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Simple Photography Hacks
It’s not every day that you get to explore a completely different country. As such, you want to capture as much of it as you can with your brand-new camera or smartphone. Simple Photography Hacks.
However, your shots may not always be what you expected them to be. Snaps of the night market may be too blurry or too dark. The sun’s light might obscure your landscapes. Your self-portraits might lack focus, causing you to fade into the background. The tricks are different when it comes to portrait vs landscape.
With all the memories you made on your trip, you only managed to take a few good pictures to document them. This is in no way ideal if you want to fill your ‘gram with fresh photos of your travels, or if you want to create an album you can look at when reminiscing your experiences.
There’s always room for improvement! With these simple hacks, you’ll be well on your way to capturing like-worthy travel photos.
Do You Need a Professional Camera?
Whether you’re an avid fan of National Geographic magazine’s breathtaking portraits and landscapes or an active follower of travel influencers, you may see the photographers lugging around a DSLR and mirrorless cameras on their trips. If you already have one or you’re borrowing a snapper from a friend, that’s great. However, you don’t have to spend much money on one if you already have a smartphone or a point-and-shoot camera on hand.
Legendary photographer Chase Jarvis once said, “The best camera you have is the one that’s with you.” And it’s been proven time and again by pro photographers taking on “cheap camera” challenges. As long as you know the basics of taking a great photo, you should have no problem using the devices you already have.
Know the Basics
If you want to improve your travel photography game, you need to learn its fundamentals. This way, you’ll have full control of every snap you take.
Composition
Have you ever taken a photo of someone, but it looked like they’re blending into the background? Or maybe you have taken a nice portrait shot of yourself, but there’s an awkward tree branch hanging behind you. This is because your images are poorly-composed. Simple Photography Hacks.
The composition is defined in photography as the way objects are arranged in a frame. Here are quick guidelines for composing your image:
- Look into the viewfinder and screen to see if there are any distracting background objects in the frame, like a bench or a statue. If they’re not intended to be part of the picture, move to a place where there’s a less-busy background.
- Use the rule of thirds for your photos. It’s a technique that makes your images look satisfying. Toggle on the grid option on your phone or camera settings. You should see a 3×3 grid on your viewfinder or screen. When taking your shots, make sure your subject — be it a person, animal, or object — are directly on the lines or intersections. Use this as a guide for all your photos, and you’ll be left with images that have the perfect balance between the subject and background.
Exposure
Exposure, or the amount of light that goes into your shots, is finicky to deal with for newer travel photographers. It’s frustrating to take flat lays of food indoors because it often turns out dark and grainy. For outdoor shots, some of your images may look too bright. While your camera’s auto mode is smart enough to detect the scene and adjust its settings according to the lighting, it’s not always right. If your snapper is taking shots that are too dim or too bright, give these suggestions a try.
- For smartphones, you can easily adjust the exposure using a slider on the screen, which is symbolized by a light bulb or sun icon. If you have a digital camera, alter the exposure value or EV. The higher you go, the brighter your image will be.
- If you need extra help in adding or reducing your shots’ brightness, change the ISO settings. A higher value means that you can shoot better in the dark. However, it may also add grain to your photos. Keep this as low as possible when you’re shooting outdoors on a bright and sunny day.
Now that you know the basics, it’s time to get out there and shoot some great photos!
Ride at Dawn
While you’re on vacation and temporarily the master of your own time, it’s not ideal to wake up at noon to shoot pictures. This is because (1) you’ll have less time to shoot photos in the natural light of the sun and (2) you’ll miss out on the morning’s golden hour. For the uninitiated, the golden hour, usually between 5:00 AM to 6:00 AM is when the barely rising sun shines a soft, yellow light on the landscape. It makes this period the perfect time to take photos of buildings and other subjects. You might want to get up before that to scout for the ideal structures and locations to capture. Simple Photography Hacks.
Add a Human Element to Your Shots
If you want to make your travel photos more interesting, add people to them! If you have a companion with you, make them your muse. Practice your composition and exposure until you get the perfect shot. If you’re alone, try to do some street photography. Pictures of busy cities are always captivating. When taking solo pictures of strangers, ask their permission, or try to strike up a conversation first. Some people may not take well to getting their photos taken on the street.
Trust the Cloud
The worst thing that can happen to a travel photographer (apart from getting their camera busted or stolen) is losing or damaging their memory card filled with precious images. Before you hit the hay, upload your photos to a cloud storage drive like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive. This way, you have an online backup of your files. Plus, you can access them from every device, so you can easily share them on your social media sites from your phone. Simple Photography Hacks.
Basic Editing and Filters
Even though you’ve done your best to make sure the exposure and colors are right on your photos, they may need some tweaking to make them pleasing to your followers. Apps like VSCO help you adjust the photo’s exposure, contrast, saturation (how vibrant the colors are), temperature, and more. They even come with filters that add retro and film-like qualities to your shots. These are great for social media posts. You may also want to get your shots professionally retouched if you plan on adding them to your creative portfolio or submit them to a photo contest.
Your vacation only lasts that long. Capture the best memories by taking proper travel photos. As long as you have a camera and some know-how from the entries above, you’ll be all set. With enough practice and experience, your Insta-worthy travel photos may even grace the pages of Travel + Leisure or Condé Nast Traveler. Simple Photography Hacks.
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