Travel Photography

Ever wondered about where you would like to take yourself....?

Sometimes we come to a point in our lives were our creative thoughts or our very souls have an unquenchable thirst for LIFE It is the one aspect of growing as a person, to seek out adventure, new friends, new culture, new places of interest. 

It is a natural process to want to migrate to other countries in the quest for knowledge or discovery, it is the fundamental point of which makes a person get to know yourself. It is also a fantastic innovative way of creating new thought processes of viewing the world. 

When our eyes are subjected to new sights and our noses are made to discover new smells, the brain behaves in a unique manner of literally soaking up the atmosphere, it is the best way to learn about life around us. 

Travelling

So travelling really should be on everyones' agenda, even if it is just visiting an undiscovered or never before seen part of your own country, it is essential to learning. I regularly travel around the United Kingdom to discover people, people who may lead entirely different lives to myself. 

I have also had the opportunities, to travel to other countries in Europe, America , Asia and some Arab States. It was a fantastic time for myself on a road of discovery, learning new languages and eating some exquisite cuisine. Travelling offers a fresher perspective for photography, you really do become much more creative, your eyes begin to dart everywhere as though you are an explorer taking in all that new information. 

Their many companies out there, that offer around the world trips for students, or post graduates or even someone who has come to a point in their life and wants a voyage of discovery. So where to go where to start?

Locations 

Many aspiring travel photography will think of the Asian or European continent, then they may think of the southern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere offers a different view on life. So many countries out there covering the southern hemisphere, in fact their over forty countries that are considered to be mostly in the southern hemisphere. 

So from Angola to East Timor to Brazil to Rwanda, one photographer who has visited over 43 countries in six years is of course Sebastiao Salgado, another worldly wise photographer is Steve McCurry. Both shoot documentary photography, have collated unique collections of inspiring portraiture, landscapes and news items.  

So if you're looking for an adventure and fancy yourself as a travel photographer or even a digital nomad do some research on the places you would like to visit, find out what the situation is for working abroad, if you require a working visa with a holiday company such as STA Travel. 

Or if you are thinking of working in the northern states of USA, you may want to look here for more information. Here if you want to keep up with travel news with Mozambique. 

Remember locations can have civil wars, and unless that is the specific reason for your documentary photography, do take caution. 

©Dook

Mozambique has some of the best coastline in Africa, offering the photographer access to some local people who travel daily wearing traditional dress. 

Very fascinating stuff I am sure you'll agree, what about other locations may be South America. 

South America is home to many colonial cities, places such as Arequipa, these places offer up museums, religious sites and hiking and trekking. So if you have a head for heights and are quite the adventurer you may like to visit Machu Picchu. So you can imagine the breathtaking views from such dizzy heights and a fairly introductory trek leads to a magnificent world heritage site. 

So many different places offering so many different cultures to learn from, isn't it just that, that makes your feet twitchy for discovery?  

Let's just take a look at some inspiring photographs from around the world...

Island roads Travel / Florence / Italy These marvellous photographs come from the Cuba Gallery on Flickr and the guy behind these magical photographs is Andrew, a photographer and designer from Auckland, New Zealand. You can follow him and his work here. Andrew has a very good idea of interpretation of architecture, I guess that comes from being a designer and having such a wonderful passion for his surroundings and spatial awareness.

©Cuba Gallery

©Cuba Gallery

So do take a look, and if you want to follow him and his work, subscribe to his posts on his blog, Lightroom Tutorials. I have to say I find this piece very inspirational from a composition point of view, in this frame we see great use of scale, the organic aspect is the single man jogging through a seemingly foreboding dark concrete jungle. 

The aesthetic is very pleasing though to the eye, remember not all travel photography is about traditional dress, sometimes it can be the very architecture, that conveys a message of wander and enlightenment. 

Andrew knows his stuff, and shares his knowledge of photographic manipulation within the Adobe Lightroom experience. These Presets can be purchased on his page or if you are already quite savvy with Lightroom, you can create your own. 

Though if your also into street photography or even lomography you will know of the wacky effects you can create using analogue technology and good old celluloid film, I love shooting film and I know how to create elaborate works simply by re-exposing the film again, or even using this neat trick to create a very purple haze effect. 

A neat trick, not for everyone. But nevertheless; it is very experimental. 

Experimentation is key to your development as a photographer.