Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Travel photography: How not to overdo it

It’s the age of travels, globalization being the great equalizer across the different social classes of photographers. It’s also an age where everyone wants to write a blog or be Nat Geo. This is good for worldwide education, but not for information retention. As it is, many budding and professional photographers are luring potential travelers with their striking pictures. But how to stand out in this crowd? 

Image source: goingabroad.org

The answer is authenticity. People are tired of the same old sights presented the glossy way. And most likely, in any given country, the same tourist spots will be featured in travel blogs and social media posts. So, get out of your fixation on capturing the exact turquoise of that paradisiac beach and show your travel photos as they are, warts on your bikini bod and all. 

The desire to be interesting, naturally, doesn’t have to overwhelm technique. The fundamentals of good photography must hold. But letting your travel personality shine through in photos, that’s an entirely different beast. It means finding the off-the-beaten path. Paying attention to detail that most tourist traps miss. Finding your own niche—-will you focus on food, fashion, or local customs? It can’t all just be sightseeing. 

The best travel photographers have no need for captions. Their photographs show movement, immediately telling their audience what is transpiring in the photo. Granted, not everyone departs on a trip to safaris where the wild stuff happens, but having a good eye for travel photography means knowing where the action is. 

Image source: NikonUSA.com

Judd Bergman is a retired photographer. Learn more about photography by visiting this blog.