“Tips for travel and photography lovers with Sam Freij”
“Videography” is the best partner for every adventure. Travel photography blogs and vlogs are great sources of inspiration. Both for travelling around the world and the photography that comes with it. They can provide useful tips and destination ideas as well. and here some tips for travel and photography lovers provided by the travel blogger Sam Freij.
Travel videography and photography are considered as basic element of travel blog. Travel bloggers from all over the world use to share some photos and videos which they capture during their travel. And that’s how they relate to their blog! How it comes if those photos and videos are high quality ones, really worked on and taken by the best lenses ever!
“Choosing equipment for shooting is another difficult task. If you ask the opinion of experts, which is the best camera for video, you will get many options. After years in the market, and after trying out different tools and ways to take photos and videos while traveling, I prepared these tips to ease the work for you travel and photography lovers.” – Sam Freij.
– Best current video and photo mobile phone
It’s the iPhone 13 Pro due to its size and the three large cameras setup. The Pro camera system gets its biggest upgrade ever. With next-level hardware that captures so much more detail. Super intelligent software for new photo and filmmaking techniques. And a mind-blowingly fast chip that makes it all possible. It’ll change the way you shoot.
– It makes you utilize the sunlight to your advantage always test with several shots to understand how sunlight impacts your final content
– Keep your camera lens clean, carry a mini microfiber lens wipe with at all times
– When uploading connect to Instagram take your time to edit exposure, warmth, vibrancy and definition prior to upload
– Go Instagram settings and allow or enable high quality uploads in order to capture higher post engagement
– Explore DJI Gimbal a stabilizer for image that you can mount your iPhone on for major image enhancement connects to your iPhone via Bluetooth IOS app
DJI Gimbal is an amazing technology that was and still used in Hollywood film making.
Sam said once, “Keep in mind, you do not have to invest into a super high dollar camera like Canon or Olympus in order to generate awesome content for social media.”
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When it comes to photography, we tend to focus on the things that most interest us, and these are often the subjects we photograph best. In short, it pays to play to your strengths.
This sub-conscious mantra also applies when photographers – amateur and professional – travel overseas. When landscape enthusiasts venture abroad, they invariably end up in a foreign land’s hinterland, while architecture buffs are drawn to cities filled with unique buildings.
I’d already taken several early morning photos of an empty Charles Bridge when in Prague, but I like this shot better for the way locals and backpackers are enjoying the bridge’s beauty on a summer’s evening. Nikon F4. Nikkor 20mm f2.8 lens. 1/250s @ f5.6. Shot on Fujichrome 100 ISO film scanned on a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000ED. Levels, colour correction and sharpening adjusted in Photoshop CS6.
I’ve always been fascinated by people – the way they interact with one another and the environment they happen to be in, their hobbies and professions, and the way they personify their country. And, as hard as I try to capture the beauty of a landscape or the magnificence of a historic city, the results are seldom beautiful or magnificent.
When overseas I look for people who complement a scene that in some way is emblematic of that nation. For example, my admittedly stereotyped view of England is one of old-worldly tradition so during a month-long journey in 2018 I was drawn to its historic villages.
This resulted in many photographs of older people whose dress and demeanour enhanced that stereotype. And older people are often a pleasure to photograph as they have long shed any pretension when a camera is pointed at them.
What could be more English than two old foremen dressed in heritage uniform on the platform of a picture-perfect vintage railway station in Goathland, Yorkshire? All that was needed was some friendly banter to draw out their character. Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF18-135mm f3.5-5.6 RLM lens @ 28mm. 1/125th @ f/5.6, ISO 320. Levels and sharpening adjusted in Photoshop CS6.
Those old-worldly values has helped keep alive many historic rail lines and vintage trains, and in Yorkshire I stumbled upon the picture-perfect Goathland Railway Station (so perfect it was used as Hogsmeade Station in the first Harry Potter film). On the platform I met two station foremen dressed in heritage uniform. They were great characters only too happy to pose for a photo and their lively personalities and the terrific backdrop resulted in a genuinely English snapshot.
Pubs and taverns have long been a part of England’s social fabric and they, too, offer great photo opportunities. Sometimes it’s the people in them who are the primary focus, other times it’s the venue itself. In a rustic old mill town pub in Saltaire I found two mates having catch up drinks after many years apart.
Instinct told me these two mates in a rustic old mill town pub in Saltaire, England might be happy to pose for a photo, so we got talking about their connection to the area before I asked for a few snaps. Fujifilm X-T1. Fujinon XF18-135mm lens @ 32mm. 1/40S @ f5.6, ISO 1600.
The two men holding pints in a bar with wooden floorboards and relics on display are very working-class Yorkshire. Further south in Lincolnshire, the George of Stamford is, with its stately wine and dining rooms and long list of royal guests, a traditionally upper-class English establishment. So, a wider view, of a patron sipping tea while reading a newspaper, perfectly suited the elegant setting.
The personal touch
When approaching photo-worthy people I always smile and try chatting before asking to take their photo, to help establish some rapport.Now I’m not suggesting you take strangers to the nearest tavern for a few beers and ask about their family history, but a few light-hearted comments about what they’re doing or enquiry about their neighbourhood helps break the ice, and it shows you’re interested in more than just a good photo.
Also, to help sweeten any photo deal, I used to promise sending them a print, and now offer an emailed digital copy.
Photographing English-speaking people is made easier by the absence of any language or cultural differences. The English are a generally polite and agreeable people while I’ve found many Americans see a photo request as a precursor to Andy Warhol’s famous declaration that “ “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes” and so enthusiastically oblige.
I drank a lot of coffee and ate a lot of apple pie at the Littleton Diner in Vermont to finally win over genial chef David Boyle who let me capture his beaming smile while sweating over a hot stove. Nikon F4, Nikkor 20mm f2.8 lens with Metz 45 CT-5 flash.1/15s @ f4. Shot on Fujichrome 100 ISO film scanned on a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000ED. Levels and colour correction adjusted in Photoshop CS6.
Here’s an example. The Eat Rite in St Louis, Missouri is a classic diner complete with a huge menu board, and the traditional condiments and small glass pie stand on the counter. Here, Louise the waitress would lean and listen while customers told her what was wrong with their boss, the government, or the Cardinals baseball team. It was all so American.
We talked quite a lot over a week of breakfasts until I eventually appeared friendly enough for the reluctant Louise to smile for the camera. In the Littleton Diner in Vermont, I wanted to capture the beaming smile of genial chef David Boyle sweating over a hot stove. I stayed longer and ate more than I should have, but my persistence paid off with a pose full of character.
In non-English speaking countries I hold the camera up, smile quizzically and ask “Photo?” when approaching people in the hope they’ll understand my intention. This often helps, and, with so many camera-carrying tourists throughout the world, I suspect locals almost everywhere have simply become accustomed to being photographed, particularly those engaged in an interesting activity. And monolingual people like me are fortunate that English is taught in many schools throughout the world.
As most people are unaccustomed to having a camera pointed at them, especially by a stranger, I usually start shooting from further away than I’d like so as not to be too invasive. Then, if the subject relaxes, I move a little closer, and then a little closer, until reaching the desired spot.
This street scene is typical of life in Rome but it’s the human presence that gives the photo some life. Nikon F4, Nikkor 20mm f2.8 lens. 1/30s @ f5.6. Shot on Fujichrome 100 ISO film scanned on a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000ED. Levels, colour correction, perspective and sharpening adjusted in Photoshop CS6.
However, another factor to be mindful of is that not everyone going about their daily routine has the time or inclination to be stopped and photographed from different angles and different vantage points and with each composition bracketed several times.
So, when an opportunity presents itself, you need to think quickly: what is the most important element here – the person or his surrounds – what focal length is best suited to what I’m trying to emphasise, and where do I position the subject? It often helps to do all that prior to asking so that when the opportunity arises you don’t test the subject’s patience and end up with a listless stare.
I had very little time to photograph this amateur gridiron footballer in Harlem, New York, so quickly grabbed the 20mm lens out of my bag and got in close, standing on my toes to accentuate his padded shoulders. With his stars and stripes bandana and statuesque pose, this all-American image is one of my favourite street portraits. Nikon F4, Nikkor 20mm f2.8 lens. 1/500s @ f5.6. Shot on Fujichrome 100 ISO film scanned on a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000ED. Levels and colour correction adjusted in Photoshop CS6.
While strolling through a park in Harlem, New York, an amateur gridiron footballer on his way to training crossed my path. Wearing a stars and stripes bandana and with a powerful physique, here was a potentially wonderful all-American image. “Sure,” he said to my request, “but make it quick. I’m running late.”
I grabbed the 20mm lens out of my bag, got in close and stood on my toes to shoot from above to further accentuate his padded shoulders. Helped by his statuesque pose and the soft autumnal evening light, the photo is one of my favourite street portraits. Which is just as well – the only other frame I shot, from eye level, is simply bland.
In part two next week we’ll look at the gear and posing techniques.
About the author: Ian Kenins has been a professional photographer for over 30 years whose work has been published in a wide variety of books, newspapers and magazines. His favourite photographic subject is people, particularly those from rural areas. And, as this article shows, he’s someone not to travel with. See more at www.iankenins.com
This photography tip will help create better photographs.
Wanting to improve as a photographer should be a constant. There shouldn’t be a comfort zone where we stop pushing ourselves to improve. After a brief break from making images, I recently picked up my camera and began making photos again. As the creative flame began to burn, I thought about a technique that would push me to make better pictures. It’s a simple technique, and it has nothing to do with how I use the camera.
A Simple Photography Tip
Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you wait until the end of the article to tell you this helpful photography tip. Because what I’m about to share will require some explaining. “Okay, Dan, enough of the hype, tell us what we need to do!” Fine, I get you.
My photography tip is simple: go out and shoot with your camera’s battery charged at no more than 50%. “What, Dan? Are you mad? Nobody in their right mind would do that.” Hear me out.
Fully Charged Batteries Led Me to This Photography Tip
Look, I get it. I know how good it feels to wake up in the morning, your camera bag packed, and your batteries fully charged. It’s the sign of a good day of shooting ahead. But the reality is, the luxury of fully charged batteries often leads us to being senseless. We stop thinking about what we’re really looking at and just hit the shutter button. It’s like being a photography zombie: not really thinking, just doing.
Of course, going out with your battery at 50% isn’t a good idea for a paid gig. But for your personal work, be it travel, street, or documentary photography, having to worry about power is a great idea.
When I went out recently with my camera, the first thing I did when I arrived at my location was turn on my camera. The next thing I did was turn it back off. The idea of having less power gave me anxiety, which was great. Because instead of shooting for the sake of shooting, I became more analytical about what I felt made a good photo.
When I became attracted to a scene, I took my hands and used my index fingers and thumbs to replicate my sensor. Looking at the frame, I asked myself whether I would care if I never saw this image again. If the answer was no, my camera stayed turned off. If the answer was yes, I took the shot.
No Chimping
With today’s beautiful LCD screens, reviewing our images is a pure power drainer. Knowing I had to be conservative with the use of my camera, I committed to zero chimping.
Not only did it save juice, but it also ensured I spent more time being present with my surroundings. Unnecassary chimping is a curse, and we should avoid it at all costs!
Less Time Editing
The more selective you are over the images you make, the fewer files you have on your memory card. If we’re honest, we’ve all sat at our desktop going through too many images. It could be because we’ve taken too many shots of the same scene, hoping one of them will be good.
It could also be because we make photos of scenes that attract us in real life, but are make for a boring photograph. Something I’ve learned over the years, and certainly since implementing this photography tip, is that not everything we like to look at makes a good photo. For example, you may see a beautiful, vibrant house nestled amongst some hills on the horizon. To the eye, it looks amazing. But as a photo, the house looks tiny, and you can’t replicate the same feeling.
Being more selective over your shots will make you notice the difference between a good scene in real life and a good photo. That’s important because it will save you time when editing and battery power when shooting!
Try It for Yourself
A photography tip doesn’t always need to be complicated. Sometimes doing something as simple as going out with a half powered battery can be all you need to get better images. Plus, in my opinion, it’s seldom how we use the camera that makes for better images. Instead, it’s how we use our minds and eyes that help us get the most out of a scene. Not constantly hitting the shutters encourages us to focus more, and we return home with a few images we love rather than a lot of images we don’t.
Chances are, if you’ve ever tried to document your travels with a camera, you’ve taken some cliché, if not really cheesy travel photos. I certainly have, and I’m embarrassed to show those photos to friends and family after my trips.
In this article (and of course video above), I’ll be giving you my top nine tips to take your travel portrait photography to the next level. Hopefully, we can all capture some shots that we don’t feel the need to hide on our finsta.
1. No Stiff Smiles
No big cheese! We’ve all taken awkward family photos with big forced smiles and they’re as uncomfortable as they are cliché. I’m not saying look like the grumpy dad at Disney on your entire vacation, but loosen up. Try telling jokes or making your subject laugh to get a more natural reaction. This leads us right into Tip 2.
2. Break Eye Contact
Don’t look into the camera, especially with a big cheesy smile. Everyone would rather be on the beach with a mai tai in their hand, but we’re here for Aunt Gertrude’s 102nd birthday, so let’s try to make the best of it. Try capturing your subject looking at the architecture or landscape. Show them truly enjoying the scene, not the camera.
3. Competing Subjects
Pick a subject. One thing that travel photos suffer from is the lack of a subject. Before snapping a photo, pick your subject: What’s the focus of the photo? Whether it’s little Timmy, a building, a landscape, or even a slice of Sbarro pizza, have your person pose to emphasize themselves or the subject. The angle of your camera and depth of field are powerful tools for emphasizing a subject in your photos. Now, let’s dive a little deeper in Tip 4.
4. Environment Interaction
Climb stairs, lean on a rail or wall, sit on a bench, etc. Don’t be an idiot and hop the fence of Buckingham Palace for TikTok clout, but the most boring photos in the world are, “Here is a person… standing in front of a thing.” Get creative, but don’t be that person that ruins it for everyone.
5. Crowds
Avoid crowds. This may mean waking up before the average tourist, walking the extra mile, or stumbling upon that hidden gem that no one knows about. Talk to locals if you want to experience something unique off the beaten path. This is a secret to making great friends and finding unique photo opportunities that haven’t been shot to death already.
6. Lighting
Golden hour at sunrise and sunset will likely be your best lighting in most cases, but it’s different for each environment. And some places, like Las Vegas for example, truly come alive after the sun has gone down. Pay attention to the light for some truly dynamic images.
In large cities with skyscrapers like NYC, you’ll find great golden hour light on streets that run East & West, while North & South streets will be darker because the sun will be blocked until closer to mid-day.
7. Composition
In addition to lighting, composition is a huge part of what makes any great photo memorable. How you choose to frame your image, the angle, and the height of the camera will tell your audience where to look in the photo. Always be thinking about the Rule of Thirds, Symmetry, Asymmetry, keeping your horizon level, and not having distracting elements in your shot. You may find yourself laying on the ground to get the perfect shot, so suck it up buttercup, because in photography, this is the kind of dedication that takes a photo from being just okay to being great.
8. Candid Moments
It sounds easier than it is, but be sure to capture candid moments. This is probably my favorite tip. Not every shot needs to be posed. Capturing your subjects in a journalistic fashion as they explore the environment, will lead to more natural feeling expressions and more genuine storytelling images of your travels. You’ll be taking quite a few more shots, but when the moment and the lighting are working together… that’s a great photo!
9. Put the Camera Down
A counter-intuitive tip here: put the camera down. I have trips that I hardly remember, aside from some photos stashed on a hard drive, because I had my camera up to my face the entire time. I completely missed out on the moments and memories with friends and family, because I was so worried about trying to capture them. And that, Alanis Morissette, is actually irony. Taking the time to enjoy your surroundings will lead to better imagery when you’re not tunnel-visioned through your viewfinder.
Those are my nine tips for taking better travel portraits! Until next time, get out and go shoot!
About the Author: JT Armstrong is an award-winning military photographer and is currently the video director for the U.S. Space Force. He runs the Youtube channel RunNGun Photo that focuses on sharing photography tips, tricks, and hacks. This article was also published here.
UNITED STATES—Every travel destination presents its history, culture, lights, landscape, life, monuments, and feelings. Photographs that are taken during traveling are memories indeed. Whenever we see photographs, they take us back to those places. The feelings, aroma, and memories of that place conjure up in our minds. We feel awful if those stored memories are blur and blown up. It can be someone’s worst nightmare to travel to an outstanding place and not being able to capture desired shots.
In this contemporary world, one does not need to learn professional photography and buy costly cameras. The gadgets in our pockets are no less than any professional camera. However, the only need is to learn and use them accurately. You can improve your photography skills by considering some effective tips. These tips can help you to be a pro photographer.
Do some Pre-trip Research:
One of the most important tips for travel photography is pre-trip scouting. It can be difficult to explore and enjoy the place truly without research and information. Browse some articles and posts on the internet about your travel destination. Get to know about the famous places and souls of your destination. Reach out to people who had been to those places before. So they could guide you accordingly. Read some travel guidebooks to gain knowledge. Do not wander around without any homework.
Wake up early and capture in natural light:
If you want to capture captivating photographs then you must get up early and head over to the destination. There are certain times of the day when you can take good pictures. Do not take pictures when the sun is at its peak during the middle of the day as the harsh light can make your pictures look bad. Try to take photographs after the sunrise and during the golden hour when the sun is not too harsh.
Capture the movement:
Every picture tells a story. Capturing motions can be very tricky but you can learn some basics to capture remarkable movements. For instance, you can capture moving vehicles, walking people, flying birds, falling water, and many more. Stabilize your camera to catch movements. An important tip to capture moving subjects is to lower the shutter speed. Along with that, you can get inspired by some of the best travel photographs and try to capture like them.
Rule of Thirds:
The rule of thirds explains a basic compositional structure of a picture. According to this rule, you can divide your photograph into 9 parts by intersecting two horizontal and two vertical lines. The best way to capture a good photograph is to place your subject where the lines cross each other. Use the grid feature in your phone to have a better understanding.
Capture Strangers:
Enrich your images by adding human elements to them. The basic ethic before capturing someone is to ask for their permission before. Don’t hesitate to interact and communicate with people. Greet them politely and then ask for their consent. Capture the contrast of man and nature for an epic photograph.
Carry a Tripod:
There are many advantages of carrying a light tripod while traveling. You can easily adjust your camera or mobile phone in a tripod to capture yourself in the picture. Sometimes, our hands get shaky and we fail to capture the image we desired. Having a tripod can resolve this issue. Moreover, tripods can lift your photography skills.
Install Editing Software:
Pre-production is an integral part of any form of photography. It is as important as capturing photographs. Play around with different software and get to know about their features. You can enhance the colors in your images by using multimedia software. Similarly, you can also lighten up the dark images. Multimedia software like Movavi can be used favorably for editing purposes.
Capture different Perspective:
Do not get satisfied by taking one photograph of a subject. Try capturing different angles of the same thing. Do experiments with the composition by capturing multiple images of a place. Attract the viewer’s eye by giving your images a three-dimensional feel. Do not ignore the foreground, midground, and background elements. Change the focus points to make your photographs more fascinating.
Explore and Be friends with your camera:
Our mobile phones and cameras have various hidden features that we are not aware of. Explore and play with the settings of your camera. Get to know about different features and practice using them.
An important tip to capture incredible photos is to use the manual mode. Adjust the settings of your device yourself. You can take stunning images by manually controlling the features.
Be Patient and Have Fun:
It can be very frustrating to capture images, especially in a crowded place. Practice patience throughout your journey. Be observant about your surroundings. Patience is vital mainly in natural photography to find the best light. Moreover, it can also help you immensely in long exposure photography. Other than this, do not forget to live in the moment during the hustle of capturing a good photograph. Be present at the moment and enjoy.
