No Classwork Necessary: Top Tips and Tricks for Taking Travel Photos Like a Pro
Your travel photographs comprise your own personal documentary of the trips you have taken with family or friends. Your images can be more than “snapshots” by following some simple tips used by the pros. Whether you use your smartphone or a digital camera, the following suggestions will help you turn your photographs into beautiful vacation memories.
Beware Of Litter And Clutter
Carefully frame your photograph before you depress the shutter. Avoid capturing car bumpers, body parts of random people, trash barrels, and other distractions in your images. When photographing groups of people, clean up the area before posing your subjects. Don’t let your images be ruined by beverage cans and food wrappers left behind. Be a hero to the environment, carry a trash bag, and remove any litter you find from your photographs and the landscape.
Taking Fun Group Images
The background and lighting is very important when you take group images. Choose a non-competing background, such as trees, mountains, clouds, fields, or water. Construct some creative groupings where your people are arranged in fun poses and never placed in a straight line. Use props such as rocks, stone walls, swings, benches, tree stumps, and gardens to add interest and texture to your photographs. When you arrive home, you can touch up any flaws in your photos using professional Adobe Lightroom presets. Everyone will enjoy the results of you efforts when they see your images.
The Rule Of Thirds
Improve Photography explains the simple rule of thirds will improve your photographs significantly. In your mind, LCD display, or viewfinder, divide the picture with three vertical and horizontal lines. You will create nine squares with four intersecting lines. The points where these lines intersect are places you can place important points of interest as you construct your image. Use the four lines that divide your squares to also help with placement of subject matter. Because the human eye naturally goes to one of the four intersections created by the imaginary lines, it is believed the photo will be more balanced and attractive to the viewer.
Include People In Landscapes
The Digital Photography School suggests you place people in some of your landscapes to create a sense of size and scale. Large points of interest, historic ruins, buildings, natural rock formations, and monuments take on a different look when people are included. Be creative in your placement of people to get the best effect, and don’t have your subjects stare at the camera and smile. Candid shots are superior, especially the people are doing something, When using your smartphone camera, get as close as you can to your subject matter so it isn’t lost in the background. Use the zoom lens on your digital camera, and focus on the most dramatic aspects of your image content.
These tips are used by professionals and will take your images up to a higher level. Enjoy your travels and share them with family and friends through your great photographs.
 Evan Kirby is a keen amateur photographer who leads a semi-nomadic lifestyle as an independent website designer. He writes about travel, photography and website matters.