Travelling on, Seeing along...

Ever noticed how your holiday pictures are often an ‘imitation’ of postcards you can easily buy at souvenir shops? Whether it’s the Eiffel Tower or the Twin Towers or Angkor Wat, of course it’s common to try to capture these iconic images; after all, it’s one reason why we chose to travel to these exotic locales in the first place, right?

Of course I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with postcard images except that it’s too extraordinary. I’m asking you to think about your last vacation trip. Hey! What do you remember most fondly of that trip? The famous landmarks? The colorful markets? Or the fresh pastries in the bakery window? The people sitting in the cafes, or the street vendors and buskers, the smell of the green after a morning rain? The next time you travel, think “outside the postcard” and create your own iconic images, your own stories and memories. To me, this is the essence of Travel Photography.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for any travel photographer is… confidence. We all love to shoot those beautiful environmental portraits – expressing the subject’s culture and character but many of us choose a telephoto and shoot from metres away for fear of rejection. But what’s the worst that can happen? Well, they may say “No” but that’s no big deal! The high chances that they will smile and nod their head in agreement and you are good to go.

Take a deep breath, smile and walk right up to the subject and ask if you can take their photo. Be polite. If they do say “No”, keep your smile, thank them and move on. If they agree, remember to keep that smile, thank them and fire off a few shots. They may have been uncomfortable during the first couple of shots, so share with them via the review screen and use this opportunity to check the exposure or histogram. By then, they’re relaxed and you can take the opportunity to grab a few more frames and when you sense that it is time to stop, move on.

99% of photos that I saw taken by my fellow travelers on my last trip were taken from the same vantage point. They have forgotten all about perspective and remember only the image from the postcard that they saw. One of the first things I will do on a ‘photo stop’ is to find more interesting spots to shoot from. Not that I want my pictures to be original, there’s no sure way to be original when you’re the number #5 millionth tourist! I just want to be better, period.