Picture this. You’re on an amazing trip. You’ve been taking photos left and right. You’re absolutely ecstatic because of the incredible images you’ve been blessed to capture. Then, on the last day of your trip, something happens. It could be anything, your camera gets stolen, or you lose the memory card, or you douse the whole kit and kaboodle in Continue Reading
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The post How to Photograph a Local Project When Traveling is Not an Option appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.
If traveling is not an option, a great way to enjoy your photography is to go out and shoot a project in your local environment. Your local patch provides a wonderful opportunity for photography and is a location often overlooked and taken for granted. To photograph a local project is a hugely satisfying undertaking, especially because you don’t have to go far to achieve it.
Staying near to home also provides ample time to visit a particular place, and means you can reach a location with ease. As travel is minimal, you will incur lower transport costs and you can go back to a particular location as often as you like. Shooting locally is also a great way to practice and improve your photography whilst getting you out with your camera. Have you ever thought about what local projects to photograph and how to go about it? Well, here are some of the best ways to achieve this goal.
Blenheim Palace, Oxford
This may seem obvious, but the first thing I recommend doing is to consider and choose a subject that interests you for the project. This way, you will be more motivated to go out and shoot it.
Focus on one aspect such as a local landscape, a river, a local park, a zoo, a piece of coastline, a particular time of day, birds and wildlife in a wetland area, a particular season or even a famous building or local landmark.
Whilst finding and shooting a project close to where you live, photo opportunities can present themselves when least expected.
With a bit of luck, your timing can be greatly rewarding.
For instance, I recently shot some images of a local landmark ‘Blenheim Palace’ in Oxfordshire. It is a gorgeous historic building surrounded by wonderful parkland, manicured landscapes, and woodlands.
I planned to photograph the autumn colors during my visit and was fortunate to encounter a unique and unexpected exhibition of artworks by Maurizio Cattelan. The exhibition included these carpets of union jacks (pictured) which provided a unique point of interest in the images.
Starling murmurations, England
The fun starts once you have found a subject for your local project and you are at your location.
Think about what it is you are photographing, and the best way to capture it. This will give you insight into the type of lens you should use. If, for example, you live in a city and have decided to do cityscapes at blue hour, you may opt for a wide-angle lens. That way, you can fit more of the city into one scene. It would also allow you to fit in large architectural buildings, or capture bustling street scenes.
Another scenario may be that you want to capture local markets where you live. In this scenario, you may opt for a wide-angle lens to capture the overall nature of the market, and a portrait lens, such as a 50mm or 85mm, to get some more intimate people shots or detail shots of things sold at the market.
You may also decide to challenge yourself by using just one fixed prime lens, such as a 50mm. You could capture a range of subjects that give insight into the area where you live.
Alternatively, you may choose a telephoto lens to zoom in closer to subjects such as distant wildlife or birds. A telephoto lens is a great way to compress perspective, bringing foreground subjects closer to the background like these starlings.
Starling murmurations, England
One thing I recommend doing when you photograph a local project is to just experiment photographing your subject.
Try using different camera settings and techniques and see what works and what doesn’t. For example, if you want to achieve a faster shutter speed as I did to capture these birds in flight, you could raise the ISO.
You may also want to experiment with your aperture. Shooting in Aperture Mode (Aperture Priority) is a great way to do this (if you are not yet on Manual Mode) as the ISO and shutter speed automatically adapt when you change the aperture setting. I achieved a wider, more detailed field of view by reducing the aperture and increasing the f-number to around f/8.
You may prefer to make certain parts of your image sharp (rather than the whole scene) and throw the rest out of focus. You can achieve this by opting for a larger aperture (smaller f-number) such as f/4. This can give you some nice bokeh backgrounds too, especially if moving to an even smaller f-number like f/2.
Starling murmurations, England
Once you have taken some shots, try changing your perspective to get a different angle on your subject. You may find a different vantage point results in a better composition and image. Another way to change your angle besides repositioning yourself is to move your lens in closer and change your framing.
If you are working with a tripod, vary the height of its legs to give a fresh angle.
The great thing when you photograph a local project is that you can go back and re-shoot anytime. This would be much more expensive and time-consuming if you had to travel to capture your pictures.
Sometimes you won’t get the photo you desire the first time around, so a good option is to return and re-shoot. Unforeseen circumstances and factors out of your control that may warrant a reshoot include adverse changes in weather, building works in operation, too many people and wildlife that may not be present.
Blenheim Palace, Oxford
Going back to reshoot is a good exercise and a great chance to practice your skills too. It can help you improve your photography by learning from your mistakes and offers an opportunity to capture your project in various lighting conditions. Why not time your reshoot with a different time of day to capture some different images for your project. Alternatively, capture the same images just under different lighting conditions.
Each return visit can provide something new to photograph too. That’s because you are likely to see something different on your return in terms of your subject or pattern of light.
You may also decide to change lenses for the reshoot, or decide to focus on close up details on one visit and wide shots on another.
So go grab your gear and get out there to photograph a local project. It is a great way to capture a subject of interest that is on your doorstep and is a brilliant way to hone your skills.
Be sure to experiment with aperture, shutter speed and ISO, vary your angle of view and reshoot to improve your pictures.
What local project are you thinking of photographing? Share your thoughts and images with us below.
The post How to Photograph a Local Project When Traveling is Not an Option appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.
The post Don’t Lose Your Photos – How to Store Photos While Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Suzi Pratt.
Travel photography is one of the most fun and rewarding things to do while away from home. But whether you’re a hobbyist or pro, it’s important to have a solid backup plan for your photos. After all, it’s all fun and games until someone loses a memory card; or has a camera stolen; or accidentally formats a card. Catch my drift? There are countless ways to lose your images while traveling. In some cases, there’s a chance for data recovery, and in other cases, it’s pretty much hopeless. So it’s best to plan ahead for the worst case scenario with a backup plan.
Having just returned from several international trips that involved both travel photography and videography, I have a workflow that has kept my data safe. In this post, I’ll share how to store photos with my travel photography workflow.
It’s worth noting that I was traveling for a paid job that lasted three weeks, and I used four different cameras, so my workflow may seem like overkill to some.
However, consider this: there are a plethora of camera devices out there, such as drones, smartphones, mirrorless cameras, and waterproof point-and-shoots. Thus, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that some of you might also travel with multiple recording devices, even if just for a vacation.
You can never have too many memory cards. Some photographers advocate for bringing one memory card for each day that you are traveling, but that can be tough if you’re away for more than 2 weeks. My rule of thumb, especially if I’m recording 4K video, is to bring enough cards to fill my memory card wallet. In my case, I use a Pelican 0915 case that holds a total of 12 SD cards, so I bring 12. When one card is filled, I have the label facing inwards so I know not to use it. If I can help it, I never format or delete a memory card when I’m on the road. Thus, my memory cards are one layer of data protection.
I also bring at least two portable hard drives with me. One is a 1TB Samsung SSD hard drive, which I consider my secondary backup. It’s a bit pricey as far as hard drives go, but considering that it is a compact SSD hard drive, it is fantastic for doing photo and video editing on. I also bring a 4TB LaCie rugged hard drive. Its high capacity storage means I should never run out of space while on a trip. Also, in the case of both the SSD and rugged drives, they can take a bit of a beating, which is also important for travel. Don’t skimp on quality and bring a non-rugged hard drive with you. All it takes is a light blow to destroy them.
Try as I may, I can’t find a viable travel photography workflow that doesn’t involve bringing a laptop computer, especially if I’m shooting for a client. It’s too important to be able to carefully review all of my work each night and sometimes churn out quick edits on the go. However, if you’re dealing with smaller files or simply lower volumes of media, an iPad could work for you, as long as you can connect your hard drives and memory cards.
The thing about hard drives is that they will inevitably crash on you. Sometimes, it’s for an obvious reason (ie. dropping it), and other times it will happen for seemingly no reason at all. Plus, there’s also the danger of losing a hard drive or having it stolen from you. Thus, you want to have at least two hard drives, each with a copy of your photos and videos on it. When traveling, put the hard drives in different bags. That way, you’ll still have a copy if a bag goes missing.
I almost always use multiple cameras these days including my primary Fujifilm X-T3, DJI Osmo Pocket, GoPro Hero 7 Black, and Samsung Galaxy S10. All four of these devices are capable of capturing high-resolution photos and videos, which is both a blessing and a curse. They all take the same type of memory card (SD card, or microSD with SD card adapter), so the first thing I do is label each memory card with a silver sharpie. I write my last name and a number so I can tell each memory card apart.
I also go into each camera device and make sure the date and time are accurate and synced across all devices. This is especially important if you are on a long trip and are shooting with multiple cameras. If my camera allows for it, I also customize the folder name where the media is recorded to. This helps for distinguishing what media comes from which camera at the end of the day.
At the end of each day, I sit down with my laptop and review the day’s media from each camera. I create folders on both hard drives and name the folders based on the date of the shoot, what camera the media is coming from, and how many total items there are (ie. 30 May_Fujifilm XT3_130 Items). Folder name structure is again very important if you’re shooting with multiple cameras on multiple days. It helps you keep your media organized and easy to find.
Going over this process is helpful not only for feeling more inspired to keep shooting, but also to ensure that my gear is clean and working properly. You can only see so much detail from a camera’s LCD preview screen. I make sure that if one memory card is full, I place it label facing down in my memory card wallet so I don’t delete it.
I know some of you will wonder about backing up your photos to a cloud service, and this is certainly a possibility. However, this is highly dependent on two things: 1) what format are you shooting in and how large your files are, and 2) how fast is your Internet upload speed? Personally, cloud backups are not reliable for me mainly because I shoot RAW photos and 4K video. Each is too large to upload to the cloud unless I happen to have ultra-fast Internet speed. However, in a perfect world (i.e., my Gigabit Internet that I have at home), I do cloud backups of my photos and videos on both Google Photos and SmugMug.
The key to the best photography workflow is to have one in place and do what works for you. Mine is based on my particular needs and shooting style, but it doesn’t have to be what you choose. What’s most important is to recognize that things do go wrong and it’s incredibly easy to lose your photos or videos.
So make sure you have a backup plan in place both on the road and when at home.
What does your photography workflow look like? Let me know in the comments below!
The post Don’t Lose Your Photos – How to Store Photos While Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Suzi Pratt.
The post 6 Ways to Photograph People While Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.
People are one of the most popular subjects for photography. Perhaps this is because they mean so much on a personal level. People can provide a positive experience to your travels and make engaging subjects for pictures. There are many different approaches for photographing people from formal portraits to more candid shots. Here are six ways you can photograph people when traveling:
Monks on their morning alms round, Luang Prabang, Laos © Jeremy Flint
Capturing action is an area in which photography excels above all other art forms. The camera’s ability to freeze dynamic movement is second-to-none. Fast shutter speeds bring successful action photography within easy reach of anyone. You can set the shutter speed according to your subject and its speed of motion.
Fisherman, Jaffna peninsula, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint
When people are busy doing an activity, they aren’t inhibited about being photographed because they are so involved with what they are doing. Shoot rapidly to capture people in action and be sure to set a faster shutter speed if shooting in low light.
Cyclist, Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil, Jaffna, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint
You can define candid photography as ‘taking photos of people who are unaware that a photo has been taken of them.’ The main principle of candid photography is to capture people acting naturally. Whoever is the focus of your photograph while on your travels will be going about their day without interruption. They are not posed for the camera or performing with your notable presence.
© Jeremy Flint
The art of candid photography is similar to street photography where you are trying to take photos without being noticed by your subject. It is enjoyable to do while traveling when everything appears new and exciting.
You can capture people spontaneously from all backgrounds and different walks of life during your travels.
© Jeremy Flint
Lighting in people photography can be used to create different effects. Being adventurous with lighting when shooting a portrait can be very rewarding. A little work with positioning and framing is all that is required. Try lighting your subject from different angles and see which you prefer. Vary the poses and seek out different positions. Get in closer for more intimate and emphasized lighting.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with lighting. Use available light to help define your images and use a flash to lighten areas in darker conditions.
Kalmadu fishing village, Passekudah, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint
Many individuals find photographing people to be a daunting prospect at first. However, once you overcome your initial fears, it can be hugely rewarding. Outdoor spaces provide interesting places to capture informal shots of people. You can photograph people enjoying themselves or going about their business.
A long-lens with a zoom is a great way to hone in on characters in a scene if you are uncomfortable shooting from nearby. Capturing images from afar doesn’t distract the people in the picture or make them feel self-conscious about being in your photo.
Naga Pooshani Amman Kovil temple, Nainativu, Jaffna, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint
The celebration of an event, the spirit of a festival or the jovial atmosphere of a party are relatively straight forward and captivating subjects to photograph. Most participants are likely to be involved in the company of their respective groups and are relaxed about having their picture taken.
Drummers at the Temple of the Tooth, Kandy, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint
Find a vantage point to capture the participants at an event and concentrate on capturing an unposed scene from an observers perspective. If you are photographing a party, enjoy the spectacle and photograph the people getting into the fun of it all.
Portrait of Tea picker, St Clairs Falls, Nuwara Eliya District, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint
A person’s character is usually all that is needed to make a photograph striking or memorable. Whether this is a person’s face or distinct clothing, both present key elements that make up an individual’s appearance. Character-driven portraits provide an opportunity to capture features that are unique to the person.
Naga Pooshani Amman Kovil temple, Nainativu, Jaffna, Sri Lanka © Jeremy Flint
Often when you are traveling, you come across people you want to photograph. You may find some people are so full of character that you just have to photograph them. To overcome a person feeling awkward about having their picture taken, keep a distance, so they don’t look too tense or nervous.
Photographing people can be a hugely enjoyable experience. Capturing people through action, candid shots, interesting lighting, character-driven portraits, celebrations, and character-filled scenes will help improve your images. Get out there and take pictures of people during your travels using these tips and share your results with us below.
The post 6 Ways to Photograph People While Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.
Photographers often struggle to make portraits of strangers while they’re traveling. They’ll have wonderful photos of all the picture postcard views and landmarks, but none of their pictures will have faces. We often encounter this with people who join our photography workshops.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
One of the keys to returning home with a good selection of people pictures is being able to pick the best people to photograph. If you learn to observe people you can often judge who’ll enjoy having their portrait made. These are the best people to photograph.
Not everyone likes having their photo taken. Photographers often fall into this group. If you’re like this then your perception, based on your own feelings and experiences, can be negative. You presume others don’t like being photographed because you don’t enjoy the experience.
How do I know this? Because I used to think the same way.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
Take your camera to your next social gathering and photograph your friends. You’ll soon learn who enjoys the experience because they’ll probably tell you if they don’t.
If you’re not used to photographing people, making portraits for your friends is a great way to ease into the experience. It’s easier to communicate with someone you already know. And make a point of reading their body language. It’s an important skill to have when you’re visiting a place where you can’t speak the language.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
People of a different culture won’t necessarily respond the same way you would. Here in Thailand, people often laugh if they are uncomfortable or embarrassed. Sometimes they’ll even laugh when something terrible happens, which is a lot different to where I grew up.
Other cultures may become a bit hostile at having a snapshot of them taken in the streets.
Look for talkative people who are engaging with others – they’re often happy to be photographed. Quiet and sullen people are less likely to respond positively to your request to photograph them.
When I’m in the street or at a market, I look for a place where I can stand back and observe the people and my surroundings. I look for people who:
These are the types of people I find it easiest to make engaging portraits of.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
I always get permission before taking photos of children. Most parents will love the face you want a picture of – they are likely the delight of their life.
Be ready to be confronted by a forced toothy (or toothless) grin. These generally don’t make great portraits, but it’s worth taking a few photos and then working towards a more natural expression. Show them the photos and thank them. They’ll probably go right back to what they were doing. Stay close by, and move back to photograph them again. Hopefully, this time they’ll ignore your camera, thinking you’ve already taken their picture. (This method works equally well with adults.)
Getting down to the child’s level also helps. Look them in the eye and smile. You can get a better response than if you were towering over them with a huge camera.
Some kids enjoy getting their picture taken more than others. Malu lives in an ethnic minority village we often visit on our photography workshops. From the moment we first encountered her we knew she’d be wonderful to photograph. Not only is she super cute, but she also loves being photographed and interacts with us. We’ve built a relationship with her and others in this village that works to our advantage. When we visit with our workshops, our participants can make more intimate portraits than if they were on their own.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
Local knowledge and relationships can be extremely helpful and valuable. People who’ve developed relationships with locals and have a rapport with them can help you. Make the most of their relationships so you can connect more easily with your subjects.
Guides and teachers can also help you by translating questions you may have. Being able to ask questions and show an interest in the person you’re photographing can lead into a more open portrait.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
It’s unlikely that the bellhop at your hotel or the receptionist will refuse a photo. Even the cleaning staff will most likely pose for a portrait. Taxi drivers and boatmen can be great to photograph.
If you’re in one location for a few days, keep buying your coffee of fruit juice from the same vendor. Once they’ve seen you a few times, ask if you can make a picture of them. Anyone you’re giving money to will usually oblige.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
People often reflect the feeling you express. They read your body language. If you’re smiling, open and confident, they’ll more than likely be the same. But if you’re nervous, fiddling around with your camera and not making eye contact, their response may not be so positive.
Learn to say “Hello” and “May I take your photo?” in the local language. This will bring a smile to most people’s faces as they appreciate the fact you’re making an effort to connect with them.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
Avoid the temptation to use your longest lens. The photos you take will appear distant and removed. Use either a 50mm or wider lens on a full-frame sensor or a lens around 35mm on a crop sensor. I prefer a 35mm on a full-frame camera for travel portraits. A wider lens means you need to be close, which lets you interact more easily.
If your subject seems a little uneasy, start with a few photos from further back. Show them the picture on your camera monitor. They’ll usually smile. If you’re quick, you can squeeze a few more frames of them. But if you have a longer lens you’ll need to be further back.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan
That’s how I managed to make this portrait of Malu just after her neck ring was removed. She was quiet and a bit self-conscious that morning, so I crouched next to her and asked if I could take her photo. She nodded, and I took a few frames using my 35mm f1.4 lens. I showed her the photos, and suddenly realized she hadn’t seen herself without her traditional neck ring.
She reached behind her neck and pulled her hair back so I could make another photo and see her neck more clearly. If I’d had an 85mm or other longer portrait lens I would have missed this photo because I would have been too close.
A wider lens also means a more intimate portrait. You need to instill confidence in the person you want to photograph. Observe carefully, and ask people who look as if they’ll enjoy the experience.
By following these tips, I’m sure you’ll find great people to photograph, and create some wonderful travel portraits.
Have you taken some great travel portraits, or have some other photography tips? We’d love you to share them in the comments below.
The post How to Find the Best Kinds of People to Photograph While Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School.
As an avid cityscape photography enthusiast (primarily shooting at the blue hour), I always spend quite a number of hours studying potential cityscape shooting spots before traveling to a new destination. Knowing everything from what to shoot, where to shoot from and how to get to those locations before departure will save you a ton of time and hassle, especially if your stay is rather short.
Thanks to my pre-departure study online, I was able to locate this vantage point along Lugard Road at Victoria Peak (Hong Kong) without any hassle.
Hong Kong skyline shot from Convention and Exhibition Centre. Another location that I successfully scouted online before traveling.
You can always start this location study with the obvious (Google!), but there are also other resources that help you find photography spots. Those are Flickr, 500px, stock photography websites, and photography forums to name but a few.
Personally, Flickr is my go-to resource, as there are more than 10 billion photos (according to their 2015 stats) and numerous groups dedicated to many big and small cities around the world. You can ask questions and possibly get answered by local photographers.
Finding what to shoot is a piece of cake. 10 minutes browsing Flickr gives you a number of potential locations. You may argue that those places are over-photographed or that you’re just copying what others have already photographed. But as a first-time visitor, I’m happy to start with the most popular locations because they are over-photographed for a reason.
With more than 10 billion photos available, Flickr is my go-to resource when searching potential cityscape photography spots.
The next up is finding where to shoot from (i.e. The exact spot where the photo was shot) but this can be much harder. Sometimes the photo has a clue in itself, such as a name of the building (e.g. hotel name). Then, just get onto Google Maps and do a virtual walk around the area using Street View.
Let’s use Hong Kong, the city that never stops fascinating me with its amazing cityscapes, as a case study for this article. For the photo below, I shot from a footbridge on Connaught Road Central, finding the name of the building on the left (International Finance Centre) eventually led me to locate the exact shooting spot (see on Google Maps) after virtual-walking around a lot on Google Street View.
Shot from a footbridge on Connaught Road Central (Hong Kong).
On other occasions, this crucial piece of info (the shooting location where the photo was taken) can be found in the title or description of the photo. If not, check through the comments to see whether anyone has already asked this particular question.
What I’ve found interesting is that there are photographers who normally reply to comments but somehow don’t respond to this type of question asking where it was shot. It might be because they are not really happy to share that information with a complete stranger trying to shortcut their way to an epic shooting spot they discovered by themselves (possibly by walking around for hours).
That said, there is no harm in asking. The worst thing that could happen is that you receive no response.
Author’s note: If you ask me about cityscape shooting spots in Singapore (where I live), I won’t hold anything back. I’m happy to provide all the info you need!
In case you’re hesitant about asking the photographer directly, you can also try asking in a Flickr group. Once I found a nice Hong Kong street photo with a street name included in the description. So I got onto Google Street View and moved up and down the street, but couldn’t locate exactly where the photo was shot.
As I saw this particular photographer not responding to any comments at all, I went into a Hong Kong group within Flickr and asked whether anyone knows the exact location by including the street photo in my question. Then, a fellow photographer kindly responded with the answer, which led me to shoot the photo below (shot from a footbridge over Paterson Street Tram Station, see on Google Maps).
Hong Kong street view from Yee Wo Street.
Lastly, let’s talk about how to get to those newly found amazing locations. Accessing directions have never been easier these days, thanks to Google Maps.
Prior to the trip, get onto Google Maps and find the directions starting from your hotel. To record the route, take a screenshot or copy the link from your browser’s address bar so that you will be able to revisit the page using hotel’s WiFi later.
This may not be commonly known, but Google Maps also lets you save a short URL of the directional map. Just go to “Menu”, then click “Share or embed map” and check “Short URL”. You can also save maps for offline use as well if you don’t want to incur roaming charges and can’t access any WiFi.
Saving a directional map using “Short URL” feature on Google Maps.
Let’s say I’m traveling for a 5-day, 4-night stay. Then, I’ll make a list of four cityscape photography spots to shoot at dusk. Plus I’ll add one or two backup spots just in case any of the original choices are unexpectedly unavailable due to a special event taking place or something. I select only one spot per day, as I’m only interested in shooting cityscapes during evening blue hour and try to gather as much information as possible before traveling.
It’s also important to list them in order of priority so that you know which place to drop if you can’t shoot on the first evening due to heavy rain, for example. In fact, such a situation often happens, so you should establish a clear order of priority for your shot list in advance.
Up until this point, I’ve talked about the importance of pre-departure preparations such as knowing where to shoot from. However, it’s also true that a single visit may not be enough to let you go home with best possible photos unless you’re staying for weeks. If you’re only staying for 4-5 days like I typically do, you may get unlucky with the weather and not be able to capture any photos that you’re happy with.
If that’s the case, consider revisiting the destination! The great thing about revisiting the same place is that you learn something new every time you go back, such as discovering lesser-known photography spots, finding a faster way to move around, etc. Besides, you can try new restaurants and coffee shops alike, and after a few visits, you’ll be able to walk around the city like a local!
On my second visit to Hong Kong, I found this lookout point on Stubbs Road through a bus window on the way to Victoria Peak. So the next day I dedicated one evening to shoot at this spot. This is a good example of learning something new every time you go back.
I planned to go back to Lugard Road lookout point at Victoria Peak to shoot Hong Kong skyline again, then accidentally diverted from the road to find this spot behind Peak Tower, so changed my plan to shoot here, instead.
I hope this helps you with your pre-departure search on what to shoot, where to shoot from, and how to get to those locations. These tips are quite basic, but it’s almost a prerequisite in order not to waste your precious (but limited) time at the destination, especially for those of us traveling only for a few days.
If you have any other cityscape photography tips to share, please do so in the comments below.
The post How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School.
One of my favorite things about travel photography is the opportunities it provides to meet interesting people in the street and make portraits of them. Here are some of the things that I have learned that you can put into practice when you are traveling and make street portraits.
It’s surprising how you often get the best results when you ask people for permission to make their portrait. This doesn’t apply all the time – you might see somebody interesting who doesn’t notice that you are there and you get the opportunity to make a great candid portrait.
But more often than not you can get a better result by approaching people and asking permission. The good thing about this approach is that it gives you a great excuse to go up to somebody and ask if you can make their portrait. A good way to phrase it is to explain that you are undertaking a project asking interesting people to pose for you.
Problems can arise with this approach if you don’t speak the local language. But that doesn’t stop you communicating with good body language and a smile. You can point to your camera to indicate you are asking for permission to make a portrait.
An alternative approach is to work with a local person who can translate for you. This may be a local photographer who you have made contact with and who is interested in helping you out. Or it may be a fixer who you pay to help you communicate with local people and find photo opportunities that you are unlikely to come across by yourself.
Once you have somebody’s permission you have an immediate advantage that you can spend some time with them to work on creating a good street portrait. For example, let’s say you see an interesting person who is standing in the sun and as a result, the light is too harsh to make a good portrait. If you approach them to ask for permission you can then ask them to stand in the shade so you get the best light.
That’s the approach I took with the portrait above, created in a mosque in Delhi. The man approached us in the mosque and explained a few things to us about what we were seeing. When we met him he was standing in the sun. After a few minutes of conversation, we asked if we could make a portrait of him and he said yes. It was easy to find a shady place for him to stand.
It may be tempting to look for beautiful or handsome people to photograph. And who could blame you? But you’ll create more interesting street portraits full of character if you find interesting people. This means people of both genders and all ages (except children, see next point).
For example, I made the portrait below in the town of San Antonio de Areco in Argentina. This town is famous for its atmospheric bars and gauchos. While taking photos in one of the bars somebody told me there was an elderly couple down the road who loved talking to people and having their photo taken. We went to check out the situation and found the couple sitting out on the street. We had an interesting conversation and I made this portrait.
This also shows how you should be open to opportunity. If people are friendly and make suggestions like this, go with the flow and see where it takes you. Interesting things often happen this way.
A few years ago I traveled to the town of Tupiza in southern Bolivia. We were walking through the town’s main square and noticed there was a lot of children. It turned out that it was a national sports day and as part of that event, local school children were in the square to participate in sporting activities.
Eventually one of the children noticed that I had a camera and started jumping up and down in front of me, asking me to take his photo. Of course, then other children joined in and soon I had a mob of kids in front of me who all wanted their photos taken. Which I did, and I have a nice memory because of it.
Luckily a teacher came along and shooed the kids away. The point of this story is that kids are often easy to photograph, especially in places where they get excited whenever they see a foreigner. But they are not likely to feature in your most interesting or memorable photos.
As a subject, they are too easy. Plus, you have to consider that in some countries local people may view strangers photographing children as suspicious. You’ll get better results by avoiding kids and finding interesting adults.
My final tip is to look for interesting backgrounds or places and wait with your camera to see what happens. Have you noticed how some photographers walk rapidly from one place to another, taking photos of anything that catches their eye? The aim of this exercise is to get you to slow down and become attuned to the rhythm of the place you’re in.
If the background is interesting enough, you can wait for somebody to pass by and add an element of human interest. People will usually think that you’re photographing whatever’s in the background and probably won’t even realize they are in the photo.
Here’s an example of that. I found this beautiful scene in Guatemala and waited to see what would happen. Eventually, a man cycled by and I was able to make this photo.
When you are traveling with the intention of creating street portraits it takes some work to get the best results. Following the tips in this article, and getting used to approaching people to ask if you can make their portrait will help you a lot with the process.
The Candid Portrait
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The post 4 Ways To Make Better Street Portraits While Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Street photography is normally a very open and free-form photography genre, but sometimes because we are traveling it’s better to plan a shoot rather than relying on luck.
Fortune, they say, favors the prepared, and when all you have is a few hours in a new land, better get ready to make the most of what you’ve got. Makes sense, no? Here’s how I prepare a street photography shoot when I know time will be limited.
A few days before your shoot you will need a few apps and tools.
The first is an offline map, Google Maps allows you to save chunks of the map but some areas are off limits (I tried to save a map of Osaka and wasn’t allowed). You need to find apps that have offline maps from the get-go and download the map of the area where you are going. It sounds stupid and you might be tempted to skip this part, but when I went to Hong Kong, I wasted an hour and a half trying to get out of the subway area into the main roads.
The second app you need is called the Photographers Ephemeris (iOS / Android). It’s designed for landscape shooters but it’s also useful for street photographers because it allows you to know where and when the sun will rise and set. It tells you what to expect in terms of light. It is a paid app, but alternatively, you can get that information for free online.
This is very useful information that you can use to predict what camera/lens you may require also. No need to get your high ISO camera if you plan to leave before the sun sets, for example.
Here’s the deal, if you had all the time in the world, you would stroll and go wherever you feel images are calling you. But you don’t, probably one or two days is all you have while traveling. So you need an idea of where to go while leaving things open to opportunity and chance as well.
Don’t miss this step! It may sound stupid but this not only allows you to plan ahead and might tell you to bring extra protective gear. I usually check the day before because the weather is very unreliable and the forecast can change quickly.
You need to know when you are arriving and leaving. For example, imagine you are arriving at 8 pm and leaving at 4 pm the next day. What I recommend first of all is to set an alarm that tells you when to start and stop shooting, it usually takes an hour to get situated so I would set an alarm for 9 pm and 3 pm the following day. You need to figure out the amount of time it takes to get from the airport to where you are staying and to return again. I personally have an alarm for when to eat too.
While this might sound tedious, it gives you the freedom to shoot because it will tell you exactly when to start and when to stop, and you do not have to worry about it. When traveling you have no familiar bearings so the alarms get you grounded.
The other reason for knowing your numbers is knowing what you can expect. Remember the information you got from Photographer’s ephemeris or online. When are the sunrise, midday, and sunset?
Let’s say sunset is at 7 pm and sunrise at 7 am. If you are arriving at 8 pm you would know that you will arrive at night. So if you want to shoot the morning light, you need to wake up before 7 am and you know that you will miss the sunset. This kind of information will tell you what kind of light you can anticipate. But you also need to know where you are going.
When going somewhere new, I try to find the population centers and busy streets. So I google “[city name here] busy street” look at the results, and try to find the names of the busiest streets. It’s not magical, it’s probably overshot but where there are more people, usually there are interesting shots. Here are my results using Hong Kong as an example.
Note: This is where you want to google according to your project and style. If you have a project with businessmen, you want to find out where the central business district is for example.
When looking for populated areas, there is usually a long stretch of road that is popular that provides great opportunities. For example:
Then I map out how to go there from the airport. When you know your times and where to go, you have a clearer idea of what you can expect. All of your energy is saved for shooting and not figuring things out when you arrive. Like I said above, after sweating like a pig trying to get out of the subway area in Kowloon, Hong Kong, it zapped my energy levels greatly. I doubled down on coffee.
It takes some experience but after a while, you start to know what to expect with all the information gathered. In the morning, you know what direction to be in to shoot the sun or have it at your back. You know when stores will start opening and people go to work. Knowing where you are going will help with your expectations. For example, if there are a lot of high-rises that will create shadow areas.
Knowing what time night falls will tell you when street vendors will start to close, the light from stores will create a new light source, or when to pull out a flash if that’s your thing.
You have to be careful. What you believe is a camera is someone else’s next meal for a month. Population centers and busy streets are opportunities for street photographers but also for street thieves. It depends on where you are going, some places are safer than others. I like the anti-theft Pacsafe brand, but you can make yourself less pick-pocket friendly if you turn your backpack and hold it against your belly.
Also, don’t flaunt your camera if you know you are going somewhere there are lots of pick-pockets. You have to be careful not to damage the camera, but some tape is perfect to uglify the camera. And as much as you can, avoid backpacks and bags that scream “camera bag”. It immediately flags you as having a camera.
There you have my system for how to prepare for a travel street photography shoot. I would be the first to say that it’s better to go somewhere and leave things open, but sometimes that’s just not a good use of your time when you only have a few hours or days to shoot somewhere. It’s better to prepare and then leave things open. Be yourself, stay focused and keep on shooting.
The post How to Plan a Street Photography Shoot When Traveling by Olivier Duong appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Vacations can be a great time to capture some of the most captivating photos ever, and it doesn’t even require using an expensive equipment to do so. In fact, whether your vacation involves hiking, skiing, snorkeling, a safari, mountain biking, or a scenic road trip, a compact camera can also provide stunning results while traveling, with little effort and without Continue Reading
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Travel has the capacity to take you to any number of amazing destinations to photograph. It also means you are often on the move, setting up in your new location of choice, only then to pack up and move to the next, often soon after. Staying organized while traveling can have some major benefits to the enjoyment of your trip as well as your photography.
Ultimately, the more organized you are, the less time you need to spend on the logistics of travel, and the more you can dedicate your time to taking photos when opportunity knocks and enjoying the journey. The list below covers both travel and photographic logistics to help in the process.
While reading this article, keep in mind that all points suggested for staying organized can be implemented into your workflow before you go traveling. Getting organized and developing an efficient workflow is best established before you hit the road where time can be of the essence and photo opportunities plentiful.
The points raised below could definitely be considered common sense. But, there are also very real practical benefits to each of them that may result in the difference between coming home with a special, image or missing out.
There’s nothing worse than realizing you are about to visit an amazing location and you do not enough memory to photograph it comprehensively.
If you are traveling with your own computer and hard drives, then you will have greater flexibility to download and backup your precious files. Assume for a moment, you are relying on other people’s computers. This is where it is important to take advantage and download and backup when you can.
I have seen many memory cards corrupt or simply stop working during expeditions for many different reasons. If you only have a couple of free cards left and one of them stops working, you will definitely be limited until you are able to download and make room for more content. This is especially true if a situation presents itself and you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to capture something special.
While working in Antarctica, I had several days where I shot over 1000 images before lunchtime because the subject matter was so good. It is this type of situation it is imperative to efficiently download when possible.
For much the same reason as downloading your content, when there is the opportunity to charge your batteries, be sure to do it. It is often the most obvious, day to day tasks that we forget about, yet they can be responsible for the worst possible situations to present themselves.
While it is imperative to have multiple batteries (as well as multiple memory cards), it is also critical to be sure to recharge them when there is time. It is all too easy to think the pile of batteries in your bag are mostly fully charged, when in fact they may be mostly empty. Keeping empty ones separate can help keep yourself organized, however, your best practice should include charging when there is time.
This is an old saying that I have heard many times. If there is time to get organized today, then do it. I have been reminded of this many times when having an early start to photograph sunrise, only to arrive five minutes after the light was at its best.
If there is the opportunity to make sure your bag is packed and ready to go, then take it. Be sure to have memory cards and charged batteries in your cameras before you leave for a shoot. If time is of the essence, you will only regret not being more organized.
If you need specific gear for the next day’s location, be sure your bag is packed with the gear you need all in the one place. It will lessen the pressure to get everything ready when you’re running out of time.
Once you have figured out the best places to keep all your gear within your bag, always put each item back in the same spot.
I learned this photographing weddings when I was always working quickly and needed quick access to accessories like flash triggers, camera remotes, batteries, memory, etc. There is nothing better when you are under pressure for time than knowing exactly where the item you need is within your bag. It also means that if you send a friend to get something for you when time is not plentiful, you can not only describe the item clearly, but also tell them exactly where to find it.
Learning the best way to pack your gear is something that comes from time and experience. Before you travel, be sure to head out on day trips taking photos as much as possible. This will help cement the best way to pack your bag to allow for efficient packing and quick access to your gear.
Keeping your gear clean and well-maintained will also help to keep it functioning properly. If you are working near the ocean or in a dusty environment, be sure to wipe down your cameras and lenses on a regular basis so nothing foreign finds its way into the internal parts of your cameras. Be sure to also clean where possible, the inside of your camera bag. I have always found it to be a place where dust can build up over time, especially when working in challenging environments.
If you are confident to do so, also consider cleaning your sensor. Avoiding dust spots on your images can help reduce the amount of editing time your images need at a later time.
Often while travelling, we have more personal items on us than normal. Be sure to keep these safe and packed well within your camera bag, preferably separate to your gear so it does not interfere with daily activities. This is particularly important when working in challenging environments.
It’s also important to be sure to have them organized and easily accessible, especially if you have flights or other forms of transport that require paperwork and/or tickets that need to be accessed regularly.
This more organized your content is while travelling, the quicker you can begin choosing images, begin keywording and captioning them, as well as editing once you are home or even while still on the road. This is an important factor whether you are shooting for a client or just for your own enjoyment.
The enormity of starting the editing process can sometimes turn you off making a start, as the task can seem too big to comprehend. This feeling changes the more experienced you become, however, breaking your editing process down into steps will always help. Speed in handling your files and the editing process comes with time, and is usually achieved by increasing efficiency across the many steps in the process.
Staying organized across all the stages of editing will only help to reduce the amount of time it takes to organize, and choose and edit your images. This in turn gives you a completed portfolio sooner to enjoy and share.
The bottom line for staying organized while you’re traveling is it will help reduce your stress level. Travel can be hard at the best of times, make it easier for yourself by planning and staying organized. You’ll be ready for anything.
Do you have any other tips to add? Please do so in the comments section below.
The post 7 Ways to Stay Organized While You’re Traveling by Damian Caniglia appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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