Picture perfect

Steve Davey, author of the Footprint Travel Photography guide, shares some of his favourite pictures with us, and divulges his top photography secrets
  
  


Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Arizona, USA. “I was driving this road in the late afternoon and was struck by the light and the way that it just disappeared off over the horizon. The shot on its own looked rather empty, so I set up a powerful telephoto lens and waited for around 40 minutes for something to come along. If you just photograph a thing, then all you have is a record of what it looks like. Photograph it with something else and you can set up levels of meaning.” Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Yangshuo, China. "These fishermen have trained cormorants to go fishing for them. The birds dive for fish, but can't eat them due to the ties that are around their necks. When shooting people with hats on you will often find that their faces will be in shadow. In this case I used a technique called fill-in flash to lighten the face, literally filling in the shadows with light. Even the simplest camera will have a setting where you can force the flash to fire." Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Glacier, Svalbard, Norway. "I spent a couple of weeks up in the high Arctic of the Svalbard Archipelago, photographing the tremendous landscapes and wildlife. Having the boat in the picture gives a sense of scale. Without it, it would be hard to distinguish whether the ice was a few feet or many metres high. This boat also breaks the compositional rule of thirds, by placing the subject at the very edge of the frame: accentuating the great size of the glacier." Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Aït Benhaddou, Morocco. This image was shot at sunset, when only a part of the fortified mud houses in the ancient kasbah was lit. This picks out the detail, and sets it against the darker shadow areas. The light is warm and golden, but as there is still a lot of light in the sky the contrast between the light and shadow areas isn't too great. This means that plenty of detail can be seen in the shadow areas. Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Laos When shooting a portrait it is important to get in close, and not just to use a telephoto lens and shoot from a distance. Getting in close allows you to have a degree of interaction with your subject, and makes sure that you can maintain eye contact. With a portrait you either need them to be looking into- or significantly away from- the camera. This man was relaxing in deep shadows, which means that the light is soft and even. Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Prayer Wheel, Lhasa, Tibet. "Sometimes a small detail can say more about a subject than a picture that shows everything. I was sitting amongst pilgrims outside of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, quietly taking pictures. After a while they completely forgot that I was there. I timed my shot so that the spinning weight was in the shot, and used a slow enough speed so that the wheel was blurred. The result is a simple, yet iconic shot, familiar to anyone who has been to Tibet." Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. “There are a various problems that people encounter when shooting massive landscapes such as this. Most importantly, the quality of the light will make or break a landscape. Sunrise light is particularly evocative, as it is warm and directional, casting atmospheric shadows, which show the texture and shape of the landscape, but the shadows are not so harsh and deep that they won't show detail.” Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Land diving, Vanuatu. “The land divers of Pentecost are the fore-runners of modern bungy jumping. This ancient ritual involves divers throwing themselves off tall towers with vines tied around their ankles. If you want to freeze fast action such as this, you will need to use a very fast shutter speed of at least 1/1000 second. This will avoid any blur, and can result in images where your subject is frozen in seemingly impossible positions.” Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Taj Mahal from across the Yamuna River. “This image was shot at sunrise, when the actual Taj compound is closed. This gives a misty and evocative feel, where the building is largely recognisable only by it's familiar shape. I also shot through some reeds, which gives it an attractive frame. If it's possible to walk around your subject, you should always try different angles. This allows you to create a unique and exciting image whatever camera you have.” Photograph: Steve Davey
Top tips on taking better travel photographs
Venice, Italy. “When shooting a city with a wideangle lens it is hard to avoid distortion- when buildings appear to converge slightly. This is because you often have to tilt the camera to get in the whole scene. I love this effect. The key is to exaggerate it. Use a very wide lens and tilt the camera wildly. Looking at a shot like this, you know that the effect is intentional, as the distortion has created a new reality that is different to what you would actually see.” Photograph: Steve Davey
 

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