The best photography tips for travel lovers

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Photographs speak more than words. They remind us of our memories while providing us with the visual representation of the same. This must be why everyone in today’s world is addicted to taking photos and gaining photography tips. To capture memories and seal it in a place they can later take and watch and maybe smile.

Be it selfies, be it professional photography, be it nature photography, shadow photography et cetera, everyone wants to capture their memories and keep them for themselves.

One common fact that people have been misinformed about, is that the best photos come with the best gear. Yes, this does have some influence over the photos taken, but the best photo comes from the best photographer. When a professional Nikon DSLR helps you take good photos, a google pixel 4a also helps you to take some of the best ones (I had it for a long time, so this is out of experience).

It is all about who wields the weapon rather than the weapon itself. So, we thought of compiling some essential travel photography tips to make sure you capture the best of photos with whatever gear you possess.

As a travel lover myself, I am addicted to taking photos of everything around me. I am a firm believer who believes that everything around us has beauty and all that we need to do is look. 

When you are an appreciator of everything around you, you will find that even a dustbin if captured properly shall drive attention to it. Hence any photo, if captured in the right way, having the right tips in mind, shall give you the best of results.

1. The basics

If you love to capture a photo, the very first thing to keep in mind is the power to observe. If you want to take a photo, you need to capture it with your eyes first. For which you need a keen observation which only comes with concentration. You can capture a whole mountain as such with your camera.

You can also capture a sun rising above the very same mountain and make the picture even more astonishing. Everything comes with just the three basic qualities, observation, concentration, and patience.

Also, make sure you hold the camera close to your body so as to give it firm support. This will support your stance and will help you to capture sharper images. 

2. The rule of the thirds

Now don’t worry this ain’t going to be a physics lesson (yeah I couldn’t ever memorize any rule).

The rule of the thirds is very simple and not at all complex. With a bit of concentration and steady hands, you will get the hang of it very soon. This is very effective when it comes to capturing an object, for example, tree or animal et cetera. 

You need to imagine two horizontal lines and two vertical lines (like the X and O game’s grid, just don’t start playing). After imagining a grid and applying it to the object in front of you, make sure in your photo, the object comes at any intersecting point off the centre.

To be more detailed, you will have nine squares when you imagine a grid, of two horizontal and two vertical lines. Make sure the object comes at any intersecting point at the sides (off-centre) and not at the exact middle of the image. This gives a better-composed photograph because of which this is one of the most effective tips in our photography tips.

3. Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO

There are basic settings which if you manually control will give you better results than when the device is in auto mode. These are:

• Aperture
• Shutter Speed
• ISO

Auto mode usually helps you take a photo without having to have the tensions of arranging these settings in the right amount. But it is like they say, if you don’t give it a touch of yours, you will never get what you actually wanted. 

Your satisfaction will only reach the ultimatum if you get exactly what you thought you would. Now for getting the result, you wanted with a photo, these three settings should be adjusted to your wants.

If you adjust one of them, you will have to consider adjusting all three to get the right desired result.

Aperture:

Now aperture basically means the opening of the lens’s diaphragm through which the light passes by. It controls the brightness of the image. If you have a higher aperture, that would mean less light can enter through the lens. If you set it to a lower aperture, then more light will enter.

Lower apertures usually tend to make the background blurry and create a good depth of the field. Low apertures are perfect when you want a dynamic shot. When you want to shoot a group photo or a landscape where you want everything to be focussed and sharp, you need a higher aperture (e.g. f/16 – the aperture value).

One way to identify the best aperture for your lens is to find out its ‘sweet spot‘. The sharpest aperture of your lens is known as its sweet spot. It is usually two to three ‘f/stops’ away from the widest aperture. 

For example: if you have a 16-35 mm f/4 lens, its sweet spot would be between f/8 and f/11. If you have a 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens, then its sweet spot would be between f/5.6 and f/8.

Got the hang of it? Just multiply the f/stops of your lens with 2 and 3. The numbers in between these would be your sweet spot.

Now, how do you change the aperture? If you want to change your aperture, grab the camera and set the mode to ‘aperture priority’. You can then change the lens’ aperture.

Generally, F22 is the closed aperture when you want everything in focus. This is good for landscape and group shots. Whereas for the best portraits, you would want something between f/2 and f/4. 

If you are passionate about this, invest in a good 50mm f/1.8 lens. This is super versatile and also cheaper when compared. This is amazing for portraits too. It makes the background blurred thus making it less distracting.

Shutter Speed:

If the shutter speed is slower than your lens’s focal length, then the photos captured will never be perfect. So make sure you discover your lens’ focal length and adjust your shutter speed according to that.

One way of finding the appropriate shutter speed for your lens is a simple calculation. If you are using a 100 mm lens, then the shutter speed should not be lesser than 1/100 of a second.

[1/focal length(mm) = the minimum shutter speed required]

ISO:

Now the first thing to keep in mind is to set the ISO to manual mode. This gives you the best results. If you are shooting with the flash on, then set the ISO low (between 100 and 400 would be ideal). This ensures image quality. A low ISO means it is less sensitive to light.

The ideal ISO setting for night photography is 400-3200 depending on the shutter speed. Here, the ISO that gives the maximum shutter speed is perfect as this generates images that aren’t blurred. So set your camera’s ISO to a value that gives the fastest shutter speed.

Generally, if you want less blurred images for dynamic objects, 1600 ISO is very good. ISO is very important, and a whole post on photography tips could comprise just of it. Because of this, give the ISO setting in your camera a good study.

4. Use a Tripod

Now tripods can be called as the biggest gifts to photographers. While many think that tripods are just for resting our hands, it gives a lot lot more than that. Tripods improve the stability of a photograph thus helping its composition. This in turn gives sharper images. Tripods also help to capture multi-minute exposures that are dark and invisible to the human eye.

Tripods are best when taking night photography, event photography, close-up shots, dynamic action shots, and nature photography.

It also helps tremendously if you want to capture the time-lapses of nature. It is one of the most essential things when packing your travel kit. This is why it has proven to be worthy of the hassle of carrying it around. It is because of all this that using a tripod one among the best photography tips.

One of the main questions travelers ask is ‘Which is the best tripod?‘

Now for traveling, the tripod needs to be lightweight and small. But please do not get a cheap fragile one. Even if it costs a bit, know that good tripods last for almost 25 years if taken care of. Some of the best tripods of 2020, for travelers, are:

• Manfrotto Element Traveller – Fabulous features and affordable. 
• Vanguard VEO 2 Go 204 AB – The best tripod when it comes to packing small.
• Benro GoPlus Travel FGP18A – It is not that small in size, but it sure is one of the best if you love serious photography.
• Joby JB01507 GorillaPod – Amazing for content creators and affordable too.

5. The use of presets

Presets are something almost all travelers use today. Some even create presets and sell that as a business. Presets are just a set of editing adjustments that makes your photo more appealing. It’s a preconfigured edit that you can almost apply to your photos and make it look way cooler. In the simplest of terms, they are filters but better.

The one app that helps you to do this, is adobe lightroom. The usage of presets today is an acknowledged tip among the various essential photography tips.

To get you started, here are some amazing free presets that we came across. 

6. Invest in yourself first and then the devices

Always keep this in mind, buying yourself a better camera is never going to solve your problems. But if you invest in yourself for a great photography course, it is worth every single time. You will most likely get a good course on photography and specialized photography tips, in Teachable. If you do have passion, then pursue it.

Discovering and teaching yourself will always give you benefits alone. After this, you can get yourself a good device and get along on the journey of capturing your memories in the best way possible.

Keep Experimenting and be creative

As everyone says, thinking out of the box almost works every single time. If you follow the path of someone else, you will most likely end up with them and not further. If you want to set your mark on anything, you will need to experiment with it yourself. 

Many Digital Nomads choose photography as one of the various ways they earn money. Photography is also about being creative. The best photos come with the best presence of mind. And you will only become more creative when you experiment more.

Now if you have loved any of these photography tips that we’ve mentioned or if you know any more that you’d like to recommend to us, feel free to tell us through email or the comment section below. We would love to interact and know more about you.