Travel Photography Tips That Will Save You Time, Energy, and Money
Photography and travel can be difficult, painful, and expensive.
I’ve been to many places over the years and have taken thousands of photos, and often times the challenge of travel photography is more so the travel, and less the photography.
But over time I’ve learned from my experiences and have discovered a few methods that make this whole process easier.
Of course everyone travels differently, and these are just tips that work for me - you don’t have to, but use them if you find them useful.
Here are a few travel photography tips that will save you time, energy, and money.
Time for Photography
Probably one of the most difficult aspects about travel is other people.
Everyone’s got different agendas, different things they want to do, and different ideas of what a “good trip” is.
So if you’re traveling in a group of people who are not photographers, you have to be considerate.
I don’t know about you guys, but when I see something nice I’ll stop and take a picture.
When I’m traveling I might do this…a lot.
And sometimes this means going down and exploring different roads and paths that catch my eye.
Now obviously I tone this down and don’t do it as often when I’m in a group.
Or I’ll try and be quick about it so it’s not really a problem.
That’s because I don’t want to be that annoying member of the group that’s always stopping to take pictures and slowing everyone down.
That’s one of the benefits of traveling solo: I can go at my own pace and not worry about speed.
However, when you’re with other people, there’s a time and place for photography.
You don’t have the flexibility and freedom of being on your own and doing your own thing.
And you have to be conscious of yourself, or you might piss people off.
What I’ve found that helps with this is setting up a time, mentally, for photography.
Meaning that there’s particular moments in the trip where I can go off and do my thing.
For example, if it’s golden hour or we’ve reached a viewpoint or destination, that’s what we’re there for.
And the people I travel with will understand that I’ll be going left and right getting shots here and there.
I might go off on my own, explore some place, do what I need to do, and meet back with you when it’s time.
But I can’t do this 24/7, especially when I’m with other people.
And since people are important and group trips are also a lot of fun, there’s a middle ground to be struck.
During these other times, I make photography less of a priority.
I just take photos when I can, but otherwise I turn the switch off and let “Photographer Andre” take a back seat.
You Don’t Need More Stress
Traveling with or without photography can be overwhelming.
You not only have to deal with the logistics of getting from place to place, figure out what you want to eat, where you’re going to stay, how you’re going to move your stuff around, speaking the language of the country, etc.
And then there’s still photography to think about.
The great irony is, we think of travel as vacation, relaxing, and chilling at the beach in the sun, but we forget the hectic, the stress, and the uncertainties that come with it.
So I always make sure to remind myself that traveling can be overwhelming.
And to not simply get lost in the thoughts that it’ll be fun and everything will go perfect and smooth.
That way I don’t overload my travel plans or say yes to things that will contribute to the overwhelm.
Often, my mindset is: “Travel is already stressful, I don’t need more stress.”
Anything that’s going to make my trip and life more complicated, I say no to.
That way, potential things that could add to this overwhelm, don’t.
In the context of photography, this looks like picking, choosing, and prioritizing the few most important places you want to go and take pictures of.
And the other stuff that’s not as important, leave it up to chance.
Meaning: not every single spot you have to go to.
If the opportunity is there to catch and see this one place, it’s not that far out the way, and it lines up nicely, then sure.
But don’t make it so you have to hit up every single little thing in Osaka.
That’s only going to rigidify your schedule, you’re going to be stressed, and you’ll find it hard to relax and enjoy your time there.
And in my opinion, that’ll just lead to worse memories and photos.
Slow Travel
In the past when traveling to different places, I was always in some sort of rush.
I felt like I only had so much time in this particular country and I didn’t know when I was going to be back, so I had to cram everything in to every single day and every single hour.
There are some people that prefer this, but in my opinion, that just makes the whole experience stressful and expensive.
Sure there will still be enjoyable memories to look back on, but it’s honestly not as fun to travel fast as it is to travel slow.
When you learn to travel in a way such that you can take your time, go at your own pace, relax, and actually enjoy the moment, your perspective on travel will change.
You’ll learn that it’s not so much about the checklist or how many things you’ve done.
And it’s not about going from place to place, seeing everything you can possibly see, and doing all the things you can possibly do.
Because while that stuff is great and all, it’s also stressful and tiring.
And always worrying about the “next place” can prevent you from really taking in and enjoying where you’re at now.
So, in my last trip to Japan, I made great efforts to travel slow.
This meant giving myself more time than I thought necessary to have the adventures I wanted.
I planned to be there for 4 weeks, which may sound like a really long time for some (it was) - but I wanted to really take my time and be there.
And honestly, it was a great experience.
Looking back on it, I could’ve crammed the trip into 3 weeks or less, but I was way more relaxed having that much time.
I could go and explore this thing I wanted to see or I could save it for later - because I still had 5 more days in Tokyo.
I could go left and right based on how I felt because I wasn’t following a strict agenda.
I could flow more with the wind and enter shops or go down streets that I ran into spontaneously, rather than skip out on them because I had somewhere else to be.
I could play by the weather and reschedule important photo spots for sunnier days because I had that bit of leeway.
I could have entire days where the only thing to do was eat and drink coffee.
And I could truly get a sense of living wherever I was because I wasn’t in such a hurry to get to some destination.
So although I did a lot every single day, it wasn’t overwhelming or stressful.
Some days I had to hustle, but most of the times I could let travel be what it was, and allow myself to simply experience what came my way.
Which is probably a good way to approach and pace yourself in life in general.
Some days I would get bored of course, because there wasn’t anything to do, but that made me create something, pick something, and explore somewhere that was unorthodox or outside my typical travel range.
Which led to many simple but fun days.
Not only was the experience better, but the photos were better.
When it comes to street photography, I got a more extensive archive of the places I traveled to.
Little streets, neighborhoods, and shops that I wouldn’t have seen if I just stuck to the main touristy areas.
And second chances to go back to places in better lighting conditions or with a better composition in mind.
Kamakura for example, my first day trip the lighting was spotty and cloudy and I couldn’t get some of the shots I wanted.
But having some extra time, I could come back another day when the weather was better, get the shots I wanted, and also explore another side of the city.
So ultimately does this mean you have to plan 4 weeks out for a trip?
Of course not.
Rather, the concept of slow travel is simply to go at a slower pace.
Have a smaller trip checklist.
Don’t feel as if you need to see every single little thing in the city - just prioritize a few important ones.
And don’t feel bad for being spontaneous and going off plan if the day calls for it.
That’s part of travel.
Bring Less
I probably sound like a broken record when I say this, but it’s important: bring less.
When it comes to camera gear, clothes, etc, by definition, not all of it is essential.
And because stress and overwhelm is such a large part of travel, a big key to saving time, energy, and money, is to just bring less.
90% of your photography can be done with one or two cameras, one or two lenses, and the rest of your collection can just stay at home.
Furthermore, if you know you’re not going to use it most of the time, don’t bring it.
It’ll only fill up your bag, give you something else to worry about, or something else that could be stolen or lost.
And often times that’s not worth the one or two “different aesthetic focal lengths” you’ll get.
Plus if you travel to a place that sells cameras, you might pick up more gear there, making your life even harder.
I did this when I went to Tokyo last year.
I brought 3 cameras: one with a fixed lens, another with a zoom all purpose lens, and one prime.
And I picked up another vintage lens there.
It worked out quite well, but to be honest, I could have left the X-Pro3 at home and the 33mm 1.4 at home.
It was cool to use them and mix it up every once in a while, but 90% of my photography was done on the other two setups, so I didn’t need them.
And they only took up space, both in my luggage and my mind.
So find a simple setup that does most of what you need it to, and leave the rest at home.
You will be fine.
Be Adaptable to Unideal Situations
One of the most important skills you can develop in photography is your ability to be adaptable.
For all the reasons we mentioned earlier, travel has a lot of variables.
But photography is something that also has a lot of variables.
You have your camera settings, the lighting conditions of the world, and the moving subjects or people around you.
And when you combine the two, you get even more variables.
Meaning that most, or many of the situations you’ll find yourself in will be non-ideal.
The lightings going to be off, there’s going to be crowds getting in your way, and you’re going to be jetlagged and tired from the travel.
Nothing’s going to be right - but you’re still going to have to get good photos somehow.
So learning to be adaptable to these non-ideal situations will greatly improve what you get out of them.
This means that even if the sun isn’t shining on Mt. Fuji like you wanted it to, you’re tired from all the walking, you’re in a bad mood, or whatever, you’re still able to observe, see and make use of what’s available to you.
And many times this means not getting the type of photo you initially envisioned in your head, but settling for a semi-decent shot here or there because the conditions simply won’t allow it.
Maybe you’re there at the wrong time of year, maybe it’s been raining all week, or maybe you’re hungover from last night.
Ask yourself: what kind of photos can I take right now?
Not: what photos do I wish I could be getting because of that one postcard or blog I saw on the internet 5 months ago?
Adapting is all about managing expectations.
It’s learning to quickly see how and when reality and expectation don’t line up, being able to discard your fantasies as soon as possible, and just working with what you have.
How you expect, and what you expect, will greatly affect what you see and get.
Does that makes sense?
The more you can adapt and let go of random expectations you may have had that are no longer possible in the moment, the better photos you’ll get, and the better trip you’ll have.
So, follow these travel photography tips, and hopefully you’ll save a lot of time, energy, and money.
Establish a time for photography.
When traveling with others, not every second is photography time.
You’ve gotta be considerate of the group you’re with.
Meaning, understand when it’s okay to take pictures - and the rest just let go and enjoy the moment.
You don’t need more stress.
Travel can get overwhelming fast.
And you don’t want to stack up a bunch of things that will make your life harder.
Often, the simpler you make it, the smoother your trip will be.
Try traveling “slow”.
Being in a rush will contribute to your overwhelm.
So one of the best things you can do is to learn how to travel “slow”.
This means giving yourself more time, taking things off your schedule, and not following a strict agenda.
Try it out, it might make travel more enjoyable.
Bring less.
90% of your photography can be done with one or two cameras, one or two lenses.
And you don’t need nearly as much gear as you think you do.
So take the stuff you know for sure is important, and the rest, leave at home.
You’ll be okay.
Learn to adapt to non ideal situations.
Travel and photography both have a lot of variables to them.
More often than not, you’ll find yourself in a less than ideal situation.
Your ability to adapt and let go of any expectations you may have had will improve your chances of getting good photos despite the crappy conditions.
I hope this helped - please share this with a friend who could also benefit from this.
If you’re looking to build a solid foundation with your photography, check out Photography Essentials - it’s free.
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Thanks for reading, happy travels.
