What NOT to Do When Taking Travel Photos

Instagram and Pinterest turned the casual vacation photo-taker into his and her own version of Ansel Adams. But even with the plethora of photo editing apps, there are still a few tips and tricks that travelers can pick up in order to capture incredible photographs. When snapping away on your next holiday, see below for what not to do from behind your viewfinder.

Don’t … ignore the time of day. Lighting plays a huge role in how photos turn out and paying attention to the time of day can make all the difference. If you’re aiming for landscape photos, opt to shoot when the sun is low and ideally behind you. Portrait photos of yourself or fellow travelers should be done in at least partial shade to avoid facial shadows.

Don’t … ignore the power of your mobile phone. More and more travelers leave their expensive SLR cameras at home and instead rely solely on their pocket-sized phones for photos. Social media posters skip the uploading step altogether and can spend more time editing photos before adding them to their news feeds.

Don’t … only rely on app edits. Instagram and Snapchat come with their own editing tools, but don’t ignore the built-in editing features on your phone. You can make the appropriate edits on your phone before uploading, adding an additional layer of editing for brighter, sharper photos.

Don’t … take photos from the same angle. If you’re at a particularly fascinating monument, building or scene, try to photograph it from more than one perspective. Crouch down or get really close to the object, then move far away and play with the zoom feature. Not only will you get a handful of images to choose from in the future, but you may be able to spot intricate details the naked eye can easily miss.