McCartney - How to Shoot Great Travel Photos

How to Shoot Great Travel Photos

Giraffe and wildebeest, Serengeti, Tanzania, Africa. Nikon F-2 camera mounted on a tripod, 500mm fixed-aperture f/8 mirror telephoto lens, 64 ISO film. Exposure was 1/250 at f/8.

Carnival dancers, Port of Spain, Trinidad. F-2 camera, 80mm lens, 64 ISO film. Exposure was 1/250 at f/11.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Patricia and Napier Collyns, Ricardo de Mattos, Karol DuClos, Joe Farace, Patricia and Wayne Fisher, Kerynn Fisher, David Lida, Irwin Miller, Caroline Nye, John OLeary, Patricia Poullain, Barbara Steffen, Betty Werther, and Ellis Vener. You have all helped in different ways. I would also like to sincerely thank my long suffering editors, Nicole Potter and Jessica Rozler, my publisher Tad Crawford, and the other nice people at Allworth Press, all of whom are forgiving about my lateness. Last, but not least, many thanks to Charlie Sharp and Derek Bacchus, who designed the book and cover, respectively.

2005 Susan McCartney

All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, and Pan-American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

07 06 05 04 03 5 4 3 2 1

Published by Allworth Press

An imprint of Allworth Communications, Inc.

10 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010

Cover design by Derek Bacchus

Page composition/typography by Sharp Des!gns, Lansing, MI

eBook ISBN: 978-1-58115-788-8

ISBN: 1-58115-326-0

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

McCartney, Susan.

How to shoot great travel photos / Susan McCartney.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-58115-326-0 (pbk.)

1. Travel photographyHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.

TR790.M3797 2004

778.9'991dc22

2004022632

Printed in Singapore

About the Author

Inspired by her mother, who traveled widely as an actress, Susan took her first serious photographs at age twelve with a plastic twin lens reflex camera. She attended art schools in both London and New York, and took master classes from Richard Avedon, Hobart Baker, Alexy Brodovitch, Harold Kreiger, Melvin Sokolsky, and Walter Rosenblum. Stints as a United Nations guide and student travel officer for the British Tourist Authority gave her contacts in the travel industry, which she used when she became a professional photographer. Since then, she has shot all over the United States and the world for such diverse clients as Borde Failte Eireannean, British Airways, Caravan Tours, Lan Chile Airlines, Varig Airlines, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Post Office, and Warner Bros. Records. She has also provided images for Travel/Holiday, Travel and Leisure, the New York Times, Glamour, Womans Day, Popular Photography, Shutterbug, and other magazines. Her stock photographs have appeared all over the world. Susan lives in New York City and periodically teaches photography workshops. This is her sixth book.

Preface

I have written this book for anyone who shares two lifelong passions of mine: photography and travel. You dont have to be a photographic expert or even use the most advanced cameras; however, you do have to be an enthusiast to take advantage of the information in this book. Ive tried to demonstrate everything visually, and the plain-English text supplements the pictures with factual data.

I recommend the gear I currently use, plus other good stuff too.

Ill suggest places where you are almost guaranteed to be able to make great pictures, and give sources for future travel ideas. Of course I have included my choice of government, travel industry, and other helpful Web sites to help you research destinations and events as well as get the latest available information on fares, good travel deals, and up-to-the-minute security issues. My favorite guide-books and a manufacturers resources list are provided as well.

Whatever your level of experience and photographic goals when you travel, you cant just occasionally stick one hand with a point-and-shoot out of the car window if you hope to take great pictures. You will need time to concentrate on photography. Ideally, devote some time each day purely to visual exploration; the more you photograph and explore, the better your pictures will be. Those with professional aims will work from dawn to dusk, and even at night on occasion. But, photography should be fun, so approach it at your own pace. I wish you creative satisfaction, fun travels, and success on your own terms.

Susan McCartney

New York City, Fall 2004

INTRODUCTION

A Brief Overview

Good travel photography is simply good photography done in unfamiliar places. Great travel photographs are made by photographers who are in love with a subject, who have talent, passion, and a willingness to shoot and re-shoot if needed until they capture the images they see with their inner eye.

No matter what or where you shoot, it usually helps to have a clear idea of your goals in advance rather than to snap away randomly. Serious travel photographers at any level of experience may start by making images with the intent of assembling a well-composed, edited, and sequenced story-telling album, or by putting together a slide show of a nearby favorite place, personal trip, or family vacation that wont put viewers to sleep.

Or, you can shoot for wall art or fine art and make enlargements of single pictures or a series of related images to decorate the walls of a home, school, office, or commercial gallery.

In either case, shoot plenty of pictures early and late, especially when the sun is out. Low light reveals texture.

To assemble interesting groups of pictures on a page or a Web site, or shots for an exhibit, vary the scale and distance from your subjectsincluding close-ups, medium, and far-distance shotsand be ruthless when you edit. Get rid of mistakes and cluttered or dull stuff, then refine your choices. Show only the best of two or three similar shots, or you risk boring people. Dont forget we are all accustomed to watching fast-paced TV shows and movies. But dont prune too ruthlessly; be aware that today many interesting variations of normal images are routinely published. Also, know that some problems in otherwise good photos can be corrected by the careful use of computer retouching programs.

To improve your sense of composition and your photographic eye, look at good photographs in magazines, books, newspapers, as well as originals in galleries. Look at great paintings whenever you can. I like to look at TV commercials with the sound turned off, since talented, highly paid visual artists work on these spots, and some of the lighting and other effects they achieve are spectacular.

If you have professional ambitions, be aware that all travel magazine and commercial travel images are made to sell a place and therefore must accentuate the positive. Dont show slums, poverty, or sad or unpleasant things that exist in all countries, including your own.