Travel Pictures - Photos of World Holiday Destinations
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Outstanding
price-friendly holidays from the world's biggest adventure travel company: All Destinations | Multi-activity holidays | Family adventures |
* = some/all of these images are large [over 500 pixels wide].
If you wish to use one of our photos on your website that is fine so long as you DO NOT hot link, aka inline linking, to the image [i.e. using our server to show our image on your blog/site]. So download the image to your site and please put a link back to bugbog on that page stating that the picture is © bugbog.com. Thanks.
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If you have a series of good quality travel pictures of a country not featured here and would like to see them published, please contact us!
Vacation Travel Pictures: a few hints
Light [exposure]:
- Shoot from early until 11am, and from 3pm till sunset. The light is richer at these times and shadows give depth to the photos even if it does make you get up early when you're on holiday!
- Look for interesting light situations as well as subjects. e.g. Evening shadows, morning mist, black clouds with rays of sunlight etc. These can work as travel photos in their own right, as well as making an ordinary/frequently shot subject sensational.
- Generally shoot with the sun behind you or at your side, unless you're going for special effects like a temple silhouette
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For white beach or snow shots [or any of these kind of high contrast
shots] you have to trick the stupid camera which thinks everything should
average at medium grey. So first frame the shot you want with your zoom.
Then turn and point the camera at something that is a similar distance,
but of middling lightness, such as vegetation or tarmac/asphalt. Press
the shutter down half way to lock the exposure, point it back at the shot
you want and press the shutter all the way.
Alternatively learn to use the exposure compensation feature, turning
exposure up by around .5EV for sand or 1.0EV for snow [experiment with
different settings].
- For sunset pictures try to meter [set the camera's exposure] off the bit of sky near the sun, not on the sun.
- Subjects with an interesting texture [e.g. stone] can be shot with with light coming from the side to pick out the surface differences and make the image more real/tactile to your viewer.
Using and abusing the Flash:
- Switch off the flash on compact cameras when taking distant vacation shots like landscapes or church ceilings. The flash only illuminates up to five metres and will unbalance your exposure [lighting]. For ceilings, set the camera on self-timer and put it on the floor or any flat surface.
- If you're using a flash indoors and close to your subjects - especially if you can check your results easily on a digital camera - watch out for too much light/brightness. Hold or tape a piece of tissue paper over the flash to soften it.
- For a natural look in a low-light situation you need to turn off the flash and hold the camera REALLY steady - preferably a camera with image stabilisation AND a fast lens [e.g. 2.8]. See below, Steady.
- Most digital cameras have an automatic ISO function, enabling you to take flash-free photos in low light, up to 800. This will give you sharper pictures but with unattractive bigger pixels at the dark end.
Composition [subject arrangement]:
- For people and sunset shots use your full telephoto if you have one. People will be less distorted and the sun will be bigger.
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Get people in your shots doing something, preferably demonstrating their
personality by getting them to do something typical. [See Rome
Pictures] Suggest they move [the camera is fast enough to freeze them]
if they are posing, or shoot people without telling them to stop and pose.
Or photograph people quickly again just after you've done the 'Say cheese'
shot!
But n.b. if they are travel vacation pictures of local people who have seen you,
ASK PERMISSION!
- Get closer and simplify! Try to strengthen strong subjects by eliminating clutter. If you can't walk closer, use a telephoto lens [See Namibia Pictures]
- If it's a much photographed travel subject, like the pyramids, try to get something unusual/amusing in the foreground - like an old man on a donkey or camel-mounted police. Move! Don't just stand there!
- Look for an unusual angle as well as your basic frontal shot. Walk around the subject, look from near and far, low and high perspectives.
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Try putting the subject off centre - either one third across the picture
or one third up it, or both. This position is known by classical artists
as the Golden Cross Section. Landscape shots particularly benefit
from having the horizon NOT in the centre of the image. Decide which bit - e.g. sky/sea/land - is more interesting
and make the photo 2/3 that and 1/3 the less interesting bit.
Some digital cameras include a grid option that helps you make horizontals horizontal and putting subjects on the golden cross section. [One of the bugcrew's favourite little camera with a grid is the Panasonic Lumix, 28mm - series.]
- Look for matching sets of subjects to create some kind of image symmetry.
- Consider concentrating more on landscape formats [i.e. horizontal pictures] if you usually view digital holiday photos on a computer or even TV, as these will suit the display shape much better. e.g. Bugbog's new Rome Pictures are totally landscape format.
General:
- Shutter-lag: low-end digital cameras are often slow to respond when you press the shutter in action situations. This is due to the slow auto-focus mechanism. To counteract this, figure out where your subject is going for the best composition, press the shutter button down halfway [before the action starts!] till you get the green focus confirm light, then hold it there till your subject moves into the picture. At that point press the button all the way. Bingo, no lag.
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Steady your shot by putting the camera on a hard surface and using the
self-timer or leaning against something - a wall or post, for example.
You can also turn yourself into a tripod by planting your feet firmly,
push your left elbow against your chest and support the lens/body with
your left hand, while your right hand squeezes the shutter gently.
And buy a camera with image stabilisation if you can, it really does work,
especially in low-light situations such as below.
- Always carry a spare [charged!] battery and storage medium [compact flash card, memory stick etc] with you, you never know when you might stumble across a magical scene.
- If you're shooting digitally, take a lot of pictures and then edit them brutally. If you're using neg film then you'll need a hefty wallet to do this!
- Transfer your edited vacation snaps to some safe storage medium as soon as possible, be it laptop, iPod or portable hard drive.
Photos of an 'arty-farty' nature: Rome, Florence, Namibia, Switzerland, Easter Island
Link: Travels In Paradise - Photos
Pictures © bugbog.com