Since the New Year has arrived, a lot of you may be already planning your summer travels or may have already booked tickets to travel abroad. Whether you’re travelling abroad or exploring the UK in your converted campervan, capturing memorable pictures is on everyone’s list.  We know that feeling after coming back from an immense holiday and wishing you could relive those moments again. By capturing pictures, you can relive those experiences, well not literally, but at least you will have those memories to hold on to forever. Travel pictures instantly transfer you back to those destinations and evoke the good times you had. You don’t necessarily need a high tech camera; your smartphone can equally do a good job.  Use this blog post to uncover travel photography tips to start taking better travel photos on your next trip!

Before you head out for a road trip, it’s useful to research the location you intend to visit, make a list of places that look picturesque and are worth visiting. Find out when the country has certain celebrations, spiritual or religious events, traditions, national holidays and festivals. Visiting during these times can offer an extensive range of photographic opportunities, especially for documentary style shots. Make a plan of which day and what time you intend to visit these places. This will help manage your time during your travelling days and you won’t miss out on any spectacular shots. On the other hand, you don’t have to make a plan, this may sound surprising, but if you do get lost on your travels, it’s actually a good thing. You can discover hidden shots that are worth posting on Instagram.

The “Golden Hour” is the first hour of light at sunrise and the last hour of light at sunset. During these times, the lighting is perfect for outdoor photography and it can also be an opportunity to create fantastic silhouettes. The soft, warm light illuminates the landscape in a much more favourable way than the harsh, midday sun. However, it does require an early wake up call to be ready to photograph during these times, but it is definitely worth it. Also, most tourist sites are usually empty during the early morning hours, another advantage to getting up and out early.

Don’t just take the usual cliche pictures that every tourist takes. Make your pictures look distinctive by using different angles rather than the standard straight angle. Burst mode on your smartphone allows you to photograph action continuously and quickly, so you have a choice to pick a favourite moment. To do this, start holding down the shutter button a little before the action takes place.

As well as views, architecture and food, it’s credible to shoot portrait pictures of the people. Of course, ask for their permission before taking a photograph. If you’re travelling to a foreign country, it is worth learning key phrases and how to say ‘can I take a picture of you.’ Have nice friendly chats with local people rather than just asking straight away can I take a picture of you. Remember, it’s always okay for people to say no for a picture and some people will be happy to take a picture.

The usual snapshots of the beach or the sunset can be captured differently by using one of your friends or yourself as the focal point in the image. These pictures help to remind you of the memories you spent with your family or friends. You can make pictures look creative, like the image below which makes it seems like your holding the empire state building, images like this are humorous and creative.

If you’re not satisfied with the pictures you’ve taken, you can always alter them using editing apps besides Instagram, such as Snapseed which is available on both Android and ios devices. Snapseed provides filters which are organised by general categories and helps guide you to certain filters if you have a specific effect in mind. You have more control and effects on Snapseed rather than Instagram. For example, the Lens Blur filter allows you to steer a viewer’s focus to a particular part of the photo, as shown below. Snapseed is overflowing with great features that give you access to a creative suite of editing software for true control over all of your favourite photos.

If you’re really immersed into photography than get technical and purchase extra useful technical equipment such as a GoPro, a tripod, a selfie stick and a pop socket, to make your images look more powerful.

Follow the light. Before you raise your camera, see where the light is coming from, and use it to your advantage. Whether it is natural light coming from the sun, or an artificial source like a lamp, think how can you use it to make your photos better? Having good lighting can make an ordinary photo extraordinary. It has been said that you can smell the city in a good series of street photographs, capturing pictures of streets can be artistic and informative, giving the viewer a genuine insight to a destination, as if the pictures are telling a story.

Whether you’re travelling in the UK or abroad you’re likely to experience your photography at its fullest, because everything is brand new to you. Sights and scenes seem more appealing and you’ll be more excited to photograph them. Have fun with it, interact with new people and embrace the sights.