Improve your travel photos

One of the most exciting things when getting back from vacation is looking through the photos you captured. Like most people, you are going to want to share with family and friends the beauty of the place you just visited. Your photos should evoke memories of the great times you had and the funny little stories that happened along the way. I would like to help you improve your travel photos with a couple of tips to make even the smallest getaway instagram worthy.

I have spent many years getting to know my camera and its capabilities. I started to become serious about taking "good" photos when my son was born almost 7 years ago. I didn't have a lot of money to spend on photoshoots and had always been interested in photography. I just never had a decent camera to work with. I would borrow my friend's dslr cameras throughout college and beyond. My first dslr my husband got for me on facebook marketplace and I was so happy. I learned so much those beginning years until he noticed I was really serious and also bought me my second and more substantial Nikon D750. By this time I was shooting my son regularly and also had started a dance photography business on the side. As we moved to Wyoming 3 years ago, my dance photography has dwindled as there aren't a lot of studios around to capture so my focus changed to the beautiful and diverse landscape of the West. We have been able to travel to 8 National Parks and many state parks and forests out here. I have learned a whole new side of photography and I hope my tips will help you as well.

Tip #1

Get a good camera. If you are serious about photography you will need to invest in a good camera, either dslr or mirrorless. The top brands for dslr and mirrorless are Nikon, Canon, and Sony. There is a lot of research you can do to see what kind of camera best fits you and your needs. I also suggest visiting a retailer and testing them out. Go through the menus and find which one feels most natural to use. I grew up with a Nikon point and shoot, so when I purchased my camera I went with Nikon because it felt more intuitive for me. Another piece of equipment that is important is the lens you choose. You will want to invest in at least 1-2 good lenses that have wide angle capabilities. Zoom lenses are also great for photography because of the effect you can get with compression.

There are also a lot of great cameras in phones nowadays. I do not personally have the latest and greatest when it comes to an upgraded phone, but what I do have serves my purposes well. The Google Pixel 7 Pro, Samsung Galaxy s22 ultra, and Iphone 14 are all very capable phones for shooting quality travel photos. There will be limits to the photos you produce on phones such as the ability to shoot in RAW or adding lenses.

Arches NP at golden hour

Tip # 2

My next tip is easy. You want to consider the time of day you are shooting in. The most flattering light during the day is at sunrise and sunset, the golden hour and blue hour. I am sure you have heard of golden hour by now. It is the magical half hour to hour after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is right on the horizon. It creates a beautiful golden glow on your landscape and subjects. Blue hour is after the sun has gone below the horizon line. The light becomes a soft blue settling on the landscape. It can often bring out cool tones of pink and purples as well.

We cannot always adhere to these magical lighting moments, because adventures happen at all times during the day. You could also try shooting in direct sunlight and make the light and shadows tell your story. There's also the chance of "bad" weather such as rain or snow, but shooting in those situations can also be fun and challenging. We don't always get the best weather when we are traveling so be sure to document those moments too. With practice you can make any situation work.

Stormy/Overcast

Full Sun

Tip #3

Composition, composition, composition. Composition is the way the elements within a photo are arranged. There are a couple rules to composition which will help captivate your audience. We see photographs all the time, but what is it about them that holds our attention and makes us want to look longer? We are going to go over some rules of composition that will help you to find your style and captivate your audience. This tip is the longest and has a lot of information in it.

Rule of thirds

This is one of the first composition techniques I learned in my college photography class. The rule o f thirds goes like this: place your subject in the right or left third of an image leaving the other two thirds open. It is easy to see this when you put a grid on a photograph to see 9 rectangles, you can then line up the subject to fit within this grid. A lot of cameras have this capability built in live view to see the grid.

Depth of field

Another great way to add dimension and flavor to your photos is depth of field. Depth of field refers to how much of your image is in focus. You can direct focus to a subject by creating a softer foreground or background or both by taking them out of focus. Lowering the aperture and playing with how close the subject is to the lens can help direct the eye to the focus of your scene.

Leading lines

Leading lines are lines that appear in a photograph and are positioned to draw the viewer's eye to a specific point of interest. A great way to use leading lines in travel photography is using the lines as a pathway for the eye to you as the subject.

Simplify

By getting rid of distractions you can make a more compelling photo. When taking photos you can be sure to remove extra clutter from the ground or angling a photo to remove unnecessary objects from view. Photo editing can also be used to remove clutter and people. A well thought out picture that has been simplified can produce a sense of calm and show the beauty of the area. The picture below used to have around 7 other people in it. I used photo editing software to remove the people as they were a distraction from the subject.

Natural Framing

In natural framing you use elements in the image to frame the subject. Framing helps draw the eye to the subject and can also create context around the subject. Although it is called natural framing you can also use human or artificial elements as the frame.

Implied Motion

This is a great way to capture the moment and give the viewers something to think about. Motion is implied by the action thats going on. Capturing the right gesture or action can make a shot. I do a lot of dance photography and capturing the dancer at just the right moment is crucial to the success of the final photograph.

Use of Color

I love using color in photography. The right colors can make a photograph pop and come to life. I like to dress my children or myself in certain colors I know will contrast with the scenery to allow us to stand out.

Tip # 4

Get in the shot. Adding the human element can give scale to the photograph or help with storytelling. I love getting shots of my kids exploring and playing when we are out traveling. Which brings me to getting candid pictures. Capturing the moment is great for photographing kids instead of having them pose over and over for photos. Candid shots also show what was really happening in the moment, which is how kids live.

Another way to get into shots are selfies. I am not talking about the selfies we do whilst we hold our phone a foot away from our face. I mean set up a tripod, get a remote or self timer going and jump into the shot. You will want to learn your camera's built-in intervalometor or purchase a remote to release the shutter. This type of photography takes a bit of practice so start at home or outside to get the hang of it.

Tip #5

After you have all of these amazing images you are going to work on editing. Editing can take your photos to a whole other level and set your style, distinguishing your photos from the countless other photographers. If you are shooting dslr you want to plan ahead and make sure you are shooting in Raw format. This format gives you more power in editing programs to fix and adjust. I personally use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for my editing needs but there are others out there that can work as well.

These are editing tools to keep in mind when you first start learning:

• Cropping

• Color/hues

• Contrast

• Exposure

• Saturation

• Highlights and Shadows

Tip #6

Practicing is the best way to improve your photos. If you are new to photography, first you need to get used to your camera and how it works. Then I recommend going through the list of composition techniques and practice each one and then start combining a couple.

You can also find local attractions to go practice at. Try to go at different times of day to see how the light changes the scenery. Don't be afraid to set up your tripod and jump into the picture. If you have kids, take them and follow them around. See how you can capture their movements while still focusing on the big picture. The biggest take away is that with any new hobby you will need to practice and get comfortable to make the biggest improvement.