Traveling with a camera

A travelers photography kit.

Samuel Bradley

TIP 1

• The first and most important tip… get ready cause it really important… always BE READY! In a journey, everything is new and beautiful, unexpected sidings will be all around you!

LANDSCAPE

• 1. This is the one circumstance where being as low as you can is good. When taking a picture a landscape, for example a field, low angles will show off more the horizon, as well as the ground in comparison with the sky, giving more depth.

ANDDDD….

As well as the first tip, while your camera is low, its good to give a focal point in the ground, as well as in the sky. For example: This creates a sense of depth. Points of interest placed generally in the picture, giving a way into the image for the viewer.

In line!

• 2. When capturing a landscape, what’s usually really easy is for the eyes to get lost, as there are too many things to see (or not to see – and this shouldn't be a question.) Placing some kind of lines in your picture, will lead the eye into what you want others to notice, the most important thing in the picture. Makes it ‘easy to see’ as well as interesting.

Weird angles always work

Sun

• Some tips for capturing a journey under the sun:

• You should look AT the sun, you shouldn’t be in front of it, as the sun rays will make your image look more beautiful, highlighting contrast.

• In the middle of a sunny day, especially in the afternoon or morning, keep in mind shades created: that’s a nice way to capture a moment!

Night • Some photographers say that shooting in the night can give you one

of the best photos. For people that have a DSLR camera it may be easier as during the night the settings of the camera play quite a role. So you can use P or M modes, which allow you to control your settings. For example when you want the flowing movement of cars you use low shutter speed (e.g 3’’) and around 7 arpeture. To not have this effect so that your image is sharper use higher shutter speed.

ANNND…

• For all of you lot though, have in mind these quick tips:

• 1. Better use a tripod as a shaky camera will destroy the picture.

• 2. The flash is an enemy of many, but believe it or not in some cases it is useful like when you want to emphasize on something and there is simply not enough light, or when there are too many different lights distracting you.

PORTRAITS • What better way to capture your travel and it’s

character than capture the human presence in it? People from different cultures and backgrounds are many times what enhances your traveling experience and some times even shapes it. http://www.lifeartworks.com/bizarre-black-white-portraits/

Angles again • Twisting your camera point of view works everywhere.

Most portraits are taken with the camera at (or around) the eye level of the subject. While this is good common sense – completely changing the angle that you shoot from can give your portrait a real WOW factor. Get up high and shoot down on your subject or get as close to the ground as you can and shoot up. Either way you’ll be seeing your subject from an angle that is bound to create interest.

The golden rule.

• What’s considered by photographers as one of the 3 golden rules in photography is placing your subject of interest in approximately 1/3 of your picture. It doesn’t have to be the subject itself but in general where you want the point of interest to be.

Black and white

• As you have noticed most of our examples of portraits we have given are in black and white. Although from our part this is just pure chance, in general black and white is considered the mother of portraits, as it can help create lots of things such as sharpness, contrast, simplicity, elegance, but as well as give an good old classy feeling. And on top of all that, this is Maria’s favorite technique (;

CONTRAST

• Contrast emphasizes the characteristics of a face and gives the impression of a capturing character. A lot of things can help you create contrast, like shinning the light source at one side of the face, creating shadows at the other part.

Capturing the story

• Alternatively you could have your subject looking at something (or someone) within the frame. A child looking at a ball, a woman looking at her new baby, a man looking hungrily at a big plate of pasta…. When you give your subject something to look at that is inside the frame you create a second point of interest and a relationship between it and your primary subject. It also helps create ‘story’ within the image.

Capture the character

• The most important above all these guides we suggested you, you must adjust your photography to shape the subjects character, and what part of him/her you want to show. Be creative and insightful. The most successful pictures are those that give in a raw form the personality and characteristics of the persona.

Sepia • Lets pay tribute for a moment to other types of filters, like for

example sepia. Sepia can very effectively bring out a nostalgic and smooth feeling that no other filter can. It smoothens the photograph and gives the impression of an ‘old’ picture.

Essence of traveling

• Lets get back to the point.

• Traveling.

• In traveling you need to make your journey your own. A picture is just a picture. You may take a photo taken by a 1000 other people. But this is your travel. This is your journey. This is your memory. So make it like one. Add your personal touch, yourself in the process of the journey, as all of the journeys you have taken are part of you. You haven’t really taken a journey unless you made it your own.

Tom Robbinson

May your everyday become a travel.

THANK YOU (: