10 Travel Photography Tips to Capture Great Photos

by Alex W.

Photography is an art that can’t always be learned from an institute or books, but rather it comes from inside. Photography is a passion.

When it comes to travel photography, it is different from street photography or any other genre in many ways. The more experienced you become in travel photography, the more tricks you will get to know.

Remember, one perfectly timed click of the shutter can be worth more than millions of ordinary clicks.

Here are some travel photography tips for you that will add a great value in your skills:

Keep Your Kit Prepared

Your travel kit must be ready all the time and it should contain all the basic equipment. For example, camera, spare memory card, camera manual, lens, battery, microfiber cloth, and DSLR Stabilizer.

This way, you will be ready to go for the trip anytime. It would be great if you can keep a travel light in your camera kit as well. Having these important pieces of kit make sit much easier to be able to capture that beautiful scene on your journey.

Double check your camera bag and make sure that you are carrying all the essential accessories with you.

Choose the Right Lenses

The quality of the photo also depends on the choice of lenses. There is a massive variety of lenses available out there but the choice of lens to carry also depends on the available space in your camera kit.

If you’re working with limited space then a fast zoom with a wide focal range should be on your radar. For example, 28-300m or 18-200mm.

If there is enough space in your bag then you can opt for a wider choice, for example, telephoto lens ranging from 70 to 200mm, a wide-angle lens having the range of 10-24mm and a portrait prime lens with the range of 50 to 85mm.

You can find a good starting point on our Best Lenses for Landscape Photography guide here.

Capture from the Right Angle

Whenever you visit a specific location to capture, you should analyze it from different angles to find the best shooting position. You can also discuss the favoured photography style of the area with the local tourist information centres.

It is better to gather detailed information about that location from the internet before you visit it.

The more information you will have about the place, the easier it will be to capture the best angle when you’re on location.

Evaluate Your Photos Critically

At the end of the day, after a hard day’s shooting, it’s finally time to sit in your room, take a deep breath and relax!

Then, with a clear mind, load up your photos and evaluate them critically to find any mistakes made in the heat of the moment.

Sometimes, it happens that you may feel confident about a click but others may find some flaws in the same image. Make sure to try and eliminate any flaws and mistakes before the viewer can point it out to you.

Besides, critical analysis of your work is the best way to improve as a photographer.

Take Backups of Your Photos

Your camera is almost certainly offering high enough resolution for your photos to take up a lot of storage space.

Make sure you always take plenty of memory cards along when on a travel photography adventure and make a habit of regularly transferring all of your valuable photos onto your laptop.

There’s nothing worse than a corrupted memory card causing you to lose hundreds of your hard-earned photographs, so don’t take that risk!

Take Notes on Every Photo

Your travel images are of little use if you can’t remember where or when they were taken.

Take notes about every location and every photo you take so you can describe it back after your trip. After all, travel photographs are supposed to tell a story!

Make sure to think of a perfect title and description before publishing as well and tell the story of the image as best you can.

Shoot with a Purpose

You should capture the photos with some purpose in your mind regarding what you’re going to do with them.

In this information era, the internet has become common worldwide and you can sell your photos to magazines, websites or organizations online.

Another way to make your photos purposeful is to upload them to photography stock sites. This way, you will be able to earn a small amount of revenue from your efforts.

Shoot in Manual Mode

Modern cameras have a huge variety of features to play around with. For example, you could set them in auto mode and burst-fire your way to a hopeful shot.

However, one of the most useful features is one of the oldest – Manual mode. Serious photographers rarely set their camera to auto, instead preferring to retain a high level of control over the camera settings.

Not only that, but your photography skills will improve the more you shoot in manual mode, much like we discuss here.

Think Outside the Box

With travel photography, the first thing that comes to mind is beautiful nature scenes in far flung locations. However, this is just a single aspect of travel photography.

During your journey, you can capture all aspects of your adventure. You can remember that rainy day with your camera, photograph some local wildlife, or capture the regional culture and people.

Always try to think outside the box and experience your adventure from as many different angles as possible. Take advantage of changing weathers, changing light, and changing places. Shoot both day and night as well!