Holidays are prime time for photography, and with these simple tips in your suitcase, you’re guaranteed some fantastic holiday memories!
Today’s smartphones have turned us all into hobby photographers. Every day we take pictures of the children, beautiful views to and from work or in nature. But it’s still on holiday that we photograph more than usual – and that’s quite understandable. We travel to see and experience new things, cultivate quality time and expand our horizons, and of course it must be documented! When we at Apollo are on holiday and share our spot shots on social media, there is often a recurring question: How do you take such nice pictures!?
Fortunately, the truth is that it doesn’t take much! Here we have collected some simple tips to help you on your way.
1. Be prepared!
We’ve all experienced it: You see the perfect subject, but then the phone says there’s not enough storage space. Therefore, always make sure you have plenty of free space BEFORE you leave – then you will ensure the perfect picture when, for example, the little one jumps into the water for the first time. Photographing and editing images consumes the battery on the mobile far too quickly, so another good tip is to always carry a power bank in the beach bag. Last but not least: always have the camera easily accessible – and ALWAYS dry the lens! There is nothing worse than when your favorite photo is ruined by grease stains from your pocket.
2. Get to know the camera
Today’s mobiles are equipped with good cameras – and therefore also more advanced camera functions. So play around with it a bit from home – try different formats such as portraits and wide angle, different lighting and exposure times. Also remember that although all mobile phones have autofocus on the camera, you can choose the focus point yourself by pressing the screen on what you want to be the sharpest.
3. Remember the angles
Different angles can give completely different pictures. You must therefore dare to move a little – go both far away for an overview picture and closer for fine details. Squat or lie down on the grass, get on a bench, move the camera up and down and take pictures of the same subject from different places. If you photograph people, this can apply to them too! Wave the dress, kick the sand or pretend to walk – movement in the image creates eye-catching!
4. Do not zoom!
Very few mobile cameras have optical zoom, with the exception of very few expensive models which often have an additional telephoto lens. When you zoom, you are therefore not really doing anything other than cropping the image – and therefore also minimizing the image quality. Therefore, go closer to your subject – unless it is a lion. You’d better prune afterwards.
5. Use colors and frames
A good tip to bring life to the image, or rather to make it a little more exciting, is to either find something colorful – or something that can frame the subject a bit. It can be anything from flowers, some bushes, a wall or something else that you can hide behind or use as a backdrop. If you choose a “frame” for the picture, it will of course become blurry when you set the focal point on the subject – and suddenly the picture looks more professional!
6. Play with the light !
The biggest challenge when photographing on holiday is often the bright sunlight. The sun is not always your best friend because it can quickly create too strong contrasts. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait for a cloud to get the best shot; Better use the light to your advantage! Take pictures with the sun behind you, as you will get details, faces, etc., but also try to photograph against the sun, as you can get some cool pictures of silhouettes.
Also remember that the darker it is, the longer the shutter speed must be to capture enough light. Therefore, many of us experience that indoor and evening photos often become more blurred. Therefore, always hold the camera as stable as possible – with both hands, preferably with the elbows close to the body, or find something to support the phone on. It may also be worth investing in a small tripod!
7. People, people, people!
A beach is a beautiful subject, but it will be even nicer if it includes someone we care about? – especially if they are not posing but just being in the moment! When you travel, you often also want to take pictures of the local people in their natural element, but remember to ask permission. And it’s also important to remember that not everyone likes to be photographed
8. Avoid apps
You can of course snap as much as you want from your holiday, but since you probably take pictures that you later want to develop or use for other things, it is a good idea to take the pictures in the camera app itself. The pictures we take directly through other apps such as Snapchat and Instagram are of considerably lower quality – and therefore often become pixelated when they are developed. Pssst! This also applies when we share pictures between us! If you send pictures via Messenger and WhatsApp, the files are compressed and the pictures are of poorer quality. If you have an iPhone, Airdrop is therefore your best friend!
9. Use a good editing tool
Are you planning to develop the images, but would like to edit them a bit first? Then we recommend using a good editing tool that doesn’t compress the size or quality! Photoshop and InDesign are examples of good tools. On the latter, you can also save your own “presets” (filters) so that all your images have roughly the same color scale – just like the images above. Perfect for stories on social media and photo books!
10. Take LOTS of pictures !
We don’t need to develop every picture we take. Today we select the favorites from hundreds – so always take many photos of the same subject! On most phones, you can automatically take a bunch of pictures at once if you hold down the shutter button. How to prevent dad from ruining the perfect family photo by blinking
