With this short article on travel photography, we’re going to look at how
you can improve your photographic skill. What we’re looking for are
photographs that say a thousand words about:
How often are you disappointed with the photographic memories that are
returned from the lab after you return from far-away locations? We know that
we often are; that all too elusive perfect shot, just didn’t happen.
The good news is that you needn’t fork out more for the equipment, than the
price of your holiday. When I had a whole bag of camera bodies and lenses
stolen in China, three days before Christmas, I bought a ten dollar
instamatic from Tian’Men Square, and continued on to Vietnam with it.
Get in closer to focus on something specific, and fill the frame with the
scene so that the viewer’s eye doesn’t wander but goes to where you want it
to go.
When photographing the tourist sites, try a different angle of something
that has already been photographed a million times, or try for a detail that
really makes it special.
And of course, a natural border will ease the eye in to the subject. But
don’t overdo this. We don’t want to see all pictures looking the same.
By all means take that picture of aunty Nora at wherever in the world it is
you are, but try to look for something more visually stimulating so that
others will want to see what you have produced, instead of groaning when you
get out that shoe-box of dog-eared photographs again.
Always use the slowest film possible [100 ASA]. For slides, we like to use
Fujichrome, although for prints Kodacolor Gold gets excellent results.
Showing your treasures on a world wide web photo gallery is ever easier. Our
slides are on PhotoCds, but a print can easily be scanned in and ready to
use in minutes.
Save photographs as jpeg files, and try to keep them small. Paint Shop Pro
(free 30 day trial) does an excellent job of shrinking them.
