The Key to Making Really Good Travel Photos

When I hold a camera, it makes me see my world differently. Way back when I was a youngster, I would look at something and imagine in my mind what a photograph of it would look like. The problem was...what was in my mind, and what came out of my camera were wildly different.

At some point when I was in my late 20’s I decided to take a photography class, to figure out how to bring the “what I imagine it to look like” and “what it actually looks like” closer together. 

After that, I was hooked. Yep I was in love with photography and how it made me see my world. Now I didn’t say I was good at it yet, but I was definitely hooked.

You see once I started learning about the art of photography, I started seeing my world in a different way. Suddenly I’m not just looking at a thing, I’m seeing light, and details, and movement. 

The more I learned about photography, the more my vision actually changed.

There are SO many components to photography. And a whole lot of those have to do with technology. What camera setting to use, which mode of focus to use. Blah, blah, blah.

But another component that is even MORE important (if you ask me) is how you see what you’re about to photograph. I don’t mean “see” like your brain is registering the color and size and shape of a building, a person, or a pot of flowers. 

I mean your vision of how you see, feel, sense what you’re observing. Instead of just a building, you see bright light on the front, and shadows on the side. You see an arched doorway that makes the perfect frame for a cat or a person walking by. And you see the rough texture and warm color of the stones that are supporting the structure that you’re looking at. You might even smell the mouth-watering delight of fresh-baked bread drifting out of that building that is a bakery.

Instead of just seeing a building…there’s also the doorway that perfectly frames the kitty in Venice.

But can you photograph how something feels? How it smells? Well you can certainly photograph in a way that represents what something might smell like. Like a steaming cup of coffee. 

Making a close-up photo of stones, with the light raking across, can sure give the viewer the idea of what it must feel like. 

I know, sometimes it seems like there is SO freaking much to learn about improving your photos, that it can feel overwhelming. I talk about camera settings and lighting and composition and now capturing how something FEELS, not just what it looks like.

But here’s the thing. The more you learn about photography, the more you realize what you don’t know. That’s normal. About any subject. BUT what’s also true is that the more you learn the more you DO know.

So as you head out with your camera, sometimes you need to just let go. Let go of all the knowledge, facts, camera settings...and just let your vision take over.

When I say vision, I mean to step back, take a breath, relax, and see. Take it all in. What do you really see? What strikes you as interesting? 

Neal and I used to walk around the city when we lived in New York. One of the things I liked most about those walks was sitting on a bench and just observing. What people would say, how they interacted, how fast or slow they moved, how they would dress up their dogs. I would observe the way the light hit a building during different times of day. I watched to see what shadows would appear or disappear as the sun changed positions. 

You can almost smell those chickens roasting at the market in Annecy, France.

And you can almost feel the rough texture of the rocks that make up the walls at Machu Picchu.

As you start to slow down and take it all in, THAT is when your inner vision starts to kick in. THAT is when you really start to see what’s going on around you. Oh yeah, and it really helps if you quiet your mind too. We’ve talked about that before, and here we are again. Trust me, that conversation is never going to go away. So if you haven’t given it a try yet, now might be a good time.

When we’re walking around and taking it all in...if our mind is racing between tasks, appointments, to-do lists, and what we’re going to make for dinner, you’ll see very little. You’ll get home and not even remember what you were looking at, much less the color, texture, smell, and soft warm light of it all. 

Vision is about quieting your mind, observing what you see and feel around you, and then deciding what and how you want to capture it in your photograph. 

Examples always help stuff make more sense. So let’s say you walk up to Central Park in New York City. It’s huge. And bustling with people. And amazing. I mean how could a park this size with this landscape even exist in a city the size of New York? So where the heck do you even start with your camera?

You start by taking a breath. And then you look around and take it all in. What does the light look like? Where is it the brightest? Where are the shadows? What strikes you as unusual or amazing or interesting?

After you initially take it all in, THAT is when you decide what you want to capture in a photograph, and how. And THAT is when you lift up your camera and make a photo.

I think it’s easy to get bogged down in all the details. All the “I don’t know how to’s” or “I don’t remember that’s” or even “is that worth making a photo of’s”. But what it really comes down to is how do you reflect your vision with your camera. How do you take your vision of how you see and feel something, and translate that into a photograph. THAT is vision.

And I’m telling you...once you start looking at the world this way WITH your camera? You’ll start to look at it that way without. And sometimes I think by not taking our camera, and just making the purpose of an outing to observe, it can make us better photographers. And more aware as humans. Think of everything you’ve been missing all this time!!

A photo I made in Central Park, as we’re wandering around and I’m trying to figure out how and what to capture. This scene struck me as photo-worthy.

Another photo in Central Park - a scene that struck me as peaceful in the midst of the chaos of New York.

One of the vendors on the Central Park Mall.

So here’s my suggestion to you. Go out somewhere and just be. No cameras allowed. Go for a walk or drive somewhere, and then find a bench and just experience what’s around you. Heck, you can even do this in your own backyard. 

Look at how the light shines down. Notice the shadows. See the color and texture. Really notice the little details. The movement of the flower swaying in the breeze rather than just the flower itself. Listen to the sounds that you hear.

And next time? Sure, bring your camera. But first sit, breathe, clear your mind...and let your vision come in and guide you. 

Sound a little woo woo? That’s ok, it might be. But give it a try. And take a look at the photos you create. And THEN judge whether it’s just weird, out-there nonsense...or if it actually helps you make better photos.