Each travel photographer can give you their personal tips, gathered in their travels and experiences. You need to consider their expertise, photography style, and preferred places and then adapt their advice to your style and needs. So it’s better to start with general practice and then move forward to your photographic voice and artistic vision.
In the first part of this article, we’ve covered inspirational tips for travel photography. It’s now time for some practical piece of advice.
Pack light
Even if you’re a fancy traveler and sleep in hotels, having a light photo gear is essential. When wandering in a new location you don’t want to carry heavy and expensive cameras and lenses, tripods and external flash. Also, you won’t have time to use them, because travel photography is almost always about catching the moment and taking snapshots. So pack only the essentials in a small backpack or photo bag. Take one camera, one or two lenses, some filters, a light tripod, and a lot of batteries and memory cards.
Use versatile zoom lenses
If you’re a fan of fixed focal length lenses, it’s time to try zoom lenses. There’re situations when you simply can’t move closer or far away from your subject to get the perfect framing. There’re also situations when you don’t have time or space to change lenses. So having a wide range of focal lengths in the same lens can come very handy when you travel.
You can choose a standard kit lens with an 18 – 55 mm range or more specialized lenses such as 18 – 300 mm or 11 – 16 mm.
Take a lot of pictures
Don’t settle with the first picture. Take a lot of them. Experience different angles and perspectives, get closer and look for details or get a wider view. Every second brings something new: a different composition, a different light, or a better way to understand the scene. You can also try different focal lengths, exposures, and settings. Use RAW format to have room for later editing.
Backup your pictures
A lot can happen when you’re traveling. You can lose your luggage or camera or somebody can steal them, you can damage your gear in a storm or it can be broken from the beginning. Periodical backups can save precious pictures and memories. Today it’s very easy to upload all your pictures on an online account, cloud, or personal server. All you need is a laptop and internet connection. So take some time to backup your pictures every 1-2 days.
Don’t forget that you’re one of the lucky people who are able to travel. These are unique experiences that allow you to grow and be a better person and photographer. The world is amazing and you have the best tool to prove it: your camera.