The Traveling Photographer: A Guide to Great Travel Photography (2014)

Foreword

Traveling and photography go hand in hand – you’re never at a loss for subjects worthy of your attention. But it can be challenging to take pictures that stand apart from the familiar views of famous sites and attractions and to create images with your own accent.

The goal when photographing your travels is to create a picture that captures not only what you saw, but also how you saw it and what you felt at the time. Only these creative and personal elements – your personal concept, perspective, angle of view, composition, and emotions – will transform a plain visual reproduction into a unique photograph that exhibits your personal style.

This book is not an instruction manual for a camera nor is it a travel guide, but it does serve well as a complement to both. It’s intended for anyone who is interested in advancing his or her photographic craft or who is looking for ways to create different, distinct, or better images. While this book is primarily directed toward beginning and intermediate photographers, those who aren’t satisfied with their travel photography or who are looking for suggestions on what to do differently will find it useful as well.

The following pages contain tangible recommendations for what to do when you’re out and about – whether for a brief trip in the city, an extended tour of a foreign country, or a weekend trip with friends – to arrive at better pictures with simple equipment and little effort. The tips presented here are first and foremost steps to develop a conscious method of photography. If you take some time to consider why and how to take a picture, you won’t snap away without purpose. Often it’s this indiscriminant torrent of snapshots that prevents you from achieving truly attractive and well-composed pictures.

Therefore, image composition and design is a big part of this book. I found it important to provide advice that is useful regardless of the type of camera you’re using and that doesn’t require you to purchase extra equipment. Whether you use a compact camera that fits nicely in your pocket or an advanced digital single-lens reflex camera, if you enjoy traveling and taking pictures, you’ll find countless recommendations, suggestions, and ideas for taking pictures while traveling on the following pages.

I hope you enjoy this book and your trip and, above all, I hope that you take pleasure in your photography wherever and whenever you reach for your camera. This is, and always will be, the most important prerequisite for creative, outstanding pictures.

Sandra Petrowitz

In rhythm with the savannah: A herd of elephants backlit at dawn moves through Amboseli National Park, Kenya. | Nikon D300 • 600 mm • 1/800 s • f/7.1 • ISO 200