5 Tips to Improve Your Travel Photography

Doug Sahlin makes his landscape, wildlife, and detail shots pop with the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD lens.

Article By Jennifer Gidman

Images by Doug Sahlin

"You're really carrying three different lenses with the 18-270," he explains. "You've got a wide-angle, a medium telephoto, and a long telephoto all in one. The fact that this lens goes on a crop-sensor camera gives you such a huge range, equivalent to around 35mm to 420mm - that's an incredible focal-length range and all you need to carry with you when you travel."

At just under 16 ounces, the 18-270 is also light enough for Sahlin to easily transport, and the Vibration Compensation feature lets him shoot at up to four stops faster than would typically be possible. "The VC on this lens, as well as on the Tamron 70-300mm VC lens I own, is awesome," he says. "It's one of the lenses' best features."

Read on for Sahlin's tips on how to boost your travel photography skills and make the most of the locations you're visiting.

Research your destination and other photographers' work beforehand.
When you're traveling, always do a little homework ahead of time, especially if you're spending a lot of money to go somewhere. Google some of the places you're going to and click on the "Images" link on the left-hand side of the results page. You'll see a wide variety of images of the place you're going to visit, some good and some bad. This will give you some ideas so you're not heading out totally blind, especially if you've never been to a certain location before.

Photography sites such as SmugMug, Photo.net, and Flickr are also great resources. With many of those sites, you can simply click on an image for a particular location to retrieve the metadata and see how the photographer shot it. Then, when you're actually there, you might remember how a certain photographer shot that place or scene and try to apply it yourself.

Plus, if you're not a seasoned photographer, the more you view other photographers' work, the better you'll become. If you're constantly looking at really good photography, you'll feed off of it, and the ability to create a visually appealing photograph that's composed well will soon become second nature. You'll eventually pick up the camera and not even have to think about composition or where to place your focal point in the shot - you're just going to look through the viewfinder and do it.

Take your time during your travels and let yourself wander.
When folks travel, they're often in too much of a hurry. If you really spend some time in an area or let yourself stroll off the beaten path, you're going to see a lot more. Even if you're just driving to work, allow yourself to "get lost" by finding a different route now and then.

For example, I found the "Captain Jake" boat by accident. I was driving down a road I've never traveled on before on my way to an assignment when I saw this really cool old swing bridge. When I pulled over to the side of the road, I spotted the "Captain Jake," a working boat used to trap stone crabs.

Reflections like the ones in this image always change the look and feel of the image. You have to shoot at the right time of day to get the ideal light for an eye-catching reflection shot. In the "Captain Jake" image, it's a warm reflection because I shot it later in the day, so there were no harsh shadows. Travel photographers should invest in a polarizing filter, which will make the sky pop, effectively darkening the sky, which enhances the contrast and makes the clouds a focal point.

Anchor your picture with color and orientation.
One thing you need to look out for when you're shooting at the wide-angle end of the Tamron 18-270 is to make sure you've got something in the picture other than a lot of distracting competing elements, or what I call "visual chaos." You need something to latch onto, a visual anchor. For instance, I shot an all-white house in a historical village from the 1800s, but I composed it so the eye is drawn to the red chimney a little to the right of center. That "visual anchor" leads you into the rest of the image, which doesn't have a lot of color in it.

When I shot the "Iron Ox" boat, I was on assignment for a newspaper to photograph a sailboat race, and I was walking around between races when the bright green color of this boat caught my eye. I wanted a tight composition, so I zoomed in and noticed the pilings made a nice vertical border to the beautiful boat. But it's really that green that draws you in.

Find the best vantage point for shooting wildlife.
I recently visited Busch Gardens in Tampa, where I photographed gorillas and tigers, among other animals. People often like to visit zoos and nature reserves while on vacation, so if that's on your agenda, find out when the reserve's busiest day of the week is so you can avoid the crowds and secure better shooting positions.

Many times when you're at these places, you also have to take into consideration any physical barrier between you and your subjects, such as a moat or panes of glass. You're going to have to shoot high if you're shooting over people or over a water barrier - I have a height advantage because I'm 5'11". If you're shooting through glass, you need to find the cleanest section you can to shoot through. Gorillas especially can be messy, because they'll go right up to the glass and rub against it. If you get glare from the glass at all, you're going to have to put your lens right up to it, but if you get it just right, you can get beautiful shots. I've shot in aquariums, and the images look like I'm underwater with the fish!

Shoot in continuous drive mode and follow the animal with whatever he's doing. Realize that when you're trying to get interesting shots, you're going to have some throwaways, too.

Know what to leave in and what to take out of your landscapes.
Like most landscape photographers, I love going out at the golden hour in the early morning or an hour before sunset to take advantage of that warm golden light. But there's more to it than just setting up and taking the shot. A painter starts with a blank canvas, but when you as a photographer lift the viewfinder to your eye, your canvas is already full. You decide what to leave in the canvas and what to take out. That's going to involve finding a good vantage point, zooming in and zooming out, until the elements are placed in a pleasing composition, with something that's going to lead the viewer's eye into the image.

For instance, so many people still put the horizon line in the middle of the image, which is kind of static. The viewer has no idea where to look. If you're photographing a majestic sunset with towering clouds, for example, place the horizon line in the lower third of the image, and the viewer's eye will be drawn to the clouds instead of meandering randomly about the image. Always place the horizon line to draw the viewer's attention to the part of the image that has the most visual mass.

To see more of Doug Sahlin's work with his partner, Roxanne Evans, go to www.dougplusrox.com or to their Facebook page. Check out Sahlin's new book, "Mastering the Lensbaby," on Amazon.