Some tips on taking better travel photos

Photographs are often the only tangible reminders that we have of our travels, which makes it all the more remarkable how little thought some people– myself included– give to taking pictures. Like many other people, I’ve always thought that taking a good picture doesn’t require much thought or talent. Just locate the Eiffel Tower in your view finder, center it, and press the button, right? Turns out, that’s just the right attitude to have if you want a hundred really boring photos.

I always look forward to getting my pictures developed after a trip, but I invariably find that if I’ve taken two hundred shots, I’m only left with about ten that are really good. And I have a hunch that I am probably not alone in my incompetence.

But there is reason for hope. In this, the age of internets and newfangled digital cameras, it is easier than ever to take quality photos. A host of websites, intent on making travelers everywhere better photographers, assure us that you don’t have to be Ansel Adams or even “creative” to take decent pictures. (Lucky for me, as I am neither.)

Here are some tips for making your next batch of photos more memorable:

• The law of thirds Life is given to a photograph when the object of the photograph is placed on a line that splits a photo into 1/3 and 2/3 sections in either dimension.
• Get up close! Up close you can reveal telling details, like the textures on a brick wall or freckles on a person’s face. Don’t get too close, however, or your pictures will be blurry. Most cameras have a focal length of about three feet, or approximately one step away from your camera.
• Don’t forget people, people! Give your viewer a reason to care. Put yourself, a companion or family member into the scene. Not only will it give the shot scale, it will provide a reason for taking the shot — other than a picture postcard! If you have no one to be in the picture, ask someone else… the waitress, the driver, the doorman. Too many travel and vacation photos are of uninhabited places.
• Lighting important. Film at eleven. Aside from the subject, the most important part of every good photo is the amount (or lack of in some cases) of light. Good lighting affects everything about the appearance of a shot[…]
  What happens if you don’t like the light on your subject? Simply move yourself or your subject. For immobile things like landscapes, statues, and buildings, try to take your pictures early or late in the day when the light is long, deep orange, and splays itself across the environment.