Travel Photography How To

The unsung hero of our age is the rechargeable battery. Can you imagine using a cell phone, digital camera or notebook computer without high capacity, long lasting batteries? The battery technology of choice for the past several years has been Lithium Ion. Here are five things you need to know about it—for your own safety and convenience. 

The most important tip I would like to share about travel photography is never buy a new camera or lens before traveling to Bhutan or even Carhenge. The next most essential travel photography secret is that using your equipment has to be instinctive; when a photo op presents itself you may only have a few seconds to get a shot. There’s no time to think about what menu to use or how to turn on continuous AF, or what exposure mode you’re in. Using your camera has to be instinctive; you should see—or even anticipate—then click the shutter. It’ll make travel more fun, too.

Questions about the viability of travel photography as a way to make money are inevitable in my marketing workshops and classes. The allure is undeniable—it seems to be all about exotic places to visit and fascinating people to meet. While lots of photographers want to get into travel photography, it’s also one of the most competitive fields in freelance photography.

The picture of the Buddhist nun drinking tea in the Drepung Monastery in Tibet was going to be perfect. The light coming in through a window behind her was capturing the texture of her skin and casting a glow on the tea and the rising steam, and from my training in studio photography I knew how rarely light like this happens in real life. But by the time I’d asked for and received permission to take the photo, the moment had passed: she’d finished her tea and was about to move from the light. So now, along with permission to take the photo, I had to get permission to recreate it.

One of the most wonderful aspects of travel photography is shooting festivals. The color is outrageous, the costuming is visually exciting, and there are a million things to shoot all at the same time. It’s frustrating that we can’t be in more than one place at a time (those darn laws of the Universe get in the way all the time!). If you can plan your trip to include some kind of festival or celebration, it will be a highlight of the trip. Virtually everywhere you travel where there are people, you’ll find some kind of festival. It’s just a matter of doing some research on-line to find out when they occur.

Seeing what was about to hit us I quickly grabbed for a table I knew was anchored to the floor, but it was too little, too late. Along with a number of other staff and passengers I was thrown to the floor and found myself rolling from starboard to port, bouncing off chairs and tables along the way. I knew the ship would very quickly start to roll in the opposite direction, so no attempt was made to stand. Instead I waited on the floor, arms wrapped around a table leg, for a moment of relative calm. Good morning, and welcome to the Drake Passage.