How To Take Amazing Vacation Photos

July/August 2012 [1]

By:

Anne Burke [2]

Photographer Sean Arbabi shares tips to help spruce up your travel photography.

Boring holiday pictures? They’re the bane of every traveler. Photographer Sean Arbabi, author of The Complete Guide to Nature Photography and a VIA contributor, shares simple tricks to help your shots win oohs and aahs instead of yawns.

Play around Lie on the ground and shoot up. Climb high to shoot down. Do anything—just change your perspective.
Avoid busy backdrops Get that beautiful blue ocean instead of the telephone pole or tour bus.
Wait for the right light Midday sun is harsh and colorless. Shoot at sunrise and sunset, dusk and dawn.
Zoom in A close-up of that old pair of snow shoes on your Canada vacation, your cappuccino cup in Italy. Look for the little things that define a location.
Flash to flatter In direct sunlight, use forced-flash mode to eliminate facial shadows.

Illustration by Michael Klein [3]

This article was first published in July 2012. Some facts may have aged gracelessly. Please call ahead to verify information.