Travel Photography - Ten
Steps to Heaven
By: Simon Kirwan
 So you’ve finally got round to it – you’re off on
that trip of a lifetime, trekking to Everest Base
Camp, hiking the Inca Trail to Macchu Piccu,
backpacking to India or overlanding across Africa.
Naturally enough, you expect to produce a fabulous
photographic record of the trip, that will have
Lonely Planet and The Rough Guide beating a path to
your tent, pleading to publish your images that
capture the essence of world travel. After all, if
you’re going to places like Asia, Africa and South
America, you can’t fail, right?
Well, realistically, you’re not likely to interest
the major travel publishers in your photographs.
Lonely Planet have their own picture library,
containing over 500,000 - that’s half a million –
images already, and they only accept new submissions
of 500, so unless time and budget are unlimited,
your photographs will be a personal collection, that
can be published to the world on your web site. But
with a little forethought and preparation, the
pictures you bring back will be far more than a
record of the trip.
Here’s the 10 step plan to perfect travel
photographs:
Step 1: Research - Read the guide books. Find
out what are the main attractions and
photo-opportunities, but be aware of other
possibilities that will arise when you’re out there.
If you buy a new camera for the trip, familiarise
yourself with its operation thoroughly before you
leave.
Step 2: Prioritise - in the context of the
trip, how important is the photography? On a
lightweight backpacking trip, you’re probably
carrying minimal gear, so a compact camera, plenty
of film, and spare batteries are all you’ll want to
carry, but this will limit the type of pictures
you’re likely to take to a record of the trip, which
can make great photo-journals or travelogues. If you
expect to return home with stunning shots which
capture the essence of your travels, then you’re
going to need more gear, maybe even a back-up camera
in case anything goes wrong.
 Step 3: Gear – you’re going to need a good
quality digital compact, or preferably SLR with zoom
lens to produce more than snapshots. Memory cards
are easy to carry, so take plenty, and relatively
inexpensive if bought before you leave. Cameras need
batteries, so take spares. You can guarantee they
will fail at the most inconvenient point of your
journey – mine packed in at a village halfway up
Mount Meru in Tanzania (yes, I did have spares).
Other useful items include ziplock bags to keep out
dust, and silica gel or uncooked rice to avoid
problems caused by condensation if conditions are
very humid. A UV filter is always useful, both to
remove unwanted ultra-violet radiation, and to
protect the lens. Talking of radiation brings us to
airport X-ray machines – are they harmful to digital
cameras and memory cards or not?
Step 4: X Rays - there is no evidence that
airport X-ray machines have any adverse effect on
digital camera or memory cards. In the case of film,
there was a possibility that some older machines, or
the more powerful equipment used for scanning hold
baggage, could theoretically cause a fogging effect
on the light-sensitive emulsion, but in many years
of travel, including to Africa and Asia, I never had
a problem. Digital memory cards can be happily
scanned without any worries, and you should always
carry your camera bag into the aircraft cabin to
avoid the possibility of accidental damage caused by
careless baggage handling.
If you are carrying very new equipment into a
country like Japan, it is wise to carry
documentation to prove you bought it prior to
arrival in that country, or the customs inspectors
at your return airport may think you are importing
new gear, and hit you with import duty.
Professionals have to make out a carnet listing
every piece of equipment to avoid this problem.
Step 5: Safety & security - keep the cameras
and memory cards out of the sun as much as possible,
and in sealed ziplock bags if it is dusty or humid.
Many cameras will not work in very cold conditions,
so keep them inside your clothing, where body heat
will stop them freezing up. Taking very cold cameras
into a warm humid atmosphere will cause condensation
to form on the glass surfaces of the lens elements,
and also inside on metal and electrical contacts, so
this should be avoided also.
Robust camera cases like Oyster or Lowe Pro offer
the best from protection from knocks, and are less
distinctive than conventional camera cases. It’s a
fact of life that the value of your camera gear
represents the equivalent of about a year’s wages in
third-world countries, so it’s not a good idea to
wave them around too much – in places like Nairobi,
or Nairobbery as it’s usually called, unwary western
tourists are regularly mugged for a pair of trainers
or less.
Step 6: Don’t be over-ambitious - be
realistic about what you can achieve. Travelling
through different places means you’re on the move,
with little time or opportunities to wait for the
light to improve, or return at a different time of
day to get the shot. Quite often, you have to get
what you can while you can, and if conditions are
not ideal, if the weather is poor, if it’s the wrong
time of day when you happen to be there, then you
just won’t be able to replicate that famous picture
you’ve seen of this exact place. But sometimes
you’re lucky, and everything falls into place just
when you need it to – so make sure your camera is
locked and loaded, accessible in your gear, and
ready for action at a moment’s notice.
 Step 7: People Not Places – pictures with
people invariably work better than empty views, but
make sure you ask permission first. Don’t just stick
your camera in someone’s face and click away. It’s
rude, and they won’t thank you for treating them
like zoo exhibits. In some countries, people can
react quite aggressively if they spot western
tourists pointing cameras in their direction. Far
better to speak to them first, and interact – once
the ice is broken, people react naturally, and you
will get better images as a result.
It’s not unusual nowadays for some tribespeople,
like the Masai in East Africa, to have recognised
the commercial value of their appearance, and to
demand payment for being photographed. Some tourists
deplore this, but it does not seem unreasonable to
be asked to pay a few cents to an impoverished
African who will have a starring role in your travel
memoir. Digital cameras are great ice-breakers for
showing people the pictures immediately, and
professional travel photographers often carry a
Polaroid camera to give out instant prints to the
people they photograph. Real people in real
situations invariably make better pictures than
staged tourist events.
Step 8: Think about the Image – don’t just
point and click, remember to think about the image.
Consider the viewpoint, and try to get unusual
angles of famous tourist sights rather than
reproducing the standard view that every other
tourist is busily snapping away at. Try to get as
close as possible to the subject, and fill the
frame. Simplify the composition by eliminating
extraneous information. Don’t forget to shoot
close-ups as well as general views – often, the
details will tell you as much about a place as the
big picture.
Step 9: Remember The Plane-Spotters –
sometimes you have to put the camera away. Remember
the case of the plane-spotters in Greece? In most
foreign countries, even in Western Europe, it’s
simply forbidden to take photographs of military
installations and personnel, the police and security
forces, and even government buildings. If you
disregard this, as the plane-spotters discovered to
their cost, you face the very real prospect of
arrest and imprisonment, or at the very least
confiscation of your camera, and a very unpleasant
experience to remember.
 Step 10: Get Involved – the best pictures are
produced when you immerse yourself in the places you
visit. Spend some time engaging with local people,
taking part in normal life, and try to capture the
essence of a place photographically. When you get
back, your pictures will form an indelible record of
your trip of a lifetime – who knows, you may even
interest Lonely Planet!
Simon Kirwan is a photographer with a passion for
the outdoors. He spends as much time as possible
visiting the mountains and wild places of Britain
and the world. After visiting Nepal and
photographing the Himalayas in 1999, Simon was named
'Observer Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2000'. He
has since traveled overland across East Africa
visiting Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi,
Mozambique and Zimbabwe; in addition, he has
photographed the mountain ranges of Europe including
the Spanish Pyrenees, the French and Italian Alps,
and the Polish Tatras.
Despite his love of travel and the excitement of
visiting new destinations, Simon is equally happy to
wander the hills and mountains of Britain's
countryside, especially Snowdonia, the Peak District
and the Lake District where he can indulge his love
of mountain walking and scrambling as well as
photographing the ever-changing landscape.
Aerial Photography by Simon Kirwan
Travel Photography by Simon Kirwan
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