Travel photography exposed

Travel photography is (or was pre-Covid) my main sphere, and I’ve written extensively on the subject. Here is an intro to one feature I wrote on the subject.

Defining travel photography as a single genre is no easy task, as in reality it’s a melange of almost all disciplines of photography. From street to landscape, portraiture, macro, wildlife and action, with a dash of just about anything else you care to think of thrown in - travel photography encompasses it all.

As a travel photographer you rarely fall into just going out and shooting nice postcard like images. That’s far to broad to hold much attention, especially when we’re constantly bombarded by such great online imagery. 

If you simply want to document your travels for family and friends to see then the general approach may work for you, although it can be boring to the viewer. If you can narrow down your focus to a specific theme or subject matter your impact and quality level will be much greater.

This focus could on be anything from a certain trek or bike ride to the head-hunters of Borneo, the street food of Hoi An or the architecture of Freemantle. If it’s something that directly interests and inspires you that will show through in your results. 

Hone in on the images that you need to tell the story in full, and think in terms of a sequence rather than single images (which you will achieve anyway). This can include shooting everything from detail, to food, landscapes, lifestyle and cultural images. My own approach is to try and have a minimum of 5 different styles of shot that work together to tell the full story without repeating