Travel Photography: The Leading Guide To Travel And Location Photography PDF
Preview Travel Photography: The Leading Guide To Travel And Location Photography
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” Robert Capa It is very easy with travel photography to be so blown away by what you are seeing that all creativity goes out of the window. You raise your camera and ‘snap’: you end up with a purely representational photograph that is identical to so many others. I will try to inspire you to create pictures that you are proud of, not just records of the fantastic places that you travel to. I am a jobbing travel photographer and writer, accepting commissions to go all over the world, almost always with insufficient time. I sometimes have just a few days to capture a place’s essence and produce pictures to fill multiple pages of a book. I have to battle against time constraints, jetlag, bad weather, crowds, equipment issues and a lack of familiarity with the place itself. In this way my professional life often mirrors the experience of the amateur photographer who is limited by time and budget. If you have tremendous luck, or unlimited time, then all the If you have tremendous luck, or unlimited time, then all the elements may come together for a picture: the light will be perfect, the subject laid out before you, without a tourist coach in sight. All you will have to do is take your camera, snap and get a masterpiece. Unfortunately, that seldom happens. Once, when shooting Hong Kong Island, I spent five days struggling against the smog, travelling to the top of Victoria Peak on four occasions to try to get the perfect shot. On my last night I was relaxing in a bar, when the owner told me about a sunrise at the beginning of the week. In his five years in Hong Kong, it was the clearest and most beautiful he had seen. The pictures he had taken out of the window of his apartment on the Peak were fantastic. He wanted to know what I, as a photographer, had thought of it. To my dismay, I had to tell him that this amazing sunrise had occurred the day before I arrived! On another occasion, I was shooting in Rio. The weather was cloudy and difficult but I kept working and tried a shot from the summit of Corcovado in the early morning. Shooting into the light, with all of the islands of the bay draped in backlit shadow produced a spectacular image which ended up on the cover of my first book. It would have been easy to give up and stay in bed that day but my persistence paid off. What both these experiences show is that, as a photographer, you can’t have perfect luck all of the time and you certainly never have unlimited time. You have to make your own luck with skill and hard work. This book aims to help you by offering tips, advice and encouragement. I believe that you can always take a great photo – no matter what the conditions. It might not be the photo that you set out to take or a photo that you would see on a postcard rack but that unique picture is out there. All you have to do is create it. I often come back from a long trip exhausted, somewhat lighter and leaner, but ultimately more fulfilled and relaxed than if I had just been on holiday. Travel photography is really a way of life: a way of travelling. I have seen more sunrises and sunsets, looked more people from all walks of life in the eye and shaken more hands than I ever would have done as a traveller or holidaymaker. I have climbed more hills and mountains, and then often climbed I have climbed more hills and mountains, and then often climbed them again the next day when the weather is better. I often find myself in the middle of the action – running from bulls, bathing with elephants or pilgrims, swimming with sharks – in a way that would not be possible without photography. Photography has been my motivation and I have experienced a greater level of enjoyment and involvement because of it. I hope to convey some of the magic of travel photography in this book and inspire you to get out there to see and embrace the world yourself. Contents Introduction From Steve Davey About the book Using the book Preparation Digital photography Shooting JPEG or RAW Styles of camera Focus on: Morning exercises, Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam Buying guide Lenses Suggested kits Other equipment Choosing a camera bag Focus on: Taj Mahal from the far bank of the Yamuna River Familiarization and servicing Insurance and customs Research Exploration Photography on the road Hazards and attitudes on the road General travel tips Styles of travel Focus on: Bungee jumping self-portrait Execution What makes a good picture? Composition for meaning Creative workflow Mise en scène Angle and viewpoint Shoot vertical Focus on: Pilgrim with a prayer wheel at Jokhang Temple Lens choice Composition for balance Compositional devices Exposure Exposure metering Exposure and dynamic range Reading histograms Exposure solutions in automatic Manual exposure Creative exposure
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