Pro tips on how to take best travel photos

Aside from getting memorabilia from your visit to a certain destination, taking home good photos is another good way of treasuring your trip. And in the age of social media, flaunting great travel photos on one’s feed becomes a must.

“Now, especially with technology getting the way that it is, everybody can be a photographer because we all have a hand on mobile phones. The thing is we really don’t have to invest that much money to be able to get a good photo. What wee need to do is invest more time in taking the photos,” world renowned landscape photographer Elia Locardi told SparkUp at a landscape photography workshop organized by Fujifilm Philippines at Makati Shangri‑la Hotel last Oct. 7.

During the event, Mr. Locardi shared simple tips on how to take and post‑process travel photos. Although directed to professional photographers, these takeaways can also apply to people embarking on a trip for mere leisure, especially the young ones.

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Choose a strong subject

Taking a good travel photo starts from choosing a strong subject.

“The best thing to do is to think about your subject a little bit more rather than just walking and taking a shot. Think about it as what looks better during sunset or sunrise or the blue hours. Simply by just changing the time in your location you can start to get better photographs,” he said.

When visiting a certain country, he said it’s always advisable to “look for a certain architecture or spot that stands out.” Example is Colosseo in Rome, Italy, and Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

In choosing subjects in his photographs, Mr. Locardi shared that he just simply go to places that he wants to visit.

“When I started to take photos it was purely out of my desire to visit wonderful places around the world. I choose iconic places. I want to visit places that are close to my heart,” he said.

He said he showcases in his works the iconic elements as well as the juxtaposition of classic and modern architecture of establishments in cities like Paris while he chooses to feature natural elements like bamboo forest and cherry blossoms in Japan.

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Choose the right moments in time

In snapping travel photos, one has to be patient and choose the perfect time of the day.

“It gets a little bit complicated in theory but it’s actually quite simple in practice. That’s when we pick different moments in time and put them together to produce great images,” he said.

According to him, there are three best times in a day to take photos: golden hour that happens before sunset or after the sunrise, the actual sunrise and sunset, and the blue hour that occurs just after the sunset or before sunrise.

For Mr. Locardi, the sunrise and sunset are the greatest times in landscape photography because they showcase perfect harmony of artificial and natural light in a photo.

Blue hour, on the other hand, is his favorite time to take photos as the dark blue sky adds cloud drama to a photo.

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Watch the weather

Weather in landscape photography, according to him, is just as important as location and light because “it’s what gives a scene a personality.”

He added that strong weather gives a strong mood to a photo.

“In photography, fog is probably one of the most fun things to capture and lightning plays an incredible role in photography,” he said.

While taking photos of such elements may not be safe, he guaranteed that capturing them will add “natural drama” to your photos.

Mr. Locradi said “cosmic elements” such as star tarils, aurora, northern light, and Polaris can also make a photo look extraordinary.