Travel Photography

I've just come back from four weeks travelling through South America (mainly Peru). I'll post some pictures over the next couple of weeks, but meantime here are some thoughts on travel photography in general. I've compiled these notes based on this recent experience plus comments made to me by my fellow travel companions.

1. Unlike some film cameras, digital cameras require a battery to function. Take spare batteries and the battery charger. If travelling to a foreign country, remember to take a power plug adaptor as well.

2. If travelling by plane, I recommend you take your camera and its accessories as carry-on luggage. If you baggage goes missing then you'll still have a complete camera system.

3. Guesstimate the number of pictures and [lengh of] video you might make during the trip. A simple calculation of "50 pictures a day" and "2 minutes of video", for example. Use this information to then determine the maximum Gb of storage required. I suggest you buy enough memory cards to cover this maximum value. Bring along at least two memory cards, just in case one card fails or you lose one.

4. Think twice about bringing an external drive or a laptop. That's more weight, more batteries and more responsibility. If you have internet access on the trip then you can download and send off the "keepers". Remember to bring the camera-to-PC cable (usually plugs into the USB port).

5. Be well-practised in using your camera, in a variety of situations. Try to anticipate the situations you might experience on your trip and practise taking these shots at home. It's not much fun fumbling with your camera on the trip, especially when you might only have a short period of time at one location. Don't assume there will be other people on hand to assist you with using your camera. They might be big on advice but low on experience.

6. From your experience at home, ensure you like using your camera and are happy with the results. If not then buy / borrow a better camera and also improve your skills. I was surprised that a number of people on my trip suddenly "discovered" they didn't know how to use their camera / didn't like to use their camera and stopped taking photographs.

7. I prefer to use my camera hand-held and accept using a high ISO value (800) in low light situations. Decide before the trip whether you want to use a high ISO or use a tripod.

8. Instead of sending postcards (that can take up to 10 days to get back home) why not send an email with some pictures attached?

9. I tend to make pictures if my surroundings "catch my eye" in a photographic sense (light, colour, form etc). In hindsight, I didn't take enough photos on my South American trip - I missed some events and even some days altogether. Be prepared to take pictures of "things" rather than something artistic. It's better to have a middle-of-the-road photograph then hold back in the name of Fine Art.

However, you don't want to spend the entire trip behind a camera. Try to find the happy medium between too few and too many photographs. This I have yet to learn!

10. Identify the other good photographers on your trip and get their email address. Agree to pool and swap photographs at the end of the trip.

11. Be security conscious. A camera with a larger sensor / lens takes better quality images than a smaller camera but it is more obvious to a would-be thief. A good quality point-and-shoot camera may be all you need, plus it can shoot video as well.

On my trip only one person had an SLR camera (from a group of 20 people) and they suffered the theft of a lens early in the tour.

12. When bringing your camera along to a particular excursion, be mindful of what the camera could be subjected to. Some of our excursions involved sliding down a sand-dune on a board and being in a boat under a waterfall! Can your camera handle sand and water? Keep your camera in it's case (or a zip-lock plastic bag) when not in use.

13. If taking a picture of a local person (or their shopfront) ask permission beforehand. Some locals expect a small payment for the privilege.

14. Be aware that your face may appear on the web without your knowledge. For good or for bad, another person may take a photograph of you and post it without your permission. This is a fact of modern life. If you are not happy with an image that contains you then you have every right to ask the photographer to remove the picture or at least edit you out of the picture.

Ask nicely. Some photographers are absolutely clueless as to what constitutes a flattering image. What you might think is a malicious image is another person's idea of perfectly reasonable.

15. As a courtesy to your travel companions, send them a copy of any photograph that they appear in (but only the flattering images, of course).

16. Once you return home, set aside time to review and edit all of your travel photographs. Strike while the iron is hot! Your camera has probably grouped your images into days; you can cross check this with your itinerary to determine locations. I then re-group the photographs into locations and excursions (a folder for each). Create a folder for every location and excursion on your itinerary; if your images are inadequate or missing then ask a fellow traveller for a suitable image.

17. Consider compiling a photobook (or slideshow, or DVD). Refer to your notes and memory (and that of others on the trip) to construct meaningful text or captions. Be sure to acknowledge the identity of each photographer in your photobook. If your photobook contains many images / sections of text supplied by others then perhaps refer to yourself as the "editor" rather than the "author".