We all love to be able to share where we have traveled and keep the memories lasting for years to come. However sometimes it can be a little overwhelming to go through all the pictures when you get back home because you find out you took hundreds of shots in an effort to take the perfect picture.
Being that most things are done digitally now, there are really no boundaries to the amount of photos you are taking and therefore you feel like you need to “capture” everything.
Here are a few things to keep in ind to help you capture the perfect pictures as well as keeping them to a more manageable amount.
Don’t Miss The Moment
One of the most important things to remember is to not miss out on the moment. When you are in front of Niagara Falls, be there. Embrace the air, the smells, the mist, the nature, THE FALLS!!!
Too often people find themselves trying to take the perfect picture rather than experiencing the environment they are in and end up only having a half experience at the most.
This is what you want to try and avoid. If you keep a few parameters around your picture taking, you can lessen the amount of time you are seeing your vacation through a lens. Make sure your focus is being in the destination you traveled to and embracing what the area has to offer.
Deciding The Focal Point
Unless you are taking a panoramic picture or a landscape shot, make sure you are determining what the focus is in the picture and not just a wide blanketed photo of the area.
If you are taking a photo of yourself or someone else, make sure the camera is focused on them with the background being the enhancer.
Let’s say that you are taking a picture of a monument. The idea is to have the monument be the focus and the surrounding area & landscape compliment the focal point.
When you look at the picture later, you should immediately know what you were capturing and then the longer you look at the photo, other things from the background then begin to appear.
Adjust The Lighting
No matter if you are using top of the line cameras, or the vast array of smart phone cameras, lighting in the picture can make a shot sub-par or absolutely perfect. The key is knowing how to adjust the lighting on your camera and how to do it quickly to take the perfect picture.
On standard cameras, familiarize yourself with your cameras settings options. You might have a manual option, or an auto option.
Regardless, make sure that the image you are trying to have as the center point in the picture is what the camera is focusing on so the lighting can be adjusted. You want to be able to focus and adjust quickly.
On an iphone for example, once you have the shot on the screen that you want to capture, touch around on the screen in the lighter and in the darker areas and you will see the camera adjusting the lighting for you.
Many iphone users do not realize that they have this tool at their disposal, but once you begin to use it, you’ll find that your pictures are being captured closer to what you are seeing first hand.
Identifiable Markings
Look at this amazing picture. Wait, where was this? This is the last thing you want to be thinking when you go back and look at previous pictures you have taken.
The entire point of taking the picture in the first place is to capture the place or the moment that you would like to be able to look at in the future and re-live. It’s hard to do this if you do not even remember where the picture is.
To take the perfect picture, that is taking one you are going to remember, try to include markings that identify the shot. This can be a building, a structure, a bridge, a tree, a street sign, etc., things that you will be able to recognize immediately where that picture was.
For example if you are taking a photo of the golden gate bridge, that is self-explaining. However, what if you wanted to take a shot of an amazing Victorian home? Are you going to remember where that was years from now?
A tip might be to include the street name sign in the corner of the shot, or an identifying marking in the background. Keeping little tricks like these included in your shots will set you and you pictures apart from most others.
Personalize Your Photos
Sometimes when you start to look at all the pictures you have taken, you realize that these could be pictures from anyone from anytime. Where are you?
While you may not need to be in every single photo, including yourself in many of the shots as often as possible, will not only add a personal touch, but will relate you to the area/experience when you look at these photos later on.
Think of it this way. Anyone can get a picture of the Eifel tower; however you standing underneath at the base, laughing and holding a scrumptious French pastry, not only personalized the photo immediately, but also added a feeling to the image that you can relive over and over whenever you look at the picture.
Its little things like this that make others even say…..”Oh my goodness that is such an amazing shot, your pictures are always so good”!!
Don’t Go Overboard
Look at this Tree. Look at this Tree. Look at this Tree. Look at this……………..Tree! You get the idea? We have all done this and even laughed at ourselves sometimes when we get back and look the pictures we have taken.
This usually happens because when you are doing something or you are somewhere that you love, you are “emotional picture taking”. If you are on a nature hike at a National Park, the feeling, the beauty, the sights, the sounds, the smells, are never going to be able to be fully captured no matter how many pictures you take.
Instead, try keeping in mind to just fully immerse yourself in where you are and make that be the imprint on your mind. Maybe a take a fantastic shot from a view point here and there or at a breathtaking waterfall you may come across, but leave the few pictures for those memorable moments.
Focus On What You Like
To take the perfect picture, make sure you are capturing the things that you like and are not just taking pictures for others to see. The things that you like the best might not be what other people like the best.
Determine who you are taking the photos for and keep that in mind the next time you stop and lift up the camera lens.
Of course there are going to be people, places and things that you want to get a shot of for someone else, just make sure that the majority of photos you are taking are for the sole purpose of being able to re-visit that moment in time, over and over and over in your mind.
Keeping all these things discussed above in mind on your next trip, will not only enhance your time spent at your destination, but will allow you to take the perfect picture more often.
(images: Canon, Double Rainbow at the Falls, Washington Monument, Camera Settings, iphone, Golden Gate Bridge, Eifle Tower, Grand Canyon Beauty Echo, Forest Road, Times Square)