10 tricks to take better travel photos

These are our simple tricks to turn ordinary vacation snapshots into unforgettable memories!

You don’t need an expensive camera or professional photography skills to take amazing travel photos. Whether you’re using an iPhone, Android, or digital camera, a few simple tricks can make your vacation pictures look like they belong in a travel magazine. And let’s be honest, these days, most photos are taken with our phones – we have the proof on our phone photo library – thousands in many cases!

Here are 10 easy ways to improve your travel photography.

1. Get Up Early for the Best Light

The best travel photos often happen before everyone else wakes up. The hour just after sunrise, known as the golden hour, produces beautiful, soft lighting that makes almost everything look better.

Try this: Photograph famous landmarks early in the morning when the light is gorgeous and the crowds haven’t arrived.

2. Stop Putting Everything in the Center

One of the easiest ways to improve your photographs is to use the rule of thirds. Imagine dividing your screen into nine equal squares. Instead of placing your subject directly in the middle, position it slightly off-center.

Try this: Turn on your phone camera’s grid feature. It makes composing better pictures surprisingly easy.

3. Put Something Interesting in the Foreground

A photograph of the Eiffel Tower is nice. A photograph of the Eiffel Tower with a colorful Parisian café table in the foreground is much more interesting.

Adding something close to the camera creates depth and makes your photograph feel more three-dimensional.

Try this: Include flowers, a coffee cup, a bicycle, or an interesting doorway in the foreground.

4. Photograph People, Not Just Places

Twenty years from now, you’ll probably enjoy seeing the people you met on your trip just as much as the famous landmarks.

Street musicians, market vendors, café owners, and fellow travelers can make wonderful subjects.

Try this: Capture natural moments rather than having everyone stand stiffly and say “cheese.” Ask permission before photographing people up close.

5. Change Your Point of View

Most vacation photographs are taken from exactly the same position: standing up, holding a camera at eye level.

That’s why so many travel pictures look alike.

Try this: Crouch down, photograph something from above, shoot through an archway, or look for reflections in puddles and windows. A different angle can turn an ordinary scene into an extraordinary photograph.

6. Don’t Forget the Little Details

Everyone photographs the Colosseum in Rome. But what about the colorful gelato shop around the corner, the handwritten restaurant menu, or the old Italian gentleman reading his newspaper?

Sometimes the little things tell the biggest stories.

Try this: Take five photographs of small details in every city you visit. These may become your favorite pictures.

7. Learn to Use Your Phone’s Camera

Your smartphone probably has photography features you’ve never tried.

Portrait mode can beautifully blur backgrounds. Night mode can improve evening photographs. Exposure adjustments can prevent bright skies from becoming washed out.

Try this: Before your next vacation, spend 15 minutes experimenting with your camera’s settings. You might be amazed at what it can do.

8. Wait for Something Interesting to Happen

Sometimes the difference between an average photograph and a great one is simply patience. So many times I’ve waiting for a certain subject to move, or a certain way the sun would sit on the horizon or I would wait for a boat to pass just the right way under a bridge and it made all the difference.

You find a beautiful street, but something is missing. Wait a minute. Maybe a cyclist rides past, a dog wanders into the scene, or someone opens a colorful umbrella.

Suddenly, you have a photograph that tells a story.

Try this: When you find a beautiful location, stay there for a few minutes instead of immediately moving on.

9. Take Pictures During Bad Weather

Don’t put your camera away just because it’s raining!

Cloudy skies provide soft lighting that’s excellent for portraits. Wet streets create beautiful reflections. Fog can make familiar landmarks look mysterious.

Some of the most dramatic travel photographs are taken when the weather isn’t perfect.

Try this: After a rainstorm, photograph city streets reflecting colorful lights, buildings, and people.

10. Take Fewer Photos—But Make Them Better

We’ve all done it. We return from vacation with 2,000 photographs, including 47 nearly identical pictures of the same building.

Instead of constantly snapping away, slow down and think about what makes a scene interesting. When I was taking news photos, you know, journalism photos, I would go to an event and take hundreds of images. Then I would have to go through all of them and spend hours deciding which to publish with an article. Finally I got wise – I took a handful of thoughtful photos and it cut my time and made life so much easer and I had better photos in the end!

Ask yourself three questions:

What’s the most interesting thing in this picture?
Is the lighting good?
Could I improve the photograph by moving a few feet?

Try this: Challenge yourself to take just five really good photographs at each major stop instead of 50 ordinary ones.

BONUS TIP: Don’t Forget to Be in the Picture!

Here’s something many travelers regret: They return from an amazing vacation with hundreds of beautiful photographs—but hardly any pictures of themselves.

Use your camera’s timer, ask another traveler to take your picture, or bring a small tripod.

Years from now, you’ll want proof that you were actually there!