Travel Photography Vlog

What do you enjoy most about doing Travel Photography? What first got you into Travel Photography? Burning questions, right? For us, we love the memories, capturing those moments, and learning how to get the most out of our cameras. We’ve been working hard on this blog and we thought we’d share a bit on our thoughts to these questions.

 As a group, we worked really well together in sharing our passions and interest for Travel Photography with you. We each worked on our destinations and wrote up our posts so we worked independently when required. All up, 5 posts each. When needed, we all took the initiative to help the team. Katie took the lead for the blog design, Amit organised the schedule for posts, Lisbeth came up with the creative titles, and Chris edited the final video blog. Great team! That’s a wrap! Thanks for following our blog on Travel Photography – treasure those moments when you travel!

Top 10 Travel Photography Tips

Fitzroy Falls, NSW

Ever wanted to know what some good tips are for travel photography? Here is the top 10 tips from our photography crew. 

1. Research possible destinations, this includes accommodation, living expenses, extra tour costs, laws and anything else that will get you more familiar with the destination
2. Pack light. I know I always have trouble deciding what I really need but when it comes to travel photography, only take the bare minimum. Consider what your most basic needs are whilst you are over there and leave everything else behind. This means 1 camera bag, 1 camera, 1 hard drive, 1 lense etc. The research you've already done will help you decipher these needs easily.
3. Spend 90% of your day travelling around your destination location. Take up every opportunity you get to snap a great photo. Be sure to check out a range of different destinations where you are. You never know what will be a great photograph until you find one!
4. Budget! You don't want to end up coming back broke so book cheap flights and find relatively affordable accommodation. Make smart choices when it comes to travelling overseas, if you want avoid taking transport, do it. You will be much happier with yourself upon returning home. You may find the best photograph from your destination is lying just around the corner.
5. Photograph the people. Nothing expresses a culture better than the members of it's society. Photograph people candidly, rather than in a posed nature. Try to capture people going about their everyday lives and you will find the originalities of the people of the location are revealed to you.
6. Take notes. Write down the experiences you have while away at your chosen destination. Sometimes it's the small things you take note of that will end up selling your photograph and story later. Don't be afraid to do a little people watching to take note of the people too!
7. Know your hardware and software. Only use the tools you understand. If you are just starting out you may consider a simpler, easier model of camera. You might even consider buying a DSLR without an interchangeable lense. Often times they do the job you need and will suffice until you become more confident in photographing. Also using software such as photoshop can help to enhance the quality of photos you can produce.
8. Travel insurance is essential. When it comes to overseas holidays where things can go wrong, it's best to play it safe and get insurance. So if you end up in hospital or lose your luggage to can still have peace of mind.
9. Back everything up! In this day and age there is no excuse for not having your photos backed up. As soon as you take a break be sure to back files up on another hard drive and in cloud storage on the internet. That way you never lose a shot!
10. Don't work too hard! Remember you have paid a lot to be at your destination. Be sure to take a night off to let your hair down and have fun. The memories you make while travelling stay with you far more vividly than the photos you capture and never look at again.

Have fun, stay safe and capture some stunning art work. This is a wonderful career and can be incredibly rewarding to your soul and your wallet. There is a whole world out there for you to discover!
If you want more about travel photography check out More travel photography tips from National Geographic

Moments in Malaysia

Batu Caves, Malaysia

I travelled to Malaysia in February this year for the first time in my life. I had always wanted to go after befriending numerous Malaysian friends at the beginning of my university career. They were constantly hyping up the scrumptious food choices (and the cheapness of it) they had back in Malaysia and with that, it was one of my main reasons to go. However, once I got to the country itself, I realised it was much more than (truly delicious) Malaysian food; the culture, the attractions, the history and much more makes the country a truly fascinating place. 

The photo above was taken at the Batu Caves in Selangor. When I reached the site, I was amazed by the sheer magnificence of it and quickly snapped a photo from afar just to emphasise the size. It is a limestone outcrop which features three caves with Hindu temples and shrines. There are monkeys which frolic around the steep 272 steps and in the caves. Climbing to the top of the steps will provide you with another fantastic opportunity to take photos of the stunning skyline of the city centre, Kuala Lumpur. 

For more inspiration on photography in Malaysia check out this article which illustrates the vibrancy of the country itself - http://www.timeout.com/kuala-lumpur/travel/malaysias-most-photogenic-spots


Author: Lisbeth Wong

Greetings with Guangzhou

Huacheng Square, Guangzhou

China was my first international experience at age 18. I learnt many things on that journey; about China, my country and I.

I spent just 10 days in Guangzhou but gained 1000 great memories of the people,  culture and hospitality of this wonderful city. From the moment we dropped our bags we didn't stop! From Canton Fair to Canton Tower and Huacheng Square; there are many wonderful buildings in Guangzhou that are striking and architecturally advanced.

My particularly favourite photo is the one above as it was snapped very quickly, in the rain with not much light. I loved the reflection of my friend and made sure I had enough room to include it in the photo. The contrast of water on the ground and clouds blanketing the skyscrapers there is just enough to create quite a wild mood. Whenever I come back to this photo I love how there is balance in the photo; of colours, shapes and textures. 

I had so many wonderful photo opportunities in this city. One photo will never sum up everything about this city. From the simple rice paddy fields to the opulent new hotels emerging in the sprawling city - whatever you travel to Guangzhou to photograph, there's 1000 other spectacular photos waiting to be captured too.

The people I met and the memories I made are far more distinguished in my mind than the landscapes offered in this city. It needs mention that the beautiful people in Guangzhou have a special place in my heart due to their hospitality, kindness and sociability. Don't rule out portraits of people from the places you visit, as a means of documenting a new place. They're a great way to sum up the culture of a place without explaining it in words. 

If you'd like to know more about Guangzhou then visit - http://www.chinahighlights.com/guangzhou/attraction/ for more info.

Simply Stunning Sydney

Sydney is a beautiful location for taking stunning photos. I love the contrasts Sydney offers in terms of textures, shapes and colours. No matter where you are; whether it be in the middle of the city or on the golden sandy beaches there a great photography opportunities waiting just around the corner.

Some of the highlights of photography for me in Sydney so far have been the water ways, bushland, night city and coastal sunset shots. Each have offered an experience where I have learnt a little more about photogralhy.

Because Sydney is where I grew up there have been so many opportunities to explore the city in it's entirity. I reccomend starting off taking photos of iconic landmarks in the city such as The Opera House and The Harbour Bridge and experimenting with shapes and lines as they offer many opportunities to enhance these elements of photographic design.

If you want some more great ideas or information about photographing Sydney check out About Blank Sydney Photography. 

Leaving my Seoul in Gyeongbokgung Palace 경복궁

Gyeongbokgung Palace - Geunjeongjon Hall

Visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace allowed me to really explore Korean culture. This royal palace was the main and the largest palace out of the five that were built in the Joseon Dynasty in the late 1300s. I was able to appreciate the reason why objects were placed where where they were and how things operated (such as an aisle where only the King would be able to walk on).  I also found out that the stones used in the flooring was to prevent flooding, something that I found was really interesting, especially given the time it was built. There were plenty of free tours given by student tour guides who were trying to practice their English. Definitely enlightening and it really helped me get immersed in Korean culture.

The Palace itself is massive, with different quarters for the King and the Queen and their subjects. It's also beautiful, with the garden and lake regularly maintained. Also, explorers are able to hire traditional Korean culture to really get immersed into the Korean culture and get an experience of Korea during the Joseon dynasty.

I also really enjoyed taking photos in this location. The different and interesting architecture really spiced things up. Also, the fact that things were so grand and majestic and the fact that the palace was strategically placed between mountains provided a great contrast within the photo. The sheer magnitude of the palace can be compared with the size of the people walking around it.

To learn more about the palace go to http://www.royalpalace.go.kr/html/eng/main/main.jsp . I highly recommend this as a point of interest if you ever pass through South Korea. Definitely a place to take beautiful and  photos!

Author: Lisbeth Wong

How to use your DSLR when travelling

So you’ve got your DSLR camera… but what do you do with it? What essentials do you need to know for taking those incredible shots? Look no further.

I believe the best way to learn is on the job – it’s no different for a camera. But you can’t miss the simple ways to get a head start. I’ll be explaining my tips based off my experience with the Canon EOS 700D. 

The best way to use a DSLR is manually. Understand the main camera features and play around with each of them. This is often known as the ‘exposure triangle’.

• Shutter speed: This is the amount of time the camera exposes the sensor to light in the scene. A fast shutter speed, e.g. 1/1000, exposes less light in the photo.
• Aperture: How much light enters the shot through your lens. A larger aperture e.g. F3.6 means that, means that more light enters the photo. However when the aperture is larger, the photo is more focused towards the centre and the background is blurred.
• ISO: This is the sensitivity of your camera to light. The higher ISO, e.g. 1600, means more light. However the trade-off is the quality of the image decreases and more noise/grain is in the image.

When playing around with these features, you can see the “metering” on your camera to check if it is exposed correctly.

Recommendations:

• If you want to capture a freeze of a moving object, use a fast shutter speed (1/500 and above). Adjust the other settings accordingly without sacrificing the focus and image quality.
• If you want to blur the background and focus on one particular object, e.g. a particular flower, then use the largest aperture (lowest number) to do this. F1.8-3.6 should suffice for this effect.
• If you want to put more light in the photo without having to use flash, then increase the ISO to about 1600. This is ideal for dark lighting situations, however be wary of the noise in the photo.

You can’t learn how to use a DSLR overnight, but go to different locations and take photos and test out different combinations of the features until you get the hang of it. For a virtual way to practice, check out this link from Canon: http://www.canonoutsideofauto.ca/play/

Enjoy! Stay tuned for more travel photography.

Author: Amit Balakrishnan