How to Take Better Travel Photos

Image: PHOTO: Photographer with Camera (Thinkstock)
Image: PHOTO: Photographer with Camera (Thinkstock)
Janeen Christoff
by Janeen Christoff
Last updated: 1:00 PM ET, Fri September 23, 2016

When you go to an amazing destination, you want to come home with amazing photos - not just snapshots of your family where junior's head is cut off or blurry pics of stunning landscapes.

Creative Bloq's Angela Nicholson has a few tips for those looking to boost their photographic prowess before their next major vacation.

Her first piece of advice is to find the right camera.

"Professional photographers use big, complex cameras and they produce fantastic pictures, but if you're a novice a pro-level camera is likely to be very intimidating. If you're planning to buy a new camera to take on your journey, be realistic about your experience and get something appropriate," said Nicholson.

She also suggests trying to bring as little as possible with you on the trip. Lugging around loads of lenses can be weighty and cumbersome.

"If you're going on a walking holiday, then do you really need a long telephoto lens? Granted, there might be the odd occasion when you could frame up a nice distant detail, but do you want to carry it for the rest of the time? If you're going on a safari, then it's a different matter; take the long lenses to get the wildlife shots," noted Nicholson.

One of the ways in which novice photogs can get better images is to enhance them later. Nicholson advises shooting Raw files.

[READMORE] READ MORE: Best Places for Travel Photography[/READMORE]

"Nine times out of ten you can get away with shooting JPEGs, but Raw files contain much more data and they allow you to perform more adjustment if you make a mistake with the white balance or exposure," she said.

Getting to know your camera modes is another great way for beginner photographers to get great images.

"Most cameras have scene modes that tailor the camera settings to suit the shooting situations. With a portrait for example, portrait mode will tell the camera to set quite a wide aperture to blur the background, while in landscape mode it sets a small aperture to capture lots of sharp detail. It's better to swap between these modes than shoot in fully automatic," Nicholson suggested.

Nicholson has even more advice on topics such as shooting themes and details, capturing the perfect candid portrait and taking awesome night shots. Read on here.


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