If there’s such a thing as coming full circle – this must be it. I left Australia 4 years ago for Vietnam, with a dream to get my travel photography career kickstarted in Southeast Asia. And 4 years later, I’m back here in Queensland to photograph scenery, landmarks, markets, and adventure sports for Insight Guides, the UK-based guidebook publisher.
Here’s a slideshow of highlights from the first few days on the road. They include Sunshine Coast surfing, beaches, a shipwreck, and the hinterland, where only minutes from the coast you can see misty mountain scenes and villages. Then there’s Brisbane, with all its colonial architecture, bridges, war memorials (Aussies have done more than their fair share of pitching in where help is needed), spectacular twilights, and gardens. I have to admit – after years of leaving this city behind, it’s surprising to find how liveable and enjoyable it’s become.
So enough about work – how about a few quick tips on travel photography in case you’re into getting the best shots of the destinations you visit when you’re traveling?
1. Preparation: is there anything that doesn’t benefit from being prepared? In travel photo terms, this means online research (such as Google images, to see what things look like, and what’s worth your time), figuring out where the sun will be throughout the day (check out iPhone app ‘Focalware’ – brilliantly handy for predicting sunrise/set and moonrise/set anywhere in the world), scoping out the locations if you have time, getting permission if necessary (the more advanced the country, the more permissions needed, usually), and of course all the usual preparations like packing your gear the night before, ensuring batteries are charged, cards are cleared, and you get a good night’s sleep. Which leads to the most important bit…
2. Up early: I’m not a morning person, so I totally sympathise with anyone who has trouble with this part. Here’s a trick: when that alarm goes off in the pre-dawn darkness, promise yourself a catch-up nap at lunchtime. It works for me . But seriously, when photographers talk about the quality of the light, there’s nothing quite like the first light of the morning and the last light of the afternoon. So what exactly do we mean about quality of light? I’m guessing there’s as many answers to that as there are photographers. But to me, it has a lot to do with the angle and the colour temperature. A low-light angle means the facades of buildings are fully lit, less obscuring shadows, and at the right angle, the light skims across facades and features, giving more depth and definition. Put simply, the light just kind of gets in under and around things. Once the sun has risen to mid-morning, through to mid-afternoon, the angle is too high and the landscape begins to look ‘flat’ and hazy. Also, building facades and people’s faces become shrouded in shadows. Then there’s the colour temperature. Depending on your location, dawn and sunset light can be warm and orangey, whereas in other locations, dawn can be cool and blue-ish. Then noontime sunlight tends to become colourless and featureless. If this doesn’t make sense, shoot some RAW files and then play with the colour temperature settings in your RAW converter. And if you’re still unsure, email me!
3. Gear: the eternal question for budding photogs is ‘What’s the best camera/lens/kit/bag/tripod/etc?’ There is no easy answer and the more you discuss it, the less likely you are to find an answer, but I find the best attitude is ‘Whatever you’ve got on you.’ It’s easy when starting out to gather so much gear that you’ve got more than you can carry or use at any given time. I’ve found that photography gear usage becomes a bell-curve over time. You start simple, but then the lens-envy and gear-obsession sets in. But if you really discover what’s best for your photography outcomes, you start to leave certain things at home, until eventually you’re going out with only one body and, at most, 2-3 lenses, maybe even downscaling to a couple of prime lenses to keep it as pure and simple as possible. Hell, you don’t even need a flash or tripod 95% of the time so why drag all that stuff around?! And in the end, your results are so much better for being light and mobile. And having less things to fiddle with and agonise over, you tend to respond more to what’s happening around you than treating it all like a theory exercise. So my advice is, take your most versatile 2-3 lenses in the most compact method (belt pouches seem to work best), put away your lens cap, and leave the camera switched on all the time in the most responsive mode you know. Then see what happens!
4. Make a plan, then throw it away: As odd as it sounds, this always works for me. Put simply, travel photography shouldn’t be overly structured. To really capture the visual essence of a place, its history, its people and its daily life, you need to wander, respond, and take some chances. But on the other hand, when you have a whole city / province / region to photograph in a matter of days, you can’t just wander aimlessly. So you need a plan. But just don’t follow it too closely or you might miss that astounding ‘unguarded moment’ (to borrow the title of Steve McCurry’s 2009 book and the Church’s 1981 classic song), which afterwards is what really makes the trip worthwhile.
Ok, best of luck with your photos. Email me anytime if you have any questions, or start a discussion with the Comments below. I’m off to photograph weekend markets, an art gallery, and maybe Koalas, if I can find them. Avagreatweekend!
Homecoming assignment – Queensland, Australia
If there’s such a thing as coming full circle – this must be it. I left Australia 4 years ago for Vietnam, with a dream to get my travel photography career kickstarted in Southeast Asia. And 4 years later, I’m back here in Queensland to photograph scenery, landmarks, markets, and adventure sports for Insight Guides, the UK-based guidebook publisher.
Here’s a slideshow of highlights from the first few days on the road. They include Sunshine Coast surfing, beaches, a shipwreck, and the hinterland, where only minutes from the coast you can see misty mountain scenes and villages. Then there’s Brisbane, with all its colonial architecture, bridges, war memorials (Aussies have done more than their fair share of pitching in where help is needed), spectacular twilights, and gardens. I have to admit – after years of leaving this city behind, it’s surprising to find how liveable and enjoyable it’s become.
Queensland highlights - Images by Peter Stuckings
So enough about work – how about a few quick tips on travel photography in case you’re into getting the best shots of the destinations you visit when you’re traveling?
1. Preparation: is there anything that doesn’t benefit from being prepared? In travel photo terms, this means online research (such as Google images, to see what things look like, and what’s worth your time), figuring out where the sun will be throughout the day (check out iPhone app ‘Focalware’ – brilliantly handy for predicting sunrise/set and moonrise/set anywhere in the world), scoping out the locations if you have time, getting permission if necessary (the more advanced the country, the more permissions needed, usually), and of course all the usual preparations like packing your gear the night before, ensuring batteries are charged, cards are cleared, and you get a good night’s sleep. Which leads to the most important bit…
2. Up early: I’m not a morning person, so I totally sympathise with anyone who has trouble with this part. Here’s a trick: when that alarm goes off in the pre-dawn darkness, promise yourself a catch-up nap at lunchtime. It works for me
. But seriously, when photographers talk about the quality of the light, there’s nothing quite like the first light of the morning and the last light of the afternoon. So what exactly do we mean about quality of light? I’m guessing there’s as many answers to that as there are photographers. But to me, it has a lot to do with the angle and the colour temperature. A low-light angle means the facades of buildings are fully lit, less obscuring shadows, and at the right angle, the light skims across facades and features, giving more depth and definition. Put simply, the light just kind of gets in under and around things. Once the sun has risen to mid-morning, through to mid-afternoon, the angle is too high and the landscape begins to look ‘flat’ and hazy. Also, building facades and people’s faces become shrouded in shadows. Then there’s the colour temperature. Depending on your location, dawn and sunset light can be warm and orangey, whereas in other locations, dawn can be cool and blue-ish. Then noontime sunlight tends to become colourless and featureless. If this doesn’t make sense, shoot some RAW files and then play with the colour temperature settings in your RAW converter. And if you’re still unsure, email me!
3. Gear: the eternal question for budding photogs is ‘What’s the best camera/lens/kit/bag/tripod/etc?’ There is no easy answer and the more you discuss it, the less likely you are to find an answer, but I find the best attitude is ‘Whatever you’ve got on you.’ It’s easy when starting out to gather so much gear that you’ve got more than you can carry or use at any given time. I’ve found that photography gear usage becomes a bell-curve over time. You start simple, but then the lens-envy and gear-obsession sets in. But if you really discover what’s best for your photography outcomes, you start to leave certain things at home, until eventually you’re going out with only one body and, at most, 2-3 lenses, maybe even downscaling to a couple of prime lenses to keep it as pure and simple as possible. Hell, you don’t even need a flash or tripod 95% of the time so why drag all that stuff around?! And in the end, your results are so much better for being light and mobile. And having less things to fiddle with and agonise over, you tend to respond more to what’s happening around you than treating it all like a theory exercise. So my advice is, take your most versatile 2-3 lenses in the most compact method (belt pouches seem to work best), put away your lens cap, and leave the camera switched on all the time in the most responsive mode you know. Then see what happens!
4. Make a plan, then throw it away: As odd as it sounds, this always works for me. Put simply, travel photography shouldn’t be overly structured. To really capture the visual essence of a place, its history, its people and its daily life, you need to wander, respond, and take some chances. But on the other hand, when you have a whole city / province / region to photograph in a matter of days, you can’t just wander aimlessly. So you need a plan. But just don’t follow it too closely or you might miss that astounding ‘unguarded moment’ (to borrow the title of Steve McCurry’s 2009 book and the Church’s 1981 classic song), which afterwards is what really makes the trip worthwhile.
Ok, best of luck with your photos. Email me anytime if you have any questions, or start a discussion with the Comments below. I’m off to photograph weekend markets, an art gallery, and maybe Koalas, if I can find them. Avagreatweekend!
This entry was posted on Friday, January 1st, 2010 at 21:02. It is filed under commentary, news and tagged with australia, brisbane, photography, photos, queensland, sport, travel, work, www.indochinaimages.com. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.