Travel Photography

Author: Roy Barker

Source: articleage.com



To many people the idea of being paid to take photographs of

exotic places is the ideal job. It may takes years of effort to

be paid by magazines such as the National Geographic, but are

there better ways to become a travel photographer. As most

people have more leisure time, more holiday time, and more

disposable income, the demand for travel photographs has

increased dramatically. Not only are they in demand for travel

brochures, but they also are used extensively in other

advertising copy. Images necessary for sale and publication

require rather more skill than those applied to standard holiday

snaps. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new

landscapes but in having new eyes." Was a quote by the French

novelist Marcel Proust, and it appears to be of particular use

to the travel photographer. Investigate the possibilities of

becoming a contracted photographer at Lonely Planet Images.

Lonely Planet Images is a digital library of travel photography.

They have submission guidelines available for download at their

website. They are a subsidiary of what used to known as the

Lonely Planet Guide, and currently have 400 photographers on

contract. You can also increase your chances of breaking into

the very lucrative travel market, by entering competitions such

as the Travel photographer of the Year . There closing date for

submissions is September 5th 2005. A camera is merely a box,

that captures light, and in a studio, it is very easy to

manipulate light. The reality of location photography is that it

is generally expensive; you have the expenses of air tickets,

hotels and meals on top of normal expenses. At the end of the

day you are at the mercy of "weather", no one wants to see their

ideal location subject to rain clouds. When we talk of light in

terms of travel photography we are talking about intensity, as

most travel shots are taken outdoors, In general there is harsh

direct sunlight and diffuse soft light. Harsh light is when the

sun is directional, and it is great for capturing deep contrasts

between light and shadows. With this type of shot, it is

difficult to judge the exposure. If you direct your exposure

towards the light, that will leave your shadows without any

depth or definition. Conversely if you use the correct exposure

for shadow, then the light areas will be without detail, giving

a vaguely sinister result to the image. Unfortunately your

drawback here is film, the human eye is capable of registering

contrast to a ratio of 800:1, slide film is capable of only

30:1, which is slightly improved, by going digital at a ratio of

40:1. Professional photographs have all passionate views on

their favourite brand name of film in this situation, but they

are all in accord that you need a slower speed films, as they

record better contrast and grain. ISO/ASA rating of a hundred is

about the fastest film to use. It is important that you use a

good photovoltaic cell (either a separate light meter or one

inbuilt into the camera. Once the light meter has registered the

light, the camera is capable of indicating the aperture opening

required, and the shutter speed. The speed of the film is also

taken into this equation. You need to measure the darkest and

the lightest areas. Your immediate decision is whether to

correctly expose the dark and emphasize the shadow and leave the

light areas washed out or to correctly expose the light and

leave the shadows without definition. Using light correctly

greatly enhances your colors, the diffused lighting just after

and dawn and just before sunset is helpful here. The technical

reasons for this are simple when the sun is nearest to the

horizon; the light has a greater distance to travel through

pollution, ozone, water vapour and dust. This means that

wavelengths at the violet end of the spectrum are more

scattered, than the colours at the red end. This allows the

blues to absorb more colour than at the red end, so the sunlight

appears more golden. To study the more technical aspects of

lighting you may like to take an online course. An inexpensive,

but invaluable tool for the outdoor photographer is a polarizer,

as they improve the ambient lighting. They will always emphasise

the blue of the sky, whilst minimalizing glare. This will allow

you to capture the colors you want to make a saleable

photograph. More importantly it reduces the contrast in a

photograph by creating a more even tone, it restricts the very

much lighter and darker tones, in the image. Mike Johnston gives

an excellent technical explanation of this in his excellent

online course. He has also written an excellent tutorial on

color theory, which explains the use of color to improve the

quality of your outdoor images. Photographers who use digital

imaging will also find this article tremendously helpful in

enplaning how to improve the final image with regard to colour.

Research is a great tool for the travel photographer, and the

Internet is a great help, but don't forget to use local

knowledge, ask local taxi drivers, as well as the tourist boards

for inside information on a location. City photography is also

included in the aspect of travel photography and here taxi

drivers' knowledge can be invaluable. You can also try and

coincide a trip with local festivals. If you can oversee a

vantage point you can use a zoom lens to great effect without

the embarrassment of having to foist a camera into someone's

face. Also local festivals give opportunities to capture a part

of the local culture.