Guest Post: Travel Photography

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Hello Crafty Wife readers!

I am so excited to be here with y’all again today. It has been a joy getting to know Teresa and her blog. I’m so pumped to share more photography tips with you. Today I want to share some tips on travel photography. Traveling is always an exciting time and while you don’t want to lose out on travel experiences by being glued to your phone or camera to take pictures, you will want photos as memories later on.

Pack your camera gear

-Camera body: If you ever think to yourself, “Oh, I’ll just use my iPhone or small camera” instead of using the DSLR you have, just don’t! If you have the ability to use a nicer camera on vacation, just do it! It’s so worth it and I promise you’ll regret if you don’t.
-Lenses: we have a variety of lenses but the two we always carry on us are the prime 50mm lens and the 28-135 mm. These lenses are the two I use all the time in real life, so of course I’d want me favorites with me while I’m traveling.
-Memory cards: I recommend having two because you just never know what is going to happen. Also you might just go crazy and use up all of your memory! We use 16GB cards.
-Cords: Some of these things may seem self explanatory but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten little things. You definitely want to bring whatever cord connects your camera to your computer (usually a micro USB cable). MacBooks these days have a built in SD memory card reader which is so handy! But if yours doesn’t have something built in you’ll want your cord so you can transfer those pictures.
-Battery and battery charger
-External hard drive If you don’t already, you should be backing your computer up to an external hard drive or online backup service (IDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Time Machine). Especially if you’re traveling somewhere for an extended amount of time, I recommend backing up your new photos during your vacation. There’s nothing worse than losing travel photos (trust me, I say that from personal experience)!

Plan your time

While you’re traveling, you’ll want to make sure you plan a few things to do. Plan to go to locations to get photos of monuments and other tourist sites.

You’ll also want to plan down time that you can explore the area because this is where you’ll get some of your best photos!

Get out of your comfort zone

This one has taken me years! Even when I did photography for the yearbook in high school I was always so shy and never wanted to stand out because I was taking photos. I’m still a little shy about it but especially when I’m traveling I know I have to get over that. Sometimes you’ll have to crouch down or stand on your tippy toes to get a great shot.

Have someone take photos of you & your group

If you’re used to being behind the camera, this one might be difficult for you. As much as you’ll love the photos of where you are, it’s always good to at least get a few pictures of you and your travel buddies. Those photos will be cherished memories.

Sometimes you’ll have to take some selfies if you can’t find someone to take your picture, that’s totally okay though.

I also recommend doing at least one touristy photo just because they’re fun.

Document things that stick out to you

For me, this usually means taking photos of local people or of the food I eat. Food, drink and being around a table with people is seriously one of my love languages. I have so many memories attached to food and I’m that guy who always has to take a picture of what I’m eating.

I also love snapping photos of locals. The people make a place and I want to remember local faces.

Look for the untold story

The photos of the tourist locations are always great and you should definitely take those. But always keep your eyes open. Where is there a moment that you could capture and tell a story. Whether it’s a sweet moment between a couple, a little boy playing in the street or just a curious tourist, look around and find unique moments to capture. Always be thinking of creative ways to show details about where you’ve traveled to.

Keep a travel journal

It’s always beyond frustrating when you’re trying to recommend a place to go for a friend and you can’t remember the name. I recommend either keeping an actual journal with the list of places you went or taking photos of the names. Even if it’s just a landmark sign, take a picture of the sign before the rest of your photos so that it’s the first in that collection. That way you’ll always know exactly where you were!

Travel photography can be so much fun and to me it’s one of the best ways to keep a visual diary of your trips. I love being able to look back at old photos and I’m immediately taken back to that moment. My best advice is to have your camera be an extension of you. Take photos of everything but also don’t miss out on actually experiencing the moments, too. It’s so easy to get lost behind the camera and be focused on capturing the photos instead of actually being present in the moments as well.

For more traveling adventures and photography, check out my blog.

Thank you so much for having me, Teresa!

What are some tips you can share on travel photography?