Travel photographer Graeme Green has spent the beyond 15 years journeying the globe, capturing high-quality snap shots and reporting tales for international newspapers and magazines, together with The Sunday Times, BBC, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph and National Geographic. In an earlier column, he gave us his five Secrets to Taking Great Photos. I spoke with Green once more approximately 5 Ways to Really Improve Your Travel Photography.
Graeme, what is the most not unusual mistake that newbie travel photographers make?
I see loads of humans arrive someplace with their camera and they´re so excited via all the new and different things around them that they are attempting to picture almost the whole lot they see. That´s now not honestly engaging with an area in a significant way, and after they get home, loads of those photos received´t imply tons to them or to everybody else.
Slow down, transfer your mind on, take a piece of time to walk around and go searching, perhaps even earlier than taking a unmarried image. Think approximately what you truely find individually thrilling approximately a place. It’ll make for extra centered, extra interesting pix.
Rushing round photographing the whole thing additionally in all likelihood manner you’re now not spending a lot time composing each photo. Less is virtually extra. A set of 20 absolutely authentic, striking images which you certainly centered your mind on notion will be a ways greater interesting to take a look at than 2 hundred hurriedly taken snaps. Certainly, editors are inquisitive about a hard and fast of innovative pix that say some thing about a place, in place of masses of photos that say nothing
If I really want terrific pix, need to I ditch the telephone and put money into a real camera?
I hardly ever use a phone for photography, however that’s particularly due to the fact I don’t seem able to move a number months on the road with out smashing mine. Camera phones can soak up coloration and light incredibly nicely, and you may attain properly results, especially if you get creative and avoid simply taking quick images on the move.
But using an amazing digicam opens up a world of creativity and, in case you make investments a bit, it need to assist you get better outcomes. It’s now not pretty much the digicam body, however also buying excellent lenses, which make a huge distinction. Travel images may be an highly-priced commercial enterprise. It’s really worth discovering considerably, before spending some grand on gear, and, if viable, to test out a digital camera or lens before you buy it.
All that stated, I’ve were given pictures I took years ago on antique, reasonably-priced, battered cameras and even on a plastic disposable that I’m nonetheless happy with. A badly taken image on a pinnacle-of-the-variety camera is still a terrible picture. No amount of costly gear can replace creativity, an excellent eye and difficult work.
How do I avoid taking clichéd journey pix?
It would possibly sound obvious, but especially by way of being privy to what the clichés are. The Holi festival in India or dawn at Angkor Wat, as an instance, had been finished to demise, so in case you’re going to picture nicely-worn subjects, it can pay to have a look at what’s been done before and try to discover an original, non-public take.
I especially try and avoid topics which have already been hammered, and instead are trying to find out humans, locations, animals and landscapes that aren’t completely over-acquainted. In our over-photographed world, that’s getting extra tough, but once I can, I like to get to foreign places or journey a piece further to discover something surely exciting and new to me, and that regularly consequences in definitely exciting image opportunities.
Ultimately, even though, it’s about figuring out what pursuits you and pushing yourself to take snap shots that you’re honestly glad with. Looking at books by means of fantastic photographers can factor you in new guidelines or help you parent out what you do and don’t like in other humans’s paintings, which you may observe on your own. But simply it’s about being creative and growing your fashion through the years.
