Travel photography for beginners. Analysis of information and preparation of a route. Photos of places on the planet Travel photographer
Until the masterpiece button is invented, it is important to remember and follow the main rules of photography while traveling. Then you will have something to show your grandchildren or remember yourself. As an example for each rule, I’ll take some of my travel photos that roughly fit these rules.
1.FOLLOW THE RULE OF THIRDS
The oldest rule of photography, which all photographers know and amateurs “fundamentally” ignore. That is why, instead of looking happy against the backdrop of the sea, more than half of amateurs take pictures of their heads against the backdrop of the sky from which trees grow.
Mentally divide the future photo into three parts vertically and the same amount horizontally, place the subject at the intersection of imaginary lines or on the lines themselves and you are guaranteed to get a compositionally balanced photo.
2.BREAK THE RULE OF THIRDS
You shouldn't be a slave to the rules. That's why they exist so that they can sometimes be violated. You can always place the subject in the center or introduce some kind of imbalance into the frame, the main thing is not to get carried away at first. 
3.USE NATURAL GUIDELINES IN YOUR FRAME
Roads, bridges, wires, rivers or skyscraper lines - use them to create depth in your shots or as a guide line that will lead the viewer to your main subject.
4. MAKE PANORAMAS
Sometimes panoramas will help you understand your emotions that you experienced while traveling. Mountain landscapes, high-altitude views of the city at night, or simply a beautiful historical place can often be conveyed much better with the help of panoramas. 
Panoramas are easy to make and often don't require an expensive tripod or panoramic head. Just shoot continuously, covering one third of the frame area. Any popular program for stitching panoramas will cope with the task. 
5.ALWAYS PROCESS YOUR PHOTOS
Any photo can be improved with the help of a photo editor; only pseudo-photographers can be proud that “there is no Photoshop here, everything is natural.” We are not talking about changing pictures or photo collages, but simply pulling out details from the shadows, adding contrast or saturating the color of the sky is a must. Often even simple framing will turn a boring shot into a masterpiece. 
A long shutter speed will add a creative component to the photo and create the illusion of movement in the photo, be it blurry figures of people or the jets of a waterfall. Try shooting with a shutter speed of one second, experiment with aperture and sensitivity. The result will appear on the third try. 
7. LOOK FOR AN UNUSUAL PERSPECTIVE OR ANGLE
A reflection in the water, an unusual angle from below or from above will help create something different from the photographs of your travel companions. Here you can experiment without restrictions and forget about all the rules for a while. 
Especially unusually dressed or in a funny situation. This really spices up the standard travel albums. As for me, this is the most difficult rule, but without it, travel photography is impossible. 
9. PAY ATTENTION TO GEOMETRY AND COLOR
Combine with color, geometry and arrangement of objects, look for interesting little things. The front door, an element of an ancient facade, or laundry on a line often look better in a photo than in real life. Pay special attention to unusual combinations of colors and geometry of objects. 
10. BE PATIENT
Often a cool photo comes when you wait patiently. This applies to both the right light and scenes with animals or people or, conversely, the absence of people. Any object can be photographed without tourists, if you don’t want to see them in the frame - to do this you just need to wait. Very rarely successful shots are taken offhand. 
Any location looks completely different at night; artificial or moonlight adds drama and mystery to the picture, hiding imperfections that are visible during the day, such as debris or dirt. The same bridge in Budapest looks completely different at night.
For shooting in the evening, you will need a lightweight, inexpensive tripod. The shutter speed can be made longer, from 5 to 30 seconds, the aperture should be clamped to 11-22. The result in the photo will help you see your journey from a completely different perspective and cause white envy among viewers.
12. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE LOCAL WILDLIFE
Take photos of pigeons or cats in your grandmother’s villages, squirrels in city parks, and when traveling around Thailand or Indonesia, don’t forget that the local monkeys have long been waiting for your camera’s shutter to release. 
10 things to do to ruin your vacation
To ensure that impressions from years ago do not spill over, a camera always accompanies you on the road. Together with the Nikon team, we have compiled some tips for aspiring photographers to ensure that the photo retains the most positive emotions.
There is hardly anything that can compare with travel as a source of new sensations. Wherever you go, they are waiting at every turn, all you have to do is catch them. Often the palette of such “trophies” turns out to be so rich and bright that it is almost impossible to retain it in memory.
Tell a story
The problem with many amateur travel photographs is lack of ideas. Shooting, when the camera shoots like a machine gun, is called motor photography by professionals. The flash drive ends up with a ton of pictures of the same type, from which, sometimes, you can’t tell what kind of country or city it is.
Take your time to photograph everything around you, look around and find the plot. Below, for example, is a shot by Nikon Ambassador Daniil Korzhonov, who owes his appearance to the photographer’s attentiveness.
The photographer must not only show, but also tell, create a complete story. The genre does not matter: a portrait, a landscape, a still life, or an interior photograph can be filled with meaning. The key to success is a wealth of bright details that convey local flavor. However, this does not mean at all that they need to be added artificially, suggesting, for example, that an Indian arm himself with a tomahawk. The art of the photographer is to keep the technique ready at the moment when the subject himself decides to take the tomahawk.
Remember the light
The quality of shooting is also affected by weather conditions and time of year. For example, in the fall the air is cold and transparent, which increases the sharpness of the image, and in the summer it is best to shoot at dawn or sunset, when the light “animates” the image. If the sun is at its zenith, then the frames are too contrasty, without shadows and halftones.
“To get a beautiful photograph of a landscape, nature or city, it is worth shooting between 7:00 and 11:00 in the morning or after 16:00 and before sunset. It is during these hours that the sun's rays are the softest - they will help you convey natural colors, and side sunlight will draw shadows that will give volume to objects. This is especially important if you take photographs in the city,” advises Nikon Ambassador Vitaly Savelyev.
In addition, when you see the sunrise in an exotic country, you will not only take great photos, but also experience a special impression when you see how an unfamiliar city begins its day.
Build a composition
From a composition point of view, a high location will help you capture the widest and most complete view of a city or landscape. Climb onto a roof, observation deck, mountain or small hill to have the terrain at your fingertips. The landscape will turn out to be voluminous, the multi-faceted composition will make the image more expressive.
A rich foreground is also very important when photographing at sea. Plants, driftwood, stones - this is what you need. If your camera is waterproof, you can create a unique shot by positioning the lens fully or halfway underwater. We recommend purchasing a special polarizing filter - it will remove glare, which will make further correction of photos easier.
You will get excellent shots of the city if you go deeper into the depths and turn off the beaten tourist paths. At first glance, there is nothing easier than photographing architecture. Even the auto mode can handle stationary objects. However, in order for the architecture captured in the photo to look as impressive as it does in real life, it is necessary to build the composition correctly.
The main thing in travel photography is the ability to go beyond the usual boundaries, look for unusual angles and conditions. We have described other basic principles on how to shoot non-trivially in the photo below.
The material uses photographs of Nikon brand ambassador Daniil Korzhonov
Journey. There is something magical about this word. A huge world outside the door of the house. Incredible landscapes, unexpected meetings, someone's unusual culture, food, cities full of different sounds and smells. Today the world is open, traveling has become much easier. Plan your route, pack your backpack, and hit the road. And more and more people are adding a camera to their travel kit. And it turns out that they are no longer just travelers, but travel photographers. But what exactly is travel photography?
Text and photo: Anton Agarkov
The nomads of Kyrgyzstan are shepherds and ideal riders. Their history is the history of herds and equestrian competitions
To begin with, you should think about what a journey is. A trip to Morocco, Yugoslavia or Iran is a journey. Photos taken in Canada - travel photographs. Is a trip to a neighboring city a trip? Is a walk down the next street a journey? Suppose you photographed your hometown - is this travel photography or not? Probably not. What if a Moroccan comes to your hometown and takes it off - what's that? Perhaps, after all, travel photography. But how will these photographs differ? Exotic is, of course, good. But to be completely honest, travel is any way out of the house with the goal of learning something new. It’s prosaic, but how many budget travel destinations immediately opened up, right?
Well, if you went on this trip with a camera, this is already travel photography. Almost. So you went to the Sahara to film dunes. They took one photo, three, ten. And they showed ten photographs of dunes. Is this a travel photo? No, these are ten photographs of the dune.
Travel photography is an attempt to show through your photographs what and how life is in the country, city, village where you went. It's not just landscapes, it's much more - architecture, cuisine, national holidays, crafts. And, of course, people. The desire to tell a story, to convey the spirit and flavor of the country so accurately that the viewer says “Yes, I’ve been there myself!” - that’s the essence of travel photography. And this super task requires enormous skill and experience from the photographer.
A travel photographer must be attentive and clearly understand what is important and what is not. In the life of any place there are important things, and there are minor ones. During tests of the Nikon D500, I shot in Kyrgyzstan. I traveled a lot around this country, studied the life of the local residents, their culture and traditions. And I can absolutely say that for these people the livestock market and yurts are much more important than, for example, shopping centers in the city of Bishkek. Of course, these shopping centers can become a part of history and help show the contrast between the capital and the high mountain pastures with their traditional life. But it would be wrong to focus on city life in a story about Kyrgyzstan.
So, when you buy a ticket or get ready to travel, try to find out as much as possible about the place where you are going. Who lives there? What do they live for? Where do they live? What's the nature like there? What is the history behind this place and how does it manifest itself today? Start asking all these questions before you travel and look for answers to them. But don't forget that the world may be different from what you learned from the Internet.
Buildings collapse, people change professions and move, beautiful woven carpets from photographs may turn out to be just well-taken rugs. You must be prepared for such a turn of events. If you see that the topic you’ve been looking at is, to put it mildly, not very good, don’t waste your time on it. It's better to devote it to something more interesting. And, on the contrary, if the trip brings you together with interesting people or topics, then don’t think too much - change the route, stay and shoot, shoot, shoot!
Nikon D500, AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR lens,
The livestock market in the city of Karakol is an important part of the life and work of Kyrgyz shepherds.
To visit and film there means to understand and convey an important part of their life
If everything goes right, then your travel report will become a moderate mixture of landscapes, reportage, portraits of local residents, and some sketches of local life.
Obviously, such an approach requires the photographer to be able to photograph everything that he might encounter while traveling. Nature, wild animals, architecture, even macro. Moreover, you need to be able to film all this, if not masterfully, then at a decent level, so that the overall level of your reportage is uniform in quality. If your viewer sees an interesting landscape, but is followed by a lousy portrait or a banal report, then most likely your viewer will simply be disappointed and go look for beautiful photographs somewhere else.
Experience and knowledge, the ability to work quickly and adapt to changing conditions are important components of success in travel photography. But not the only ones. The choice of equipment plays a significant role. A good travel photographer must be prepared for whatever his travels throw at him. You must know and feel your camera well. Get used to the controls, learn to change settings without looking. Then at a critical moment, instead of getting confused with the buttons, you will take your shot.
Nikon D500, AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR lens
The yurt is a shepherd's dwelling in the summer and an important part of the Kyrgyz culture.
Be careful when choosing a camera. It should be suitable for shooting any scenes, work quickly and for a long time. Most likely, you will have to shoot a lot of fast-paced scenes, possibly in poor lighting conditions. So, it would be nice if the camera could shoot decently at high ISOs. Don't forget that you will have to carry all the equipment yourself. I had to walk around cities and villages with a photo backpack for 10-12 hours a day, lift equipment into the mountains and make long treks with luggage on my shoulders. So, the weight of your equipment set is of considerable importance. The new Nikon D500 camera for travel photography is fully suitable in all respects.
Being prepared for anything applies not only to knowledge, but also to your optics kit. Certain scenes are best shot with certain types of lenses. A wide-angle lens is great for landscapes, a telephoto lens is great for animal portraits, and it’s best to look for city scenes with a full-time lens. But if you don’t have the opportunity or desire to carry a whole set of optics, you can choose a lens with a wide range of focal lengths for travel, for example AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24MM F/3.5-4.5G ED. Or try to adapt your shooting style to those focal lengths you have available. In the end, in your report, your viewers will be interested not only in a point on the map, but also in your personal perception of it.
Nowadays, anyone can take good travel photos with a smartphone. It's amazing! But for a professional photographer, this is more of a challenge - his shots must really stand out among amateur ones, so you should always strive to expand the horizons of your knowledge and skills. Tips from Joel Santos, Canon Ambassador, professional travel photographer and naturalist
Be rational
Be smart about preparing your equipment before your trip. How far will you have to walk today? How comfortable is your backpack? Will the equipment survive filming conditions?
Seems obvious, but early in my career I packed a backpack that was too bulky countless times. Excess equipment only became a burden and did not really help the creative process.
I consider a trip to be a success if I was able to find and capture a unique story. And it’s not so important who or what exactly I photograph - a landscape, a group of people or one person. But such photographs are not easy. There's a lot to explore to create truly interesting photo stories. Sometimes I have to walk along abandoned paths for a long time to find the plot, so I have to be sure that I can physically carry all my equipment.
Total weight is the most important factor when choosing equipment for a project. The EOS 5DS R paired with a lens like the new EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM is a very compact package that allows me to take quality photos and still have fun in the process.
In addition to lightweight equipment that will not drag you to the ground, it is important to get a comfortable backpack - it should not be heavy, it should have a lot of padding and be sure to have a belt on the waist so that the weight is distributed evenly.
be ready
A travel photographer should not get hung up on the expedition plan: not all trips can be carefully thought out in advance. My most successful trips were adventures - almost everything was unpredictable, only the flight was planned.
But if I don’t know where I’ll be taken, who I’ll meet there, or where I’ll be able to sleep after landing, I always try to be properly prepared. For example, if I am traveling to a country whose language is unfamiliar to me, I find a translator who will help me establish contact with local residents, potential heroes of my stories. That's exactly what I did when I traveled to western Mongolia to photograph eagle hunters. I wanted to capture a whole family, but I didn't know where to find anyone, so I went exploring.
In addition, I always try to learn as much as possible about the country and area itself, about the current customs and morals of the inhabitants - this is the only way I can bring home truly sincere photographs and consider the trip a success.
While filming in different parts of the world, I learned another important lesson: not everyone has seen a professional camera! Agree, a large lens aimed at your face can be somewhat confusing. Therefore, you need to think in advance about which lenses are most suitable in such conditions.
For example, when going to Ethiopia to photograph the tribes of the Omo River Valley, I decided to start with a more inconspicuous and compact model (EF 50mm f/1.8 STM). When I found common ground with the locals, I switched to a larger and more versatile model. You could, say, switch to the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM when people feel more comfortable in front of the camera. This is an excellent, relatively compact lens that produces images of uncompromising quality.
be patient
Patience is the main weapon of a travel photographer. And don’t think that the decisive shot will come to you almost after the plane’s landing gear touches the asphalt. Be patient, sometimes it takes a long time to fully immerse yourself in the local environment. Making contact with the locals and asking around is a good way to understand the culture, but never forget to be patient when interacting with the subject of your future photo story. Be prepared for the fact that it will take some time before people feel comfortable around a stranger and his camera.
In many cases, I needed to earn trust so those around me could relax. Otherwise, it would not have been possible to take a beautiful and natural photo.
For example, I had to walk 35 kilometers across the steppes of western Mongolia with a family of nomadic Kazakhs, carrying their equipment. Only after that they began to take me and my project seriously. They became convinced that I was truly interested in their lives and that I came to them with good intentions. A similar adventure awaited me in snowy northern Mongolia with the Tsaatan reindeer herding people.
Ultimately, my patience paid off in amazing ways. I managed to take a series of beautiful photographs - each of them reflects a unique and difficult life in one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth. These photos have appeared in publications such as The Guardian, Huffington Post and New York Post.
You can spend as much time as you want to gain people's trust or to get, climb or swim to the ideal shooting location. The main thing is not to lose patience, because the result is always (or almost always) worth it.
Be unique
I get the impression that now many photographers are erasing the same “instagenic” places and taking the same type of pictures.
The essence of the art of photography lies not only in a beautiful picture - the plot is important here, and best of all, a new one. It is not enough to repeat a real picture one by one to be considered a travel photographer. Success in this craft comes only to those who take unique footage that reveals something unknown - a location, a group of people or history.
In addition, to improve my skills, I constantly experiment with lenses and shoot from new angles, different lighting, etc. With the right technique, I can improve my artistic skills and photograph in my signature style.
I am a travel photographer and spend a lot of time traveling, which I pay for out of pocket. Sometimes you have to travel thousands of kilometers to take one photo, so I appreciate truly reliable lenses.
Travel photography is a very competitive field, so it is important to approach photography creatively and find your own style of work. One of my calling cards is large, expressive backgrounds that add another dimension of color to the subject of a photograph. My favorite technique. The EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM telephoto lens lets you play with the scale of the background while keeping your subject in sharp focus. With it I can freely work in my own style, creating unique photos.
I am confident that I can take high-quality photographs in any conditions, be it the scorching sun in the desert or tropical downpours. This is a durable lens with unrivaled optical performance. It should definitely be in the arsenal of every travel photographer. Now I can't live without him.
About the author. Joel was born in Lisbon and has long devoted himself to science, but for the last 15 years his passion has been travel photography. He has photographed for Microsoft, IKEA and National Geographic. In 2016, Joël won the “Best Travel Photographer of the Year” competition. His work has been widely exhibited, he leads photographic expeditions to the Arctic and other places, and is the author of nine books. In addition, Joël is actively researching new filming technologies. Over the past few years, he has been experimenting with drones, creating amazing documentary videos and photographs.
Thank you for the material provided
Summer is the time for vacations and trips. And going on the road today, almost everyone strives to capture their impressions, especially since technology allows this. But to make your photos interesting, it’s not enough just to click the camera. Professional tricks are shared on the website http://delayfoto.ru/uroki-foto/travel-fotografiya-...osti-semki-v-puteshestvii.html
Travel- photo and time of day
Regardless of whether you are going on a hiking trip with friends in the Ural mountain ranges or are going on vacation to some hot country with your family, take photographs at any time of the day in any weather conditions.
Morning is the most favorable time for photographing sights and landscapes in general. At this time, the sun is closer to the horizon and ideally illuminates the subjects, making them visually more voluminous and more interesting for the viewer. 
T a smart morning is a blessing for a photographer. Fog can decorate any photo with a simple and uncomplicated plot, because... fills it with an aura of mystery and at some moments even gloom.
Late evening is a great time to photograph subjects in the warm sunset light. At this time, you can take beautiful silhouette photographs or portraits against the backdrop of the setting sun.
Daytime is the worst time not only for travel photography, but also for photography in general. And the point is not only that at this time of day, especially in hot countries, the streets are unbearably hot, but also that just at this time the light from the sun is very hard, bright, forming long and sharp shadows. Take a photograph of any object of interest to the photographer, because... It's quite problematic in this light.
Taking photos during the day in cloudy weather is a completely different matter. Daylight sunlight penetrating through the clouds becomes diffused and softly illuminates the subjects. At this time, the photographer can take absolutely stunning landscape photographs with an interesting plot.
At night, as a rule, sophisticated amateur photographers go out on photo hunts, eager to take souvenir photos of city landmarks in unusual city lighting or the city’s nightlife in a reportage style.
Architecture intravel-photos
How do you photograph architecture so that the viewer has an irresistible desire to go there? In fact, this is not easy, because you not only need to frame the subject in the viewfinder and press the shutter, but also try to be creative. How to do it?
Firstly, do not chase quantity and do not rush to press the shutter button. It’s better to take 10 very special shots, rather than 100 shots that will simply convey information that you actually saw this city and this wonderful landmark. Look at your subject from a different angle. Perhaps, in order to achieve a good result, you will have to lie down on the ground or, conversely, climb to some height.
Secondly, photograph architecture in the early morning, and not only because at this time the sunlight illuminates the buildings in a special way, but because at this time the city streets are not as crowded as in the afternoon or evening. But if you have set yourself the task of taking street photography, then the evening is the best time for this. Go to crowded places such as central parks and streets, cafes and markets. In such places you can find a lot of interesting subjects for tourist photos. The main thing is to choose a suitable shooting point.
Third, pay attention to detail if the building you are photographing has interesting bas-reliefs and sculptures.
Fourth, as mentioned earlier, photograph architectural landmarks at night. But for this, do not forget to take a tripod with you to get clear photos. Don't forget to set up your camera correctly before you start taking photos! For night photography, the ISO should be no higher than 400, otherwise you risk getting photos with noise. If you see that your shots are too dark, then open the aperture to maximum or increase the shutter closing time (shutter speed) to 1/3 - 1/15 sec. 
Landscape intravel-photos
When traveling, as you know, photographing landscapes is inevitable. Even if you are just relaxing on the warm sea coast, you can always find a subject for your travel photography. Just look around. Perhaps your subjects will be waves crashing against rocks and a beautiful shell washed up on the shore. And if you wait until sunset, you can take stunning, beautiful photographs of the sea in the rays of the setting sun. If you have a fast lens in your arsenal, then you can easily photograph the starry sky over the sea, illuminated by the bright moon. 
But when photographing landscapes, do not forget about the correct composition. Follow the lines in the frame, both horizontal and vertical. Before pressing the shutter, make sure that the horizon line does not cut the frame into two parts, i.e. does not pass in its very center. It is also worth paying attention to the location of large objects in the frame. We advise you to place them not in the middle of the frame, but on the left side of it. This will make it easier for the viewer to perceive the photo. But this is a matter of taste and vision of the photographer, and not a strict shooting rule.
Don’t forget about macro photography, especially if you are vacationing in an exotic country, where insects previously unknown to us live and unusually beautiful plants and flowers grow. When doing this, remember about aperture and shutter speed. If you take macro photographs of the enchanting world handheld, be sure to set the camera to a short shutter speed so as not to blur the frame. To prevent the photo from turning out too dark, increase the ISO level to 400. 
