It’s not difficult to take great travel photos of people, even using your phone’s camera. Years ago, I used to avoid having people in scenic pictures of foreign lands. Now, I have found that people can bring perspective to nature, a cultural angle, and most importantly, help tell the story of my photo.
I will explain how to capture motion and emotion, work and play, silhouettes and selfies, composition, angles, and more. Soon you will be taking better photos and creating lasting memories.
1. People can give perspective
I love pictures of mountains and natural settings, but sometimes adding a person helps. The farming woman with her scythe for cutting hay completes the story for the Austrian countryside above. Her location turns out to be perfect for the composition too. Using the “rule of thirds,” she creates balance, with your eye on her for the bottom third, the river and village in the middle, and mountain at the top.
You can immediately see how nature has taken over this temple in Angkor Wat, Cambodia, but adding the little girl captures the perspective of just how large these tree roots are. Also, by using a local Cambodian child (with permission), it makes the photo more authentic than a selfie.
Take the person out of this photo, and you have a strange picture of a table and chairs. Add the person (a good selfie opportunity), and you have a unique contemporary art exhibit at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. How much better is this photo than if she were just standing in the museum’s gallery?
2. Capture motion in a still shot
Everybody has taken a sports photo, maybe a surfer at the top of a wave or a child leaping to catch a ball. But taking travel pictures of people doing everyday things can also make excellent use of motion.
It seems like everyone in Hanoi, Vietnam is on a scooter these days, so I wanted a shot to represent that. The world’s largest ceramic mosaic mural also lines a major street there. I had my driver pull next to this mother and daughter and maintain their speed as a snapped a photo. Voila! Now a still shot tells a moving story.
Even something as simple as this photo inside the Paris metro is enhanced by slowing the shutter speed, so there is a certain blur of motion from people who are just walking. And yes, you can do that with an iPhone too.
3. Posed pictures should tell a story
Sometimes it just makes sense to have a person be the focal point of a picture, even when traveling. When possible, try to think about what the story is behind the pose. The old woman above was a vendor in a Myanmar market. People in the countryside there are also known for smoking betel quid, a nut so nasty it is illegal in the U.S. One of its less severe effects is staining the teeth deep red. So, when I asked to take her picture, I wanted to wait until she had cigar in hand and mouth open. Now, the story of my travels is told.
Patricia Schultz is a travel writer. One of the times we met her, we wanted her to pose for a picture. Rather than a simple head and shoulders shot, we incorporate a blow-up of her famous book. The result tells the story of her work.
We have hosted many Americans making their first trip to China. When they ask for pictures, we always try to tell a story instead of just lining them up in front of some monument. In the case above, we capture these two couples trying one of Beijing’s most popular street foods, candied hawthorn (tanghulu). This photo creates a real travel memory for them. You can do the same if you remember to tell a story!
4. Shoot from different angles
The tips above all have the subject facing the camera, but often the better travel photo is taken from a different angle.
I took two pictures of these twin boys visiting Beijing’s 798 Art District; one facing me and the above shot. I much prefer this photo from behind, where you feel them being drawn in by the little girl in the painting. In fact, your focus of attention changes from the boys faces to the girl.
It’s obvious that the normal angle for this photo shoot at the Shanghai Auto Show would be to join the throng of professional photographers. I chose a different angle and got not only the car, but a better feel of the show itself.
Too often photos of people are taken from adult eye level. Try mixing things up, like crouching down to the level of a child. In this picture from Luang Prabang, Laos, I hover above the kids. I’m looking down on the action, as they are. This photo is mostly hands and backs of heads, but it does a good job of capturing children at play.
5. Make use of silhouettes and natural lighting
In the photo above, I wanted to capture the wonderful jazz artists portrayed on the building across from the San Francisco Jazz Center. These two men were engrossed in the artists as well. Since I don’t know the men, I simply used their silhouettes to tell the story. I think the photo of the building is better with them in it.
Most people would take a picture of this San Miguel de Allende, Mexico performer from the front. By going behind him to create a silhouette, I get the spirit of the performance; but I also capture the whole scene – audience, Christmas tree, cathedral.
I rarely take flash photography these days because digital cameras are so good at recreating natural light, even at night. Gone are the days of the obtrusive flash. Turn it off, and trust your camera – even your iPhone. I was able to take this nighttime photo of travel writer, Don George, as he met a dignitary in Bangkok, without a bothersome flash.
6. Use people as a secondary focus
I used to wait for people to get out of a travel picture. Now, I sometimes wait to include them. These blackneck goats go right down Bahnhofstrasse in Zermatt, Switzerland each day. That’s what your eye might see when you first glance at this photo. But the scene is enhanced by including a family in their traditional hiking garb, a reminder that this is, after all, the Alps.
Where do you look first in the above photo? Is it the woman gazing at the ocean on her trip to Cambria, California? Or surprise, a beach full of elephant seals! The picture is enhanced by having both subjects (but neither is posing). Nature and people can go together if you are smart about it.
7. Photograph people in meaningful backgrounds
I must have hundreds of pictures of the Forbidden City in Beijing, but the above is my favorite. I took it in 2005, during China’s one-child policy. So, it was not uncommon to see a little child playing alone, only comforted by sucking her thumb. The faded paint in this remote corner of the Forbidden City creates almost a watercolor feel as well. For me, this is one picture that tells a thousand words.
Artist Arnado McLaughlin makes his Mexican home in his creation, the Chapel of Jimmy Ray. Rather than a posed picture, I asked him to go about his daily routine and captured this shot in front of one of his amazing mosaics. Both the person and background are meaningful.
Attending the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing was a special travel experience, and I took some photos of the newly-built Olympic stadium or “Bird’s Nest.” Placing this child (with permission), dressed in a Chinese outfit adorned with flags, in front of the stadium immediately makes her and the background meaningful.
8. Use selfies to create a travel memory
You visit this beautiful waterfall. Go ahead a take a selfie for your own benefit; but don’t expect others to appreciate your head obscuring the scenery. Just like I have been saying throughout, use photography to tell a story – selfies included.
I was in Bangkok, Thailand when their beloved king died. A memorial was erected to depict stages of his life, including his love of photography, starting as a young prince. Feeling a kindred spirit, I thought a picture of myself holding a simple camera would be a fitting tribute. It’s a travel memory that will stay with me.
When I met the incomparable travel author Pico Iyer for the first time, we decided on a photo together. I suggested we use this small library of books as a background. Taking less than a minute to get in position created a picture that also tells a story of an author and lover of books.
Often journeys take place with a group of friends. It can be a challenge to get a group photo. I tell the person (usually a stranger) who is taking the picture to take a wide shot to capture both the group and the key travel location. I can always later crop out the extraneous people, light poles, etc. In the above photo you have a happy selfie of five, with the breath-taking backdrop of Zhang Yimou’s production at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in China. Memory secured.
Travel is fun. Selfies should show you having a good time, such as on this outrigger canoe on Maui. Note how our group leaned left and right to get into the frame. You might also note that none of the selfies I have featured here were taken by me holding my iPhone. I am a little old-school, in that I think asking a stranger to take my photo nearly always produces better results than a picture literally within my arm’s length.
9. Capture people in everyday settings
Not every travel photo has to be a monument, mountain stream, or sunset at the beach. If you truly want travel memories, snap lots of shots of people in their everyday life of work or play.
U Bein is a historic bridge in Mandalay, Myanmar, built in 1850. Look closely to see how my photo captures current typical family life in this region just by the people on this bridge. Every picture can tell a story.
I like to take pictures in far-away markets, with all the local fruits, vegetables, and meats. This scene from Monte Carlo is only enhanced when adding a local proprietor and his customer. Believe it or not, I shot it more than 40 years ago!
I have so many photographs of people at work and play in Vietnam, it’s difficult to choose from among the farmer in a rice paddy, the old lady carrying bananas on a bicycle, to this home that I visited in Ninh Binh. Trying my hand at rice paper making with the mom proves that it’s people as much as places that make travel memories.
10. Experiment and take lots of pictures
I might return from a trip, look at my photos, and wonder why did I not take a panorama shot? How come they are all stills and no videos? Some of us who go back to the days of film and our own darkrooms (ok, me) might have a tendency to painstakingly compose the best shot instead of just taking several and later deleting the bad ones.
Speaking of later, there are plenty of easy-to-use tools on your laptop or apps on your phone for editing and special effects. Personally, I mostly use basic tools to straighten or crop a photo. Get rid of unwanted people so the focus in on the people you care about.
In the photo above I was struck by the juxtaposition of the old man still living in a Beijing hutong and the younger woman who might be breaking out of that life. Their expressions are the same, though. To make this point I decided to turn the picture into old-looking black and white, then let her emerge in color. The lesson here is to experiment and see what you like best. After all, travel is fun and so is taking pictures!
Do you have any questions or tips of your own? Feel free to comment at the bottom of this post.
