Travel Photography
Travel Photography: Melbourne Camera Club Introduction to Photography Course
Copyright (c) 2001, 2004 by Christopher Jones. All Rights Reserved.
24 February 2004
1. Introduction: Why not just collect postcards?
Why take travel photos? Is it fun to take them, or fun to show them? What are you going to do with them?
A camera gives you power to capture things. It lets you sit back and watch the action. A camera means you can be anonymous and do not have to take part in the action. But it gives you an excuse to be near that action. You can have "all care and no responsibility". And then you can return from the trip, flop an album open on a friend’s coffee table and say "Isn't this a great photo. Wasn't it beautifully sunny?"
Before you travel, think about why you are taking photos and what you will do with the images. The answers impact your trip's photo "budget" - how much film you will shoot and how much time you will spend shooting it. And both of these directly affect your enjoyment of the trip.
What is travel? Travel is the act of you moving your butt off that sofa and looking outside the window. And travel photography is doing it with a camera in your hands. Every time we pick up a camera and look around, we are travelling, even in our own backyards. Travel photography covers nature, still life, portraits, and action all occurring twenty-four hours of each day.
2. Equipment: My bag's too heavy.
Let us get the gadget talk out of the way. Gear for travel photography is not much different from any other kind of photography. You only need three things: a camera, some film and spare batteries. Depending on your style of photography (or possibly weight allowance) consider a fourth gadget: a tripod.
In reality most of us do not use tripods enough. They are heavy, slow and embarrassing. They slow you down, but sometimes this is not a bad thing. Maybe it is bad (though not always!) in a busy street market, but for other photographs the act of setting up the tripod makes you look at the scene and say "Is this really worth it?” You look critically at the light quality and the scene. And when the tripod is set up you get to look through the viewfinder and pause to judge whether you should adjust your composition a little. This enforced slow-down improves your images. The images will be sharper too. Do not buy an expensive lens: buy an expensive tripod. Shaky tripods are not worth much.
The kind of camera you take and lenses you need should not be an issue. Take what you own now. If you ask, "Should I take the 24-85 mm zoom or the 100-300mm zoom" then my answer take what you personally (not me) want and need. If you are totally unsure, the typical standard, modern zoom lens is fine for city travel: a zoom of 28-80mm or 35-70mm is great.
Put a UV filter permanently on the lens and maybe a lens shade. They stop your lens banging into things as you walk around and stop you putting your sweaty fingers on the glass when you grab the camera.
A flash can be useful in dark interiors, and for contrasty close-ups on sunny days to put light into darkly shaded areas.
If you own any, take some effects filters. A Polarizer filter can be useful to reduce reflections and make colours stand out better. For example they can help reduce the myriad of reflections from shiny leaves that make a picture seems "washed out", and they can reduce the reflections from city windows. With black-and-white film a yellow filter could be useful to increase contrast, for example making white clouds stand out against a blue sky.
Specific gadgets may be needed for some trips. You may want to get a disposable underwater camera for snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, or need a long telephoto lens for bird photography.
Perhaps take some tissue cloth. Also moisture can be a problem in some common destinations like tropical Queensland or rainy Europe. Use silica gel packets that you get in electrical equipment boxes or with new shoes. Better still if you have space buy the moisture absorbers called "Closet-camels" from the supermarket.
One really useful gadget is a second camera, such as a point-and-shoot or a disposable. This is not just a backup. A small camera lets you shoot in a different style to an SLR. You may end up using it in bad weather, or at a beach where you do not want to take a "good" camera. There is also a freeing psychological effect that a "cheap" camera has and you might find you take some inventive photos.
Try to make your camera bag look cheap and nasty. A cheap sports bag is less obtrusive and less likely to get stolen than an expensive camera bag. Keep your eye on it, keep it close to you.
The issue of film looms. There are so many kinds of film out there. Sometimes the differences are very subtle. I am not sure I can satisfactorily answer questions "What film should I use in the Antarctic", or "Does Brand X have better skin tones than Brand Y". If you have not already settled on a film or two, then take a medium speed print film, e.g. 400 speed print film of one of the major brands. You may consider taking one or two rolls of fast film, e.g. rated at 1600 or 3200 in case you want to shoot in low light situations.
Buying film overseas is often supposed to be a problem. Yes, it can be difficult to find the brand of special film you want. But buying films is also a problem in Australia too. Your choice of films becomes limited in outer suburbs and remote country towns. Prices go up too.
It is good to keep film cool. It will last longer before the colours it records start shifting along the spectrum giving unpredictable results. Sometimes it is not possible to keep it cool, so do not stress.
Because strong X-rays are used on suitcases, avoid putting film in baggage that will go into the cargo hold of an airplane. Take it in carry-on luggage. Ask if you can get film hand inspected instead of passing it through the hand luggage scanners. Maybe you will need to take all the film out of the canisters to get this done.
Taking film out of canisters can significantly reduce the size of your gear. But you need some way to prevent dust and grit getting onto the films. And you have to work out some way to stop the canisters getting squashed and letting in light through the felt.
Buying film or a camera duty or tax-free may or may not be worth it. Compare prices locally and overseas. You really do need to test your camera and get used to it before you go.
One final piece of the equipment you pay for is the machine that processes your film. Find a good lab and stick with it. You can find good labs in big cities all over the world, so you might have to make a choice between carrying films back and carrying or mailing heavy prints. If you do have films developed while you are away, you can confirm your camera is working, and check your composition. You often find you have not properly photographed something you liked.
Insure your gear. Check that your house insurance covers you even taking the camera out of your house. Photographic gear is often listed with separate exclusions. Check the limits and find out if lenses and bodies are covered as separate items. Check the per item limit. For overseas travel check your travel insurance.
If you are not sure what gear to take on a trip, then practice. Load up a daypack and stroll around town. It gets heavy! What focal length lenses did you use? Maybe that 300mm telephoto lens did not include enough of the cramped city street scene and it was too dark to be handheld in the shadows of the sky scrapers.
If you are still unsure of your gear requirements, take less than you think you need, not more. Travelling light is always less tiring. You have fewer choices to make and can make them faster. The right equipment for the occasion is the equipment you have with you at the time.
In summary all need to know about equipment is: take a camera with a UV filter and lens hood, some spare batteries, some film, put it in a padded bag, insure it, fasten your seat belt, and sit back and relax.
3. Photo Budget: What!! How much??
A photo "budget" is not just the number of rolls of film you can afford. An important part of the photo budget is deciding the amount of time during your trip that you will spend taking pictures.
Serious photography takes time and can be stressful. It requires concentration to look at a scene and make a good picture from it. As you travel you are always alert for interesting activity, watchful for the right moment. To reduce this stress, allocate separate times for snap shots and for fine photographs. When you have used up your serious photo "budget", put the good camera away and take out your point-and-shoot to record some quick trip memories.
If you find yourself taking most photos with the point-and-shoot, ask why? Is it easier, lighter, less obtrusive? Are you taking fun photos at inventive angles? There is nothing wrong with any reason, as long as you are happy with the results when you get home. With your snap shots try and satisfy all the basic rules about composition, but do not worry if they are not "postcard perfect".
Most of us want to have a good trip and to return with some nice photos. Our "fun" budget exceeds our "photo" budget. Understanding and exploring a place is of primary importance. While we are exploring we take whatever photos we see.
4. Before You Go: What exactly am I getting into?
To begin to understand a culture or city do some research before you go. Hard facts are just a beginning. What times are sunrise and sunset? What is the weather going to be like? Is it sunny but with tropical storms every afternoon? Is the light soft like Europe, or harsh like Australia? You might want different films for each.
Sometimes you can pre-plan where to be to get the best photos. If you are in a bus driving down the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne sit on the left hand side, close to the ocean. If you do not know which side of the bus is best try the shady side. It may help snapshots through the window because you are not shooting into the sun, and it certainly is cooler in hot countries!
For special events you can often get information from the organizers that helps you choose where to be and when. If you know the route of a parade, you can get a good position for when it passes. Being in the right place at the right time can improve your photo success rate. Information packs may tell you names of performers and some background about them.
Understanding the history and culture of a place is harder than finding buildings or big rocks you want to photograph, but it will take your photography to the next level. Prepare for your next trip by reading the history and current affairs of your destination. Can you capture the essence of a culture in your photographs? Do you understand the religious meaning of the symbol on the ancient wall you photographed in India? What is its lingering impact on the life of the child standing in front of it? It is often said that you should not study photography, but should study the things you want to photograph.
When you have a deeper insight into the subjects of your photographs, instead of flopping your album open and saying "Isn't it pretty" you can build a whole story around a single picture. You can set the picture in context and express something about the country. And it is still a pretty picture.
On many trips you can find recurrent themes. These might be visual oddities like the endless variety of koala poses on Australian road signs, or social themes such as clean drinking water in India.
Make a decision about the good and bad sides of life. Are you photographing beauty or trash? Putting your own feelings onto other societies is easy. Travelling to any nation and photographing poverty takes little skill. The contrast between your world and their world makes squalor an easy target. But can you find that there is a whole class of people going about middle-class life: work, school, family meals, for which the poverty is just a part of the social fabric? Maybe you should be photographing their reactions to their country, not just your reactions?
Be prepared to alter your plans, as new ideas or sights occur. Despite your pre-planning, you will learn and see new things - otherwise why leave home?
5. Destination: Are we there yet?
When you get to your destination start taking photographs. Lots of them! Capture every aspect of the town's architecture, people, food and passions. Not all photos have to be serious and follow themes. Take lots of detail.
Ask people you meet what they like about their hometown. Maybe they will say something surprising, which gives you a challenge to photograph. Maybe they will give you a location to visit. Maybe you can take their portrait.
Look at postcards and tourist brouchures. Where were they taken from? What time of day?. This will help you see patterns and themes.
If you ever pass something and think "Oh that looks nice" or "Isn't that funny" stop and photograph it. Learn to recognize your half-interest and pause to explore the subject. You will not see anything better later.
Use all your photographic skills to capture what you see. Put some variety into your images. If you have a zoom, use the whole range. Take some photos with the wide angle (make sure you include something in the foreground), and use the telephoto end to crop closely into a subject and see detail. Try not to take all your photos when standing up.
You have to put up with whatever weather conditions are thrown at you when you travel. Rarely can you change your schedule just because you want to photograph something at a different time. Make the most of bad weather and take some moody scenics. Or spend the time indoors talking to people, getting to understand them. Then photograph them. Protect your gear in bad weather; but remember if it is packed away you cannot take photos. Perhaps you can use the point-and-shoot instead? For some reason they seem to have better weather protection than SLRs.
Because you often do not have the time to wait for perfect light, or cannot speak French to get the lights turned on in the Louvre museum, flash comes in handy. Well, maybe not in the Louvre - flash is not allowed. But there are often times indoors or in low light where flash will get you a picture. In bright sunlight, fill flash is a very useful technique. Especially for portraits it can reduce the hard shadows in eye sockets and under noses.
6. Express Emotion: I feel X because I see Y.
This is the most important part of the lesson.
Sometimes it is hard to express your feelings about what you see. But understanding your emotions is a critical step to being able to express them in a photograph. Be positive and not timid about your feelings when you take the photos. You can always burn the pictures later.
It helps to:
Think of one descriptive word for each situation: The word might be fragile, comfortable or powerful.
Work out visually what makes you think of that word. Is it the gentle colours of a flower that look fragile? Is it because the cat is sleeping that makes it look comfortable? There may be more than one visual clue for each adjective. Is it the repetitive marching flow of business-suited people down the steps of a city office that looks like a powerful machine?
Photograph these components, including only as many as you feel is necessary in each photograph. For example use blur to photograph the pattern and motion of office workers. Make the photo sharp enough so you can see they are all wearing similar suits. Use a diagonal composition as they come down the steps to make the image dynamic. No need to include the office in the background.
To practice these steps, solve this sentence for X and Y:
"I feel X because I see Y".
For example, "I feel angry because I see a dead kangaroo killed by a truck". If this is your sentence then you might photograph the kangaroo and an uncaring, speeding truck. If you said "I feel upset because I see a dead kangaroo next to a beautiful forest where it should be living" then you might photograph the beauty of the landscape with the dead kangaroo in the foreground, reminding us that nature is precious. These feelings are individual and lead to different, personal photographs. As a photographer you do not say “Urghhhh a dead, smelly animal” and run away. Instead you capture your emotion on film and try to make the world a better place by sharing your experiences.
Thinking of just one descriptive word is often hard in totally unfamiliar surrounds where so much is new. Avoid the temptation to always use a wide-angle lens to get everything into a photograph. Try to simplify the image. Choose only the visual elements needed and then choose the zoom length to capture them. Remember the saying: "less is more".
Thinking of any adjective is hard in a familiar place. This is a challenge for you.
With practice you will find yourself responding to a scene automatically. The visual elements will be obvious and your photographs will have a personal style. Composing the image and capturing the mood then becomes the hard part.
Some moods require a special effect. What about tearing a hole in a piece of tissue and putting it over the lens? You get a nice soft picture, perhaps perfect for flowers. Do inverted triangular shapes lead to a perception of instability? Can you hide a messy background by using a small depth of field? Will the image be better if you move a little so a telegraph pole does not sprout from someone's head? Do you need to wait for a person to walk closer? Always look around the frame to see what is unnecessary and what is necessary.
7. Decisive Moment: Hurry up and wait
Here is the second most important part of the lesson.
Have you ever noticed that sometimes travel is just a series of "hurry up and wait" episodes? You rush to make the bus and then it leaves late. Photography is sometimes like that too. You have to be in the right position early, just to wait for the right moment to take the photograph.
Even if you are photographing something stationary, often it is small or related objects elsewhere in the photo that make the difference between an ordinary and an interesting photograph. A picture of a carved wall can look better if there is a piece of art in the foreground or there is person near by. These are compositional elements. Often these elements are not stationary. Sometimes the photograph has nothing but moving elements.
Earlier I mentioned how a tripod slows you down but can make your photographs better. The converse is the need to be able to quickly recognize the potential of a scene, decide what the points of interest are, decide where the points should be placed in the view finder, and take the photograph before they move, or your bus moves, or the clouds move.
When you are prowling for photographs always have the camera ready, not in your bag. If someone is cycling towards you with a grand piano on the back of their bike, you will not have time to open your bag, pull out your camera from under your sweater, water bottle, and souvenir Tower of Pisa, and take a picture before the piano is unloaded and up three flights of stairs. And if you do get the camera to your eye fast enough, you will find the lens cap is on.
One famous photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, introduced the idea of the "decisive moment". This is not so much a concept of time but is an expression of arrangement, when all the elements of a photograph: lighting, form, organization and emotion all work together to form the perfect image.
Photographing a decisive moment often requires predicting the motion of moving elements and judging when to take the photograph. It also requires patience. You might need to wait for the light to be shining along an alley at the same time that a cat crosses it. This is where a photo budget is required for travel photography. How long are you prepared to wait?
Practice seeing decisive moments using a video recorder and the pause button on the remote control. Did you get the ball being thrown? Is the speaker's mouth too far open? Is the car that just came into the picture balanced with the dog that came out of the house door just before the dormant volcano unexpectedly erupted?
The bottom line is to pre-visualize what the final image will be like. Predict where you want the objects to be in your photograph, and then wait until they are there.
8. Candid vs. Posed: Say Cheese!
Including people in photographs adds interest, motion and expression. People in a picture show the size of other objects. People make a place what it is. But photographing them is hard.
There are four techniques used to photograph people you meet.
The first is to use a long telephoto lens and stand a long, long, way away. You generally want your subject to be unconcerned and not self-conscious by your presence. Standing where you can not be seen certainly helps. Doing it for every photograph restricts the variety of photographic composition though. Passing traffic easily blocks your view. The lens may also be hard to hold steady in low light.
The second method is to stand close to the subject and shoot from the hip, perhaps while looking in another direction. This is pretty random and has a low success rate. If you do not look through the viewfinder none of the compositional elements (lines, shapes, and colours) can be chosen. Using a wider-angle lens may give you more confidence you did not photograph only half a person. The resulting picture can later be cropped making the person the focal point and levelling any slanted horizon.
The third method is to put the camera to the eye, frame it and shoot very quickly – at the decisive moment.
When waiting for that moment try not to look suspicious. In a big city being dressed like a tourist sometimes helps. It gives you a reason to be watching. A small group may draw less attention than a single person. But friends need to be "camera trained” so as not to block your shots!
Magicians have a related art: misdirection. They manage to get the audience to look at the wrong hand while doing a trick. One technique for misdirection works because people follow the magician’s gaze and look at what she or he is looking at. For a candid photographer this means not looking directly at what you are going to photograph and not fiddling with your camera. Playing with the settings draws attention to you and sets alarm bells ringing.
If you are going to shoot candid photographs close to a person it does help to know what angle of view each lens or focal length will have. This lets you get in position before you even touch the camera.
Once you have taken the photograph move on.
These three methods have problems. There is a disconnect between the subject and the photographer. They give photographs that are frozen moments from an outside view. The people are not sharing their story. There is no eye contact. The whole idea of candid photography is a little sneaky and messy. The subject probably heard your camera click or saw that your finger press the button. They know you took a photograph. No matter how sweetly and honestly you took it, they may be confused and upset.
This leads into the fourth method: Be forthright and ask. It can be hard at first, but practice helps and your photographs will be better. You do not have to be discrete about your clothes. You can dress up with style and charm to amuse the subject and give them confidence in you.
Be prepared to answer the question "Why?" It is not enough to say "Because I want to. Because you look good." The person may probably also want to know what you are doing with the photograph. People all over the world are very image aware. For these hard questions try (honest) answers like "Because I am documenting Melbourne shops", or "I am doing a school project on shopping". Your answer may come from your “Y” elements in your "I feel X because I see Y" statement. For example if your original sentence was "I feel stressed because I see everyone rushing out of the shop with white shopping bags" then your answer would be along the lines of “I can see everyone has white shopping bags and I want to show my family back home how they are used”.
Be prepared to pay a little money for portraits - even in Australia. Sometimes this is asked for up front, sometimes afterwards. Make it part of your photo budget.
Before you ask, be prepared with your technical act. Know where you will stand, what focal length to use, and how you might pose the person. Take the lens cap off too.
Sometimes even when you get permission you have to spend time with the subject to make them relax. Friendly communication is essential. If you ask them about themselves, where do they come from, what do they like about the town, or participate in their actions, they gain a little time to relax and you can build their trust. Never, ever abuse this trust. One useful item to share is a small pocket photo album of your best pictures. This gives you something to talk about and break the ice, and it shows them you are a serious photographer.
When you are taking a person’s photograph you can ask them to look in a certain direction, lift their chin, or say "Cheese". You have the camera and it gives you power, making you temporarily in control. Take more than one frame of the person. It gives you some insurance against film problems, or eye blinks.
If you have offered to send the person copies of photographs, then write their address down carefully and make sure you send them.
In some countries it is easier to take people’s photographs than in others. Your race, age, gender and clothes may work for or against you with some of the techniques. You may find yourself doing all or only a couple of the four methods. Go with the flow. Taking only a few great photographs is better than taking a lot of average photographs.
9. Respect: The one that got away.
If your request to photograph someone is rejected, then smile and be friendly. Allow the person to feel dignified in their decision and not defensive against your angry attitude. Photography is not just about you - as photographer - and the photograph. It is about the relationship of you and the subject.
Copyright and privacy laws vary between countries. Try not to join the paparazzi.
Some more private or busy areas such as museums restrict photography. Be fair with obeying "no photography" signs. They are there for a reason. Remember that a single camera flash can degrade ancient fabrics or paper as much as if they had been exposed to the sun for many years.
Sometimes the regulations are a little confusing. The Taj Mahal has some restrictions which are blatantly flouted and do not seem to be enforced. At the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne the dressed-up guards will pose for photos with you, but will remind anyone more serious that images of the Shrine are copyright.
There are cultural issues with photography everywhere in the world. In Australia it is often said that Aboriginals find it distasteful for people's photographs to be shown after death. This is not always true; we are a land of many cultures. In Kakadu, it is the names of the deceased that are not mentioned during a period of mourning which may last several years. Information displays at the Visitors’ Centre have portraits displayed but the person’s name in the caption covered up. Before you travel find out the specific cultural issues you will have to work within.
Photography is like fishing: there is always "one that got away" (and if only you had better equipment!) But just like fishing you do not actually have to catch anything. It is nice if it happens, but really all you have to do is relax and be there.
10. Editing: I don't know why I took this.
Other than labelling photos - which is very important to do with dates, names and any other information you have - editing is the hardest part of a trip.
The beauty of still photography is that you can say so much with so little. There is no need to show every photograph to make your points about a destination or journey. You need to view your collection like a minimalist. There is more subtlety to choosing your best photos than throwing away the pictures of the inside of the lens cap. Throw away bad ones so you do not waste time labelling or showing them. Your audience will appreciate your album more because each image is better. In practice, depending on how many photographs you took and how good you are, you may end up keeping just one photograph per roll of film.
Different images may suit different audiences. For yourself snapshots are wonderful reminders about people and events. Your friends may not want to see each and every dinner you had. Put in just enough to give an overview of the trip. People will think you are a great photographer if you show only your very best photos. Leave your audience wanting more.
Try and view your albums with detachment. The best order for the images may not be their order of exposure. Maybe you want to express some points about the journey using your planned themes. As part of the editing process you may identify some subtle relationships between images and perhaps even find previously unseen themes.
Also you can learn a lot from the photographs that you leave out. What did not work in them?
Remember that presentation is 80% of the work in impressing people. Choose a pretty album and give your photographs room to stand out on the pages.
11. Summary: In a few, brief words . . .
Pack a small camera bag, do your research and set your photo budget. When you arrive with themes in mind, say "I feel X because I see Y". Then hurry up and wait. Have respect and do not worry about the one that got away.
posted by Chris Jones at 10:07 PM
