Travel Photography Tips

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1 September 2009

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Taking a camera with you is a great idea for getting the most out of travel. Good shots really depend on how you see what you see. You can be surprised at the results.

Shooting What You See

Sometimes you might have taken a photo that looked good in real life but didn’t look so great on the computer. This may have been due to the lens you used. The eye has a vision field of about 40 degrees. Evaluate this rule against a scene like a landscape. Make a note of what you can see without shifting your eyes left or right. Now look at the same scene through the camera. Observe what is now included or what is missing. A camera with a zoom lens will usually allow you to ‘frame’ the image the same as your eye. By trail and error you’ll learn what zoom will equate with your eye’s view.

Composition

Composition is the art of ‘framing’ the photograph or arranging the elements so that it draws the viewer’s eye to what you want seen or noticed. Here are some basic rules of composition:

1. The Eye Scans Diagonally

The eye usually scans automatically from bottom right of a picture diagonally across to the top left. If you flip any existing picture horizontally using photo editing software, you’ll get and idea of this rule. The balance of the picture changes when you flip it with some becoming more prominent one way but not the other. Apply this rule to portrait photography, for example.

Arrange the model so that his body is turned away from the camera. Get your subject to rest his hands in his lap or on his legs. Now ask him to turn his face only so he can see you. This pose is called three quarter length. Examine the scene using the viewfinder. Notice that your eye looks first at the hands and they guide it to the subject’s face. Once you’ve taken the shot and uploaded it, flip it with your photo-editing software using the horizontal flip function. Which version most quickly communicates?

Try this exercise: look through a photography book and study this rule in application. Photographers and artists use this rule, arranging some element in the lower right hand corner that guides the eye to the subject – a color, shape, or line that gives the direction. Occasionally a photographer will achieve a startling effect by breaking this rule.

2. Frame the Photograph

The edges of a photograph are like the fence around a house. They define the space. Print and frame one of your favorite pictures and you’ll get the idea. You should have a better defined picture. This principle can be used if you position the subject near trees, in doorways, looking out a window, etc. Place your subject before a featureless or out of focus background like an ocean scene and you can achieve a contrasting effect. The eye is drawn to the subject without distraction by any other elements.

Framing to include enough of the background to add mood will make for a better picture. Sometimes the background can be cluttered, or includes strong shapes that overwhelm the subject. Do your best to avoid these. However you can make your visual story generally more interesting by including the background. Ask yourself if you have framed your scene to answer these questions
Where is this scene located?
What is the identity of the subject?
Why are they where they are?
What are they doing?

The Rule of Thirds

This rule divides the image into thirds horizontally and/or vertically. The middle third is for the subject. Or put at the locations where the two grids intersect. In a landscape the top third is the sky, the middle third is the subject. The foreground occupies the lower section acting as a foundation for the subject.

Portrait photography means that usually the subject is framed vertically. Imagine the scene compartmented vertically, with the face at the border of the top and middle segments. This gives you a more pleasing view by allowing space above the head. This also balances the space on both sides of the subject.

Sometimes a feeling of intensity and immediacy can be created by close-ups.

With photography the more you shoot the better you get. Keep shooting and analyze why you like the ones you like – and the ones you don’t like. You’ll master the basics quickly.