TPOP Tips for Awesome Photos!

“A picture paints a thousand words.”  Just check out the inquisitive little visitor’s tail in someone’s mega lens above:) As travel bloggers we love snapping shots and are aways trying to improve. From classes and trial and error we’re sharing our TPOP  Tips for Awesome Photos! 

Whether musing over paintings in art galleries and museums or thumbing through the latest Instagram, I think we’d agree humans crave visuals.  Creating images has been central to communicating and sharing life experiences since records began.

Think of ancient African or Stone Age cave drawings and the decorated pharaohs tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings!  Fast forward to 2024; we now have amazing technology at our fingertips to capture points in time in seconds.  

How Many Photos Exist?

In 1980 Kodak estimated a total of  80 billion photos had been taken in the world.

Fast forward to today and Rise Above Research project estimated that across the planet we will be taking over 1.6 trillion photos this year! That cloud must be getting mighty big!

No surprise – 93% of these will be taken with a mobile device.

TPOP Tips for Awesome Photos

1. Learn your Camera’s capabilities

Ruby went to a day’s photography class a couple of years ago. She had her ‘basic’ camera with its inbuilt zoom.

She admits to feeling a bit embarrassed when it was her turn to introduce herself and her equipment. Others seemed to have bigger, more sophisticated apparatus with screw on lenses and more.  However, the teacher was clear that it didn’t matter whether you have a mobile phone, a basic camera or high end professional kit.   He said so much of photography is about ‘reading the view’. He was right!

“Invest time to get to know what it can do, read and re- read the manual. There’s always a little trick to learn and even basic cameras these days take super photos if you have a good eye and are willing to practice”.

2. Set up shots using THE 1/3rd RULE

Your camera likely has this function built-in so check (remember Tip 1 to read the manual:).  It’s very simple.  When you look through the lens, the image appear in 9 even squares (like a grid).  Move the screen to center and frame against the grid. 

In these examples, from Africa’s incredible Victoria Falls, you can hopefully see and feel difference. If we only get a chance to visit somewhere once having our TPOP Tips for Awesome Photos! might just help capture that once in a lifetime shot!

3. Pay attention to lighting

When’s the best time of day to capture the majesty of the Taj Mahal, Giza Pyramids, Victoria Falls or Torres del Paine during your upcoming bucket list trips?

Experts swear that most of the time sunrise and a couple of hours before sunset are the most natural illuminating times. So be aware of that, if you’re hoping to  capture ‘dream destination’ memories that you’ll want to frame and hang in your hallway.

Play around in these ‘magic time slots’ to capture shots of interesting life wherever you are. If you find you have shadows in your photos, check if you took them in the middle of the day.   I took a lot of photos of impressive ruins in Turkey and they were spoilt with shadows.  It’s worth getting out of bed early and hey you miss the crowds too!

Here’s a great photo of Ruby advertising her love of taking photos – but look, it’s cast a shadow.  That’s what we’re talking about.

4. Experiment with different camera modes

Burst shots, portrait, slo-mo, raw and more. “What on earth are all these for?” “Seems easier just to stay on main photo mode on my phone.”  But we know these functions are here for good reasons and here at TPOP we have to keep up with the times:)

So recently we went to free Apple Classes and it was extremely helpful. We understand better when and how to switch between modes. Raw is no longer a foreign term on our screen!  But the raw setting uses loads of ‘space’ – 48MB – so use it sparingly.  TPOP Tip: Check for free classes at your local store or similar for other brands.

Feeling confident to switch modes to get the best shots of  flowers, slow motion on a landscape or a dolphin splashing around you, makes all the difference to capturing a moment of joy!

5. Ask before you photograph someone

Here we stand, absorbing a stunning sunrise in the highlands of Sri Lanka.  We have an urge to capture the moment and grab our phone.  Turning around we see a group of women working together as tea pickers, laughing as they work at speed.  Admiring their talents we want to capture this moment.

Do we just shoot or do we engage first?  Although it can be awkward to ask, especially if you don’t speak the local dialect, we believe it’s important to ask permission.

Explaining why you want to take a photo, or doing a selfie with them and showing them, can quickly break barriers. 

If someone asks for money to take a photograph of them, that’s your call.  We imagine if we were in their position, it’s a complex situation.  Is this a main source of family income, or is it just to send tourists a message to ‘ask first’ and connect with us?

6. Invest in a small tripod for Awesome Photos!

A small tripod can help you get great shots. It’s essential if you’re going to do a long exposure of that amazing night shot like these one of nighttime in Rocky Mountains, Colorado and the other Chattanooga Valley, Tennessee as night the sun sets.  

Tripods are inexpensive and easy to pack.

All modern I-phones have built-in technology to help master this style of photo!

7. Create your story through the lens

Here are 2 photos from a trip to Botswana.  See the difference?  The first photograph is a story of rural village life. The store is right in front and Jude is chatting with the manager.  Kids are playing in the distance. 

Switch to the second photo. It’s literally in the same spot but she’s meeting the craftsperson and learning about her skill and seeing her own kids.  Two different memories from two great conversations.

8. Follow your heart’s passion

Our dad loved trees.  Wherever he travelled, he’d always get his photos printed out and he would painstakingly compile his adventures in an albums, with excellent handwritten headlines.  But my goodness, he had picture after picture of trees.  He could talk about each of them for hours and anywhere he went, seeing and photographing trees was a  priority.  

It was his passion, his thing. So whether it’s flowers, mountains, animals, people, if you have a passion like he did, keep snapping. Your collection will grow to be amazing.

If you’ve already done something like this, we’d love to  feature it on our blog. Anyone published a coffee table book of their collection?

9. Take time to edit and delete

After a trip to Galapagos with two cameras,  we downloaded all our photos, searching for our awesome photos! It was completely overwhelming to try and sort them out.  We highly recommend taking a  few minutes at the end of the day to at least delete those ‘bad ones’ and duplicates. It will keep your portfolio manageable and make it more fun to create albums when you’re back home. 

10. Have Fun!

Ultimately, taking amazing photographs is about having fun! Don’t take it all too seriously!

TPOP Tips for Awesome Photos!

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