Traveling is great, right? So many places to go and things to see, it can be hard to keep them all straight. Maybe you’ve been thinking about getting more into travel photography to help remember everything you’ve seen. Or, perhaps you want to show off a little bit on Instagram, well that’s ok too. 

Whatever the reason, you don’t need to be a seasoned pro to be better at photography. That’s what this post is for. Consider it a beginner’s guide to travel photography. Read this, practice a few of the tips, and you’ll be well on your way to making all your friends jealous with your travel photography.

Equipment

This is the first hold up for most beginners who are looking to get into photography. They think they need a big expensive rig with tons of lenses. Not true. 

Today really great cameras are smaller and more affordable than ever. You don’t need to break the bank or carry something that is big and bulky to take great photos. In fact, you can take some pretty impressive images with cameras that fit right in your pocket, including your phone!

There are a few accessories you might want to consider too. It never hurts to have a few extra SD cards, so you have plenty of storage for your images. Also keep a few extra batteries too. Depending on the camera, you might want to get a padded bag or case to carry it and a comfortable shoulder strap too.

Practice, Practice, Practice

To actually become a seasoned pro, you do want to learn a little bit about photography. The best way to learn is to take a bunch of shots. But you still can stand to take a little bit of time to read up and learn about all the things that can really impact your photos like light, speed, and focus. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind and get you started:

• Light: Can make or break your photos. Often travel photographers look for the perfect light (usually dawn or dusk) to take amazing images. 
• Speed: This often refers to shutter speed, a good rule of thumb is to use a high speed for taking pictures of people and low speed for landscapes. 
• Composition: How your model is set up. Professional photographers usually try to avoid taking pictures of people or things straight on. They like to off center things to make the composition more interesting.

Just learning a little bit about the basics can help your photography skills, so don’t be afraid to do a little reading. 

Keep Your Eyes Open

More often than not, the best shots are those that are different and exciting. So be creative. Take images laying on the ground or up on some stairs to check out different angles. 

And, if you see a crowd of people taking pictures from one place, don’t follow them. Move around and see what you can find that will make your photos stand out from the crowd. 

Most importantly, have fun! As you take more and more photos you’ll not only fall in love with travel photography, you’ll get better at it too!