Photos have become such an important part of our lives, especially now in the digital age where we can easily share memories and connect with our friends wherever we are in the world. Taking good photos is a great way to tell a story, express how you feel, and let brief moments live on through a permanent picture. Travelling is always a perfect time to take as many photos as you can. Based on my experience, all the memories from a vacation eventually become a blur and jumble up as the years go by no matter how hard you want to remember everything.
I think this is a natural occurrence for everyone, which is why taking photos while travelling is all the more important because photos will preserve the memories you might lose. You don’t need a big camera like a DSLR to take good photos. What matters is that you’re using a camera you’re comfortable with, and in the case of many, it’s usually their smartphone cameras. Here are tips for you to practice in order to take better travel photos using your smartphone.
Also read: The Secret to Taking Travel Photos – 20 Tips to Keep in Mind
When we travel, it’s inevitable that our smartphone cameras accumulate dust or fog up. Not everyone notices it at first, but the quality of the photo is definitely jeopardized if you’re not careful. If you see a glaring ray of light coming from a light source in your photo, that means your lens is dusty. If the photo you took is blurred and looks too smooth, that means your lens is fogged up. Thankfully, smartphone cameras are the easiest ones to clean. Just wipe a clean cloth on it to remove whatever is troubling your shot. You can even use your shirt or handkerchief for this, so there’s no excuse for your shots to be anything less than clear.
Like I said previously, it doesn’t matter if you have a professional camera or not. Aside from choosing a comfortable camera, what’s just as important is that you know and understand what you actually want to take a photo of. Are you taking a photo of beautiful mountains or would you like to focus on a person amidst the scenery? Who are you taking a photo of and what kind of photo does your friend prefer? Which is more suitable for the scene, a portrait or full body shot? There are a lot of factors to take into consideration, the point being that you shouldn’t just keep shooting without giving your photo a little thought. If you’re travelling with friends, it would be quite useful to show each other pegs on how you want each other’s photo to be taken. You’ll all be happy campers with amazing photos at the end of the experience!
Also read: Top 20 Travel Blogs In The Philippines To Inspire Your Wanderlust
Whenever you have problems with brightness, contrast, saturation, and even temperature, you can fix all of these through editing your photo on your smartphone. I’m sure all smartphones have built-in editing apps, make use of them. Avoid downloading apps just to get new filters to wash out your photo. Relying on filters can make your photos look almost unrealistic and too manipulated. Editing, on the other hand, will retain the photo’s uniqueness. Plus, you can customize your own style in editing instead of using predetermined looks that filters offer. Using filters isn’t bad, but travel is a luxury and your travel photos might be better off reflecting your own sense of style and original creativity.
Travel photography shouldn’t intimidate you. It is something everyone can easily get on board with because we all have access to good cameras thanks to our smartphones. You should take advantage of the gadgets you’re accustomed to, to help you make your travels more memorable. Smartphone cameras are efficient enough to capture great moments, as long as you know how to utilize them properly. This may take some practice, but eventually, you’ll develop a good eye for photography and following these steps will become second nature. Enjoy the experience, and keep on shooting!
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