Take Better Travel Photos Issue 1

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO TRAVEL & HOLIDAY PHOTOGRAPHY

TAKE BETTER TRAVEL PHOTOS Summer 2011 | Issue 1 | £4.50

easy 25 ways to get

great shots

HOW TO…

» Shoot perfect blue seas » Take dramatic willdlife pictures » Make your own photobook

THE 10 BEST COMPACTS & DSLRS REVIEWED

Win an

amazing trip to India worth £2,500!

5HANDY GUIDES:

Portraits • Sunsets Night • Festivals Black & white

JUNIOR SNAPPERS

Photo ideas for kids

Win an amazing tripth to India wor £2,500!

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P38

Could you do better than this? Check out the best amateur shots from 10 years of the Wanderlust Travel Photo Of The Year Competition – and then enter this year’s contest

CONTENTS GET INSPIRED

10 Travel photos of the decade

Incredible pictures from ten years of the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition – every one of them by amateurs, like you!

22

Win a trip to Colombia

Enter your best pictures into the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition 2011 and win a trip to colourful Colombia!

24

24 Marrakech: A day in the light

Expert travel photographer Paul Harris looks at how to take advantage of the changing light to capture the best possible images, from sunrise to sunset.

Icon: 30 Photo The Taj Mahal

Iconic buildings like the Taj Mahal are so familiar it can be tricky to take an original picture. Steve Davey shows how to make your photos better than the postcards.

better travel photos 40 Take (no new kit required!)

From planning your shots to getting to know your camera, we offer 25 tips on how to improve your photographic skills and start taking more striking shots. The best bit? They won’t cost you a penny.

56 Whipper snappers

Two 10-year-old photography enthusiasts share their favourite shots and offer advice for other young wannabe snappers on how to take great photos.

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40

Cover story Check out our easy 25 ways to take better travel photos – whether you have a top-of-the-range camera or something a little more, ahem, antiquated

TIPS & SKILLS

FINAL TOUCHES

64 Masai Mara photo safari

how to turn your photos up to 11 116 Processing:

Camera klutz Chris Haslam tries sharpening up his wildlife photography skills on safari in wild Africa.

101

72 Specialist photo safaris

Advice on choosing the right kit and finding the right photographic safari and guide.

74

Five minute guide: Shooting water

104

Heading for the seaside? We explain how to capture turquoise seas and misty waterfalls on camera.

80 Ten rules for the road

From backing up your files to keeping your kit clean, we offer ten tips for happy photo hunting.

minute guide: Awesome landscapes 88 Five

Taking an evocative landscape photo isn’t as simple as it might seem. Pro photographer David Ward shares his expertise.

94

Do try this at home

It’s homework time – and your assignments include snapping squirrels and saying hello to strangers.

74

your own photobook 122 Create

We pick some of the best photobook providers to help you design an album full of all your favourite travel pics.

126 Ten best gallery apps

Downloadable applications to help you enhance, distort and generally play around with your photos.

128 Glossary

creative with your compact 84 Get

For those with less snazzy cameras, you can still achieve some great shots if you know a few tricks of the trade.

Why shooting in RAW format makes it easy to turn photos from near-misses to masterpieces. Plus, basic digital processing skills and the software to look out for.

KIT & CAMERAS vs DSLRs: which one is right for you?

98 Compacts

With a bewildering array of cameras to choose from, we offer three steps to buying the right camera for you – plus advice on where to buy it.

What the heck’s a DSLR, anyway? And what’s this white balance business? A helpful glossary of camera terms for photography newbies.

122

101 Top ten DSLRs

Want to shoot like the pros without spending a fortune? Check out our roundup of the best digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras to suit travellers’ needs.

104 Top ten compacts

Ten compact cameras for photo enthusiasts who don’t want a DSLR cramping their snap-happy style.

Cover story Capture watersports action and get those deep blue seas really blue with our step-by-step guide to Shooting water (ticket to Bora Bora sadly not included).

108

Photographer’s kit bag

Filters, spirit levels, tripods,cleaners...

There’s so much camera kit to choose from, but which pieces really are must-haves?

MINI MASTERCLASSES

131 FIVE HANDY GUIDES

In a hurry? Flip to our series of quick reference guides to brush up on Portraits, Sunsets, Festivals, Black & White and After Dark snappery.

movies: holiday video cameras 110 Making

Whether you’re using a handheld camcorder or the video recorder on your mobile phone, we offer advice on finding the best device to film your trip.

TAKE BETTER TRAVEL PHOTOS Summer 2011 | 5

Camera at the ready Lazing on the Greek Island of Santorini?

No matter where you are, always have your camera to hand

GET INSPIRED

25 TOP TIPS

25 better travel photos WAYS TO TAKE

You’re packed and ready to go – but what will you come back with? Our panel of experts explains how to make this year’s holiday photos your best ever, using only what you’ve already got: a camera and your imagination

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TAKE A CAMERA EVERYWHERE

As the adage has it, ‘the best camera is the one you have with you’. The fanciest DSLR in the world is no good back in your hotel room.

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THINK BEFORE YOU SHOOT

Look in and around the scene, and think about how you are going to make the most of its potential. Is the foreground interesting enough? Are the colours too distracting? If light, weather, time and mood are simply not helping, come back another day. PH

THE EXPERTS Suzi Eszterhas (SE) is an award-winning professional wildlife photographer, based in California and the UK. As well as shooting assignments for newspapers and magazines worldwide, she leads inspirational wildlife photography tours: trips with availability for 2011-2012 include Borneo, Costa Rica, India and Madagascar. www.suzieszterhas.com Paul Harris (PH) has a distinguished 25-year career documenting people and landscapes around the world, with a particular focus on environmental issues and adventure travel. Based in North Yorkshire, he is a and a judge on the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition, and leads trips for Wanderlust Journeys (www.wanderlust-journeys.co.uk). www.paulharrisphotography.com London-based Peter Mallet ( (PM) is an in-demand editorial photographer, shooting travel assignments for Wanderlust, Travel Sunday Times Travel, Geographical and other top magazines. See www.petermallet.com Additional tips by Steve Davey & Dan Linstead.

Additional images: Getty, Alamy, Eric Baldauf, Steve Davey

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USE BACK-LIGHTING FOR DRAMA

Conventional wisdom says you should take photographs with the sun behind you, which tends to give warmer tones. But sometimes you can achieve dramatic results by placing yourself so your subject is back-lit (shooting with the sun facing you).

This is especially true if you’re shooting in the early morning or late evening, when the sun often produces a warm rim-lighting around the edge of your subject. SE

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GET TO KNOW YOUR CAMERA

OK, so nobody loves reading the manual – but the more you know about your camera’s capabilities, the more creative you can be. Even the humblest compact camera has a myriad options, so start experimenting. Take the same scene different ways and compare them. Try it once with flash, and once without; once close-up and once out wide; try different shutter speeds and white balance settings. For a handy demo of how to use basic SLR settings, have a play with the virtual camera at www.camerasim.com.

GET INSPIRED

25 TOP TIPS

5

DON’T MISS THE ‘GOLDEN HOURS’ AFTER SUNRISE AND BEFORE SUNSET

You can take good photographs at any time of day (see A Day in the Light, p24), but at dawn and dusk the light is best for revealing the full texture of a landscape, as in this shot of Lake Powell, Utah. This light can be very short lived, especially in the tropics, so you need to be ready at your location in good time. PH

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INTRODUCE MOVEMENT

One of the easiest ways to animate a scene is to allow a bit of motion blur – birds in the sky, passing bicycles, the bustle of pedestrians in a city centre.

Selecting a Shutter priority (S or Tv) or Manual mode (M) is the easiest way to achieve this. Brace yourself against a wall to avoid camera shake, and shoot at 1/15 sec or slower to get a sense of motion. For longer exposures, you’ll need to rest your camera on a surface, or use a tripod.

r e p p i h W PPERS

A N S t t grea s u j ’t ren l Kids a ts for trave y can c e subje raphy – th raphers g g photo reat photo wellg o make asked tw -olds e r too. W d ten-yea heir t lle trave us through to talk le albums b envia

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GET INSPIRED

KIDS’ PHOTOGRAPHY

P

repare for an attack of envy: twins Joe and Ellie Gray have packed more adventures into their first decade than many of us manage in a lifetime. Trekking in Morocco? Done it. Kayaking in New Zealand? Check.

Disneyland? Of course – on three different continents.

Almost from birth, Joe and Ellie have followed their dad, William, an award-winning travel writer and photographer, and mum, Sally, a book editor, on journeys all over the globe. And once they’d got past those tricky toddler years (when, William recalls, the kids threw up in six different car seats), they started photographing those trips too. Here are their favourite shots, and their tips for other aspiring young snappers.

TAKE BETTER TRAVEL PHOTOS Summer 2011 | 57

Sec t T ion

WO

TIPS & SKILLS From wondrous

wildlife to luscious landscapes, start picking up the skills and techniques for great travel photos

IN THIS SECTION: » Photo safaris: Masai Mara How to capture wild Africa p64 » 5 minute guide: shooting water Waves and reflections p74 » 10 rules for the road Taking care of your kit p80 » Get creative with a compact Instant art – just point & shoot p84 » 5 minute guide: landscapes Taking scene stealers p88

TAKE BETTER TRAVEL PHOTOS

TIPS & SKILLS

PHOTO SAFARI: KENYA

Want to really improve your wildlife photography?

Chris Haslam did, so he signed up for an intensive photographic safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara

MISSING Pictures Chris Haslam

IN ACTION

Going, going, gone...

At the start of his safari, Chris was in real need of some photo tips. Could a bit of tuition take him from ‘missing leopard’ to something more composed?

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R O F S RULE D A O R THE

our 10-point ’s e r e h – g in mil it and keep s k r u o y r ter photos e t t e f b a k g o in lo k , a t t h t bou Pack lig u’re serious a o y if w o ll o f plan to

Take care of your kit – clean lenses (gently) with dust blowers. And always pack spare equipment in case something gets damaged or stolen

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2

If you’re on the trip of a lifetime, don’t let the theft or mechanical failure of your camera and lenses mean you can’t take pictures.

If photography is important to you, make sure you have a spare camera – even if it is just a simple compact. If the worst happens and your camera is stolen or broken, then you can still shoot.

Don’t overlook lenses, either. Many people travel with an 18-200mm super-zoom, which has such a wide range it rarely needs to be changed. But pack the kit lens that came with your camera too, in case your first choice lens goes wrong or gets damaged while you’re on the road.

Always keep your gear clean: dirt or dust on your sensor will show up as ugly black marks on your pictures. Smudges on your lens will affect quality and can cause flare. Clean your gear every night. Some cameras have a sensor that vibrates, but this may need extra cleaning.

A manual blower (try Visible Dust’s Hurricane Blower: £7.95, www.visibledust. com) will jet dust from the sensor (never use compressed air). You might also need a sensor brush (approx £60) if you are doing a lot of travel to dusty areas. Blow grit and dust from lenses and filters, then use a washable micropore cloth to clean them.

TAKE SPARE EQUIPMENT

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KEEP IT CLEAN

TIPS & SKILLS

STRAP HERE TRAVEL SAVVY

“

Be aware of your surroundings and take local advice about dangerous areas

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Digital images are essentially ephemeral.

They can disappear in an instant due to theft, mechanical breakdown or corruption.

However, they are easily duplicated, so there is no excuse for losing images.

Memory cards are cheaper than ever.

Take enough so you don’t have to reuse them. Copy pictures to a laptop and back this up to a hard disk such as LaCie Rugged Hard Disk (from £95 online). Also, copy cards to a standalone storage device (browse at www.hypershop.com). Only then reuse a memory card. You can also back-up to DVDs in internet cafés. Store one back-up in your hotel; carry the other.

Most travel books recommend that you don’t carry valuables on you – but as a photographer, you don’t really have a choice. However, you should take basic precautions against robbery. Try to be aware of your surroundings and take local advice about dangerous areas. Carry your camera securely, and look out for bagsnatchers on motorbikes. Never leave your camera or camera bag on a café table or where anyone can grab it and run away.

Learn to work quickly: if you stand fiddling with your camera for ages, you’ll attract attention. If you are taking a risk, back up your memory card first – just in case.

Words and ‘make your CD’ image: Steve Davey. Other images: Alamy; iStock

BACK UP YOUR PICTURES

Always back up your images – twice!

Save files to portable hard-drives and burn them to CDs at internet cafés

”

BE AWARE OF WHERE YOU ARE

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TIPS & SKILLS

COMPACT SKILLS

Get creative with your

COMPACT CAMERA You don’t need an expensive SLR camera to take an impressive shot – compacts can give great results if you know a few tricks of the trade, advises Steve Davey

C

ompact cameras are getting more sophisticated. Although, size for size, the sensors used in larger digital SLRs tend to produce better results, the simplicity of a point-and-shoot allows you to be creative without worrying about camera settings.

However, even the most advanced compacts can’t perceive the photographer’s intentions. At best, automatic functions are an educated guess.

And there are times when it all goes wrong.

Luckily, you don’t have to ditch all automatic functions and set everything yourself. You can still use your compact camera’s clever tools to do most of the work, but by making a few simple tweaks you can greatly improve your chances of getting it all right.

All a blur ing -sync sett The slow e blur to uc d o tr in can c mospheri produce at ts o sh festival

If you light a whole scene with flash, the results are often harsh. Flash light is very directional and falls off over distance; this is why backgrounds often look dark.

To improve this, set your flash to the ‘slow-sync’ setting. The flash will fire as normal but the camera will also set a slower speed – if it thinks it needs one – so that the ambient light registers as wel l. If light levels are really low, then be careful of blur in parts of the picture lit by ambient light – although this can be a nice effect if you are shooting a party or dance performance.

This is the setting to use if you want to take a picture of someone in front of a floodlit building at night. The flash will light the person and the slow speed will allow the ambient light to register.

Snow-stopping Use the exposu recompensation fac ility or Snow setting to correct blue casti ng

▶

Alamy

▶ CAPTURE THE ATMOSPHERE WITH SLOW-SYNCH FLASH

Stay in control Get to know your camera’s picture modes: they do make a difference!

AVOID NASTY COLOUR CASTS

All white now Set your white balance to suit the scene you are shooting

Different light sources give off a range of colour temperatures, from red to dark blue.

Humans can’t distinguish these casts; the brain automatically corrects them.

Digital cameras have a similar function: the Auto White Balance (AWB). The trouble is the camera doesn’t know what you are photographing: it can’t tell the difference between the rich reds of a sunset, which you want to preserve, and the orange cast from an incandescent bulb, which you probably want to eliminate. The AWB will seek to cancel out all colour casts – good and bad.

The solution is to switch off AWB and use the ‘Daylight’ setting. This makes your camera behave in the same way as film, and is perfect for most conditions. At sunrise and sunset warmer light will be reproduced in your pictures as atmospheric red tinges.

If you’re shooting under artificial light, switch the AWB on to cancel out the colour cast.

If shooting in fluorescent light, select the ‘Fluorescent’ or ‘Incandescent’ settings; they’ll usually give better results than AWB.

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