Travel Photography

Ideas on travel photography

No matter what places you are travelling to, there are always a thousand angles to capture any particular location apart from just the famous attractions. Many sub-genres fall under the category of travel photography.

Street photography

Capturing the streets of the locality can tell a lot about the place itself. Straight and crooked, constructed or raw, filled with shops and people or empty with trees on both sides, capture them all to show the diversity a place offers. In street photography, you can capture a blur of crowds to showcase a busy city or use stillness and cool tones to show a calm and peaceful city.

City skyline photography

One of the first thing you notice when departing or arriving on a flight over a city is its skyline. Capture the view of multiple skylines as you fly overhead to create a unique skyline set of images for your portfolio. Skyline photography can speak volumes about a place, especially when captured during different times of the day.

Local events

Visit the local sights and specialities of each place. Showcase a local cuisine, a flea market, any special event or festival that is found only in that specific region. Capturing niches like this will also add to your travel portfolio and it promotes knowledge about the lesser-known local cultures of the destination amongst your audience. This will ultimately benefit both you and the city/place as you promote it as a tourist destination.

Places to try out travel photography

The statement “The world is too big to explore in such little time. Where to start?” is a common theme amongst those of us that aim to explore our beautiful world. Do you also have the same question? Here are some places to try out travel photography!

Your hometown

Why do we always forget that our town has so much to offer us? It is time to take up that camera and wander your city like an outsider. You would certainly witness a newfound attraction and curiosity to know more about your city whether it is your hometown or a city you have moved to.

Places with naturally specific attractions

Places that have natural attractions are always people’s favourites. Knowing that nature created such perfect pieces of beauty is the best part about the natural attractions in any location. This can include anything from a specific type of rocks found only at a certain place, beaches, and mountains to some extraordinary natural miracles such as the Aurora Borealis, Bioluminescent Bays, etc.

Anywhere you go

Whether you travel for a business trip or a family leisure holiday, carry a camera wherever you go. You never know when inspiration will strike and when you will find a picture-perfect frame!

Tips for travel photography

Even though travel photography is a rising genre, the fact can’t be denied that the competition in this field is rising rapidly. From social influencers to family groups, everyone has a camera and are posting their images far and wide. So here are a few pro tips for travel photography to help you create unique and memorable Instagram-worth compositions.

Aerial views

Perspective is everything when it comes to photography. Invest in a good drone that can capture aerial shots of a place. A top-down view just looks more appealing to the human eye as opposed to the usual compositions. Even if you do not wish to use a professional drone, you can always try to reach higher places or elevations for you to photograph scenes from a slightly higher point of view.

Perfect timing

Travel photography can be both an indoor and an outdoor affair. Hence, the lighting and timing of photographers play a very important role. You can capture shots at a beach during the bright afternoon sun and you can photograph monuments or people in the dark of the night, but there are better times of the day to photograph those.

Golden hour photography

Capitalise on golden hour and blue hours Golden hour depicts that time when the sun’s rays have just hit the earth at sunrise or when the waning sun produces a beautiful glow of light at sunset.

People portraits

Photographing portraits of the locals in their communities can generate some goodwill. Especially if you are visiting some indigenous tribal regions or places which have a unique clothing style. Remember to ensure you have permission from your subjects before taking their portrait. You can showcase the culture, way of living and lifestyle of any city through these types of portraits.

How to earn money with travel photography

There are many ways to earn money with travel photography. Apart from the regular methods of creating a digital presence and portfolio for this genre and approaching brands for brand collaboration, you can also sell these images on stock photography sites and earn money through those channels.

Travel photographers can have many opportunities to sell images in magazines, editorials, newspapers, travel companies, government ministries of tourism and a lot more. You can also publish your work in the form of books and magazines explaining your creativity.

During the time of pandemic across the world, tourism industries, businesses and locals were hit hard financially. So, this could be the time for you to capitalise on that by showcasing the local culture, sights and cuisine in an informative and beautiful way, and at the same time benefiting those hard-done-by businesses and locals through your passion for travel photography.

Convert your passion

This was all about the wonderful and exciting genre of travel photography, so if you are a travel enthusiast this is a great time for you to convert your passion into a profession!