I love looking back on my photos from adventures around the world and relive the amazing memories. However, what I don’t love is cringing a little inside at how some of my older photos turned out. Last year I started to take photography seriously and really invested in learning how to take great travel photos!
Photography is really a skill that takes a lot of practice to master. While i’m not expert I want to share my 5 tips to take high quality travel photos on your next trip!
Photography Inspiration: 20 photos to inspire your trip to NYC and a quick guide & photography from Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia!
Sunrise 
Mid-morning
Sunset 
Blue Hour
Lighting
Lighting is probably one of the most important aspects to taking photos. I know getting up at sunrise can be though when you’re on vacation. However, it is so worth it to capture that gorgeous glow.
Golden hour is the BEST time to take photos. This is right after sunrise and right before sunset. The reason is the sun is lower in the sky and emits a soft glow rather than a harsh light during the afternoon. Blue light is also a pretty time for night photography, this is right after sunset.
While you can still capture great shots in the day time it is recommended to utilize golden hour for great travel photos. Also in post production it’s a lot easier to edit rather than trying to deal with over exposed photos and dark shadows.
Tip: If you’re lighting is off or your settings weren’t the best you can edit in your photos on Lightroom, which is what I use and love!
Off balance composition 
Centered Composition
Composition
Understanding how to use the rule of thirds to balance your photos is key to composition. The Rule of Thirds is 2 horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines that divide and guide your eye to aesthetically pleasing photos. Your goal is to place objects or people on those lines or at the points where the lines meet. There are definitely a lot of exceptions to the rule and beautiful photos can come out of not following the rule.
You can easily turn on the grid feature on your phone to start practicing and its also a feature on all cameras. To turn on the grid feature on iPhone’s – Settings > Camera > Grid
Before 
After
Learn your camera
I can’t stress enough how important learning your camera is. When I bought my first Sony mirrorless camera in 2018 right before my 3 month Europe trip I didn’t take the time to learn all the features on my camera. While I did eventually teach myself as I went, it wasn’t soon enough and no matter how many tricks I apply on Lightroom, it can’t fix my photos.
Manuals can be super useful for learning where buttons, features and basic camera functions. I personally love learning how to use my camera by watching a million Youtube tutorials! Some of my favourite tutorials for Sony cameras are by Kyle Taggart, Arthur R and Julia Trotti has amazing videos for shooting with prime lenses.
Tip: Shoot in RAW (example above), the camera doesn’t compress the image data on file and it’s easier to correct photos in post production! It does take up a lot more memory though, so buy a large memory card.
I am in focus, background has bokeh 
Eyes are in focus
Eye AF
Focusing on your subject is very important to get crisp shots. The eyes are what draw a viewer in so you want to make sure the eyes are always in focus.
Many newer or high end cameras have face detection and continuous eye auto focus as a feature that you can enable. Once the feature is enabled you can now take photos of moving subjects at high frame rates and the camera will follow the eye to ensure you get a sharp shot.
Research your destination
Doing research before any trip is key to getting great travel photos! By reading blogs and websites you can find well known and hidden gem locations. They will give you insight on ideal times to go, cool vantage points, what time of day is best etc. All my photos above were locations I found through blogs or on Instagram.
Don’t under estimate the power of research! Once you get to your destination another great tip is to reach out to other photographers, they might be able to lead you in the right direction for cool photo locations. Also asking locals is great for some insider knowledge! By finding these unique locations or perspectives you will definitely capture really awesome content.
These are some of my best tips to capture high quality travel photos on your next trip! As long as you put in the work to learn your camera, adapt to the weather and find unique and interesting photo spots you can definitely take amazing high quality travel photos!
Love these tips! I’m learning more and more how important lighting is!
Thank you Kate! Yes lighting is super important and fun to play with!
Love all these tips! Especially the lighting, which is easily the most important! Sometimes it’s hard to wake up early to get your photographs when traveling with other people though.
Yes definitely the most important Monique! I go out solo in the mornings for photos and it’s so peaceful!
I do agree with all the tips and lighting is my fav part.
Thanks so much!!
Nice tips but I actually think that using a camera with autofocus so that you just point and shoot actually makes for people not knowing what they actually are doiing while taking photographies. I advocate for the full manual mode, and even though the learning curve is steep, the results pay off.
Totally agree, I didn’t mean to write auto focus on for my subheading, I changed it now! I shoot in manual and it’s definitely much better!
This is an amazing guide Tiana! Your photos are always so beautiful and I hope to get better at photography this year. I feel like a lot of the functions on my camera are still a foreign language for me. I need to watch more YouTube videos. 🙂
Thank you sooo much Taylor!! Yes watch lots of Youtube videos and just practice! Now is the perfect time to play around with your camera
I love these tips! Especially the “rule of thirds” one. I use that every time I do a flat lay 🙂
Thanks so much! Ohh yes great for flat lays, hope to do more of those now that i’m home!
Ugh, I need these tips, I’m not great at taking snapshots on holidays. It’s one of those things that I’m working on.
Practice makes perfect!! Youtube videos and just trail and error help a lot!
OMG. This is actually what I need. I’m not a pro in taking such fabulous photos so this is really a great help. Thanks a lot!
Glad I could help Dawn! Now is the perfect time to learn and experiment, good luck!
So true about researching your destination — way more important than we often think. Thanks for the tips!
Yes definitely! Thank you Julie!
Love these tips and how detailed you are in explaining each one! Sunrise is my favorite time to shoot but also the hardest to wake up for! haha! Beautiful photos as well!
Thanks so much! Ahaha it is super hard but the best light and so quiet!
These are all really great tips! It’s amazing what a difference it can make for editing when you shoot in raw!
Totally, RAW makes your photos look so much better and easier to edit!
Loving all your photos!! I totally agree that lighting is so so so important! Our favorite is by far sunrise photos because of the lighting and less tourists and people in the background. Lightroom is our favorite photo editing program too!
Thanks so much Mariah! Totally agree sunrise is so pretty and lightroom is the best!
Great tips! Lightning is definitely the king! I only shoot at sunrise or sunset, because then just everything looks better. But shooting during midday is a good option for b&w, coz the contrast is so good!
Ohh yes me as well! Thank you Karolina!
This is the article I never knew I needed! I have a Sony a6000 (I’ve had it for 2.5 years actually) and I still don’t know how to use it properly! If I have any chance of taking photos like yours I’ll have to find out how like you suggested!
I have the same camera and once you know how it works it’s super easy to use and takes amazing photos! I have the 16mm and 35mm lens and they are amazing, worth the upgrade from the kit lens. Take a look at some youtube videos and practice lots and you will get better in no time!