Travel Tip Tuesdays: Seven Random Travel Photography Tips

Photography isn’t my strongest suit, but it’s a lot of fun to take pictures when I’m traveling, and they are an essential part of my blog. Here are seven random things I’ve learned in my years of amateur travel photography.

1. Before you hit the road, practice one-handed portraits of yourself. Holding out the camera to get a photo of yourself (or a group photo) takes practice. If you learn how to do it beforehand, you’ll save yourself a lot of pictures in which you and/or the scenery is not in the frame.

That way, you can control who's in the shot, if not what they're doing. (These are my siblings, by the way.)

2. Photos of people are more interesting than photos of places. You’ve probably heard this before, and it’s true. Plus, you want to have proof that you were at all these amazing places.

If you can take a photo of both a hot guy and an amazing place at the same time, that's even better. (Salt flats, Utah)

3. On the other hand, scenic photos make great desktop backgrounds. I love my pictures of the Columbia Gorge, Atlantic ocean, cathedrals of Europe, and Grand Canyon. Scenic photos are a great way of blowing your mind when you realize all the cool places you’ve been.

Outside San Luis Obispo, California. I'm still amazed at how scenic it was.

4. Unless you’ve actually studied how to do it, don’t take pictures of wild animals. I can’t tell you how many shots I’ve wasted trying to capture a shot of the dolphins leaping next to our sailboat, the elk grazing out in the field, or the bald eagle perched in the tree. Animals move quickly and are often out of range. You end up frustrated about your photography, and missing out on actually seeing the animals. 

See this? This is what you shouldn't do.

5. When taking a photo of a well-known place, find a different angle on it. You can get a postcard of the Space Needle that looks much better than that photo you just took, so go for creativity.

I like this photo.

6. Make different faces in different photos. It’s boring to see fifty shots of yourself wearing the exact same expression. Change it up, even if that means smiling in a different way than usual.

My sister Mary is really good at that.

7. Don’t view your entire trip through a camera lens. Photos are great, but please don’t be that person who is always pausing the action to take pictures of everything. Don’t stare through your viewfinder at the fireworks— put the camera away, lay back, and actually watch them.

As a bonus, here is a link to some sage advice from Julian Smith.

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