How To Be A Better And More Successful Travel Photographer
Yellow building and reflection provides great subject matter for the travel photographer.
Would you like to become a better travel photographer? I’ve been traveling and making photos, on six continents, since 1988. Along the way I’ve learned a great deal that has helped me become a better travel photographer.
To become a better travel photographer you need to understand how to use your camera, embrace a digital photography workflow, take an active interest in the people, history and culture of the places you travel, and approach those you photograph with respect and a generosity of spirit.
It’s very much a reciprocal arrangement. In fact, it’s my experience that whatever time and energy I’ve invested in my photography and the people I interact with while traveling, has been returned to me in spades.
Digital Photography Versus Analogue Photography
The digital age has resulted in far greater competition for professional travel photographers. Nonetheless, a digital workflow offers many advantages, compared to a film based analogue workflow, regardless of whether you’re a professional or enthusiast photographer.
While film based photography might seem attractive, I’m of the belief that the best way to become a better photographer is to embrace digital photography.
I’m sure that statement probably seems obvious, even unhelpful. After all film-based photography can be fun, creative and even liberating.
There’s a lot to be said for traditional analogue based photography. After all, it’s where most photography masters learned their craft.
However, after decades of darkroom experience, I’m convinced that film is just not going to be the best way forward for most folks.
That’s particularly the case if you’re driven as much by quality, consistency and efficiency as by creativity.
Here’s why?
Have you ever wondered how to get your photos published? It’s both easier and, almost always, less financially rewarding than was the case in days gone by.
There’s no doubt that an incredible democratization of photography has occurred since the introduction of digital photography.
Access to the internet has allowed tens of millions of people to be involved in photography in ways that were simply not possible in the days of film based photography.
Let’s look at some of the more positive aspects of this revolution.
Digital Photography is Cheap
Once the camera and memory card have been purchased there are, theoretically, no extra costs involved with making photos.
Naturally, you have to store those photos. But the price, availability and capacity of external hard drives is far cheaper than it once was.
It’s now far cheaper to store digital photos than it would be to print and store a similar number of images in traditional photo albums.
No More Film and Processing Costs For The Travel Photographer
You never have to buy film and processing again. How significant is this fact?
I worked for Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd for eight years. I started there in 1990, in a blue collar factory floor role, when Kodak was a USD 20 billion dollar company.
Kodak was the Apple of their day, you could say, with over 130,000 employees worldwide.
Back then Kodak even owned Sterling Winthrop, the manufactures of Panadol.
Working at Kodak had been a dream of mine since my early days in photography retail. However, by the time I joined the company there was an internal only hiring policy in place at the Coburg plant in Melbourne, Australia.
But I was determined and I found a way in. It didn’t bother me at all that it was a blue collar job in manufacturing. I had achieved my dream.
The fact that it was a shift work job would allow me to make most of my classes in the full time photography BA degree in which I was enrolled.
I worked hard during my eight year tenure and progressed, while undertaking various tertiary level qualifications in photography, through the following roles:
Online Emulsion Testing
Customer Service Representative
Technical Specialist in the Pro Passport Hotline and Photo Information Department
Product Manager, Kodak Professional Division, Australia and New Zealand
Film was the great cash cow for Kodak, being highly profitable and driving sales of photographic paper and film and paper processing chemicals.
However, as a direct result of the digital photography revolution, those days are long gone and that once great company is now but a shadow of its former glory.
Indeed, the Coburg plant where I once worked is long gone. It’s been replaced with a large housing estate. But, at one time, it employed around 3,500 people.
Kodak has made something of a comeback over recent years and is, once again, manufacturing a small, boutique range of photography products.
But, have no doubt, old yellow just isn’t what it used to be.
By all means support old yellow by buying some Kodak film. Get your hands on a 35 mm camera and crank off a roll or three.
If you’ve purchased print film you can enjoy the tactile experience of shuffling through a stack of postcard size prints once your film has been processed.
If you opted for 35 mm transparency film perhaps you have access to an old school projector and a white wall in your house or apartment on which to project those images in the evening.
Which ever way you go, consider getting decent quality scans of those images which you can then archive and, if it’s you wish to do so, share via social media.
Better Travel photography via a Digital Workflow
I think it’s great that some folks are attracted to the ideal of film based photography. But it’s no longer for me.
I don’t believe film based photography is more authentic than digital photography.
What’s more, since I’ve embraced the cost benefits, easier storage, retrieval and sharing of digital images there’s no way I’d want to go back to film.
I’ve thrown out most of my large prints, though I still have about four hundred sixteen inch square prints I need to get rid of and around thirty three-ring binders full of negatives and slides.
Over recent years I’ve gradually been moving towards a more minimalist lifestyle. The aim is to reduce my footprint to about twenty percent of what I use to have.
I expect I’II get there over the next few years. Items that I’ve found quite easy to throw out include the following:
Clothes
Audio CD’s
Movies on DVD
Books, once I got into it
Old and outdated travel research
Camera bags and accessories
What’s been far harder is sorting through thousands of pages of technical information, much of it from my days at Kodak.
Fortunately that task is mostly completed and, while much of it has been assigned to the tip, some important documents and brochures I created have ended up in the hands of the State Library Of Victoria.
Those now historic resources will form a small part of the Kodak collection the Library is assembling in Melbourne, Australia.
Immediate Feedback Leads To Better Travel Photography
One of the great advantages of digital photography is getting immediate feedback through the viewfinder or LCD screen on a mirrorless camera, or via the LCD screen on a DSLR camera.
Of course having that feedback is one thing, but knowing how to act on it is another thing entirely.
This is where continuous education, both technical and aesthetic, becomes so important.
But once you know what you’re doing the feedback your camera provides you becomes a great asset to improving composition, sharpness and exposure.
This means better photos, more often.
Your Digital Camera Is A Bit Like Kodak
Your camera is here to record the events that help shape your life, but it also has the capacity to process those images for you.
For folks using their DSLR or mirrorless camera on JPEG mode (which, in my opinion, is what the vast majority of photographers should be doing), their camera becomes both an image recorder and photo lab.
Amazing!
You can, of course, significantly improve your photos on the desktop.
But the point is that each of your JPEG photos has already been processed, to a pretty decent standard, by the time it reaches the memory card.
For most folks that’s an advantage that cannot be overstated.
Of course those of us who want ultimate control over the quality and appearance of our images will continue to photograph with our camera quality setting switched to RAW.
But we are exceptions to the rule.
I’m convinced that JPEG makes more sense, both from a workflow and a financial point of view, for most amateur and enthusiast level photographers.
A lot of professional photographers (e.g., newspaper, sport, lower priced wedding and portrait photographers) also choose to photograph in JPEG mode.
In the case of newspaper photography the notion (or fiction) of truth in photography is still accepted.
It’s important then that only minimal amounts of processing are applied to images. In doing so the possibility of major image editing resulting in factually inaccurate reportage is reduced. Well, that’s the theory.
Sports photographers at high end events like the Olympics simply don’t have the time to process the images they create.
Their on-site workflow is based around getting the images from the camera to the picture editor’s desk, via the internet, as quickly as possible.
Many lower end wedding and portrait photographers believe that they’ll make more money by making photos in camera, more often, rather than by spending a lot of time post processing those pics on the desktop.
JPEG is not the way I roll, but I believe it to be the most appropriate way forward for most photographers.
I’ve created this special post to help you determine whether a JPEG or RAW workflow is best for you. If you’re unsure about what’s right for you, I strongly suggest you check it out.
Being a travel photographer has enabled me to visit Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon.
Great Travel Photographers Take Photos That Matter
If you want a larger and more engaged audience for your photography then I encourage you to work hard to take photos that matter.
To do so be clear about the following:
What is it you want to photograph?
What’s the best way to achieve a great result?
Why is it you feel the need to photograph certain things in the way you do?
In art why is always the most important question.
By understanding why it is you do what you do you’ll be able to develop a more coherent photographic style and a clearer idea about the inspirations, motivations, messages and themes that underpin your very best images.
Take a look at this image I made of a small iceberg which had calved off the Breiòamerkurjökull Glacier and made it’s way across the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon in southern Iceland on its way to the sea.
Notice how the iceberg is sharp, showcasing lots of texture, while the water around it is soft and impressionistic. I love exploring duality in my photos and, in this case, within this mostly monochromatic (i.e., one color), melancholic image I’ve been able to explore the following:
movement and stillness
solidity and fluidness
the passing of time within a still photograph
It’s hard to imagine life without the internet. While I’m rarely excited by incoming emails, the opportunity to share my thoughts and photos with the world has certainly changed my life.
Through this website I have a whole new audience for my work, which has led to a significantly expanded range of creative and commercial opportunities.
In my case commercial means what I want it to mean. Primarily, private one-to-one teaching and occasional photo tours. Other opportunities will follow in time.
The ongoing need to improve and share one’s work, with an ever larger audience, is important to most artists.
However, the initial struggle to grasp new technologies, techniques and workflows has been a major impediment to many aspiring photographers.
Personally I found this to be an incredibly difficult road, particularly as the digital revolution reached me well into my photography career.
In fact I didn’t use a computer until I was in my mid twenties.
Since then I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars over the years on cameras and computers, not to mention travel, and I don’t even want to think about all the hours I’ve invested in education, both formal and self taught.
I don’t do things by half. I estimate that I’ve invested well over one thousand hours developing content for this website and blog.
But I’m better for it and, these days, learning new software applications and techniques isn’t all that difficult.
And I do enjoy writing and sharing my knowledge, experience and the occasional opinion with other creative folk.
I’m no geek, but I have a workflow that allows me to keep track of all my images and the skills to be able to process and share them quickly and efficiently.
The best thing is that I love the act of making photos, in camera, more than I ever did. Digital photography is simply easier than film based, analogue photography ever was.
With such a busy life I’ve become acutely aware of the need to get outside, into the fresh air and natural light, whenever I can. It’s just so important for well-being, health and happiness.
My travel photography projects are always physically difficult yet emotionally rewarding experiences. And I’m privileged to have been able to construct a life that has allowed me to travel and make photos in many of the worlds great locations.
Photography grounds us. It allows us to reconnect with so much of what’s most important in our lives.
Better Travel Photography, The Proof And The Pudding
The most obvious extension of this effort has been the creation and upkeep of my website and blog.
The site is a labor of love that has allowed me to keep up to date with emerging technologies and trends and, as a consequence, stay relevant to the needs of my students and other folk who regularly visit.
The good news, thankfully, is that any ongoing study is now much easier. My ability to absorb and act upon new information is now so much faster than it used to be in the days of film based photography.
I’m no longer afraid of technology although, as in all things, practice makes perfect.
And it’s so much easier to practice a new technique or hone your current skills when there’s no ongoing costs associated with film and processing.
Software has become far more intuitive and computers so much faster and more reliable over the years.
Likewise, internet speeds are keeping up with my needs, though not always when I’m on the road travelling.
Digital technology continues to improve at a rapid pace, compared to my years using film with what was a mature, but limited technology.
Composition leads to better travel photos. Pipe, Viki Crater near Myvatn, Iceland.
Better Tools Results In Better Travel Photos
I’m now at a stage where my internet endeavors have become a significant part of my lifestyle.
I still spend a great deal of time at the desktop, and I find that to be far more interesting than watching endless hours of TV.
My mind is, for the most part, actively engaged, rather than being in a state of passive submission.
Back in the day, working in the darkroom was seen to be the natural extension for the artist photographer.
Today the desktop has completely replaced the darkroom in my artistic workflow.
It’s quicker, healthier (though I must remember to get up and stretch more often), cheaper, repeatable and far more efficient.
And, just like the digital camera, once you have a computer and sufficient storage space for your photos, there are no ongoing costs associated with the processing of those photos.
Improve Tour Travel Photography Workflow
It’s true that, for travel photographers like me, more than one computer is required. It’s a big expense, but it’s been worth it to realize an improved photography workflow.
I need the power of a desktop computer, in addition to a large monitor, for some of the serious image processing I conduct and for some of the tasks associated with my online teaching.
As a consequence I run two 27 inch monitors most of the day. I also utilize a laptop for travel and some off site teaching.
While a second monitor is ideal for online hangouts, for most folks a single computer monitor should more than meet their needs.
Technology Is No Longer the Great Unknown
Over coming months I’II be paying more attention to systems and workflow so that I’II be able to produce and share even more of my photography with less effort and in a more timely manner.
Naturally, whatever I learn I can teach.
Because I’ve spent so long in the trenches I truly understand how frustrating photography and it’s associated technologies can be for the enthusiast.
It’s great knowing that all those years of struggle are largely behind me, that something of consequence has resulted and that I’m able to share what I’ve learned with many people around the world.
Let Me Help You Be A Better Travel Photographer
Everything I teach is based on the premise that photography must be experience based.
It must allow us to be in the moment, free from the restrictions of technology, in such a way that allows our creativity to bloom.
The trick is to be able to utilize technology, without fear and without becoming a slave to it.
It’s important to remember that the joy of photography is, for the most part, associated with making images in camera.
That approach, and my ability to explain seemingly complex subjects in simple and actionable language, is what makes me a great teacher.
There, I’ve said it!
Actually, it’s an easy road to become a better photographer. That is so long as you have the right guide to help you along the way.
If you’d like to investigate a single or multiply session private photography course feel free to contact me directly.
