Table Of Content

FIELD GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY SCOTT S. STUCKEY CONTENTS 6 INTRODUCTION 8 GET INSPIRED 20 MASTER THE CORE CONCEPTS 38 GET THE STORY 46 SEEK OUT THE AUTHENTIC 66 PHOTOGRAPH PEOPLE IN PLACES 82 CAPTURE A CITY 116 DISCOVER THE COUNTRYSIDE 136 ADD ADVENTURE AND NATURE 148 MANAGE AND SHARE YOUR PHOTOS 156 USEFUL INFORMATION 158 INDEX 159 PHOTO CREDITS Shadow and blue sky define the edges of a sand dune in South Africa's Northern Cape province. Previous pages: Dancers fan out against the skyline of the Pudong district of Shanghai. On the cover: At Kenya's Masai Mara preserve, a cheetah uses a safari vehicle to help it scan the savannah for prey. Introduction t Traveler magazine, where I'm the managing editor, we publish travel photography that "puts the readers there;' inspiring many of them to go to the places we cover. Often those readers write us letters of thanks, and some marvel at our photography. Implied in their comments, if not stated out- right, is a question: "How did your photographer do it?" This book is intended to answer that question. A big part of the "how;' of course, is dogged effort. "The difference between professional photographers and amateurs;' notes Traveler photographer Macduff Everton, "is that professionals never get to eat their meals at regular times:' That's because the breakfast and dinner hours are better spent taking pictures. Everton recalls shooting on the North Rim of the Grand Can- yon on a rainy day as dinnertime approached. "It was getting late;' he says, "and I was about an hour and a half from the lodge. I had to decide whether to go back before the restaurant closed or gamble that the weather would break:' Everton took the gamble-missed dinner-and got to shoot the canyon in the best light he'd ever seen (below). Another dramatic difference between amateurs and pros is that the pros will work a scene. That is, after 6 Ultimate Field Guide to Travel Photography discovering a potentially good shot-say, a lovely cou- ple at a sidewalk cafe or a Paris skyline viewed from a tower at the Notre Dame Cathedral-they may shoot dozens of pictures, becoming ever more intimate with the nuances of the composition or lighting, adding or subtracting elements, all in the hope of capturing one good picture for publication. Most photography how-to books are based on the expertise of one photographer-the author. This one is different. In researching this book, I interviewed 15 full- time freelance photographers, whose very bread and butter depends on taking good pictures. So here, in one book, the world's top travel photographers share their know-how, covering basic and advanced techniques, with particular emphasis on specific strategies for shooting different types of destinations. Each photographer has a distinctive style, proof that there's no one right way to shoot a travel photograph. What Traveler photographers do have in common-like most of us when we travel-is a very limited amount of time in the field, usually ten days or less. So they have to focus their efforts and shoot smart. After reading this book, you'll understand the level of commitment required to be a National Geographic Traveler photographer. There's something here for photographers of every skill level, but the book will be of particular interest to those ready to do what it takes to start shooting like the pros. Scott S. Stuckey Macduff Everton missed dinner to shoot this remarkably lit composition from the Cape Royal Trail on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Introduction 7