Travel is a niche that is very highly saturated now, both in travel photography and writing. There are so many people documenting their travels and adventures – how do you make your travel photos stand out from the rest?
I studied photography in college and university, and it’s a passion that I’ve always marked as important when seeing new places. Here are some travel photography tips that I’ve learnt across my travels and research.
Try Different Angles
We see a lot of the same places or subjects from the same angles. That popular image is generally so ingrained in our minds, it’s all we can think when we come to take the photograph ourselves. It means you see a lot of the same thing and with photos on Instagram especially. Find a new perspective for your travel photography.
I like to take photos from a lower perspective, which can help to show how big or grand something is. In the photo above, I’m stood on a wall but I’ve taken the photo at a pretty low angle. The sky looks vast, and the cliffs draw attention.
Different angles are a good way to make your photo of a really popular tourist attraction stand out. Have a look at what people are posting, and see if you can do it differently. You don’t want that same shot, blending in with everything else.
Use Your Foreground
Sometimes the foreground can add a lot of interest to an otherwise quite simple photo, even if said foreground doesn’t feel photo-worthy. It gives the eye something to follow, working like leading lines towards the main subject matter.
Play With Focus
Something in your foreground can help to frame your subject matter perfectly. Think leaves, fences, people – anything you can blur out a little to add some interest.
As in the above photos, that orange rail on the boat isn’t the prettiest, but framing the Statue of Liberty in the distance gives it a new perspective. Same with the binoculars on the Top of the Rock viewing point. Alone they are pretty boring, but they do add detail to the view behind, giving a bit of context to the shot. You can create this kind of shot using almost anything.
Show Your Hands
Holding out something can add a bit more of a personal touch. Whilst this is quite a popular photo style, you can easily make it your own with whatever you choose to hold out or show and of course, the background you choose definitely matters.
I find that food generally does pretty well for these kinds of photos, because everyone loves to see something tasty. If you have an interesting subject (like this random green bird that was handed to me in Barcelona) you may be onto a winner.
Stop Avoiding Tourists
Having tourists in your photos is not necessarily a bad thing. Whilst you might want a clear shot of whatever you are photographing, showing tourists can also help to tell a story.
Is this a super busy tourist hotspot? Do people come here for a specific reason? Is there a trend? Does your photograph reflect all that?
An example of this, I’d seen that iconic shot of the Manhattan Bridge at DUMBO so many times on Instagram. These photos usually showed an empty street, the person smiling at the camera. When I turned up, it was rammed with people, all trying to get that shot, of course. I didn’t expect it to be empty (I didn’t, and wouldn’t, get up ridiculously early to get that empty shot) however I was surprised by just how busy it was.
Take A Wide Shot
Sometimes you just need to take a step back and get everything in shot. Wide photos really help to give a sense of space. To really see the views of a place. I find that they work the best when there is a clear focus of something in the shot. For example, the photo on the right below probably wouldn’t look as interesting if it was just a shot of the land and didn’t have the boat there too.
GoPros are great for these shots, especially in water and when you’re travelling as they don’t take up much space. Most newer smartphones also now have a super wide camera option too though, and I use this feature a lot.
Get In Shot
Sometimes, all it takes is a person stood in shot to add a bit of personality to it. Whether it is yourself or someone you’re travelling with, having that person in there allows people to imagine themselves there. You don’t even need to be making eye contact with the camera.
It’s always nice to see people actually experiencing their travels, to see what they are doing first hand. This is one I’m hoping to work on, as I’m always behind the camera and not showing myself experiencing things. It brings a much more personalised view of your travels.
What are your travel photography tips?
