Friday, April 4, 2008

Vacation Photography

Everyone takes pictures while on vacation. The only problem is, that not everyone does it well. Have you ever have someone offer to show you their vacation photographs? What was your initial reaction? Ugh, thanks, but I have to get up early.

The key to good travel photography is to bring the viewer with you on your journey. You need to make them feel like they are remembering their own trip, as opposed to just looking at a photographic record of yours. To do this, you need to make a record of the places you visited and the people you met. In order to do this, you need to actually go places and meet people. Get off of the beach and out of the hotel. Your family and friends already know what you look like, they may not know what a butcher shop in Mexico look like.



Mexican Butcher Shop 2001

Don't miss out on the local cuisine, architecture, and flora by staying quarantined to your resort or hotel. By experiencing the actual culture of the country that you are visiting, it's easier to capture the essence of the culture in photographs.


Mexican SHoeshine Boy, Cancun Mexico, 2001


Take pictures of the sunset and the pool and the beach, but don't forget to take pictures of where you actually are.




18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott, I never thought about that.. but what you said is so true.. and it inspired me..

Joseph

UniqueNurseGranny said...

Great advice.Could be heeded in the scrapbook crowd as well.Good wishes for your opening next week.

Anonymous said...

Great advice Scott and wonderful images. Wishing you the best on the opening!

A Blond And A Torch said...

Great tips, Scott!

I hate it when people make me look at 200 photos of them on a beach!

Anonymous said...

Yes, Scott, of course you are so right! And of course you are giving the best examples! :-))

Much success and lots of fun for the opening from me!

One love
Chrissie

Will Michael Photography said...

Awesome images and tips, as always!

Lady Kelley Bracken-Rainey said...

I've never thought of vacation photos in that way! Thanks! Next time I'll do my shots to show a story!

Best to you always!
Kelley

Unknown said...

I ALWAYS love looking at those photos Scott. You captured the culture in all of those shots. I'll remember this on my next vacation. Thanks!

Beki - TheRustedChain said...

Scott, these are stunning!!

I'm insanely jealous of your camera skills but don't have the patience to learn. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great reminders, Scott. Of course, I would hafta have a mom who only wants to see photos that have people that she knows in them... lol... oh well. I'll make a separate one for her. : )

Unknown said...

Wow, really fantastic work! I have never had vacation photos that looked like that before. I usually take about a hundred + pictures of my kids doing silly things and refusing to look at the camera. LOL, definitely not as fantastic as yours!!

Tia Colleen said...

wow. next time i go on vacation, which should be 20never, i'll remember that. those pictures really stood out to me.

xx Tia

Gardens by T said...

Great tip about the vacation photos. Do you keep a journal describing the people and circumstances of each photo?

Sarah McBride said...

very true! awesome advice.
You have great examples. Nothing worse than pictures of the same mountain or beach over and over again.

Nora said...

I strongly believe in your advice! I went to another country once and came back and showed people my photographs, and they were like, "You didn't take too much of yourself!" That's the whole point of traveling! Wonderful photographs, btw!

Anonymous said...

These are wonderful. I love seeing people in their everyday lives...great work!
Gina

Anonymous said...

Those are some beautiful pictures and a great post! It is so true (how many times have I come home with just a bunch of exterior shots of buildings and regretted not capturing the details of daily life where I had been.)

Anonymous said...

nice collection of photos. Thanks for sharing your good work!