Basic Photography Tips for Your Next Trip

​With social media being so important in connecting with family and friends, taking good travel photos is a must nowadays. Photography is so accessible in today’s world, because we all have cameras on our smartphones. But, maybe you don’t know anything about photography, and you want to know some simple tips on how to improve your pictures before you go on that big trip. In this blog post, we will be going over some basic tips and tricks to get great photos that you can share with your friends and family!

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​​You don’t need an expensive camera: When you think about travel photographers, you probably envision someone with a big camera slung around their neck. But, not everyone likes to take heavy and expensive equipment with them, especially if they’re traveling somewhere where theft and pickpocketing is common. The good thing is that you don’t have to bring all of that equipment anymore! Smartphones take great high-quality photos nowadays, so if you don’t have an expensive camera or if you don’t want to carry anything too valuable/ heavy with you, you don’t have to. Sure, if travel photography is your passion, definitely bring your camera! But if you’re just a person that wants to take memorable photos from your trip, a smartphone will work great! If you’re traveling alone, you also might want to consider bringing a selfie stick or a phone tripod. Both of which are inexpensive and lightweight. They can be helpful to get a photo of yourself if you don’t want to rely on asking other people.

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​Wake up early & stay out late: When you’re on vacation, you probably don’t want to get up really early, but if getting the right shot matters a lot to you, you might want to consider getting up and out before sunrise. The best lighting of the day is the hour before sunrise and again at an hour before sunset. Some people refer to this period of time as “golden hour” and they’re absolutely right! During golden hour, you will get some of the best and most flattering lighting for your photos. Whereas in the afternoon when the sun is overhead, the light will be a lot more harsh, and cast a lot of shadows. As an added bonus for getting up super early or staying out late, you can hit up some of the busiest tourist attractions when they’re the least busy, and get some great photos without a lot of people in the background. Plus, you get to see and snap some photos of gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.

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​Don’t crop your subject: A common mistake people make when taking photos is accidentally cropping at people's joints. You mostly see this happen with the subject’s feet or even hands. It’s not by any means a requirement to include your subject’s entire body in every photo you take. However, if you happen to crop out any feet or limbs it can make the photo look a bit awkward and distracting. You’d be surprised at how much of a difference framing your subject makes in the final outcome!

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Rule of Thirds: The rule of thirds is something that is used in photography and filmmaking all of the time, and is a simple rule to follow to get better photos!  According to Adobe.com, “The rule of thirds is a composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open. While there are other forms of composition, the rule of thirds generally leads to compelling and well-composed shots.” The rule of thirds always starts with a grid, and every smartphone with a camera will have this already feature built in. You’ll just need to turn this setting on! Here’s how to turn the grid on with an iPhone and with an Android. All that’s left to do is find your subject, and place them in only one third of your image using the grid. This is actually way easier than what you might think!

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Look for leading lines: Your eyes love to follow lines, and photographers know this. According to Masterclass, “Leading lines are lines that appear in a photograph that have been framed and positioned by the photographer to draw the viewer's eye towards a specific point of interest.” You can easily find leading lines, because they’re everywhere! Things like roads, fences, rivers, train tracks, etc. are all something that you could photograph to get a great image that leads the viewer’s eye. This is just a cool tip that you might have already been doing, and may have not realized!

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​Take photos of everything: If you feel like taking a picture of something because it looks interesting, do it! Don’t worry about getting the perfect image, just have fun with it and let yourself be creative! Take pictures of where you’re visiting, what you’re eating, where you’re staying, etc. not just group shots or selfies. Sure, those are great too and we obviously need them to share on social media, but taking other photos really helps the people you’re sharing your trip with, experience more of what you did.

We hope you learned some basic photography skills, and use them the next time you travel! We love when clients share their photos with their advisors, and we encourage you to share yours too. We can even feature photos from your trip on our social media pages!

​Are you interested in taking a trip soon? Contact one of our Travel Consultants! Call us today at 314-439-5700