Simple Travel Photography Tips for Beginners

With the summer travel season upon us, there's no time like the present to hone your photography skills to enable you to capture glorious travel photography fit for a gallery wall - or at least your living room. That’s why we’ve gathered tips to help tackle photography while on the road.

Rise and Shine

Waking up early and staying out late is one of the best travel photography tips. That’s because early in the morning and around when the sun sets are when you’ll get the best light. The Golden Hour is that time when the sun is low in the sky. It throws a magical, warm glow across the scene. Think the first hour after the sun peaks in the morning, and the last hour or two before the sun drops over the horizon in the afternoon. The Blue Hour is when the sun is below the horizon and the sky gives off this beautiful blue hue. When you’re taking pictures of city and landscapes this is gorgeous! Make sure you get set up in your location before sunrise is in full swing.

Move Your Feet

Standing exactly where you are isn’t always the best angle for your shot. The iconic Taj Mahal photo doesn’t look as good if you’re a few steps to the left of having it perfectly centered. Or maybe the river looks really pretty where you are.  If you move a bit more to the side though, you can also get some cool rocks in the shot.  Move around until you are happy with the shot. Take a few steps forward, backwards and to the sides to get an idea of every possible angle.

Use A Tripod

A tripod is one of the best camera accessories you can have, and really essential for travel photography. This will allow you to get excellent shots in low light, as well as take long exposures. Another good thing about using a tripod is that it will force you to slow down and put more thought into each shot. Rather than just pointing and shooting with your Canon EOS R3 Full Frame Mirrorless Camera, you’ll think carefully about where you want to set up your tripod from Beachcamera.com and how you want to compose your shot.

Be Unique

There’s nothing wrong with getting those iconic shots of the Eiffel Tower or Machu Picchu with your Fujifilm X-H2S Mirrorless Camera from Beachcamera.com. But don’t forget to be unique as well! Find a different perspective that hasn’t been photographed a million times. In fact, make it your goal to get a few unique shots that you can be proud of. Rules were meant to be broken as well. If you’re looking at a scene to photograph and have a crazy idea for some composition, then just go for it! Forget about the rule of thirds, place your subject directly in the center and see how it turns out.

Find Your Voice

Travel photography is such a broad term that can cover just about anything. Really just taking any photos of your travels will fit the description, whether it’s landscapes, architecture, portraits, food or whatever. What you need to do to really get passionate about travel photography is to find what you love the most and focus on it. If you really like black and white photography, then start shooting in black and white! Love taking images of crazy street markets? Then get out there and find them! You will grow much more as a photographer with a passion and direction than someone who just takes nice photos of the most photographed places on the planet.