Church, beach and another church: Nobody wants to look at such Holiday photos later. With these tips from the pros, you can snap real works of art.

Boring beach photos, kitschy sunsets or the hotel from all perspectives: holiday and travel photos often look extremely boring. It doesn’t have to be. Two professional photographers give tips on how a holiday or a trip can be documented in such an exciting way that you will be happy to pull out the picture memories again and again.

Michael Martin is one of the best-known photographers in Germany. The graduate geographer, lecturer and adventurer has been traveling the world for more than 40 years and reports on it in lectures, books and TV documentaries.

For Martin, there are basically “right” and “wrong” times for taking photos: In the morning and evening hours, warm light and shade create a special atmosphere. “In addition, many social activities take place in the mornings and evenings rather than at lunchtime,” he explains.

Good photos take time

Good travel pictures are therefore often a matter of time and priority, says Martin. For good photos, photography must be given the appropriate status: “A good photographer is constantly on the move, looking for motifs and takes pictures quickly when he finds a suitable motif.” The best camera is the one you have with you.

Professional photographer Michael Runkel has traveled to all 193 member states of the United Nations. His photos can be found in travel guides, newspapers, magazines and online portals worldwide.

For Runkel, good travel photos start with the basics of photography. This includes the best weather conditions, the right time of day with the right light and a nice picture detail. But not only the image composition is important to him. He also advises using photo techniques such as playing with depth of field.

Gladly with a cinema look

Michael Martin also uses the so-called cinema look with an open aperture (smallest aperture number) to put the protagonists more in the foreground, i.e. people in focus and background out of focus. Smartphones simulate this effect with portrait mode.

“In portraits, light should shine sideways into the face, sometimes backlit shots work,” says Michael Runkel. And: “The feet should not be cut off when people are photographed.”

Which doesn’t do any harm: read the camera’s operating instructions before you go on holiday, experiment with the smartphone camera in manual mode, for example, and deal with the basics of photography again, such as the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and sensor sensitivity (ISO).

Expensive smartphones have good cameras

Of course, a camera with interchangeable lenses is always optimal. But if you like taking photos with your smartphone a lot, Michael Runkel recommends that you at least go for upper or even top-class devices when buying a new one.

Because that’s where the best cameras with fast processors, relatively large sensors, super wide-angle and optical telephoto lenses are used. Top smartphones usually also offer the option of saving photos in raw data format (RAW). Manual setting options, often called expert mode, are often found in mid-range smartphones.

For Runkel, research on the destination country is also part of the photographic preparation for a trip. “The motives are different in each country and each region ,” he says. Therefore, it is helpful to inform yourself beforehand and to think about it.

Away from the tourist places

But he doesn’t mean the tourist highlights. “Away from the hotspots, there are often regions and places that are beautiful but not overcrowded,” says Runkel. “You can usually find good motives there.”

Many amateur photographers are only fixated on postcard motifs, such as landscapes, beaches or cultural monuments. “What’s usually missing are protagonists and a personal touch. That’s what makes holiday photos worth seeing,” says Michael Martin.

Because the people who are shown the photos later don’t want to see a neutral travel guide, but a personal travelogue, says Martin. “When my daughter’s ice cream falls on the street, I photograph it, as well as the breakdown of the car on the way there.” This is also part of the holiday.

Rather focus on everyday life

That’s why half of the photos should actually show people and everyday situations, advises Michael Martin. This can then be used to make a good, chronologically structured, documentary travelogue with an exciting narrative thread.

But: “Many amateur photographers often only depict the long shot,” Martin notes critically. “But it’s close-ups of children, locals or food that are interesting.” His tip: just get closer to it more often.

But then always take pictures with decency: “Don’t just ‘shoot’ people, but ask them if they agree to being photographed,” says Michael Martin. This also includes: “Take off your sunglasses, show respect, build trust and only then ask for a photo.” A travel picture with a local is only good if the photographed and photographing travelers feel good afterwards.

respect for the environment

Michael Runkel also considers respectful interaction with people, culture, nature and animals to be very important when taking photographs. “Even in a culture of narcissism with a lot of selfies, respect for other people shouldn’t be missing,” he says. “Other countries and cultures have a different awareness and sometimes react with irritation and annoyance to intrusive photographers.”

And what’s better? Take a few photos or a lot? Michael Martin strictly advises beginners in particular to always take a few more photos and then “mercilessly” sift them out afterwards. Even he, as a professional, usually sorts out 90 percent of the exposed images in the evening after a photo day, i.e. all photos that have turned out mediocre and bad.

Martin advises ambitious hobby photographers to save the photos in RAW format and not as compressed JPEGs. You can only get everything out of RAW files later during image processing.

Edit and present

But are edited images even okay? Doesn’t the editing take away the authenticity of the travel photos? “Post-processing of the photos is legitimate and an integral step, but not image manipulation with pixel changes,” says Michael Martin, who basically adjusts the contrast and exposure of every photo.

And a few more tips from Michael Martin for presenting your holiday photos to others at home: adopt a self-deprecating attitude, also tell about mishaps on the trip and include suitable accessories. “Greek wine goes well with a holiday in Greece, and a sombrero goes well with a trip to Mexico,” says the professional. “That loosens up the lecture.”

Source:uslifestyler

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