Travelling makes you a storyteller. Photographs make your story richer. You’ve got to agree. But have you tried storytelling with photographs? It’s almost like reality. You talk about the wind in your hair, the melting ice cream on a hot day, the waves hitting your leg on the beach and showcase it. Photographs make your story richer.
Selfies are a big thing. I love it. You love it. Everyone loves it. But do they tell a story? Some of it might. But do they capture the essence of your travel? Nah!
Ditch selfies for quirky creative pictures.
Here are a couple of things I’ve learned which makes your travel photographs richer, creative and fun to showcase on your Instagram feed. Read away before the long weekend!
Double Exposure
A lot of new DSLRs come with this mode inbuilt but this is something you could manually do in Photoshop too.
Steps to create a double exposure photograph
Step 1: (If you have a double exposure mode on your camera, select that. If you don’t skip to step 2)
Step 2: Click a silhouette with a plain background
Step 3: Find a pattern or a texture around. Could be waves, leaves, a bookshelf or anything you think will tell the right story.
Step 4: Use Photoshop to combine both the images (Only if you don’t have Double Exposure mode in your camera)
Astrophotography
We often go to places with clear skies. We see a lot of stars and sometimes even the milky way with your naked eyes. But did you know your camera can capture so much more than what you see? Astrophotography is the art of photographing celestial objects.
Steps to create a picture of the stars
Step 1: Make sure you have a clear sky with no pollution, a tripod and a DSLR/ Phone with an app where you can manually control the exposure.
Step 2: Step up your phone/camera on the tripod. Set the exposure to 30 seconds ( Maximum you can go without a remote), point towards the stars and click!
Voila! You get something like this image below! This was shot with a Canon 5D Mark 3 but such images can be created on a phone too.
Long exposure
Long-exposure involves using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, the moving elements.
All of us have seen such images. In reality, it’s very easy to click.
Steps to create a long exposure is pretty similar to astrophotography but here the subject has to be something like a moving traffic, or waterfalls etc.
Reflection
We see reflections everywhere. From a little puddle in the street to a sewage leak. They make very interesting images, giving an all-new perspective to your photographs. Move around the puddle to find different objects that get reflected. If you find nothing, make someone stand and get an interesting portrait.
Spin Ups
Spin ups is a trick photograph where one uses the long exposure to create interesting images!
Steps to create spinups
Step 1: You will need: A thin steel wool (You’ll get it at any hardware store) A whisk, a long rope, a camera and a tripod.
Step 2: Stuff the steel wool inside a whisk and light it on fire. Tie the whisk to a long rope and make circular movements. The burning steel wool leaves our sparks.
Step 3: Capture this with a long exposure technique.
PS: Do not try this inside the house or a place with any electrical items. Station the person who is going to spin away from everything and everyone to avoid any fire accident.
What’s-In-My-Hand
This is one of my most favorite types of travel pictures. After a point, you’ve clicked the scenery, you’ve clicked people and people with the scenery. Ask yourself what’s the extra thing that’s making that place beautiful for you? Like an ice cream on a beach, hot chai with a view of the Himalayas, a book on a tea estate. Raise that to the camera and click it with your current view. This captures the feeling and not just the scenery. It tells people more than just how pretty the place is.
Upload your What’s in my hand pictures with this hashtag on Instagram #WhatsInMyHand
Flat-Lays
A flat lay is when you shoot stylized items from directly above on a flat surface. You can use flat lay to tell a story. It could be about the food you eat, or the place you are going or what you did that day. All you need is some good lighting a phone and a camera!
This post first appeared on Tripoto