activity should overshadow the other, here are the first two tips:
Best Tips for Travel Photography
1 – Don’t take photographs compulsively
Some travelling photographers — or photographers who travel — never cease to amaze me. In particular, those who use their camera like a machine gun. Almost pathologically, they lose control of their index finger, holding down the shutter until their memory card is practically smoking. I struggle to understand how anyone enjoys this behaviour, or learns anything from it.
I agree that some photographs would be impossible without burst mode: moving people, sporting activities and certain wildlife situations. Before shooting, though, we should look, assess and decide. That way we can learn from our mistakes. By contrast, 1000 photos with the same mistake are 1000 disposable photos. Remember that our aim when looking through the viewfinder is to capture an image with a degree of beauty.
We are used to seeing reality in motion. Photography challenges us to freeze it in a tenth of a second and create a pleasing image, trying to evoke an emotion or recall a moment. If we can tell a story too, we can be proud.
If we want to learn or improve our photography, the best thing we can do is pay attention to what is happening in front of us and choose our moment. We should not expect luck or sheer numbers to compensate for a lack of attention.
2 – Choose trips that let you take your time
Ultimately, photography is an individual act: we do not need a team of technicians to take a picture, so it can be helpful to step away from the group occasionally.
Imagine walking down your village’s main street when a group of Nigerian travellers, armed to the teeth with cameras, approaches and fills their memory cards with pictures of your pale face. We can agree that this would not be pleasant. If just one traveller approached, however, they would have a much better chance of taking a good photograph of your now unflinching face.
We need to find our own viewpoint on a subject, which usually means spending a little time away from the group. We need not be antisocial, but we should be able to find our own space. Without that little bubble of solitude, it is hard to concentrate and enjoy taking pictures.
3 – Whether you take many photos or few, aim for the best possible quality
By now, I have learnt that what is cheap to some is expensive to others, and what means a lot to some means little to others. So take as many photos as you like.
My advice is not to let the number of photos you take interfere with your enjoyment of the trip. You owe your photos only to yourself, so you are the best person to be forgiving.
Take as many as you want and stay connected to the experience. But set your camera so that as few images as possible fit on each card: make them as large as your equipment allows. It is frustrating to review your photos after returning, find one worthy of your living room wall, then discover that the tiny image size you chose to save card space barely lets you print a postage stamp.
Let's be honest: memory cards are cheap and last longer than cameras. A high-resolution photo allows you to make a large print, crop it and reframe the part that interests you. With 6K televisions already on the horizon, your photos will still be large enough to view on different devices when you want to revisit your trip in the future.
4 – As far as equipment is concerned: less is more
Yes, I know I work in a shop specialising in photographic equipment, but the point is to advise each person based on our experience, rather than our sales figures. Plan your trip and keep your equipment to a minimum. Carrying a 10-kilo backpack is not a good idea when climbing Emi Koussi or trying to blend in at a market in Phnom Penh.
I have sometimes made the mistake of carrying too much equipment, which results in taking fewer photos. After a few hours, you are so exhausted that you no longer feel like taking pictures. When you do, you end up taking almost all of them with the lens already on the camera, leaving the rest of the equipment in your backpack.
There is now compact equipment well suited to travel photography. Carrying less also encourages us to observe more actively: without a range of lenses, we have to compensate by moving closer or finding different viewpoints.
If there is anything you should take plenty of, it is batteries and memory cards. I remember a trek in Nepal where there was no electricity beyond a certain point, and I struggled to ration my photographs.
Experienced travellers often carry two cameras that share the same lenses, or make one of them a small, high-quality compact. If one fails, you will always have the other.
For a good, magnificent or extraordinary photograph, all you need is a camera and a lens. Any camera sold today offers enough quality for a double-page spread in National Geographic.
5 – Look what you have ahead and a little further away
I remember my first nude photography session. I was already comfortable with the camera – it felt like an extension of my hand – and had some lighting experience. I knew exactly which photographs I wanted and what I would say to the model to achieve them. Until she undressed…
Throughout the session, I could see nothing but her voluptuous figure. I kept shooting compulsively and mumbling unintelligible instructions, crouching down to hide my obvious attraction to her. But nude photography is ultimately about volumes of light and shadow, selective focus and inventive framing… Unfortunately, I only realised that when I developed the negatives.
I had a large collection of bad, out-of-focus, poorly lit photos documenting, with poor taste and even worse technique, the youthful figure of the girl of my dreams at the time.
This often happens when we travel. Colours, bustle, novelty, smells, sounds… They captivate us, clouding our ability to distinguish, observe, choose and analyse before deciding to press the shutter.
Never forget that photography involves framing, focusing, exposure and white balance… even while the person who makes you lose your senses undresses before you.
Following on from this, once we arrive somewhere — in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, for example — we should also look behind us and to the sides. The photograph may be hiding there.
6 – Analyse the light
Professional travel photographers usually have a packed schedule specifying when to photograph each location. It is all about the light. As a general rule, the best times for landscape photography are when the sun is just below or just above the horizon: sunrise brings the golden hour, while sunset is associated with the blue hour. At other times, we can take portraits, interiors and so on.
When travelling, we cannot always choose the best time to visit each place. We may arrive at midday or simply be unlucky with the weather.
In my experience, including a polarising filter and a graduated filter in my kit has solved quite a few problems. The first increases colour saturation and controls light reflections on water and most objects. The graduated filter balances the difference in brightness between sky and ground. In a high-contrast scene, the sky is usually much brighter than the ground: if I expose for detail in the sky, I lose it on the ground, and vice versa. A graduated filter darkens the sky without affecting the ground, making it easier to capture detail throughout the image in a single photograph.
7 – Seek sharpness and simplicity
There are thousands of rules and tips for photographic composition: the rule of thirds, the golden ratio, diagonals, crossed lines, triangles…
I learned very young that less is more, and I try to compose photographs with very few elements so the image is easy to read. It is a process of simplification, removing unnecessary elements from the frame.
Once you have a composition you like, concentrate on the focus. Of all the focus modes cameras offer, I recommend the simplest: choose AF-S or ONE SHOT (for Canon) and set the focus point in the centre of the screen or viewfinder. Pressing the shutter button halfway locks the focus in the centre of the frame, allowing you to recompose with a slight movement of the camera and place your focused subject where you want it.
Another cause of blurred photos is shutter speed: if it is too slow, the camera records our movement. To control this, turn the camera’s main dial to S mode, or TV on a Canon, and choose a fast shutter speed to ensure a sharp image.
If light is low, the camera will “complain”, but don’t worry: it is easy to satisfy. Simply increase the ISO to achieve the shutter speed you want. Easy, isn’t it?
I hope these tips have been useful and help you take some great photographs worthy of winning the Viajes Tuareg competition.