Travel photography on vacation

Shoot great travel photos while on your holidays without annoying your nearest and dearest!

Travel photographers seem to be a hardy bunch; yomping up the side of volcanoes in the dark, carrying kilos of lenses, camera bodies and a tripod. Always in the middle of the action, they barely seem to sleep – up and out for sunrise, prowling the streets all day and shooting star trails through the night. Obsessed by weather reports, infuriated by scaffolding and often incandescent when a humble tourist walks into their shots, they hang out in markets, backstreets and festivals, and are obsessive and dedicated to their art. When things are going well, they are ebullient and entertaining; when the weather is bad and the photographs not good, they morosely prop up the bar. The results are the iconic shots of world destinations that you see in books, magazines, travel brochures and all over the internet. Alas, most of us don’t have the time or resources to put into taking our own pictures, but we still want to come back with great shots. We might have a family, be travelling with a friend or a partner who isn’t a photographer, or perhaps we just work so damn hard throughout the year that we predominantly want a relaxing holiday!

Luckily, there are a number of tricks that will help you to get the best pictures possible, with the minimum of kit. In fact, all of the tips here can be used with a single camera body and lens – Irecommend the Nikon’s 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II as the perfect easy travel companion: the pictures might not be of the utmost quality – after all, that is why professional travel photographers carry heavy professional lenses and all of their other kit – but as a way of shooting holiday pictures, this set-up – and these tips – are perfect.