How to Make Your Travel Photography Your Own

How do we capture images that are really our images and turn them into a fascinating travel show?

Plan your travel slideshow in advance.

Have a list of subjects that you can capture to use as ingredients or building blocks—not your standard travel images. A list helps you to see so much more on your travels, such as markets, artists, buskers, shop windows, early mornings, and even reflections.

Reflections

Reflections can be fascinating and will add a whole new dimension to your travel show.

swans

water reflection

Perspective

If you would like different images just get up higher.

high view point

You will have a whole different (and unusual) viewpoint.

Make the effort and you will be rewarded!

Time of Day

Take the time to be out and about as daylight fades. You will capture delightfully different images.

Even the most well-known sights adopt a new perspective in the darkening light.

travel photography style

bridge at night

As you’re wandering around, keep your eyes open for interesting snippets of life that make for unusual images. This can be very useful in adding extra interest to your travel show. Looking for slices of life such as these has the added bonus that you will see far more of your surroundings than non-photographers!

cemetery cat

The Cemetery Cat

Color

And then, of course, we have the wonderful world of color. Color can be used in so many different ways to add interest to your travel show—to change a pretty standard image.

using color in photography

color in travel photos

In the ice and snow of the Rockies, color is dramatic.

close up travel photo

Perhaps a close-up for even more impact?

colorful beach photo

Color adds to a beach scene.

ferris wheel

Always look for something different.

With all of these different image types as ingredients, you are building up your planned travel show. You have your basic recipe, and as you travel around you’re adding to your stocks and making it more interesting.

As a major bonus, you should also be having more photographic fun and seeing far more of the places you’re visiting. And don’t forget to look out for the details.

About the Author:
Roger Lee is a Johannesburg based photographer who runs a one day course based on “we don’t want to drown in detail, we just want to know how to use our cameras and enjoy ourselves!” He also does an ebook version of his course.

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