Travel Photography

I really hate to complain about things like this, but if you're in the North East right now, you are probably cold. Here in Boston, it's very cold on the streets and the wind is mighty bitter on one's exposed face. So as winter is setting in, and I'm preparing myself for a couple months of chilling weather, I can't help but think about what my summer is going to be like.

In June, as you may or may not know, I'll be going on another trip with ACIS. We'll be going to Argentina and Uraguay, touring the cities as well as the countryside. I'm pretty sure the weather there will be much more forgiving than it is now.

But anyway, I'm most excited about bringing my still camera along because I had a lot of fun taking photographs on my last trip to Ecuador. To me, travel photogaphy is really specific. Of course, many student travelers snap as many photos as they can in order to show all their friends at home, and that's perfectly fine. It would be impossible to explain your entire trip to everyone, so you need documentation to help you out. But at the same time, I feel like your photography should reflect your trip experience.

While I was in Ecuador, I did my best to capture specific moments that my friends and I had, but also, I really wanted to pay homage to the country and the culture of the people, so I focused on accurately representing them too.

So I now offer you some tips on travel photography!

1. Let photographic moments occur naturally - When you go home and show your pictures to your friends, do they really want the same picture over and over again? What I mean is, try to avoid having people pose in front of the locations. We all know what you look like standing straight and smiling at the camera, let's see something new!

2. Be patient - really try and wait for the right moment. Maybe someone will turn their head, or show surprise at something. Maybe if you wait, you'll be able to capture a subtle interaction between to strangers.

3. Invest in a zoom lens - When I was in Ecuador, I borrowed a zoom lens from my Grandpa and it made all the difference in my photography. With the zoom lens, I was able to get some shots by sneaking up on people from a distance. The zoom lens lets you be an unobstrusive photographer. You can capture moments without people being aware that you were even there. Most cameras these days have a zoom lens already on them, so you don't really need to buy one. Hopefully you all have nice Grandpas like mine and you can borrow one if you need it.

Overall, I think travel photography is a lot of fun because you're in a completely new location and there is just so much detail you can capture. I hope these tips were useful. I learned a lot about photography during my first trip and I hope to use what I learned this June.