The Ultimate Guide to Road Trip Photography
Taking pictures while on a road trip is an enthralling and invigorating experience. However, one must be fully prepared and be aware of some useful tricks that are sure to enhance your experience of shooting your favorite moments. Here is the ultimate guide to road trip photography that is guaranteed to assist you while capturing pictures on your travels.
Photograph by Anna Omelchenko 1. Pack The Right Gear: The most common folly most people commit while going on a road trip is that they over pack their photography equipment, which can prove futile on long journeys. Depending on the location and method of your travel, the better option at times might be to simply hire the rest of your photography kit and just pack 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. Moreover, special attention needs to be paid to the lenses you carry along. More often than not, wide-angle lenses such as the Canon 17-40 mm lens or the Canon 24-105 mm lens would serve the purpose for most outdoor shoots. Telephoto zoom lenses such as a 70-200 mm or a 100-400 mm lens are best suited for far-off-the-road shoots. 2. Watch The Weather: Choosing the right weather condition while planning your trip to a particular destination, forms an integral part capturing stunning photographs during your road trip. It's advisable to keep and eye on the weather or better still track it minutely on your smart phones or laptops, while resting in your hotel room. 3. Be Flexible: Being ready to make last minute alterations is part of the fun of road trip photography. Ultimately, the greater amount of fun you'll have while shooting on your travels, would result in better quality images that could be cherished for years to come.
Photograph by Kevin G. Smith 4. Traditional “Drive By” Photography Shots: It is almost a norm to capture pictures during a long drive from the passenger side window. However, what most people don't realize is that this could result in blurred images if your hand shakes due to the speed of the car. Sometimes, this look could be a blessing in disguise as it has the potential of casting an uncanny sort of effect. The key to achieving crystal clear car photography is by escalating your camera's shutter speed around the 2000+ range and setting the aperture value as high as f7+. This would bring most of the pictures easily into focus. Only in very few cases like when you desire to take a shot of the fog through the car headlights, should a slow shutter speed be chosen. Additionally, if you are fortunate enough, the sun could favor you by radiating bright, shimmering light, so that you can work with lower ISO levels, for even more crisper images. 5. Embrace the Environment: The best road trip memories are captured by those who make the environment of their trip and the overall ambiance a part of their photos. Just capturing the important tourist spots, the local culture, or the indigenous flora and fauna isn't enough. It is essential that you also integrate the surrounding environment along with the things you wish to capture.
Featured Image Photo Credits - Tim Keller