Holiday Photography: How to capture your holiday memories
Whether you're jetting off to soak up the sun and enjoy some tropical temperatures, or staying closer to home for a short break, a holiday is the ideal time to make wonderful memories. Once you're back home and into the routine of everyday life, looking back at any photographs you might have taken is a great way to relive the experience- so the last thing you want is to be left with pictures that are blurry, badly lit or full of people whose heads have been chopped off by the lens!
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that to get decent holiday photographs, you need an incredibly expensive camera, but this simply isn't true. After all, the point of taking pictures while you're away is simply to make memories and have fun doing so- you're trying to capture precious moments, not win a photography contest! A camera that has a built in flash and scene selection is perfectly adequate, and can be picked up for well under £100- so forget the flashy DSLR and save yourself some money!
A good photograph has many different elements; composition, lighting and creativity to name a few.
Think about the background
When taking the picture, consider where everyone is standing and what might be in the background; try to position the subject of your picture in front of a background that is aesthetically pleasing- and avoid lining them up so that tree branches or telephone poles are growing out of their heads!
Photographing Children
Children are one of the trickier subjects to photograph, because they aren't good at keeping still and often become bored; a good way to get past this is to take their picture when they're engaged in a task and don't realise you're doing it- a good compact camera can capture an action shot with no extra blur.
Lighting
Whether you're shooting people or the landscape, the lighting is probably the most important aspect to consider; too much and your picture will be overexposed and bright, too little and it will be underexposed and too dark to see detail. Use of a flash at night can compensate for poor lighting and dark conditions, and avoiding picture-taking in direct sunlight can counteract unwanted shadows and lens glare.
Be creative
An eye-catching photograph isn't always technically perfect- often it's the creativity which makes it effective and pleasant to look at. Use of props, sunsets and sunrises, and local buildings all help to create images that differ from the standard ‘pool shot' which make up so many holiday snaps. The best thing you can do to ensure that your photographs are top quality is simple- have fun, and think outside the box!
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