Photographing your Vacation

I recently took a course on travel photography and the instructor gave some valuable advice on taking photos when you travel.  He said the first thing you needed to do is to decide on the purpose of your photography.  He suggested three possible goals.

• Document your trip
• Document your destination
• Just take great photos

If you are looking to document your trip than you want to have lots of photos that include you and the people you travel with.  You would document what you are doing and with whom.  This is a very common form of photography for many amateur photographers, some of which only get out their camera out at vacation time. This is a great way to capture those memories to enjoy in the future.

Other people want to really capture the essence of the places they visit.  They will spend a lot of time making sure that they photograph all of the sites in the place they are visiting.

The third group is people who don't care as much about the documentation as they do taking great picks.  Many "Photo Enthusiasts" fall into this group.

Vacation time is a great time to take photographs and with a bit of advance research you can make sure you get some wonderful photos that will meet your photo goals.  Here are some things you should consider.

• Research your destination ahead of time. There are many great books on travel destinations at the library or you can research your location on the internet for lots of great information.  Find out about events or festivals that might be taking place when you are there.  Identify iconic structures that you would like to photograph.  Make sure you understand the weather and are prepared for it.  
• Pack you camera equipment carefully.  Make sure it is all in working order before you leave.  Bring extra batteries and memory cards.
• When you get to your destination talk to people about where you want to visit and places to photograph.  Some good sources of information are hotel lobby clerks, employees of restaurants and shops and cab drivers.  Be sure to check out the brochure racks in the hotels.  If you are driving I have found the the information centers as you enter each state are a great source of information.

Photos on this page are all from a trip I took to Jupiter Florida last March.  They show the three types of photography goals for travel.

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Travel Photography

Document Your Trip with Your Photos

Vacations tend to bring out the photographer in everyone.  Even if you don't normally take photographs when people travel they usually like to record memories with photos. 

When I travel I too love to take  photos.  I always want to make sure I get photos of the main landmarks of the places I visit, but then I also want to photograph details that I enjoyed about the place.  When I visited old Quebec city in Canada one of the things I really noticed was all the unusual window and door decorations. On this page Quebec City you will see how I used the photos of the windows and doors to make a photographic collage.  One of the things you do not want to forget on your travel photos is people.  Be sure to include those you are traveling with in at least a view of your photos.  I took this photo of friends in an entranceway in Quebec City.

Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia is well known for the lighthouse and I took hundreds of photos of the lighthouse.  Peggy's Cove  I also found the fishing boats and the rock formations to be interesting so I made sure to capture them in my photographs.

So next time you travel think about what photos really represent the place you are visiting.  Make sure you take all the popular shots.  After all you wouldn't want to go to Paris and not photograph the Eifel tower.  But then don't forget to get those unusual shots.  Look for the details that the place interesting and be sure to get some people in your photos too!

Be sure to share your travel photos in your writing.  Everyone like to see interesting photos, especially when you add a story with your photos.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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