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TRAVEL PORTRAITS

By far for most people means portrait photography: photographing each other during holidays. Your travel companions get together at the front of the church, then you walk 50 meters backward till the whole church is included in your composition. Everyone watching. Smile! Click.
And what do you have? A group of people, with completely unrecognizable and over-exposed faces, standing under a large building. Recognizable?

How you can take useful travel photos? Consider the following 3 steps: .........................................................................................................
COMPOSITION

Back to the example with the church. First take a few photos of the church itself, and do not care about the people. Better yet, try them eliminate them as much as possible. Then ask your travel companions to stand somewhere at a distinctive part of the building (large door next to a statue, against wall). Use optical zoom of least 3x (the more the better) for a blurred background and stand so just so far that you can see them from their hips in the viewer of your camera.

Do you really want the building and the people in the same photo? The solution is simple. Not only you, but everybody should walk 50 meters backwards. For the distance between you and the group follows the same rules as just described. Pay attention to the focus! People should be sharp, not the background!

TIP: Try to avoid that other people will stand or walk behind your group.

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SKINTONE

If you have time, check the color and brightness of their faces after the first shot. It is always better for if they are standing under a tree or at the shadow side of the building than in the fully sun. .........................................................................................................
SPONTANEITY

Take photos while you are waiting. Ask them then to make a movement, for example, look at the people next to you or let them talk to each other. If you're ready and they are moving further, you may also take 1-2 quickly pictures.

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This whole happening would not take longer as the first version (with dots as people next to the church) as you know to find the right functions of your camera and you can change the white balance, the light metering and use the optical zoom quickly enough. A comlete description of all these issues you can find in portraits general.

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