06.24.2020

Seven Must-Have Travel Photos

Whenever you’re away with your camera, there are a few essential pictures you need to get to tell the complete story of your trip. Here are our suggestions, and some advice to get you started

While it’s important to be creative and individual when making travel photos, there are few things you can always aim to photograph when you’re on vacation that will help tell the complete story of your trip away. Since every location is different, it’s up to you how you interpret these ideas, but they make a great starting point.

1. Get Up High

One of the first things to do in any location is get up high and take a good look at what’s out there to explore. And while you’re there, make some good photos, too. Being up high gives a sense of the size and geography of a location, and that’s what you want to communicate in your pictures.

You can get up high in all kinds of locations, from church towers to monuments, bridges and skyscrapers. It’s tempting to use a wide-angle lens to include everything in the frame, but actually a telephoto lens is also useful as it lets you zoom in on specific parts of the scene.

Learn photography with Fujifilm, Seven Must-Have Travel Photos© Dwight Snead Jr.

If you’re flying into your vacation location, then you can also make a picture from the airplane as it approaches your location. You can get surprisingly good results doing this – the trick is to get as close to the glass as possible with your lens (without actually touching it) so that reflections of the interior lights don’t spoil your pictures. You can also cover yourself with a coat or blanket.

2. Walk the Streets

There’s only one way to really get the character of a new town or city: grab your camera and a comfy pair of shoes and get out on the streets. Street photography is about making pictures that show human behavior and its impact on the world in which we live. Look for interesting people, architecturally beautiful buildings, unusual street signs, and juxtaposed things that make you smile.

© Dan Hogman

Don’t be afraid to fall back on completely automatic modes here, like SR+ AUTO if your camera has it. This is a time you really want to soak in your scenery and the myriad picture-making opportunities around you, rather than working on your camera settings.

3. Food and Drink

Eating and drinking is a huge part of every vacation and photographing an amazing meal will bring those memories flooding back for years to come. Good light is key for food photography, so if you can position yourself by a window, that’s great – if not, then an overhead light will work just fine, too. Avoid using your camera’s built-in flash – it’ll take over, killing the atmosphere of the restaurant.

Learn photography with Fujifilm, Seven Must-Have Travel Photos© Alison Conklin

Try photographing from directly overhead (your camera’s flip-out screen can be really useful here) and use things like cutlery and napkins to make a pleasing composition. You can photograph details from side-on as well, using the 45mm or 55mm end of your standard zoom to pick out tasty details.

4. Go to Market

Markets are a great place to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of a local culture. Depending on where you are visiting, you could get up early to visit a fish market just as the day’s catch is arriving, or visit a farmers’ market and create portraits of people alongside their produce.

Learn photography with Fujifilm, Seven Must-Have Travel Photos© Nicole Young

Don’t be afraid to say hi and ask questions. Introduce yourself and ask if you can make a few pictures of craftspeople and stallholders working. Again, this is a situation where you should avoid your camera’s built-in flash (turn it off via the Q Menu) and use available, or ambient, light instead. A lens with a wide angle of view and a wide maximum aperture, like the FUJINON XF23mmF1.4 R LM WR, is a great tool for the job, as it lets in lots of light so you can convey the atmosphere.

5. Selfies

We all love a selfie and using your X Series camera to create one will give you much better results than your smartphone. You can try holding it out in front of you, like a phone, with the flip-out screen turned around so you can compose your images properly.

Learn photography with Fujifilm, Seven Must-Have Travel Photos© Braden Gunem

Also try positioning your camera a few feet away and photographing using the FUJIFILM Camera Remote app on your phone. You’ll be able to get a lot more into the scene and frame from more creative angles. Turn on Face Detection AF to ensure you (and your friends) are kept in focus. To do this, press the MENU OK button and scroll to the AF/MF SETTING menu. Then choose FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING and make sure FACE ON/EYE AUTO option is selected. Half-press the shutter release to return to the shooting mode, get yourself in place and just press the remote app to make your image.

6. Character Portrait

No vacation is complete without meeting at least one eccentric person who sticks in your mind. This is exactly the right character to ask for a portrait. The key is to be friendly, chatty, and engaging. Say it’s been great to meet them and you’d really like a picture for your vacation photo album.

Learn photography with Fujifilm, Seven Must-Have Travel Photos© Gary Tyson

How you make the photograph is up to you, but consider an environmental portrait that shows some of the subject’s surroundings – where they work, live, drink, or play. Look at how light falls in the space and try to position your subject so they’re facing it, either directly or slightly to one side. Use Face Detection AF to make focusing on your target quick and easy.

7. After Dark

Locations, particularly cities, take on a different feel after dark. Some buildings are hidden in darkness while others are emphasized by light. Traffic moves around the streets, creating trails of light as it goes. Even the people you find on the streets change once the sun goes down – all of which means that no set of travel pictures is complete without some night photography.

  • Learn photography with Fujifilm, Seven Must-Have Travel Photos © Xing Liu
  • Learn photography with Fujifilm, Seven Must-Have Travel Photos © Denise Silva

Making photographs in the dark can be approached in two ways: handheld or with a tripod. The first of these is definitely the easiest method and requires you to raise the camera’s ISO sensitivity to a level where the shutter speeds your camera chooses are fast enough to overcome any accidental camera movement. If you’re using a lens that has Optical Image Stabilization, such as the XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS, make sure it’s switched on to help avoid camera shake.

The tripod method is more involved, but yields a different type of photo that’s definitely worth the extra effort. Since your camera is supported and not likely to wobble, you can use a longer shutter speed – several seconds if you like. This means that cars and airplanes will blur as they pass through the frame, leaving light trails as they go. The longer the shutter speed, the longer the trails.

You can take control of shutter speed really easily by using Shutter Priority (S) mode. You’ll be able to set a shutter speed and let the camera sort out everything else for you.

Your Next Steps

  • CHALLENGE We want to see you try and create these seven pictures the next time you’re away and post the results to social media with the hashtags #MyFujifilmLegacy and #travel. You can also submit your work here for a chance to be featured on our social media channels.

Header image © Valerie Jardin