How To Create Quality Photos Of Family Travels By Alice B. Miller

With summer vacations just around the bend, families soon will be heading to the shore, the mountains, amusement parks, water parks, and local and national landmarks. Photo memories of these special times together create a priceless record of the adventures and good times shared. Creative and technically spot-on images will only enhance your family’s travelog.

“The light level at this parade in Florence, Italy, was too low to use a shutter speed to stop the action, so I used a slow shutter speed, panned, and followed the action,” says Ted.

I recently met with New York-based professional photographer Ted Kawalerski (www.tedkawalerski.com), who has specialized in photographing people on location for advertising and corporate communications clients for 35 years. With most of his assignments taking him out of the New York area, Ted has traveled to every state except Alaska. An exhibition featuring 60 black-and-white images of people and landscapes captured by Ted along the Hudson River is currently at The Beacon Institute in Beacon, New York, and will return to Manhattan in the coming months.

I asked Ted to offer capture tips about taking quality photos of scenic spots and outdoor adventures. Here are Ted’s tips for family picture-takers:

1. Travel light. Carry a camera with you at all times, but avoid loading up your camera bag with excess gear and accessories. “My standard personal shooting equipment is a Canon EOS 5D II with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L zoom lens. In a small backpack, I carry a second 5D II camera body and a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS zoom lens. With these two lenses, I can shoot virtually anything anywhere. I use my Canon Speedlite 580EX II when necessary. If you have one lens, carry one that starts at 24mm and zooms to at least 100mm. If possible, carry a second camera body even if it’s the cheapest model of the brand you use. Today’s equipment is unbelievably reliable, but if a camera fails, you’re finished.”

2. Pick a theme. Consider selecting a subject you’ll pursue on all your travels, such as trees, sunsets, rainbows, or landmarks. “When I travel on assignment, I always make time to take pictures for myself,” says Ted. “At any given time, I have several personal projects in the hopper on different themes. My ‘Windows’ project, featuring reflections, looking in, looking out, etc., is a work in progress that I started 20 years ago.”

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“Photographing people in their environments, such as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, is an important part of travel photography,” says Ted.
© 2009 Ted Kawalerski

3. Shoot rain or shine. If rain, lightning, or windstorms try to sabotage your vacation, take heart. Adverse weather conditions can create unusual and beautiful lighting situations. Fog, for example, diffuses and softens light and creates muted colors. Says Ted, “I was shooting an annual report outside of Nairobi, Kenya. While waiting for our driver in a car, it was raining hard, creating an ethereal effect through the windshield. The image of men standing around the storefront is one of my favorites in the ‘Windows’ series. Another bad-weather picture was shot in a snowstorm in Manhattan at dusk. We were driving after a portrait shoot when a cyclist appeared. I grabbed my camera and took the picture.” Always keep a large plastic trash bag handy, so if it starts raining or snowing you can protect all your equipment in the bag. You can also kneel or lay on the bag for a low-angle shot or if the ground is a mess.

“In Nairobi, Kenya, it was raining hard, creating an ethereal effect through the windshield of my car. This shot of men standing near the storefront is one of my favorites in the ‘Windows’ series,” says Ted.
© 2009 Ted Kawalerski

4. Use the best light for wide-angle vistas. Landscapes and cityscapes captured without premium light are generally boring and underwhelming. The most dramatic images are taken shortly before sunrise, when the sky begins to light up, until about one hour after sunrise. “When taking late-afternoon pictures, decide what you want to do several hours before sunset,” says Ted. “Take your position and begin shooting when the light is very low and continue until you can barely see the subject. At this point, colors are photographically captured that you don’t see. After sunset, the light is blue and magenta, creating a beautiful painterly quality. Later, you’ll need a tripod.”

5. Relax your portrait subjects. Photographing people in their environments is part of travel photography, but just walking up to people and sticking a camera in their faces won’t get the results you want. What do you do? Says Ted, “If you are looking for a friendly portrait of someone looking at the camera, the best approach is to communicate first. Humor can break the ice, so can flattery. You may also want to make reportorial pictures of people, which capture the spirit of the location. Finally you may want to include people to establish scale in expansive scenes.”

6. Create portraits in flattering light. For outdoor portraits, always use lens shades and remember the optimum sunlight times described in tip 4. “If you find a great subject in the middle of the day, when direct sun is too harsh for portraits, try to direct him or her to open shade, where the diffused light will be more flattering,” says Ted. “Or try to position subjects so they are backlit. With auto exposure, open up 1 or 2 stops, or take a light reading of the face and lock the exposure. This creates soft lighting on the face and blows out the background, putting more attention on the subject. Fill flash also compensates for undesirable natural lighting conditions. Set your camera or TTL flash on ‘Auto,’ and the ratios are computed automatically. If light levels are too low to use a shutter speed to stop the action, use a slow shutter speed, pan, and follow the action.”

With some preparation, you can document your family travels easily and effectively. To create a keepsake family travelog, have your images bound into photobooks that can be shared and passed down from generation to generation.