We all love to take a travel snap, but there’s a big difference between those blurry, off-centre pics that look like they were taken on mum’s iPad, and a crisp, perfectly balanced photo that’ll rake in likes on the 'gram.
To help you prep for your next vacay, we picked the brains of four travel photo pros as part of Sony's new interactive film and photography Scene Festival.
Meet The Experts
We sat down with Urban List's Head of Design, Tai Pham, and Head of Video, Daniel Daperis, along with Sony Digital Imaging Advocates Kirsten Hough and Andy Yee, to discuss their top tips and tricks for levelling up your holiday snaps.
Kirsten Hough is an award-winning wildlife photographer based in rural Waikato, New Zealand. As an NZIPP-accredited pet photographer, she loves a hands-on approach to helping people nail the fundamentals of animal snaps. She's also taken these incredible skills around the world, capturing shots of all kinds of wildlife in their natural habitat.
Andy Yee is a travel and tourism photographer, and works out of Sydney as a visual content creator and photo educator. He's led in-depth creative workshops across the globe, guiding photography groups through places like Morocco, Japan, Jordan, Cambodia and Oman. Using his own work as a jumping-off point, he encourages people to dig into their own creativity to discover a unique style.
#1 Choose The Right Camera
"As a general rule, I pack three lenses to give me versatility. My go-to lenses are the Sony 16-35mm f2.8 G Master for wide angles such as landscapes, 70-200mm f2.8 G Master II for wildlife such as birds—it's a great lens for action and movement, and my 50mm f1.2 G Master prime lens if I want to do any documentary style for people or townships." —Kirsten Hough, Wildlife Photographer
"Try not to overpack! That quickly takes the fun out of travel photography. Having camera gear that's light when travelling yet still allows me to capture the best images is important to me. I’ve been using the Sony Alpha mirrorless system for a while now. My current go-to is the Sony Alpha 7R V, 16-35mm G Master, 24-70mm G Master, 100-400mm G Master, filters and tripod." —Andy Yee, Travel and Tourism Photographer
#2 Pack Smart
"A flash unit is super versatile while travelling. It comes in handy for fill-flashing your subject and is my go-to in lowlight situations. Definitely bring along extra SD cards so you can keep on shooting and a few spare batteries because you'll likely be out and about all day before your next recharge." —Tai Pham, Urban List’s Head Of Design
"Take a change of clothes, take a rain jacket for your camera, take provisions of food and water and be prepared to wait it out. Also take a laptop or tablet that you can back your photos up to at the end of each day—there's nothing worse than having an amazing trip and taking great photos, to return home and find you've lost them all." —Kirsten Hough, Wildlife Photographer
"Some of the best pics I've ever taken have been those little moments of magic that I never expected to happen. This means packing light—you definitely don't want to be lugging around your massive telephoto lens!" —Daniel Daperis, Urban List’s Head Of Video
#3 Go Deep On Research And Planning
"A little bit of research on the areas you're visiting goes a long way, and will usually help guide me to know where and when to pull my camera out." —Tai Pham, Urban List’s Head Of Design
"I do a lot of scouting before taking a group workshop anywhere. You don’t want to travel halfway around the world to witness your dream location during the wrong season. A quick search online usually can tell you if your photography ambitions line up with your plans." —Andy Yee, Travel and Tourism Photographer
"Join local photography groups on Facebook and see if there are any specific nature or travel groups local to the area as well. The locals have a wealth of knowledge to tap into that can really make your trip much easier. Also check out if there are any nature guided tours." —Kirsten Hough, Wildlife Photographer
#4 Go With The Flow
"Walking down the street and capturing the candid moments and faces you pass gives the strongest sense of place. I love how authentic and raw it feels and there's nothing more rewarding than capturing the perfect moment. You just have to be present in the space, soak in the environment and be patient—it's incredible the things that open up to you." —Daniel Daperis, Urban List’s Head Of Video
"I really think that travel is the best way to learn photography because of all the different things that get thrown at you on the road. What better way to experience street, architecture, landscapes, and wildlife photography!" —Andy Yee, Travel and Tourism Photographer
"Patience, patience, patience. Wildlife is unpredictable, they don't work to our timetable, so be prepared to do a lot of waiting. And if you don't see any wildlife, don't be disappointed, just enjoy the experience of being outdoors in the serenity of nature, soak it up." —Kirsten Hough, Wildlife Photographer
#5 Light Is Your Friend
"Lighting is the key to good food and product photography. Simply using the flash off your phone to light food can help with the colour vibrancy and appeal of the photo. For landscapes, look for soft light or when there's a change in colour. Light is your friend, so use it to your advantage in your compositions." —Andy Yee, Travel and Tourism Photographer
"Golden hour is incredible for nature and landscapes and blue hour is perfect to shoot urban environments. Seeing the warm glow of the city streets set against the blue fading light in the sky is a winning formula." —Daniel Daperis, Urban List’s Head Of Video
#6 Mix Up Your Composition
"How you frame your photograph can lead your viewer's eyes around the image and help draw them into the main subject matter and story you are trying to relay. There are a number of different composition rules, such as the rule of thirds, golden ratio, golden spiral, leading lines and straight horizons.
The rule of thirds dictates that you divide your image into thirds both horizontally and vertically, giving you nine sections. With the intention of placing your subject at one of the four spots where the lines intersect. The rule of thirds is supposed to be one of the most visually appealing compositions for viewers' eyes. Also keep in mind that sometimes rules are meant to be broken. So don't be afraid to experiment with your composition." —Kirsten Hough, Wildlife Photographer
"Composition is always important but especially when travelling. We've all seen the same shots of iconic landmarks on our IG feeds. Get creative—mix it up with different perspectives. Don't shoot from eye level. Try low or high angles to add variety to your shots." —Daniel Daperis, Urban List’s Head Of Video
#7 Experiment With Subject And Style
"I think candid shots of locals in their day-to-day lives are overlooked when travelling. These shots can really capture the essence of the region you're in." —Tai Pham, Urban List’s Head Of Design
"When photographing wildlife in action, camera shake can be an issue, but most cameras will have a handshake option you can turn on to help give you extra stability and reduce blur in your photographs. Depending on the subject you're photographing, a tripod can be really helpful, especially with some of these larger lenses available for wildlife.
Otherwise keep your arms and elbows tucked in close to your body to help give stability, or utilise something to rest your lens on to help support it, especially with those larger lenses." —Kirsten Hough, Wildlife Photographer
"Look for opportunities with car light trails, neon lights, and also reflections in water. It might sound counterintuitive to head out with camera gear into a rainy night, but they can provide some incredible opportunities that most people will miss. Just take an umbrella." —Andy Yee, Travel and Tourism Photographer
#8 Get To Know Your Gear
"There has been incredible innovation in camera technology in the last few years, and the Sony Alpha cameras can nail the eye focus on people, wildlife, and even moving cars. Getting to know your camera settings before you attempt to shoot allows you to concentrate on the composition and read the situation better." —Andy Yee, Travel and Tourism Photographer
"If you haven't picked up your camera in a while, make sure you're familiar with your settings, your batteries are charged and take extra memory cards with you. A quick outing into your backyard, local park or even the zoo for some practice before your big trip doesn't hurt." —Kirsten Hough, Wildlife Photographer
#9 Shoot With Care
"So many people take photos these days and don't look at them again with the mindset of improving their photography skills. When film was around you had to be selective about what you wanted to use the film for. Digital now makes it much easier to take photos, we just need to then be selective about what we want to share." —Andy Yee, Travel and Tourism Photographer
"Be respectful of your environment and the animals when in nature. Be sure to clean up after yourself, adhere to the local laws, rules, health and safety and cultural requirements of any area that you're visiting." —Kirsten Hough, Wildlife Photographer
Keen to score all the best hands-on tips, tricks and guidance from specialists in digital imaging? Get yourself along to this year's Sony Scene Festival for a crash-course from the experts. Running across the country from now until the end of October, their lineup is stacked with community-hosted talks, workshops and masterclasses for lovers of film, photography and digital imaging. Scope the events list and all the details here.
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Sony and proudly endorsed by Urban List. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who make Urban List possible. Click here for more information on our editorial policy.
Image Credit: Urban List; Andy Yee, Sony Digital Imaging Advocate & Kirsten Hough, Sony Digital Imaging Advocate