Jan 27, 2019
On today’s episode of the podcast, photographer Jessica Kosmack helps us think about how to take better vacation photos. Capturing quality vacation images doesn’t come natural to most of us. But let's think it through together: what can we do, practically speaking, to make our vacation photos better? It is not out of most people's reach!
What makes a photo great? Is it about the photography equipment or is it something else? We discuss camera gear in this episode, but we conclude that it is not what matters most, especially when doing vacation photography. If you were trying to shoot basketball or dark Cathedrals, then yes, gear matters a lot. But for most vacation pics, a recent smart phone will do great!
When taking vacation photos you want them to tell the story of your trip. The pictures need to reveal the mood and feel of the trip. You want to show the places you went to, but maybe in a coy way, as a tease. And if you love food, there's nothing wrong with taking photos of the great food you will eat in France! Don't forget to take photos of the odd moments that will stick out in your mind, those are part of the story too!
Backup your phone before your trip, then move all the photos out of your phone to store them in folders on your computer. You will need lots of room on your phone for new holiday photos.
On vacation, establish a routine where you delete the photos that didn't turn out. Try to do this a little bit every day. If you took 5 shots of the same moment it's because you hoped one would turn out, not to keep all 5, right? So pick the best photo right away. That will save you a lot of time when you go home!
You need to ask yourself why you are taking photos at all. Do you want to be able to show them to family and friends on your phone? In that case you'll need to get to them quickly. Do you want to print a photo book? Photo books are a great idea BTW! In that case you need to be thinking about your best 20 or 30, however many you want to include. Maybe you are creating a collection of some sort. Beautiful doors or colorful flowers. Decide before your trip, it will help give your photography purpose.
Canon 6D body
Canon Rebel 2000 film camera + 20 rolls of film
24mm, 35mm, 50mm prime Canon lenses
Point & shoot Lomo film camera for her son
Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TS30A Waterproof/Shockproof for her daughter
With digital cameras people often go home from a vacation with thousands of photos. We used to be a lot more choosy when using a film camera because a roll had a limited number of shots. But now we can just shoot away without thinking much. Going home to thousands of photos usually means that you'll never take the time to sort them, which defeats the purpose of taking them in the first place! Have a plan for how you will sort and tag your digital camera photos. Otherwise they'll just sit there unused and unseen.
Giving your kids a camera to shoot with is a great idea, but you have to prepare a few things.