3 Tips To Prepare For Your Best Travel Photography Ever!

Travel. Experiences. Moments.
Along our travels and during our experiences, we as photographers, whether hobby or professional, are afforded the opportunity with a single click of a shutter, to capture the raw essence of a moment. A moment rife with emotion, sentiment and grandeur. A moment that summarises a journey, a time. With one frame, one image, we capture a moment that lives on beyond that experience. One that tells a story of wonder and fulfilment. One that inspires and enthrals.
As we travel to these new destinations, experience various cultures and scenery, our ability to actually capture those moments relies almost entirely on preparation. Preparation is what many overlook, yet it provides the foundation of any photographic task and often determines our success before we’ve even reached our destination.
With this in focus, we’ll break down 3 tips to ensure you’re prepared to execute your best travel photography ever.
1. Research your Location.
With research being the premiere pillar of preparation, we’ll highlight crucial areas to kick start a seamless and smooth process.
-Restrcitions:
More often than not we’re venturing to an attraction or breathtaking, untouched landscape. Due to the significance it’ll hold in its region as a tourist hub, these destinations almost always come with some form of governance and regulation. By this I simply mean, ensure you research possible controlled entry times and whether or not you’ll have to pay a toll or fare for that right to enter, because the first step to getting that perfect photo is actually making it there. For example, most national parks in Australia that I’ve travelled to charge cash only entry tolls with no eftpos or credit facility at the point of sale. Be prepared, do your homework and research the times and tolls for your specific destination!
-Social Media


Today, anyone with a phone has the ability to create and upload content. Although this means the space is severely saturated, it also allows you to see your subject, your landscape, your destination, through the eyes and therefore the perspective of anyone who has ventured there before you. By far the most efficient method would be to make use of the search feature Instagram offers. Search your desired location or attraction via hashtags, geo-location or by otherwise finding a popular page from that region. In doing so you’ll quickly be inundated with hundreds if not thousands of angles, compositions, lighting and poses to set that creative fire alight, allowing a seamless transition to our next tip.
2. Plan Your Shots.
With what we’ve learnt from our research in step 1, times of entry and what photos have been taken there previously, it’s time to lay down a simple plan to ensure our vision is clear, and that we arrive at our destination with some form of structure to maximise the time we have at our disposal. While planning our shots we’ll focus our attention on 2 key areas, lighting and composition, which are both integral parts of any photo shoot.
-Lighting:
To evoke those emotive moments with the use of lighting we have to make the most of the tones we’re gifted as the sun rises and sets. During each, there is a window of opportunity called the “golden hour” where the light is neither too harsh or soft rather its just right. This golden hour will blanket our shots in beautiful golden tones that accentuate any landscape, attraction or subject. I do understand that we can’t make it to all of our desired destinations at these times, so in an effort to reduce over exposure, glare and lens flares, we’ll discuss a few tools in tip 3, that will come to your aid when shooting in a harsher lit environment.
-Composition:
Put simply, composition is how you frame your shot. Now that you’ve seen your destination through step 1, the next step is to ask yourself what shot you want and how you’ll frame it. Are you in awe of the landscape? Is there a structure that leaves you spell bound? Are you looking to have either yourself or someone else as part of the photo?
These are questions that cant be overlooked. If you’re capturing landscape only, then I suggest you stick to the law of ‘thirds’. Break your frame into thirds and fill each portion with a different subject, be it mountains, water, sky etc. When shooting structures or people we want to tell the tale of scale. We want to either have our subject occupying little of the frame, often from a distance to showcase the grand scale of their/its surroundings, or we otherwise have our subject occupying most of the frame to emphasise the magnitude, texture, architecture or emotion of our subject.
3. Decide What Equipment You’ll Need.
Having planned your shots and garnered a clear vision of what you hope to achieve whilst there, It’s time to decide what gear to take and why. Because it’s likely you wont be venturing back there anytime soon its important to get this right to ensure we get what we came for. Within this tip I’ll provide a break down of what basic tools are at your disposal and in what situations or circumstances they should be chosen.
-UV Filters
Used to reduce glare from surfaces. Perfect for shots whenever the sun is prevalent.
-Lens Hood
Provides the lens cover from the sun much like you would shield your face with your hand. Like UV filters this will be a must have accessory for shots during sunlight hours. Prevents lens flares, which unless you’re experienced with photoshop will be difficult to remove during the editing process.
-ND Filter
This filter reduces the amount of light allowed to pass through the lens, allowing us to leave the shutter open longer. When used, only stagnant objects/subjects will be caught in their entirety. This is called long exposure and is particularly helpful when photographing a location with a moving crowd or when shooting moving water. With the crowd it will only capture those who are still for the majority of the time your shutter is left open, meaning less clustering of people and more scenery. With water such as falls or currents it will give the glass like look synonymous with Instagram landscape photography.To be used with a tripod.
-Tripod
Important for long exposure and when combined with a remote, taking travel selfies either alone or with your companion. Before deciding on taking it, be clear on what you want. If your shots don’t require you to be removed from the camera, steadiness or long exposures then by all means leave it behind.
-Remote app
Most cameras have the ability to connect wirelessly to an app that allows you to both see your shot and fire the shutter from as much as 10m away. As this takes up no physical space Id recommend downloading the app specific to your camera before travelling. Used when paired with a tripod and or Nd filter. This allows us to forego countdown timers and the use of touchscreen for long exposures.
-Spares
Spare batteries and SD cards are a must, if you don’t have any, you should make an effort to do so, because in the world we now live in, if you cant prove it, it didn’t happen!
-Backpack
Purchasing a specialised camera bag that houses all your equipment aswell as provides padded support is essential to ensure we aren’t carrying more than we must and that our gear is somewhat protected from the bumps it’ll almost certainly take during the journey. Although over the shoulder camera bags are small and convenient, they often only have space for the camera, a lens and a few little extras, requiring us to carry a separate bag for anything else we’ll need. a specialised bag is especially useful for hikes, days where there is a lot planned or where more storage is needed.
-Lenses
At the very most choose only 2 lenses. One macro and one for the general landscape/ travel shots i.e. 35mm. If you aren’t shooting macro then decide on 1 lens that will help you achieve what it is you’re after and leave the others behind. This will free up space for other items that may be more of a necessity as well as reducing the amount of decision making and time lost changing lenses whilst there.
Conclusion.
Hopefully this basic breakdown comes of some use to any of my fellow creators out there looking to make their mark in this fast paced content driven world, by helping us streamline the process of travel photography and reducing the stress that comes with the unknown and unplanned. If you liked this post then subscribe to my channels below!!
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Au Revoir.
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