Taking quality travel photographs is not too difficult and to take excellent quality travel photos while you are traveling around the world, there are a few simple rules, if followed, will almost always insure that your photographs are the ones you will be proud to show later.
In this day of digital photography the selection of equipment is marvelous and depending on your skill level of photography, desire to carry more weight or less, then the choice of equipment is wide open.
I personally use a Nikon D-90 camera, which is older technology with a smaller pixel count and I use one lens, an 18-200mm zoom which for me is the best suited equipment match I can utilize. The lens provides a wide angle to long telephoto range without too much weight or length. Of course this is a personal choice and in years past I would carry multiple lenses but found out the hard way that when changing lens on the back of a camel in the desert, you open the image sensor to dust which will adversely effect the photography. Plus, while in the process of changing lenses, that once in a lifetime photograph will have happened and you were not ready.
I wish to qualify one specific thought. In most cases, it is not about the equipment used but the person behind the viewfinder that truly makes the difference. I have seen people with the most expensive equipment take some of the worst photographs as well as seeing those with inexpensive cameras, mobile phones and other devices produce some outstanding images. A professional photographer will require high end equipment depending on what they are doing but for the average traveler it is not necessary unless you have money to burn.
Let me discuss equipment selection for a moment. There are a lot of choices which include DSLR equipment, also what I term as pocket cameras, mobile phone cameras, table style devices which include a range of different quality image technology and other devices.
The DSLR cameras come with either interchangeable lens systems or fixed lens systems and their image quality will range from excellent to average results. The pocket size cameras have come a long way in their quality and image sensors and these can be very good devices. Mobile phones have also come a long way in their technology for producing higher quality images but still lack some aspects of ease of use. Tablet style devices are in the same category as the phones, they are just larger frames to carry around.
Nearly all cameras work the same way regardless if it is a DSLR or mobile phone. Inside the device there is an image sensor which absorbs the light coming in and when you press the shutter button, this light data is converted into the image on the device. I am not going into details about the sensors or other technical stuff but the image sensor is what dictates what is know as the pixel size and the higher the pixel count, the larger the image will be if you want to print larger format images. This also means that it takes a lot more storage on the memory card for higher pixel images but newer cameras have the ability to select the image size.
Speaking of image size, if you have the camera set at the highest image quality possible then attempt to email or upload that image, forget it. Especially email and in some cases depending on internet connection uploading a large image to Facebook, Picasa or other photo sharing sites will range from, "how much longer is this going to take" to "it will never load, file is just too large". Not only does the size present a problem for uploading but takes a lot of memory card space as well.
Inside all cameras, there are electronics which take the light data and converts this into a file format known as a JPG, which is a compressed version of the actual light data the image sensor received. The electronics that accomplish this conversion task is the most important part because this will have a direct effect on how long it takes any camera to be ready for the next image.
There is a technical term for this but to make it simple, we will call it image processor delay. Most DSLR cameras have room for larger image processors and this delay is not a problem. Most pocket cameras, phone and other devices do not have the room inside to accommodate a large and fast image processor which will cause a delay between images.
For the average individual using or selecting a pocket style camera, regardless of the pixel count and other features, the one main factor is how fast the image processor is going to function between shots. For most this is not a real problem but if you are trying to take photos in rapid succession, this could slow you down because the camera must process the image before it (the camera) is ready for the next shot.
In short,when you are looking to purchase a camera, especially the pocket sized, the one feature I suggest you pay most attention to is how fast the image processor is. This can only be done by actually having the camera in your hands and taking photos as fast as possible and see how long it takes the camera to ready itself between shots.
I wish to qualify one specific thought. In most cases, it is not about the equipment used but the person behind the viewfinder that truly makes the difference. I have seen people with the most expensive equipment take some of the worst photographs as well as seeing those with inexpensive cameras, mobile phones and other devices produce some outstanding images. A professional photographer will require high end equipment depending on what they are doing but for the average traveler it is not necessary unless you have money to burn.
Let me discuss equipment selection for a moment. There are a lot of choices which include DSLR equipment, also what I term as pocket cameras, mobile phone cameras, table style devices which include a range of different quality image technology and other devices.
The DSLR cameras come with either interchangeable lens systems or fixed lens systems and their image quality will range from excellent to average results. The pocket size cameras have come a long way in their quality and image sensors and these can be very good devices. Mobile phones have also come a long way in their technology for producing higher quality images but still lack some aspects of ease of use. Tablet style devices are in the same category as the phones, they are just larger frames to carry around.
Nearly all cameras work the same way regardless if it is a DSLR or mobile phone. Inside the device there is an image sensor which absorbs the light coming in and when you press the shutter button, this light data is converted into the image on the device. I am not going into details about the sensors or other technical stuff but the image sensor is what dictates what is know as the pixel size and the higher the pixel count, the larger the image will be if you want to print larger format images. This also means that it takes a lot more storage on the memory card for higher pixel images but newer cameras have the ability to select the image size.
Speaking of image size, if you have the camera set at the highest image quality possible then attempt to email or upload that image, forget it. Especially email and in some cases depending on internet connection uploading a large image to Facebook, Picasa or other photo sharing sites will range from, "how much longer is this going to take" to "it will never load, file is just too large". Not only does the size present a problem for uploading but takes a lot of memory card space as well.
Inside all cameras, there are electronics which take the light data and converts this into a file format known as a JPG, which is a compressed version of the actual light data the image sensor received. The electronics that accomplish this conversion task is the most important part because this will have a direct effect on how long it takes any camera to be ready for the next image.
There is a technical term for this but to make it simple, we will call it image processor delay. Most DSLR cameras have room for larger image processors and this delay is not a problem. Most pocket cameras, phone and other devices do not have the room inside to accommodate a large and fast image processor which will cause a delay between images.
For the average individual using or selecting a pocket style camera, regardless of the pixel count and other features, the one main factor is how fast the image processor is going to function between shots. For most this is not a real problem but if you are trying to take photos in rapid succession, this could slow you down because the camera must process the image before it (the camera) is ready for the next shot.
In short,when you are looking to purchase a camera, especially the pocket sized, the one feature I suggest you pay most attention to is how fast the image processor is. This can only be done by actually having the camera in your hands and taking photos as fast as possible and see how long it takes the camera to ready itself between shots.
That being said, back to the simple rules.
- Lighting is what I believe to be the most important factor. Always try to shoot with the sun to your back. If you ever witness a professional photo shoot, they come with light stands, light diffusers, light reflectors and other equipment to provide a balanced light level on the subject, they understand how light is important for the images they produce but this is a completely different type of photography but illustrates how lighting is important. For the more professional photographers, I have included a really speical link. It is a sun calculator that overlays on Google Map. Click here and play with this wonderful web site. You can select any location desired, move the map, relocate the center point, use the hour scroll bar to watch as the sun moves across the sky.
- Do not shoot the photograph of your girlfriend standing on the beach when the sun is at her back, you will not have a good outcome because the camera sensor will meter and then set itself for the brightest light which will be the sun behind the subject and the subject will turn out nothing more than a dark silhouette.
- When using flash, light does not travel very far, so when you are in a setting where the subject is more than 3-4 meters away, in most cases the flash will not help too much. Also, using the flash indoors at a sporting event, concert or other such activity is totally useless. This is applicable for almost all cameras with an type of built in flash even a DSLR but some DSLR cameras allow the ability to modify the intensity of the flash and other features of the flash operation.
- Lighting plays an important part of the overall image. If you are photographing a subject standing in the shade and it is a sunny day the camera will do its best to meter and compose the best photo but the contrast between the shade and sun will either make the photo over exposed or under exposed depending on where the image sensor is pointed. I fight this problem all the time and a renowned wildlife photographer once stated that it is better to take a photograph on a completely cloudy day as there is no sun/shade contrasting to deal with. However, these images have a tendency to come out flat looking and not as vibrant, less colors.
- Composition of the photograph is the next most important thing and for this, there is not any way I can write about composition in an easy, short explanation. To put it briefly, there is a rule know as the 1/3 rule which means you slice the photo area into three sections. The important part of the 1/3 rule is that you would like to have the subject in one of the outer thirds of the image, not in the middle. There is a lot more to composition of the photograph but if you follow the 1/3 rule then you will produce better images. The rest of composition covers a broad range of techniques which I suggest you purchase a good book on photography if you are serious about this topic.
- Nothing makes a photograph look better than having some clouds, nice white puffy clouds or other types and if the sky is clear without smog or pollution and you have a combination of blue skies with clouds this combination will produce some excellent images
- Sunsets can be wonderful and depending on the atmospheric conditions, the resulting images can be fantastic. Most people are inclined to photograph the sun as it is setting but if there are clouds in the sky and the atmosphere is cooperative, wait till after the sun is completely down and then watch the sky as the sun light strikes the bottom of the clouds giving an explosion of colors. This usually begins to occur about 15-20 minutes after the sun has gone down completely. There are sunset photos which require you to photograph them while the sun is still visible in the sky such as silhouetting a subject and the difference between these two comes down to technique, desired end result and subject matter of the photograph.
- This next part is not critical but can help and I use this as a rule. If I take 100 images of a subject then I might narrow that 100 down to 10 that I believe I want to work with then from there I might end up with 2-3 usable images. Of course, I am adjusting exposure settings, view points, zoom levels and other factors of the same image. This is not for everyone but in this digital age, you can take many photographs then review them and delete the ones that are either not in focus, bad lighting or just plain bad all around and only retain the ones you want. Basically, I am saying to take a lot of photographs, review and delete the bad ones on a regular basis (each day).
This next part has nothing to do with the photography side but can be critical in a situation where your camera is stolen or destroyed. If you have a computer, I recommend that you copy all of your images to that as a backup instead of having the images only on the memory card in the camera. This one thing could save you a lot of grief. I have seen actual situations where a camera has been either lost or stolen and the person posted a reward payment for the return of the memory card. I backup my memory card on a daily basis but that is a personal choice.
I realize that for most readers of this post, thinking of these things are the last on your mind but if you remember but one thing, remember about the lighting.
Look at the images on this blog and you will notice that I have for the most part only shown images where the lighting was what I wanted. Yes, I do have images on cloudy days and in some cases these are beautiful images. I recently took a tourist to India and I exclusively ride the trains there because on the trains in India you can actually open the doors and sit there taking photos. However, I am constantly switching from one side to the other side of the carriage depending on the light direction.
I hope that this helps each reader to understand a bit more when taking a better travel photograph. It is difficult concept to teach and learn but over time and with experimentation, you will definitely see a difference in the results of your travel photographs.
Travel Safe, Travel Happy