My Top 12! REAL Travel Photography Tips.

Traveling is an absolute passion of mine as it is for many people. As photographers we all love to take a million photographs while traveling and are often in amazing places to capture wonderful images. Unfortunately many people end up with flat, boring and blurry images with some bald guys head in the shot. Here are 10 tips that will help you get incredible travel photographs every time!

#1 Understand What Travel Photography Really Is

Travel photography is about telling a story. The story of your trip, the feelings and emotions of the moment and also capturing the environment in a way that explains what's going on.

Travel photography can encompass almost every style of photography from landscape to architecture to intimate portraits. I am a landscape and nature guy but enjoy capturing candid street scenes and architecture when travelling. I'm not the kind of photographer that wants to annoy some poor homeless dude because he looks like something worth photographing, but if that's your thing then go for it. If you get back from your travels and you have 200 photographs that really explain what you've seen and done then you're on a winner. If they come back blurry and over exposed then, well... read the rest of this post.

New Orleans at Dawn
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#2 Travel light

Don't over complicate it! Only take what you need and nothing you don't. You can't do everything. If you really need those grad filters for landscapes then take them but I wouldn't bother. I take a DSLR that I know and can work quickly, a 28mm f/1.8 lens a 50mm f/1.8 lens and a 100mm macro lens. They all take the same filter size so I take ONE, good quality, Circular Polariser and that's it. Traveling with a tripod is mental for most people and the light, crappy ones really don't do anything for you, especially in any kind of weather that's not completely calm.

#3 What Gear To Bring

I've already mentioned what gear I use but that is just my personal preference because I know my needs so well. If I were fairly new to travel photography and wanted to use a DSLR I would get a mid range camera, such as a Canon 7D or Nikon D7000 and a GOOD quality zoom at the range of roughly 24 - 70mm. Try to get a f/2.8 lens as you WILL be in low light some of the time. This zoom range will allow you to go wide enough for indoor or landscape stuff and stretch far enough to say, capture that Bear in Yellowstone National Park. It's a good all round kit but I would also recommend a 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 or Canon's new 40mm pancake lens. These lenses are amazing in low light, are cheap and light! Perfect for traveling. I also chose the 7D and D7000 because they both have built in flashes, which work brilliantly with a Gary Fong Puffer. So here you have amazing image quality, low light performance and flash capabilities in a relatively inexpensive and light kit.

Another must have is a laptop and storage device. You will need to back up your images as you go, especially if you're shooting more than 500 photographs a day.

Nikon D7000 and Nikkor 24 - 70 f/2.8

Canon 650D with Canon 40mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens

#4 Plan Your Photographic Trip

Plan, plan, plan! Don't wait until you get there to plan all of your locations. There are heaps of websites that will give you tips on photography locations around the world. For example, if you are photographing the Golden Gate Bridge you can do it from about 5 different areas. Figure out which angle you want before you even leave your house. I plan my holidays around photographic locations and art galleries. I plan everything in advance and know where and what time I will be capturing major subjects. REMEMBER! Some attractions/subjects are only available at certain times of the year. Plan it!

#5 Timing Is Everything

Chances are, if you're in San Francisco (for example) you are going to want to take a photograph of Lombard St. It's a major tourist attraction and will be packed with tourists for most of the day, walking down it, taking snap shots, kids running around, cars, dogs, cats!!!! aaaarggghhh!!!!!! If you want to photograph major tourist attractions you must get there early in the morning, besides that's the best light anyway! I captured this image of Lombard St early one morning, I walked about 12 blocks to get there and the place was deserted. It was magical. 

San Francisco From Lombard St
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#6 Be Safe

If you're a seasoned traveller you will already know how to be safe but here are my tips anyway. The first thing I do when I get to a new place (especially a city) is ask the taxi driver or hotel staff where the more dangerous areas are. This information and a good map will help you to steer clear of those areas and (hopefully) reduce the risk of getting your gear stolen. 

I always have my camera attached to a BlackRapid Strap. These straps are more like slings and (in my opinion) are harder to rip off the body than a flimsy strap around your neck. Never leave your camera or camera bag unattended, even right next to you. Anything can happen, Just be careful. 

Try to do things in pairs, especially in the wee hours of the morning or at night. A single person with $5000 worth of camera is an easy target. 

The Golden Gate
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#7 Don't be scared to use auto mode

When taking travel photographs many of the best moments pass by so fast that we miss them completely. To give you the best advantage, forget manual mode... Forget manual focus... Just put the camera in auto mode, even auto ISO if you have to. This will ensure that you get THE SHOT and don't end up trying to explain what that blurry image was. I use aperture priority mode because I am used to it but sometimes I do miss a shot because, in the heat of the moment, my shutter speed was too low, guilty.

#8 Bump Up Your ISO

Don't be scared to turn up your ISO! ISO is your film speed or the digital sensors sensitivity to light. This means if you turn the ISO up, your shutter speed can also go up, allowing you to capture motion in low light. Most cameras these days have amazing ISO capabilities with very little grain (noise) so don't be scared to turn your ISO up to 800, 1600 or 3200! It will help you capture motion and stop unwanted blur from you and your subject.

#9 TECHNIQUE! 

This is a big one. Technique is so important when trying to capture tack sharp images. As I said, the tripod for travel photography is a bit crazy, especially when flying because of weight restrictions e.t.c. It's also useless when you are in a crowded place or in a building that does not allow tripods (Central Station NYC, yes there are many). 

The following images were captured on a freezing cold Christmas Eve in New York City. At the time I was using a Canon 7D with 17 - 40 f/4 lens. YES A f/4 LENS AT NIGHT!!!!! 

Dirty Dogs
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Christmas in New York
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NYC Colour

Radio City Music Hall New York City
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Christmas Eve On Ice
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The way I got these images so sharp was by using supports that were around me, such as poles, fences and railings to assist in steadying the camera. I also pushed my ISO to 1600 and 3200 to help capture the motion. Many of the photographs had low shutter speeds, which allowed the subjects to have some artistic motion blur. Knowing how to hold your camera is an absolute necessity for low light photography. If you are interested in learning more please check out the camera techniques page at ImprovePhotography.com.

Best of Friends
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#10 Look For Something Different

I am always looking for something different to capture. Of course, get the (Ansel Adams) shot of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park but also look where other people aren't looking. Try to be different and tell the WHOLE story! The photographs below show how I have captured more artistic renditions of recognisable subjects.

Golden Gate Bridge Pieces With Moon
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The Way Out of Alcatraz

#11 Back up your photographs!

I learnt this the (really) hard way. One day in New York I walked all the way over the Brooklyn Bridge and claimed my spot for the evening light. I stayed there for hours waiting for the right light, taking around 200 photographs in and around the bridge. At the time I felt this was easily the best bridge landscape I had ever captured, it was beautiful. After returning back to the hotel I got distracted and forgot (I think) to back up my images onto my hard drive and somehow... those images were lost. I'm from Australia so the Brooklyn Bridge is a long way away. It's a devastating feeling and one that I hope to never feel again. BACK UP YOUR IMAGES STRAIGHT AWAY!

#12 Take Your Camera Everywhere

This tip is really a no brainer. Anything could happen at any time so be prepared and take your camera! Get a little 50mm f/1.8 lens and keep it in your bag or take a small point and shoot camera for when you can't take the DSLR. Remember travel photography is about telling a story so every moment counts!

A Crossing to the Empire

The Best 12 Macro Photography Tips Ever!

12 Macro Photography Tips!

Thank you to Colin Varndell at Photo Technique for such timeless information

1. Choose the Best Lens Option

Gatekeeper butterfly. Nikon D200, Nikon 200mm macro lens. 1/160sec @ f/8, ISO 100.

The focal length of Macro lenses ranges from 50mm to 200mm. Although many zoom lenses boast a macro setting, these are usually less than half life-size magnification – true macro, however, begins with 1:1 and nothing less.

A 50-60mm lens is suitable for general macro work but if you want greater subject-to-lens distance a 100mm lens will give you this at a price.

For creatures like butterflies and dragonflies, lens-to-subject distance becomes even more important so focal length needs to be greater.

The 150-200mm range is the most expensive, but you will appreciate the extra power when stalking flighty subjects like this Gatekeeper butterfly.

2. Make a Standard Zoom Focus Closer by Adding Tubes

Oedemera Nobilis. Nikon D200, Nikon 18-200mm lens with 20mm extension tube. 1/125sec @ f/11, ISO 400.

Extension tubes fit between the rear mount of the lens and the camera body to make the lens focus closer and therefore produce a much bigger image of a small subject.

This image of a thick-legged flower beetle was shot with an 18-200mm zoom lens and a 20mm extension tube added. This is a much cheaper alternative than buying a macro lens but tubes are more fiddly to use in the field.

Also, with an extension tube fitted you lose the infinity end of your focusing range. Add more tubes and this becomes increasingly more limited.

3. Add a Dioptre to Make a Lens Focus Closer

Golden-ringed dragonfly. Panasonic Lumix FZ30 fitted with a Cokin +3 dioptre. 1/250sec @ f/3.6, ISO 200.

Close-up filters are single-element lenses that look like magnifying glasses.

These filters screw into the front element thread and can provide an inexpensive alternative to splashing out on a pukka macro lens.

They come in a variety of strengths that are measured in dioptres.

Close-up filters are often available in sets of +1,+2 or +4 dioptre magnification.

Dioptres are also available to fit Cokin style square filter systems.

Add a dioptre to a bridge camera or a compact to achieve real close-up shots.

The golden ringed dragonfly shown here was shot on a Lumix FZ30 camera with a +3 dioptre added to the front element.

4. Use Apertures to Control Depth of Field

The left snowdrop shown here was shot at f/2.8 while the one on the right was taken at f/22.

To get the most out of available depth-of-field, select a small aperture like f/16 or even f/22.

You will find that at half-life size the depth of field you can achieve at f/22 will be only around 15mm at best.

On the other hand you may wish to go to the other extreme and show as little sharpness as possible by opening up to full aperture like f/2.8 or f/4.

One advantage of the latter option is that any out-of-focus highlights will show as circle-like bubbles that can look very attractive.

5. Blend Flash with Ambient

With more static subjects it can be fun to add a blip of flash just to liven up an image.

In this composite shot of a sycamore leaf, both images were exposed for natural light; however, the bottom image was given a blip of off-camera fill-in flash and the shutter speed was increased by one stop in order to darken the background.

Sycamore leaf. Nikon D200, Nikon 105mm macro lens. 1/125 (top) & 1/250sec (bottom) @ f/8, ISO 100.

6. Use a Third Hand

A ‘third hand’ device is an essential macro photography accessory. It will enable you to support or position subjects just where you want them. In turn, it can also help to provide endless possibilities of positioning backgrounds.

7. Fine-tune Macro Pattern Compositions

Fungi. Nikon D2X Nikon 105mm macro lens. 1/15sec @ f/11, ISO 100.

Although we can crop things using software later, it is best to fine-tune composition in-camera at the time of shooting as much as possible.

With close-up pattern details, ensure they either fill the frame completely so that there are no gaps around the edges.

Alternatively show the entire pattern with space all around it.

These two shots of the same fungus illustrate how these opposite approaches look in practice

8. Point of Focus

It is imperative to consider the actual point of focus when working close-up with tiny subjects. You can dramatically change the appearance by where you chose to focus.

These two shots of the same teasle head were both shot at the same maximum aperture, but the point of focus was changed by a couple of millimetres to produce an entirely different effect.

Teasle head. Nikon D200, Sigma 150mm macro lens. 1/320sec @ f/5.6, ISO 100.

9. Check LCD Panel

Use your rear LCD facility to ensure you have got the shot you want before moving on. Look carefully at the corners to make sure there are no intrusions.

Tidy up any unwanted debris in the scene and make sure that your composition concentrates on your subject as intended. It’s also wise to carry a spare battery, as constantly reviewing shots will drain power.

Amethyst Deceiver. Nikon D200, Sigma 150mm lens. 1/13sec @ f/4.2, ISO 100.

Raindrops on geranium leaf. Nikon D200, Sigma 150mm lens, 1/20sec @ f/16 @ 1/20, ISO 100.

10. Raindrops

After rain can be an excellent time to search for macro subjects when everything is dripping with droplets of rain water.

Go in close to show how the raindrops act as miniature lenses, magnifying the veins in leaves.

11. Backgrounds

Add different coloured backgrounds to macro shots to change the look of the subject.

These four backgrounds were all natural subjects but shot deliberately out of focus. Grass was used, and tree foliage and a combination of bushes and sky.

They were printed to A3 on matt paper so there was less risk of reflection when placed behind the subject, especially if a mirror or flashgun was to be used to expose the image.

White Cherry Blossom. Nikon D200, Nikon 105mm macro lens. 1/10sec @ f/11, ISO 200.

Swallowtail butterfly. Nikon D200, Nikon 105mm macro lens. 1/8sec @ f/2.8, ISO 200.

12. Butterflies

With small but lively subjects like butterflies, it can be difficult getting close enough to them for frame-filling shots.

Try stalking them later in the day, just as they are about to settle down for the night.

All information By Colin Varndell at Photo Technique

Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro vs Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS and why I upgraded!

Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro vs Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS and why I upgraded!

I have been using the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens for about two years now and absolutely love it. It's light, great in low light (f/2.8), amazing for portraits, SO SHARP! and it's only about $400 used. What a bargain! Honestly one of the best value for money lenses Canon makes. 

Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro

So why would you want to upgrade to the 100mm f/2.8L IS? The only addition is the Image Stabilisation and it costs roughly $500 more!

Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro

For me it made total sense to upgrade because I do a lot of handheld macro photography and this thing has 4 stops, 4 STOPS! of image stabilisation. I know most macro photographers would laugh at the words 'handheld macro' but for the work I do I need to capture things in an artistic way, with movement. I must have full control over the camera and I can't have that when i'm on a tripod. Therefore the 4 stops of image stabilisation helps me to keep things more controlled in camera (remember image stabilisation only helps with camera shake not subject shake). These 100mm macro lenses are also amazing for portraits, which I also do handheld and, of course the IS also helps with portraits because you want them SHARP! I live in a very tropical environment so the extra weather sealing helps to keep out mould and moisture. The internals of the two lenses are very different and many say the L version is sharper than the non L but I don't believe it's $500 worth. They're both bloody sharp, that's all I need. The 100mm 2.8L IS kicks arse for me and i'll never go back.



Here are just a few of the images I have captured with the trusty old 100mm f/2.8 Macro hand held:

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Want to learn photographer slang?

A fantastic article listing photographer slang. It will help you!

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The Nikon D800's massive file sizes and why you shouldn't worry about them!

OK GREAT! We (photographers of the world) can now buy this amazing camera, the Nikon D800 and D800E, which has "revolutionised" digital photography due to its 36 Megapixel sensor, which competes with medium format digital at a price that most can afford (The truth is it doesn't really compete with medium format, they're totally different systems and people who have bought one thinking they are now competing with medium format are kidding themselves). 

And also has big bollocks full of megabytes

Because most people can afford a Nikon D800, most people are buying one and realising that the file sizes are like 70+MB per raw file, which is INSANE! Obviously computers are failing and hard drives are filling under the pressure. No one wants to use their D800 in jpeg or lossless, after all you've just purchased THE most advanced 35mm dslr on the market! But there is one option to limit your file sizes without subjecting your raw files to pixel rape. 

Here it is...

Adobe DNG Converter (Available for Mac or PC, useable with most camera types)

This beautiful program from Adobe (Adobe DNG Converter) allows you to import your 70+MB NEF (Nikon) files from the D800 and convert them to a size of your choice and still retain all original raw information. It is still a raw file, still opens in Adobe Camera Raw and has all of the benefits of RAW in a more manageable size. 

Of course, why the F%#k would you want to spend 3.5k on a camera only to limit its full potential? I agree, but so many people are complaining about the file sizes and to be honest, for everyday stuff they are massive. That said, people who are using the Nikon D800 or D800E for crappy, everyday stuff need a slap. THIS CAMERA IS NOT FOR YOU!

Camera tricks! Shoot At 8 Frames Per Second With The Nikon D700 and D300 Without a Battery Grip.

When I owned the amazing Nikon D700 I was always drawn to buying the MB-D10 battery grip, as I thought this would allow me to shoot at 8 frames per second. Little did I know that you also need the EN-EL4 battery (Nikon D3) or a bunch of AA's to achieve this speed. It wasn't long until I stumbled upon an amazing trick that allows the D700 or D300 to shoot at 8 frames per second with NO BATTERY GRIP!

Here's how you do it!

- Go to custom settings menu

e Bracketing/Flash

- e5 Auto Bracketing = Set to flash only

- e6 Auto Bracketing (Mode M) = Set to flash only

F Controls

- F6 Assign Preview Button

- DOF Preview Button Press = Set to bracketing burst

- Preview + Command Dials = Set to auto bracketing

+ Set the camera to all manual modes with a shutter speed high enough to capture motion.

+ Set the shooting mode dial to S for single shot.

+ Activate a 9 frame bracket with the DOF preview button and command dial.

+ Hold down the DOF preview button and simultaneously press the shutter button.

You will instantly notice the increase in speed, which is timed at roughly 8 frames per second! All without the added heft and expense of the MB - D10 battery grip. Woohoo!