Are you a travel photographer or travel photographer? !! Congratulations!! You start reading the most complete guide of travel photography circulating through the network. Settle down.
It doesn’t matter if your hobby came first trips or to the Photography, or if they came hand in hand. In this mega guide you will find everything you need to know. I offer you tricks, advice, ideas, inspiration and everything you need to combine these two passions.
INSIDE THIS ARTICLE… 📖
As you can imagine, it is a fairly extensive guide. It is not to read in five minutes, but to spend time and return to it whenever you need, so I recommend that you put it somewhere where you have it at hand to refer to it whenever you want.
What is travel photography?
Travel photography is a photographic discipline that consists of documenting a geographical area through the capture of photographs of its landscapes, cultures, customs and inhabitants.
travel photographer equipment
If I had to sum up a traveling photographer’s gear in one word it would be easy: light.
That is going to be the first premise in terms of equipment for photography and travel. Now, being a traveling photographer who wants to immortalize his travels is not the same as being a traveling photographer who travels to take pictures. In the latter case, the team will be somewhat more specific depending on the type of photographs you are looking for.
Although the final decision is yours. To know what equipment you need, I would like you to answer this question first:
Quality or comfort?
- If the ability to take different types of shots and their quality is more important, you can think about taking a complete kit such as a SLR or an evil camera with several lenses, an external flash and even a tripod.
- If you are more concerned with comfort during the trip, it will be more practical to take something more compact like a bridge camera (or bridge camera) with a very versatile zoom and a small backup flash (optional). You can replace the tripod with a tripod-clamp to be able to hold or support the camera somewhere.
- If the above still seems too complicated for you, then your ideal equipment is a compact pocket or one of these compact with a heart attack zoom.
travel photography camera
Let’s start with the camera, because of course, without it there is no photo. Here are some of the ones we have been recommending on the blog for travel photography (although here you will find seven more cameras):
Lenses for travel photography
If you decide on a compact camera or a bridge, you can skip this section. Conversely, if you opt for a DSLR or mirrorless camera, here are our lens recommendations for photography and travel.
I return to the premise of traveling light, so you leave all the just in case and take only what you really think you will use.
tripod for travel photography
If you are looking for a good, stable, versatile tripod that folds quite a bit, this Vanguard Veo 2 can be a good option for your trips. Other tripod recommendations for trips are:
However, in this guide to buying a tripod, in addition to purchase recommendations, you will discover what aspects you should look at when buying one.
However… tripod yes or no? Here there is no single rule, the use of the tripod can be necessary or totally useless and only you can know. If you are going to take many photos of landscapes, or at night, I recommend that you get one, even if it is a small one.
On the other hand, if what you are going to photograph the most are people, portraits, daily life in the city markets, then the most normal thing is that you do not need a tripod. In this case, it is better not to take it because more than anything it would get in the way and you always have the option of resorting to this…
Trick!: The cheapest and lightest tripod is a piece of string. Attach the hot shoe to the camera and tie a string long enough that you can step on it with your foot while pulling it tight and pressing the shutter release button. To improve stability lean on a wall. With this trick you will be able to take photos with quite long exposure times without hardly being noticeable in the photos.
Travel Photography Backpack
Choosing a good backpack to carry your camera and especially the lenses you are going to use is essential for the proper development of a photographic trip.
If you use 2 or 3 different lenses you may go crazy: every time you need to change lenses you will waste time looking for a place to rest the backpack, open it with one hand while holding the camera strap with your teeth, remove the lens with the other hand, try to grab the other lens from the backpack… oops, the lens has the cap on, you need to release the backpack to be able to remove it… grrrrrrrr!!
Most frustrating.
A good backpack will help you organize your objectives and have them easily accessible. In this article you will find tips for choosing the right backpack, but in short, you should keep in mind that:
- weigh as little as possible.
- be waterproof.
- fits the equipment with which you plan to travel and in an orderly or easily accessible way.
- offers you security (against blows and possible theft).
Other travel photography accessories
I have already said that the premise is to travel light, however, there are some accessories that you should not leave at home, mainly because they weigh and take up little space and can save you from a lot of trouble.
Essential, in my opinion, are spare battery and various memory cards, but there is more. In this article we tell you what accessories will be really useful for you to photograph your next trips.
And if you’re thinking about aerial Photography, do not forget to take a drone, yes, do not launch without reading this before.
Photography and travel: planning
Are you impressed by the travel photography that appears in guidebooks and magazines like National Geographic? Well, read carefully: those photos were not taken by the photographer casually while he was enjoying a vacation, but rather they were researched and premeditated destinations.
Therefore, the first thing you will have to do is plan your trip well, that is obvious, but have you planned it photographically speaking?
To do this planning you will have to do the following:
- Choose a photogenic destination: a photographic journey I laughed Self-respecting requires that the choice of destination is based on the photos you want to take. Almost always when we choose a travel destination (vacation, etc.) we do so following various criteria, and we don’t remember about the photos until the last moment, when we already have our suitcase packed. If you want to enjoy good travel photography, try to decide the destination based on the type of photos you plan to take: virgin nature, desert landscapes, local markets and ethnic customs, etc. Inform yourself before making any decision.
- Avoid overly touristy destinations: In a correct travel photograph tourists should not appear in the background. The figure of the tourist that appears in the background contaminates the essence of the place portrayed. My advice is to avoid these types of destinations or, at least, try to go in low season, so you can enjoy a few moments of tranquility.
- Make a list as detailed as possible of the places you want to visit, at what time it is possible to visit them or when you are interested. Prepare the best time and place from which to photograph that monument or landscape, that is: taking into account the light.
- Look for information on the Internet about those places, their schedules, their conditions or rules for taking photos, etc. In some places the use of the flash or even the tripod is not allowed, in others it is totally forbidden to take photos. You will avoid more than one disappointment.
- Learn also about the history and characteristics of the place you are going, think about how to put the photos together to tell a story with them, I’ll tell you how soon.
- Observe and analyze photos of those locations, both official souvenir postcards and those of other more creative amateurs or professionals. Do a search on Google Images with the name of the place and you will surely find hundreds of photos to inspire you. Take note of the most original ideas, of what you would like to do and also of what you want avoid. You can also try PinterestFlickr or 500px.
- Look for alternative routes and little-known places, so your photos will look better.
- Choose the equipment based on the photos you plan to take, so as not to take neither less nor more.
- Make a list of everything you need and cross out so you don’t forget anything.
How to photograph travel
A journey is a story and that is how it should be told. When you photograph your travels, the goal is not to make a collection of monument cards, frame everything and click, voila, to the next monument.
No, photographing trips is transmitting experiences, telling the world what you are seeing, what you are feeling and always through your eyes. If you have nothing to tell in your image, there will be nothing to listen to.
Photo genres for photography and travel
One way to tell the story in a personal way is to narrate it through a series of photographs. As you can read in this article and as I told you before, travel photography encompasses different and varied genres:
- Portrait photography. The portrait photography It serves as a bridge to introduce you to the locals, tell us about their customs, their physiognomy, their character, how they have welcomed you in that more or less distant land. If you’re going to do a stolen portrait, follow these tips. On the contrary, if you are looking for an approach and you are going to ask for permission, I have two very important recommendations. The first, strike up a conversation with that person before asking them to photograph them. Always smile and make a little connection, this will go a long way in not only agreeing to be photographed, but capturing more than just an exotic face. My second recommendation is that you have the settings ready before asking him to look at the camera, otherwise you will kill the moment if you readjust. Goodbye spontaneity.
- Watch out! Before making a portrait or a stolen portrait, it is advisable to find out about the particularities of the country in question. In some countries it is very frowned upon to photograph women and it can lead to some complications.
- landscape photography. Who can return from a trip without capture the landscapes with which it comes across, be they urban or natural landscapes. Landscape photography is not easy at all, it requires practice and basic knowledge. Nor do you need a landscape worthy of a tourist guide, but rather a unique look, yours. There is no ugly landscape, but a photographer with a lack of experience 😉 . Flee from the clichés, from the typical postcard landscapes and try to make the landscape show what you like, what you feel or how you see that place.