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While most commercial photographers know about copyright laws and the use of a model for their images, it seems the answer isn’t so clear when it comes to Travel Photography. So if you’re travelling the world with your camera, what laws apply – for you and for your subject?
You might need to consider what it means… taking photos of people in a foreign country, photos that you may one day print, sell or publish.
You’ll find and hear plenty of travel photography tips all over the internet. Many of them are useful, but others may sound pretty obvious. This is why Mitchell Kanashkevich has created this video with seven travel photography tips you aren’t likely to hear very often.
For us in the northern emisphere, it’s that time of the year when nature changes and landscapes explode with color. Many photographers (especially landscape photographers) take trips in the fall and capture the changing world around them. Before you hit the road, it’s important to prepare, so that you can make the most of your photography trip. In this video, Nigel Danson talks about some mistakes he has made when planning photography trips. As he has learned something from them, he can now give you some useful advice on how to avoid the mistakes he made, and plan your trip perfectly.
Next in our ongoing Photographer Spotlight series is Sara Melotti.
Sara is an Italian photographer, content creator, storyteller and world traveler, currently based in New York City. Sara’s work has been featured by many international brands and publications including the New York Times, Vanity Fair and Glamour.
In 2015 Sara created Quest for Beauty and began traveling the world to photograph women immersed in their everyday life “to show that real beauty can be found in every woman no matter the age, size, bone structure, skin tone or background”.
(We have also featured Sara before with her sensational article: Instagram Created a Monster – A No Nonsense Guide To What’s Really Going On.)
The sun was on the horizon, a perfect orange ball. It was another beautiful sunset in Hoi An, Vietnam and we were out on a photo tour through a local village – taking advantage of the dreamy light. While the group spread out to take photos of people harvesting rice in the paddies, I noticed one of my students walking back toward me. She appeared hunched over in defeat. “What’s going on?” I asked. She replied, “I went to take a picture of a woman and she asked me for money – so I left and didn’t take the photo.” Unfortunately, this is something I’d heard many times before.
While traveling in Asia, it is likely that you will be approached by a local asking for money. As a reader of a travel photo blog, you already know that the more time spent visiting tourist-dense locations, the more often locals will approach you for money. This is because someone, many times before you has handed out money. Thus, establishing the common stereotype that all Westerners are rich and will give away their money. The more tourists continue to give money when asked, the more this stereotype has been reinforced. Unfortunately, it’s now to the point that in order to change this practice, it could take decades.
Travelling for photography or video is great fun. You’re seeing a location for the first time with a completely fresh pair of eyes. You want to capture it your way, so that people can see it the way you want it to be seen. But, travelling with gear isn’t always as straightforward as we like. We often either pack far too much or not enough. Or we don’t plan ahead.
This video from photographer, Peter McKinnon covers five great tips for travelling with gear. He talks about storage, security, backups, and what you need to do to try and ensure you have the right gear for the job. Even if you’re just going on vacation, you want to come home with good photographs, right?
Travelling with equipment can be difficult. You don’t want to take so much that you’re overloaded with redundant equipment. But you also don’t want to leave vital kit at home when you need it. The bags into which you pack that gear is also important. Some things (like batteries) often can’t be checked, and need to be carried in hand luggage. Picking the right bags to maximise the space and minimise a back issues is a high priority.
In this video, photographer and filmmaker Jonathan J Scott shows us how he packs to travel overseas. He discusses the questions he asks himself in order to figure out what to take and, more importantly, what to leave at home.
I created the video “WE ARE MIDBURN” because I have always been fascinated by the culture and the people that belong to the Burning Man community. Midburn is a regional Burning man event held over for a period of 5 days in the Israeli desert. After buying my tickets to the most recent MidBurn this past June, I knew that I had to capture the magic of it all on camera. Despite the enchantment of the event, I knew filming it would bring along its share of challenges.
Landscape photography, especially when you’re having to travel any kind of distance, requires some planning. You need to make sure that you pack what you need, but not so much that you can’t manage carrying it with you all day.
In this video from British landscape photographer Thomas Heaton, we’re given some advice and suggestions on how to plan, pack, and prepare for such a journey, as he gets ready for a trip to the Alps.
You’re hitting the road and your camera is at the top of the old checklist. Your goal is to make photographs that will be memorable and bring back the feelings of being there. So how can you do that? Of course you’ll need a good photo of the Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal. But photos of cityscapes and monuments only tell part of the story. To capture the essence of a place, you need to capture the element that makes it most unique: the people.
The idea of going to a foreign country and taking photos of strangers might at first seem daunting, difficult and frightening. It’s not. Trust me, if I can do it, you can too. To get you started in the right direction, I’d like to share some of the techniques I’ve learned while globetrotting with my camera.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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