Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Travel Photography: Plan and experience the best travel photography adventure
- Section 1: Planning Stages
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- How to Decide a Location
- Depending on price range
- What type of photography you want to take
- Why you want to travel in the first place
- What Gear to Bring
- Bring the camera that would not be devastating to lose
- Keep gear to a minimum so you can take more photos and spend less time fumbling around with gear
- Extra batteries, memory card, film (how many per day staying)
- How/What to Pack
- Try to fit everything you need in 1 backpack
- Quick dry/breathable clothing
- Comfortable walking shoes, not brand new hiking boots or you’ll get blisters
- How to Decide a Location
- Could be activity: to pack 1 backpack and only use the contents of that backpack for 1 week.
- How to Find/book the Best Deals
- Travel insurance
- Plane tickets
- How to Choose Living Accomodations
- Stay at a hotel if the prices are cheap (ex. Southeast asia)
- Avoid hotels and stay at an airbnb to experience the area like a local
- Planning Your Itinerary
- Where to go: dependent on what type of photography you would like to accomplish (ex. Food, nature landscape, street photography)
- How long to stay in each location
- How to travel between locations
- Activity: Setting Goals for Your Travels
- Set specific goals to accomplish during your travel
- Why do you want to travel in the first place?
- Keep your expectations attainable.
While There
- Keep Yourself at Top Performance
- Adjust to the local time zone to avoid jet lag
- Sleep on the plane if it will be daytime when you arrive/don’t sleep on the plane if it will be nighttime when you arrive
- Adjust to the local time zone to avoid jet lag
- Don’t Get Suckered By the Exotic
- Avoid tourist traps
- Look for authentic experiences
- Being Mindful of Local Laws/Customs
- Research local photography laws
- Be respectful of local customs
- The Early Bird Gets The Worm
- Blue hour/Golden hour
- Go to popular areas early to avoid too many people
- Connect With The Locals
- Ask locals for their recommendations not as a tourist.
- Example: What do YOU like to do for fun/ What is YOUR favorite place to eat? VS. What do you recommend I go for _______?
- Ask locals for their recommendations not as a tourist.
- Patience is a virtue
- Be willing to wait for a better shot (ex. lighting/the right person to enter the scene)
- How To Make More Interesting Photos
- Dynamic angles
- Low angle
After Your Trip
- How to Choose Your Best Photos
- What To Do With Your Photos
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- Make a video slideshow of your best images to post on Youtube
- Royalty free songs to add music to slideshow
- Make a photobook/zine
- Blog about your experiences and post your photos
- Make a video slideshow of your best images to post on Youtube
- Plan your Next Trip
- Plan according from what you learned on your most recent trip
- What worked/did not work for you
- Expand on the positive experiences
- Example: if you got the best experience from connecting with locals, plan your next trip to spend a majority of your time to connect with the locals there.
- Adapt to what didn’t work
- Example: if you did not schedule your itinerary well enough to see all the places you wanted to go, adjust your schedule to spend longer time
- Expand on the positive experiences
- What worked/did not work for you
- Plan according from what you learned on your most recent trip