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Enjoy and happy shooting!
Michael

Hi again. Today we have Travel photography tips. Round two.

Here is our first example of using scale to give context to your photos. Specifically, your travel photos and using the relative size of something to visually compare or enhance a primary or secondary subject. What?

Let’s look at our first image. This is one of the giant Sequoias in California and my daughter.

I wanted to show how huge this tree was so I asked her to just stand next to the trunk, she’s even holding my second camera. I used a wide angle lens to show as much of the tree as possible and contrast the size of my daughter and the tree.

Get it?

In the next example, Half Dome is spectacular and huge thunder clouds that rolled in in the afternoon. I decided to zoom out and show the hugeness of the clouds compared the size of Half Dome. Now Half Dome is a very large piece of granite, you can image how big the cloud in this image is.

I zoomed out as far as I could and placed Half Dome in the lower right area of convergence.

The result is an image that shows the immenseness of the cloud and the beauty that is Yosemite in a slightly different perspective.

My final photo for today is also at Yosemite. Bridal Falls is the waterfall in the famous Ansel Adams photograph of the Yosemite Valley. It is an incredibly tall waterfall.

My son climbed to the bottom of the falls and is so far away that you can barely see him. If you can’t find him he’s in the lower right area of convergence.

It’s a great example of contrasting subject size to show how large the falls are.

Let’s recap: In taking images for Travel photography tips you can use a technique for contrasting subject size. So, consider putting this tip in your bag of tricks. Enjoy.

Today I’d like to talk a bit about Travel photo tips. Dreaming about some of the places that I have been fortunate enough to have visited.

I visited Paris in 2004 and really wanted to feature the Eiffel Tower in as many images as possible. One of my hopes was to frame the famed tower in a doorway. Although I searched tirelessly for days, I couldn’t seem to find the right doorway. But, I did stumble upon this little beauty.

Here is what I found near the Pont de Bir bridge which crosses the Seine river. It isn’t common knowledge that a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty can be found on the Seine. It’s really strange to be floating down the river and all of the sudden, Bam!, there she is.

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and started shooting photos with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Actually on the bridge is this very cool sculpture:

The statue in front of the picture is “France Renaissante” by Holger Wederkinch, which was donated to the city of Paris by the city’s danish community in 1930. During the time I was first there the light was a bit muddy, so I went to dinner and came back just after sunset to see the statue and the tower looking very monolithic and placing them against the sky, achieved a very dramatic image. My tip?

Photograph the same image at different times if possible & the first rule of travel photography is the always shoot first, don’t ever think about coming back.

You never know when you might not be able to come back. This image was unique in that I was able to come back at two different lighting times. Very rare.

My next two images concern Jane Austen.

She is interned at Winchester Cathedral in the southern part of England. I was fortunate enough to spend an afternoon in the Cathedral where I stumbled into a tour that was stopped at the large tombstone of the literary giant.

Tourists were very reverent and tried not to step on her actual tombstone. The light was beautiful and dramatic. Happy accidents seem to happen to those who prepare and look for them.

Tip 2.

Do your homework. Winchester Cathedral is famous enough by itself, but I had done my research and was looking for Jane Austen’s final resting place. That way I was able to combine interesting images from one place. The Cathedral and Jane Austen!

Back to Paris!

I wanted my wife to experience the seeing the Eiffel Tower from as dramatic a viewing position as possible. So, we took a taxi alongside the Seine and emerged near the Embarcadero. Here’s the view as you get close to the tower.

It’s a great place to view from as you can see by all the people lined up to look. Here’s Tip 3.

Take your scenic photo, then back up and take a photo of everyone taking a photo or looking. It’s a great scene-setter, plus I love people watching. Notice all the different characters in this photo. I think my favorite is the lady with the wings. See if you can spot this angel.

Finally, we visit Trafalgar Square and Lord Nelson’s monument, especially one of the massive lion’s at the base of the 170 foot tall tower. My last tip is about patience.

The best thing about my travel editor at the Orange County Register, Gary Warner, was his trust in the photographers that he traveled with. He always allowed us as much time as we needed to wait for the perfect moment to make the perfect photograph.

For this photo , he brought a book and sat down as I waited about 10 minutes to see what these kids would do that were climbing all over one of the lions. When we arrived, kids were climbing over another lion, but I wanted to place Big Ben in the background. So, I waited!

I think Yoda said, “There is no try, only do,” So, get out there and do it!

Today I want to look at a few images from a trip to Paris. Let us study some digital photography tips about travel photography.

When you go to a different place, your senses are heightened and you are aware of the smallest details. Details you might normally overlook.

One of my list of things to do in my life, was to visit the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Thanks to my good friend, Travel Editor at the Orange County Register, Gary Warner, my first trip was a quick 18 hour side trip to the city of lights before meeting up for our assignment in London, England. What a great guy!

One of my strongest rules about vacation photography is too shoot now!

Things happen and you might never see or have a chance to photograph something again. So see it and shoot it!

Just because you are visiting the Eiffel Tower, you still need to apply strong photo rules to make a great image.

Please remember the three rules of a great photograph:
1) Composition
2) Lighting
3) The Moment

Remember these and when you are in the fantastic and exotic location, you can make incredible and memorable images to last a lifetime.

Our first image was a very French-looking man who stopped to gaze out one of the windows in the Louvre. Let’s reverse engineer to see how I did:

1. Composition – I placed the gentleman and his beret in the lower right area of convergence, where the lower horizontal and the right vertical meet and the tower of the building in the upper left area of convergence.

2. Lighting – Strong light from outside created a silhouette of anything inside the window. A strong and high contrast image results from this type of lighting.

3. The Moment – The moment captures the essence of the scene or event that you are photographing. For me, the solemness of this museum made me want to capture a reverence that I felt. In the midst of the masterpieces, this man took a break to gather his thoughts before returning to the most incredible museum in the world.

Next, one of my favorite pieces in the Louve.

Cupid and Psyche by Canova.

The story/myth about Cupid and Psyche in a nutshell is about love, jealousy, redemption and loyalty.

Let’s do one more:
1) Composition – The lovers are placed into the lower left area of convergence and the shaft of light helps to lead the eyes of the viewer to the statue. Also, the wings of Cupid and Psyche’s arms make an X on their faces.

2) Lighting – Beautiful sidelight coming from a large window on camera right and the shaft of light add drama and contrast.

3) The Moment – Even though our couple is frozen in their pose, what a romantic pose it is. The summary of their story is shown by Canova and his masterpiece.

When I went to Paris hoping to capture a different view of the Eiffel Tower. My first idea was to shoot the tower from a window. Too expensive for a hotel and I couldn’t find the right angle, maybe next time! My next wish was to try a view from the surrounding neighborhood.

I wandered around and found a street scene complete with cars, trees and an apartment building. I placed the tower in the left vertical third, to add to the imposing height of the tower.

Finally, a nice surprise!

I was on a tour boat on the Seine river and saw the Statue of Liberty! This second Statue of Liberty is near the Grenelle Bridge on the Île des Cygnes, an island in the river Seine.

I composed it so the statue was in the right vertical and the Eiffel Tower could be seen in the left vertical. Lady Liberty’s face is near the upper right area of convergence and the tower is in the lower left area of convergence.

Thank You, France!

Lastly, I just wanted to thank Phototrend.fr for linking my new blog!

Bonjour!