Although great travel photos often happen spontaneously and unexpectedly, many professional travel photographers spend a lot of time researching new destinations and scouting potential photo locations.
So if you’re planning your next travel adventure and hoping to return home with more than just the usual selfies in front of beaches and famous landmarks, we’ve got you covered.
Here are a few photo ideas to spark your creativity and help you prepare.
1. Include People for Scale
It can be hard to capture the true scale of impressive landmarks, buildings, or landscapes in a photo. Including a person in the frame is a simple and effective way to fix that. Just position someone in front of or next to the subject, and suddenly it becomes much easier for viewers to grasp the size and impact of what you’re photographing.
2. Play with Forced Perspective
Forced perspective photos can be a lot of fun—especially when you’re on vacation and have more time to experiment. This technique manipulates perception by using optical illusions to make objects appear larger, smaller, farther away, or closer than they actually are.
The classic example? Tourists “holding up” the Leaning Tower of Pisa with their fingers. But don’t stop there—your imagination is the limit. Try out different ideas and see what creative shots you can come up with!
3. Play with Different Focal Points
Switch to manual focus and experiment with focusing on different parts of the scene in front of you. Depending on the lens you’re using and the settings you choose, you can shift focus to either the foreground or the background. This allows you to minimize distractions in the background and draw more attention to your subject in the foreground.
4. Aim for Straight Horizon Lines
Horizon lines should always be straight—otherwise, your photo might look tilted or uneven. This can be tricky to achieve without a tripod, especially when shooting handheld. But no worries! If your horizon isn’t perfectly straight, just use the rotate and crop tools during editing to fix it and make your image look clean and balanced.
5. Photograph Locals
One of the best ways to capture the spirit and soul of a city or country is by photographing its people. Whether it’s a market vendor, children playing, or a couple enjoying sunset cocktails—these moments bring your travel story to life. Even if you don’t speak the local language, a warm smile and a simple “hello” in their language can go a long way in breaking the ice.
6. Look for Reflections to Photograph
Here’s another way to add variety to your shots: capture scenes from a different perspective and turn the world upside down—literally. Look for reflections, like a row of trees mirrored in a still lake, a skyscraper reflected in a puddle, or even a beach scene mirrored in your friend’s sunglasses.
Just a quick note: when photographing reflections, make sure not to use flash—it can ruin the effect!
7. Look for Complementary Colors
Want your photos to really grab attention? Try finding a bold color that stands out while still complementing the overall scene. This could be a bright red Mini Cooper, a tree with soft spring blossoms, or a vivid blue sky.
Not sure which colors go well together? Take a look at a color wheel. Colors that sit opposite each other on the wheel are called complementary colors—like red and green or yellow and purple.
We wish you lots of fun taking photos and creating your photo books!
Original Article: https://www.bobbooks.co.uk/blog-post/7-photography-ideas-for-your-next-travel-adventure
