When you plan to do travel photography, ask yourself these two questions: do you travel to take photos or will you just take photos while you travel? A lot of factors on travel photography depends on your answer. Factors such as camera gear, shooting locations, subjects and time affects your answer to these two questions. I'll discuss the difference between the two below.
Travel to Take Photos
When you Travel to Take Photos your purpose for going on the trip is to take photos. Example of this kind of travel is a photo safari. If you do take such trips, do keep the following:
- Bring as much gear as you can comfortably carry.
- Take note of the last part of that statement: "...as you comfortably carry." Although most guides tell you to travel light, it can be frustrating to realize you didn't bring the gear you need. Most of the time, when you go on photo safaris or trips you want to capture the highest quality images possible. You don't want to limit your options because you just brought with you a compact digital camera. You don't also want to be overburdened by too much gear, doing so will limit the places you can visit.
- Plan your activities ahead.
- Get all the information on the place you'll be travelling to. Research on all the great spots for photos. Planning ahead also helps with choosing the gear you bring with you.
- Bring appropriate gear weather protection.
- Prepare for any weather condition. Bring pack covers that protect your bags from the rain and snow. Have large plastic bags that you can change your lenses in to avoid getting dust in your sensor and lenses.
Take Photos While Traveling
When you Take Photos While Travelling, your main purpose for the trip can be business, family outing, group tour, and others. In short, your main purpose for the travelling is not photography.
When you travel and you want to take photos, take note of the following:
- Focus on your main activity.
- Wherever you're going, make sure you focus on the purpose of your trip. For example, if you're going on a family vacation, focus on spending time with your family. Don't go out on your own to shoot the scenery and leave your family behind. If it's a business trip, make sure you finish your agenda for the trip before going on a shooting spree.
- Respect the time of your companions.
- When you're traveling in a group, make sure you don't hold up the group just so you can take photos. If you really need to satisfy the urge to shoot, tell your companions to go ahead, and you'll just follow.
- Ask for shooting time, if possible.
- Again, if you really want to shoot, ask your companions to set aside time in your itinerary to photos.
Before doing travel photography, make sure to identify what type of travel photography you will do. Once you know, it will make it easier for you to plan and shoot on your trip.