From the Manual

Get Out There

• To avoid the crowds, get up early and stay out late.
• The ideal time to take photos is the magic hour.

Get Lost

• Observe the locals by eating where they eat and going where they go.
• Wander down paths, around bends, and over rises.

Get Weathered

• Waterfalls are the best thing to photograph in the rain.
• Woodlands are best photographed during overcast skies.
• Gardens and closeups of nature look great in overcast light or wet conditions.
• Rainy days are also a great time to head indoors to photograph things like cathedrals or museums.
• List of things you should plan to photograph during rain or overcast skies.

From the Transcript

We talked earlier about the necessary need for research and journaling. In this video we’ll be looking at some prompts to get you taking great photos, which are the most important part of a travel album. This might seem obvious. I mean, certainly you plan to take a lot of photos during your adventure. But, before you do I want to share three simple tips to help you make the most of your photographing opportunities. Get out your worksheet and pencil, because here they are.

The first tip is to get out there. You won’t always know what to photograph until you get out and experience life at your destination. If you're wanting to capture photos with less of a touristy crowd, get out early in the morning or stay out late at night. This might mean that you wander around before meeting up with your group for breakfast or stay out late to catch the sunset before returning back to your room. Professional photographers will tell you that the magic hour (or the ideal time to take photos) is when the sun is just above the horizon, either in the morning or evening. During this time scenes are illuminated with a wonderful warm, golden glow.

Tip number two is to get lost. Sit in cafés and watch life pass by. Don't eat where the tourists do, but where you see locals. Wander down a path and see where it leads. Look around the bends, and over rises. Get away from the crowd.

The third tip is to get weathered. Chances are you will not have all sunny skies during your time spent at your destination. But that’s no reason to put your camera away. The experts say that the best subjects to shoot when it rains are waterfalls. Not only because there's plenty of water, but the overcast conditions provide soft, even light for a low-contrast image. If you plan to capture photos of woodlands, the best time to do that is under overcast conditions. This is the time woodlands come alive with color, as direct sunshine tends to be too high-contrast and distracting. Gardens also look good in overcast light and the rain will make the leaves glisten and come alive. Close-ups of nature are great anytime, but especially in wet conditions as more creatures come out, plus the overcast light brings out every detail in the subject. And if the weather get to be too much, rainy days are also a great time to head indoors to photograph things like cathedrals or museums.

On your Before You Go worksheet you will find a place where you can write a list of things that can specifically be photographed at your destination during rainy or cloudy skies. So, using the research you gathered from an earlier video, take some time now to jot down some things you’d like to try and remember to capture. This list, along with all the other lists you’ve already made, could also be written in your travel journal.

Remember, this list will be specific to your destination. If I were taking a trip to Ochos Rios, Jamaica, my list might look like this. So, here we are once again doing a checkup of the Before You Go Worksheet for this lesson. Were you able to fill in all the blanks? To do a self-check, here is the answer key for this lesson. I’ll see you in the next video.