Travel Photography: Simple Habits for Better Photos

Better travel photographs come from being in the right place at the right hour far more than from better equipment. These are habits rather than techniques.

Everyone photographs the same landmark. The difference is what time you got there.

Chase the light

Golden hour — shortly after sunrise and before sunset — and the blue hour that follows do most of the work for you. Harsh midday sun is the hardest light to make anything of.

Sunrise has a second advantage that matters enormously in Asia: the famous places are empty. Fushimi Inari, the Arashiyama bamboo grove and Hoi An's old town are all transformed by being there at six in the morning.

Keep the kit light

One camera, one versatile lens, spare battery, spare cards. A bag you are willing to carry all day is worth more than a lens you leave in the hotel.

Your phone is a legitimate second camera, and it is the one that gets the shot you weren't expecting.

Compose with intent

• Get closer. Most travel photos are taken from too far away.
• Find a foreground. Depth is what separates a photograph from a snapshot.
• Wait. Frame the scene, then wait for a person to walk into it.
• Shoot the details — food, hands, signage, textures. They carry a place better than another wide shot.

Be respectful — this matters more than any of the above

• Ask before photographing people, especially children, market vendors and anyone at work. A gesture at the camera and a smile is understood everywhere.
• Follow no-photography signs at temples, shrines and museums. They exist for religious reasons, not commercial ones.
• Don't block paths, doorways or other people's view for a shot.
• In parts of Kyoto's Gion district, photography on private streets is restricted and signposted. Geiko and maiko are working, not performing.

Back up nightly

Cloud upload where you have Wi-Fi, or a small SSD if you don't. Never let a whole trip exist only on one memory card in one bag.