Pictures are the prefect way to memorialize your trip. They capture the specifics of the moment, and allow others to share in your experience once they are printed or posted on Facebook. Though in today's digital age, almost everyone from a small child to a great-grandfather may be able to simply point and shoot, a few key tips will help bring your photography from drab to fab.
- Bring extra batteries!!! - If you have a digital camera that runs off of disposable batteries, be sure to bring plenty of extras! When your batteries are running low you may have to use some tricky maneuvers to prolong their life - turning off the display, taking fewer pictures or not reviewing photos after they are taken. These situations make photography much less fun, and they can result in poorer shots. If you're in a touristy area, New York City for example, most of the places you are likely to go will have an extremely inflated price on batteries, knowing you might need them. So don't get ripped off, save yourself some frustration and plan in advance! (Note: for film cameras, bring extra film! The same applies)
- Take some candid shots! - Everyone can and does take posed pictures on their trips. "There's me posing in front of the Eiffel Tower! In front of the Washington Memorial! In Times Square!" We get it already! At some point posed pictures become the same thing over and over - your smiling face with a different background in each shot. What makes your pictures unique is if you capture something while it is happening, an unposed, real moment of your experience. Personally one of my favorite pictures is one of my sister taking a picture of a tourist in front of the Capital Building in Washington, D.C. It is a unique picture because it captures the natural (my sister) and the posed (the tourist) in one shot. It is a fun little way to play with perspective I think, and is a great example of capturing the natural while taking your pictures.
- Switch photographers every now and then! - Being the avid photographer in my family, it is no surprise that every trip we take I'm the one behind the camera. That's great for my family, as the pictures of them always turn out beautifully framed and visually stunning (if I do say so myself). The problem is that once in a while the photographer would like some pictures taken of herself thank you very much! Don't forget that your designated photographer is a part of the action too. Its a real letdown when all of your hard work gives everyone else beautiful portraits while there may just be one or two hasty shots of yourself. That being said, families and friends, take some time to pass the camera around every now and then, and make sure that everyone is equally represented on film.
- Don't be afraid to go for the "artsy" shot! - Venture from the norm and don't be afraid to try something new if you think it might make a great image. Play around with the perspective and the angle, shift the focus between near objects and far ones, etc. While not all of your experiments will be masterpieces, you'll learn over time and in the process you'll develop enough great pictures to make the effort worthwhile.
- Take a LOT of pictures! - When professional photographers go out and shoot, they don't just take one snapshot of each subject and call it a day. Instead they take dozens of pictures, increasingly the likelihood of finding a good one. It only takes one person blinking to ruin a picture. To prevent losing a memory due to some tiny flaw be sure to take multiple shots. If your camera is digital, you can always delete the bad pictures later. It is always better to be safe rather than sorry.
- Make sure to have adequate memory! - Get a memory card that is capable of containing more than the amount of pictures you plan on taking. It is always better to have more memory than you might need. If you think you might only take 100 pictures, go ahead and upgrade to a card that can contain 250 or 500 pictures instead. You never know what might happen as you reach that 100th picture. What if you happen across a celebrity, or a UFO starts to land?!?! You don't want to risk opportunity passing you by as you sort through which pictures to delete! So please, spend the extra $5 and get the next step up when buying your memory card. It will save you from pain and heartache in the future.
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