Travel & Tourism Technology Trends

Prerequisites: You should have a digital camera of your choice to use for business purposes.

Estimated Time for Completion: Reading time of 20 mins.

Details: Now that you have decided to add photography to your tours, you will want to make sure that the photos you take are really good.  After all, what’s the point in taking a bunch of photos if they don’t represent your tour or the experience that your customers have in the best possible way.  I’m by no means a professional photographer, but I have found some great resources on-line that have helped me improved my photography skills.  Here are some basic tips that I have learned for ensuring you get the best photos each and every time you pull out your camera.

1. Look your customers in the eye. That means being at the level (vertically) as your subject.  This allows you to capture the look of excitement in their eyes, the smile, and the look of happiness on their face.
2. Avoid distracting backgrounds. Look for backgrounds that don’t interfere with the subject of the photo.  You’re trying to avoid the tree growing out of your customer’s head or the river that looks like it’s flowing into their ear.
3. Use your flash outdoors. “What?” I hear you say.  It’s not as crazy as it sounds.  Bright sunlight can cause dark shadows and high contrast.  Use a flash to brighten the subject in relation to the background.  This is especially valuable when taking photos of a subject against a brightly lit water or sand backgrounds.
4. The rule of thirds. Avoid taking photos where the subject is directly in the middle of the photo.  Imagine your photo in terms of three parts and try to arrange the subject so that it is off-center in one of the other two thirds of the photo.  This is particularly interesting if there is a dramatic background behind the subject.
5. Focus on the subject. If you use the previous rule, you will undoubtedly run into the situation where you cannot focus on the subject.  This is because, if you are using an auto-focus camera, your camera will try to focus on whatever is in the middle of your viewfinder.  Of course, since you’ll want to move the subject off to one side in order to avoid a boring photo, you will need to lock the focus on the subject and then move the camera to one side before taking the photo.  You may need to refer to your camera’s user manual in order to figure out how to do this properly.
6. Get Close. As with tip number one, you will want to get in close to the subject of the photo.  This doesn’t necessarily mean just a person but objects too.  Get in nice and tight so that you see textures, expressions, excitement, happiness, and all those other things that make photos so interesting and fun to look at.
7. Take LOTS of photos. Digital photos are cheap, so don’t be afraid to take as many photos as you want (assuming your memory card is large enough).  On average, in my experience, out of a set of a hundred photos, I will have about twenty that are really good.  The trick is to know what to look for and to be ruthless in your culling of mediocre shots.
8. Capture the moment. Generally speaking, your customers will look more interesting and exciting if they are doing what ever it is you do.  Group photos are great but wouldn’t your customers remember their experience better if you took a photo of them Zip lining or river rafting or riding your train?  I think so.
9. Vary your angle. You don’t always have to take a photo in either landscape or potrait mode where one edge is parallel or perpendicular to the horizon.  Consider changing up the angle of the photo.  For example, if you’re taking a portrait, try tilting your camera about 10 degrees and moving the subject off to one side.
10. Be an active photographer. Don’t just take photos, make photos.  Look for opportunities to capture interesting moments, times of high emotion and energy, excitement, and interest.  If you begin to look for opportunities to capture moments, you will find that life is filled with wonderful memorable moments waiting to be captured.

Outcome: If you are successful at completing this daily action, you will have the basic tools to start taking better photos of your tours and customers.  Your customers will appreciate the photos you take and your potential customers will get a better sense of what you offer and what they might experience if they use your services.

Useful resources:

1. Kodak – 10 Tips for Great Photos
2. Nikon – Travel & Adventure – Capture Your World
3. Take Great Photos Blog
4. 10 Great Photo Blogs
5. Photo.net – 10 Tips for improving travel photos