Taking the Best Holiday Photos.
Holidays are where memories are made so capturing them and taking the best holiday photos that you can look at time after time is important.
A picture speaks a thousand words and capturing the best holiday photos will tell your friends back home more about your holiday that you can express.
So, what do you need to take on your holiday to take the best holiday pictures? Well, this very much depends on where you are travelling to, how you are travelling and what you level of experience is as a photographer. Choose a camera that suits your needs and think about the additional equipment you might need.
Are Mobile Phones Best?
Our mobile phones are very often equipped with built in cameras and can match the quality of professional cameras, they are much lighter and convenient too.
All you need with your mobile phone is a charger and maybe a selfie stick if you would like to be in some of your own pictures. You can use the timer or a remote to trigger the picture.
What About Other Cameras?
If you are taking a compact camera you will need to remember spare batteries, charger and memory card. If DSLR’s are your preference you might want to think about a tripod, lenses, charger, batteries, memory card and filters.
Before you travel it is worth checking that your insurance covers your camera and equipment. It is also worth checking how you can carry your equipment, some airlines insist on taking your camera as hand luggage, where others ask for it to be in the hold.
7 Tips for Taking The Best Holiday Photos on Your Mobile Phone.
- Do a Bit of Research
Before you begin your travels take a look at Instagram and Pinterest. This can give you great insight into the places you are travelling to and visiting as well as giving you a bit of inspiration. Search by keywords, hashtags or locations. You may also want to check that the places you are visiting allow photos to be taken as some museums, galleries, places of worship and historic sites for example do not allow photography.
- The Rule of Thirds
The best and most important tip to remember is the rule of thirds. Never place the subject of your photo in the centre of the image, this will give your photo a flat feel, place the subject offset. You can turn on the grid on your mobile phone using the settings to help you and then just place the subject in one of the four corner squares. This draws the viewers’ attention to the composition and the entire picture rather than just the centre.
If you are taking a picture of a person, leave the direction that they are looking empty to create continuity.
- Avoid Zooming
Where you can, avoid zooming in on your subjects. Mobile phone cameras use digital focus and can make images appear grainy. Try moving closer or taking the picture and cropping it afterwards.
- Try Different Perspectives
If you are in a busy place, try moving around to get the best shot without too much distraction in the background.
Taking you photographs from different angles can create interest. Try tilting your camera to slightly off horizontal or take your shot from lower down looking up.
- Use Burst Mode
When photographing a moving subject, try using burst mode by holding your finger on the button to take multiple shots and then selecting the best shots later.
- Control Focus and Exposure
Controlling focus and exposure is easy to do on an iPhone and other smartphones. To lighten or darken your image before you take it just tap on the screen to show the sun icon, then move it up and down until you are happy with the shot.
You can control focus by pressing on the screen and hold until ‘AE/AF Lock’ appears, this means you have selected a focal point.
- There’s an App For That!
A little bit of editing can make your holiday photos ‘pop’. Using an app such at Snapseed is free and easy to use. Start with the basics like exposure, contrast, warmth, saturation to see what difference it makes to your images.
If you are using a compact camera or a DSLR most of the above applies when you are thinking about what to take and how you want it to look, the difference is how much do you want to carry.
But most importantly, have fun and look at what is beyond your camera.
