travel photography mistakes to avoid

8 Travel Photography Mistakes Every Beginner Should Avoid

Snapping travel photos that look stunning is challenging. When you travel you won’t have much control over many of the factors that influence your photos – which is why it takes a lot of skill and experience.

One way for beginners to acquire those skills is to learn from the experience of others. To be more specific, there are a few common travel photography mistakes that you should know – and try to avoid.

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Capturing Tourist Shots

Have you noticed how many photos of famous landmarks and places look very similar to one another? That is because most tourists tend to take the same shots – from exactly the same perspective: Frontal and at eye-level.

If you want your photos to look less mundane, you need to make more of an effort to find a unique way to frame the subject. Experimenting with different angles is a good place to start, and adding unique elements to the photo may help too.

Not Getting Familiar with the Camera

Beginners often don’t realize many of the features on their cameras, and as such, they aren’t able to take advantage of them. In ideal conditions that may not make a huge difference, but when you’re traveling it definitely could.

Before you travel you should make sure that you’re fully familiar with the features on your camera. If possible you should see what shooting modes it has, and try out the manual settings that are available as well.

Not Taking Photos of People

Landmarks and scenery can make for some pretty impressive photos – but people add a completely different dimension to them. Many beginners shy away from taking photos of locals because they are shy and don’t want to be rude, but there is really no harm in asking.

If you ask whether it is okay to photograph people, the worst that will probably happen is they say no. In most cases however you’ll find that people will be willing to accommodate you.

Impatience

To be honest, impatience is a mistake that even experienced photographers can make – and it is tough to overcome in some cases. However, it is important that you try, as rushing your shots will lead to far less impressive photos when you ‘settle’ on taking a shot because you want to move on.

While it is best if you take your time and patiently frame every shot, sometimes that isn’t an option when you travel – especially if you’re in a group or on a tight schedule. Still, being aware of this mistake will let you avoid it as much as you can.

Missing Out on the Golden Hour

The golden hour right after dawn and right before sunset is the perfect time to take outdoor photos. It has excellent lighting conditions with soft and diffused light, and the sky will normally look breathtaking during that time as well.

Missing out on the golden hour is a big mistake, especially considering most travel photos are snapped outdoors. Ideally, you should make it a point to be able to take advantage of the golden hour and capture as many photos as possible during that time.

Only Taking Shots from a Distance

Wide and expansive shots that capture a large swathe of the landscape can definitely look impressive, but small details can be just as impressive too. Beginners often overlook that fact and end up only taking shots from a distance.

As far as possible you should make it a point to get close to the subject to reveal details that may not be visible otherwise. On top of that, you should observe your surroundings keenly and try to spot any eye-catching details that may make for a compelling shot.

Not Keeping the Camera Still

One of the main reasons why travel photos often look blurry and their definition suffers is because the camera isn’t being kept still. That can be avoided if you make sure you hold your camera firmly to keep it stable. Using a tripod stand can help as well.

We have reviewed the best travel tripods in 2019! Check it out 😉Best Travel Tripods

It is possible to use Movavi Photo Editor and learn how to make blurry pictures clear if you need to. On top of that, it can help you to correct other issues such as underexposure or overexposure, enhance the quality of your photos, remove unwanted elements, and more.

Not publishing photos

There are many photographers that like to keep their photos just for themselves. Sharing photos publicly on social media can help you a lot with motivation and scaling the quality. You will get the ultimate feedback and you will grow your little “fan base”.

Conclusion

At the end of the day avoiding all the mistakes listed above shouldn’t be that difficult – at least not now that you’re aware of them.

Instead of waiting for your next trip, however, you should grab your camera and practice whenever you’re free. The more experience you are able to get under your belt the better off you’ll be, and it will make it far easier for you to snap impressive photos when you do get the chance to travel next.

We hope this article was helpful and we’re open for any feedback and suggestions! Feel free to comment. Thanks