Taking pictures while traveling is an enthralling and invigorating pleasure. However, one must be fully prepared and aware of some useful tricks that are sure to enhance your experience of shooting your favorite moments while on a holiday. Here are seven essential tips that are guaranteed to assist you while capturing pictures during your travels.
Just carry a camera & a lens
The most common mistake most people commit while traveling is that they over-pack on camera gear, which can prove futile and even cumbersome on long journeys. Depending on the location and mode of travel, the best option at times might be to pack like with just your camera and an important lens or two. Especially if you are journeying abroad, this would help save on the surplus baggage and insurance expenditure. The camera itself, plenty of memory cards, a lightweight and supple mini-tripod, a compact a flash unit, a couple of essential lenses and a camera bag is all you need.
Choose the right lenses
If your storage is limiting you to carry just a solitary lens, then a fast zoom lens such as an 24-70 mm or a 70-200 mm would be good to haul along. It’s good to have a versatile lens that can be used in any situation, but considering we can’t always get close to a subject, a fast zoom can be one of your most used lenses. If you have additional space, a portrait prime lens (50 mm or 85 mm) or wide-angle lens (10-24 mm) can also be considered.
Keep ample number of memory cards
Choosing to capture photos in RAW and High Quality JPEG formats provide better scope while editing, but this also demands that you take numerous high-end memory cards on your travel. Transferring your pictures from the camera's memory space to your laptop or mobile handset on a regular basis, is a better option and leaves your memory card with sufficient space for prolonged shooting. To be on the safe side, always equip yourself with double the amount of memory cards you'd deem fit to take along.
Be patient
While visiting popular tourist sites, it's possible to become confounded with the staggering amount of beautiful attractions to capture, and one could make the mistake of capturing these magnificent locales and structures in the most hackneyed manner, or one could go in a totally opposite direction and spoil the photographs completely by trying too many things and endeavoring to be unduly imaginative. Some of the most creative and unique methods of capturing famous tourist sites include shooting them from ground level through a wide-angle or fish-eye lens; finding a secured elevated position and taking the shot from a top angle; or shooting with a tripod during sunset or sunrise, while reducing the shutter speed to capture the beauty of the attraction in all its glory. Keep your surroundings in mind as fellow tourists can often detract from an otherwise great image.
Plan ahead
Be prepared and conduct adequate research about the destination and nearby locations of your journey so that you can plan certain shots well in advance. This generally results in better pictures than running around aimlessly snapping pictures.. Conceptualizing everything on the spur of the moment could prove to a hassle.
Study your camera
Be well versed with all the controls of your camera and study all that there is to know about the lenses and types of flash that are compatible with your camera before you undertake your journey. If you’re busy fumbling with settings you’re going to be missing out. Always remember, preparation is half the battle won, even for photography.
Select your lodging location wisely
Choose your location for lodging wisely. Ideally your place of stay should be at a position that gives you easy access to most of the tourist centers and your room should have a view that provides you several wonderful photo opportunities.
Implementing the above simple steps during your travel, should certainly make a world of difference to the beauty and quality of the photos you capture on your travels.