Do your photos resemble your vacation?

[Photo by Dan Leeth] The sun sets behind one of the magnificient stone sculptures in Monument Valley, Arizona.

It's a rare day when a vacation photo actually looks like one you saw in the magazines and brochures when planning the trip. Your sky is never as blue, your water seldom as sparkling, your colors and sights hardly as vivid as you remember them.

That's why the Society of American Travel Writers polled its nearly 1,200 members to come up with tips to improve vacation photos.

These pros, who travel, photograph and write about destinations for a living, offer the following advice:

1. Shoot early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., the sun is overhead and the light is flat. Shooting in early morning and late afternoon will add more color and shadows to your photos, giving more definition to your subject.

2. Put local people in your photos. Ask their permission first, and try not to pose them so that your picture looks staged. Remember what it is about these folks that caught your attention, and try to set the picture to reflect that.

3. Pay attention to details and distractions in the back of the photo or behind the heads of your subjects. Frequently, a telephone pole or tree is sticking up behind your subject. Move around until there are fewer distractions in the background.

4. Wait! Before you push the shutter button, wait for the clouds to clear, the truck to move away from the front of the cathedral or for other distractions to pass.

5. When shooting a detail shot, get as close to your subject as possible. Fill the frame with your subject.

6. Always show a sense of place as to where you are. If in the tropics, frame the photo with palm trees. Frame your photo the way an artist frames a painting.

7. Look for a new angle on the familiar. Try shooting the beach on a foggy day instead of in the sun. Shoot bright colors on an overcast day. Turn your camera to shoot vertical shots instead of horizontal.

8. Take a lot of photos and edit them down to just the best before showing them to others.

9. Take along plenty of film. Film from home might be better quality and newer than film purchased in other countries. It will also be cheaper. Also, bring a spare battery for your camera, and carry it with you when you have your camera.

10. Keep the sun at your back, especially when photographing people. If your camera has a fill-flash option, use it -- even in the daytime. It will eliminate shadows on faces. Encourage people to remove their hats, which also cast shadows.

[AP Photo] Fog shrouds the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands last November in this view toward San Francisco.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright