TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
Travel photographer JEREMY FLINT reveals how to move away from holiday snaps and capture authentic and creative images
Nothing sounds as exotic to the mind as travel photography. The term conjures up images of far-flung places, true adventures and new experiences. That being said, thousands of photographers – even professionals in other genres – take photos while travelling and are disappointed with the results. Some will take a shot without much consideration about what they are actually photographing, resulting in a ‘holiday snap’: a photo taken during your trip without much thought about the picture or subject itself.
Some examples of snaps are images with poor composition, poor camera technique, excess clutter, poor exposure, out-of-focus subjects, bad framing and flare. In the digital age, you can easily overturn these common mistakes and return from your travels with more professional-looking photographs – it is a matter of improving your results step by step.
Firstly, to achieve a good travel photograph you need to capture your subject accurately. Then you can find a way to give your images a creative edge.
One way to take better photos while you are travelling, and go beyond capturing a mere snapshot, is to record images with narrative. Travel images that provide more information about your travels, such as an overview of the landscape, the people, interesting details and scenes will tell the viewer more about your photographic subject. Travel images with narrative provide more lasting memories than snapshots and you can enjoy the photos in their own right, or use them to expand your portfolio and creative technique. Here we’ll explore the ways to elevate your travel photography.