the best travel photography tips
Julia Cumes has been leading photography tours for Purposeful Nomad for the past 2 years. We asked Julia to share some her top tips to get the best images.
Our next scheduled photography trip is to Greece is 2021 where you can practice these techniques and many more alongside Julia in the field!
(all photographs by Julia Cumes)
“I am so looking forward to leading our upcoming "Greece: Photographic Odyssey" trip in September of 2021. With their white and blue stucco buildings, cobblestoned streets, brightly colored bougainvillea, azure-colored waters and old world culture, the Greek Islands are exquisitely beautiful and a photographer's dream to capture. During our journey, we'll be using a variety of techniques and approaches to capture the islands and in advance, I thought I'd share a few you can practice in the meantime.
LIGHT IS EVERYTHING.
Light is so fundamental to photography so wake up early to make use of morning light or start photographing an hour before sunset to capitalize on “golden hour” when the low angle of the sun makes everything look more beautiful. For this trip, we've created a schedule that will maximize our use of great light and allow us to capture the islands at their most beautiful.
Don't shy away from photographing when it's overcast out. A cloudy sky is great for photographing people and animals as it acts as a large softbox, casting even and flattering light on a subject.
Since Light is Everything....
Pay attention to how much light you have and where it’s coming from. Try to shoot from the direction the light is coming from unless you’re trying to create a silhouette or backlight a subject or scene. Sometimes, when the sun is too high to make beautifully-lit photos, using window or door light to capture your subject can be a great alternative as these are both wonderful sources of directional light.
More Ways to Use Light in travel photography:
Look for interesting shadows or create compelling silhouettes by shooting into a bright light source.
the RULE OF THIRDS
When composing a photo, try to avoid placing your subject in the middle of your frame. Instead, divide the frame into a vertical and horizontal grid of thirds (similar to a tic-tac-toe board) and place your subject at one of the four intersecting points on your imaginary grid. This off-center approach will make for a more interesting and dynamic composition.
TEXTURE & COLOR IN ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Look for texture and color to include in your photos. These can add a significant amount of interest and create a sense of mood in any picture. Luckily, the islands are full of color and texture so there should be some wonderful opportunities to make use of this technique.
FILL YOUR PHOTO FRAME
One of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced photographers is that they photograph their subjects from too faraway, robbing the photo of its visual impact. Instead, get in closer and exclude the parts that you don’t want. Open space (or as I call it, “dead space”) serves no purpose when the subject is too small or cannot be identified. I recommend filling about 80% of your frame with interesting subject matter.
TIPS ON USING PERSPECTIVE IN TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
Our job as photographers is to try to show the viewer a version of the world they don’t see every day. So try photographing from a variety of angles by, for instance, crouching down on the ground and shooting up or standing on something elevated and shooting down.
SET THE SCENE
Look for a vantage point that will help you create an “establishing shot”—a photo that sets the scene for your series of travel images from a particular place. Try to find the highest point overlooking the entire city or town.
FRAME WITHIN A FRAME PHOTOGRAPHY
Framing is the tactic of placing your subject within a naturally existing frame to add more visual impact. The frame could be anything from a window or doorway to bushes, trees etc.
CAPTURE THE BEST ADVENTURE MOMENTS
Some of the most compelling travel photos capture the feel of a place by freezing a moment in time. Look for situations in which people are so engaged in what they’re doing that they don’t care about you photographing them. Children are especially wonderful to photograph candidly as they are generally so unselfconscious. Look for places where people are working, playing, praying, dancing, walking, reacting to something or interacting with each other.
INCLUDING HUMANS, ANIMALS AND NATURE
Show off a beautiful location by including a person or animal actively doing something within the scene. Adding a human (or animal) element provides a center of focus and creates a more dynamic image. This often means waiting for a person or animal to come along or reach the right location in the scene so patience is a must.
FIND THE BEAUTIFUL DETAILS
Whether it’s an unusual local food, objects displayed in a shop window or market place, or clothes hanging on a laundry line, details are full of story-telling possibilities!
CAPTURE STREET SCENES
From cobblestone alleys to busy urban sidewalks, street scenes can say so much about a culture. We'll be spending plenty of time exploring historic towns and small villages and capturing the feel of the islands through its street life. If you find a street you want to photograph, choose a composition you like and then wait for someone of something to come along. Be patient. Magical things can happen if you wait for a while.
There are many more techniques we'll be using to capture the beauty and rich culture of the Greek islands but these are a start and will, I hope, get you inspired in the meantime. See you in Greece in 2021!”
