Hey Everyone
I’m sure people have noticed the resounding silence on Journey Photographic – sorry ’bout that! Unfortunately, it’s likely to continue for the next week or so.
Until then, I hope everyone is having a very happy and productive few weeks!
March 14, 2011
Travel Photography Tip #4: Negotiate Up Front
Before we get started with this week’s travel photography tip, some of you have probably noticed I am massively behind in answering comments right now. Mea Culpa – things have been somewhat frantic recently, and are likely to be so for the next couple of weeks. Rest assured I read and appreciate every single comment (yes, even the spam!), even if I can’t always respond right away.
Travel Photography Tip #4: Negotiate Up Front
For most people, travel photography is just aspect of their holiday activities. This is especially the case if you are travelling with a non-photographically-minded travel partner (be that your significant other, family member, or friend). When trying to balance travel photography against other activities in your limited holiday time, you may want to consider negotiating travel photography time with your partner/s before you go.
Discussing things up front means you can agree some time for travel photography take a priority, and some time when you’ll let it take a back seat in favour of their priorities. One point that is frequently raised post-holiday by keen photographers is that they’d ‘hoped for more time’ for photography. But there’s no point hoping you’ll be able to squeeze some time in, and feeling disappointed if it doesn’t work out, if you didn’t tell your travel buddies you wanted to do it in the first place. Of course, this works both ways – they probably have something they want to dedicate some holiday time for as well.
When I went on holidays with my sister (who is well aware of my tendency to be easily distracted – for long periods of time – by photographically interesting objects), we spent some time before we left discussing what we really wanted for the trip. While we generally have fairly similar travel preferences, there is one difference; I enjoy photography, and she doesn’t (and she loves museums, while I can take ‘em or leave ‘em). Based on what each of us really wanted to do and see, we easily came to a agreement on when I would try and keep the impact of my photography on the schedule to a minimum, and when she’d accommodate (reasonable) requests for extra photography time.
The most important thing about these discussions was not the resolution we ended up with, but the fact that both of us were on the same page, and that we were both aware of each others priorities. We didn’t need a detailed agreement – just a sense that both of us were willing to compromise to make sure we both got what we wanted out of the trip. And it worked – she got her museums; I got photography time when I really wanted it, and we both had a brilliant time!
March 10, 2011
IFC2, Hong Kong
International Finance Centre, Hong Kong
Tower 2 of the International Finance Centre, was, until recently, the tallest building in Hong Kong. If film buffs think it looks familiar, that may be because this was the skyscraper Batman jumped off in The Dark Knight.
March 7, 2011
Sydney Opera House, Australia
Sydney Opera House
Just got back from a quick trip to Sydney. While I was there for purposes other than photography, I managed to squeeze in a few shots here and there. Here’s a picture of the Sydney Opera House that rather neatly illustrates the point of last week’s Travel Photography Tip -blue skies would have been nice for the cruise, but bad weather makes for better photography! (And for those of you used to the normal brilliant white, this is what it looks like when it isn’t glowing in the sun.)
March 6, 2011
Travel Photography Tip #3: Include the Human Element
Travel Photography Tip #3: Include the Human Element
For most people, one of the first signs getting ‘serious’ about travel photography is a desire to take people-free pictures of an Iconic Location. This is often a good thing – unless you are trying to make a point about the number of brightly-clad travellers wandering around, they generally aren’t adding anything to the message you do want to convey.
However, unless your travel consists solely of unaccompanied trips to uninhabited wildernesses, sooner or later you are going to have to include your fellow travellers (or locals) in your pictures – and this isn’t a bad thing! While it can be extremely annoying to have random person wandering into your carefully-framed shot, there are times when it’s worth considering including people in your pictures.
This is the case if you are trying to show scale in a picture – nothing conveys a sense of scale like a person. We all know the (rough) size of a person, and can instinctively get a feeling for the size of a scene when there is a person in the picture. But more than that, including a person gives the viewer something to latch on to, a point of view for them to adopt. It directly engages the imagination, and invites the viewer to imagine themselves in the scene – there’s a reason travel ads always include people, after all.
Of course, there is a knack to picking the right person to feature in your photograph. You may not always have a choice, but here are a few things to keep in mind when including people in your pictures:
Local or Traveller? A local can add a sense of authenticity, while a traveller gives an even stronger sense of identification for the viewer.
Colourful or Drab? What the person is wearing can really make or break the scene – bright colours draw the eye (red is great for this),but they can also clash with the rest of the scene. Look for something distinctive, but harmonious.
Generic Person or Specific Individual? When including people in pictures, consider whether or not you are looking to include them specifically, or if you just want a Generic Person. Specific people may be appealing for reasons unique to the individual- their appearance, or their connection to the location, for instance. If you do want to include this specific individual, make sure your picture shows what made them important to you. Generic People are often there to fill one of the roles above, and may serve their roles best when their identify is unknown – shot from behind with faces obscured, or even silhouetted.
So the next time you are trying to photograph an Iconic Location overrun with people, don’t despair – selective inclusion of people can lead to more engaging and involving travel pictures for your audience.
(Just getting started? You can read the rest of the Travel Photography Tips series here)
