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Photo Tips & Techniques

Whether your vacation takes you to a destination near or far from home, documenting the experiences, events, and your travel companions allows you to relive the memories, bring back the feelings, smells, tastes, and good times you enjoyed. The summer is a good time to travel, but be prepared for crowds. Autumn is my favorite travel season as the weather is comfortable, prices drop, and the crowds dissipate. Spring is the same. Winter travel is also wonderful and provides you with dramatic sunsets along with the possibility of snow covered landscapes. The following tips will help you get better vacation shots.

1) TRIPOD: Even though many photographers consider it a burden, I am from the old school that dictates the use of a tripod. Its size and stability should be determined by the longest and heaviest lens you use. The bigger/ longer the lens, the heavier the tripod. Not only will it allow you to shoot with long shutter speeds, it will net you sharper images than if you were to handhold your camera.  It's also an asset in allowing you to take family portraits. Mounting the camera on a tripod and setting the self timer allows you to jump into the image so all family members can be photographed at the same time. Tripods allow you to get sharp images when making long night time exposures or shots that require a lot of depth of field when shooting at f16 or f22 because of the half or full second exposures that are required to get the proper density.

2) PUT ASIDE THE SHYNESS: This will come in handy in many ways. If you're traveling to a foreign country, capturing its culture is essential. You'll want to record the people's attire, faces, details of their hands, etc. Trying to steal a candid may work for some, but I prefer to interact with my subjects. If language is a barrier, I try to communicate with gestures and facial expressions. Additionally, I learn a few key words of the language that cause the people I photograph to create the expression I desire. Furthermore, being friendly and showing good will helps present the US tourist as a benevolent traveler.

3) ZOOM IT: Zoom lenses are great for their versatility and weight. If you're bogged down with lots of equipment, after a few hours of carrying it around, you'll lose the motivation to shoot. A zoom lens allows you the flexibility of altering the composition from the point at which you stand. Less walking around and lighter loads means you¹ll have more energy to create better images.

4)  FLASH IT: The best light of the day occurs at sunrise and sunset. Unfortunately, not all your shooting will happen during these sweet times of great light. A flash allows you to still get great shots of people even during mid day hours. The light emitted from the flash will soften the harsh contrast of the sun by filling in deep shadow areas in the eye sockets, under the nose, and beneath the chin. It's important you realize the limitations of the flash with regards to how much power it has. The weaker the flash, the closer you'll need to be to your subject.

5) KEEP IT LIGHT: Other than your zoom lens, tripod, and flash, other essentials include lots of film, extra batteries and a polarizing filter. Unless what you're photographing requires specialized equipment or a long lens, the above list should provide you with the essentials. Over packing is great if you want an aerobic workout, but it's not conducive to good photography.

6) IDENTIFY WITH IT: Capturing slices of life is a great way to bring home the flavor of the country. Shots of a market area, both in close and wide, are a must. Shots of the scenery taken early and late in the day will enhance the album. Panoramics make a nice addition with regards to the type of pictures you bring home. Digital capture is making this a fun and easy process giving you the ability to stitch together overlapping images. Finally, photograph your family at all the iconic locations to preserve the classic memories of your visit. 

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