Holiday photos are everything; memories of our trips and mementos to show friends and family back home.
Very often though, our customers remark on how they struggle to snap photos that they are 100% happy with.
Whether it is the landscape of Cappadocia, Turkish food dishes or local people, they are rarely happy with the result.
Certain techniques though, will instantly improve your photos and you do not need to be a professional or have the latest equipment.
Basic Photography Tips for Beginners Visiting Turkey
Digital cameras were the best invention that could ever happen to photography. We can instantly view and delete photos in the moment. Very often, I will take numerous photos of the same subject on different settings and at the end of the day, download them to my computer where I will keep the best and delete the rest.
It might sound daft however; I have met many people who never read the instruction manual for their camera. Read it and perform some practise shoots for each setting. Do not be afraid to get off the automatic setting and onto the manual!
Be prepared by ensuring you have a large memory card and the batteries are fully charged. If you know the environment you are going to, pre-set the camera for example, if I were attending a Turkish night show, I would pre-set the camera for nighttime photos.
Taking photos of other people is hard. Many folks leave them out and focus on the landscape or building. Alternatively, they spend a long time taking the shot and everyone looks uncomfortable on the final picture. I think the best shots are when people are not expecting their picture to be taken but if you cannot catch them unaware, place them at either the left or right of the picture so you still get focus of the destination you are at. Do not forget you can also ask your guide to take some pictures of you.
Look behind you for unexpected photo opportunities. Almost everyone focuses on what is in front of him or her and we forget that by looking behind us, we have a new photo opportunity taken from a different angle.
Every professional photographer uses photo-editing programs. Very rarely have I seen a brilliant photo that was not touched up or altered. A free photo-editing program for you to use is Picasa or Photoscape.
The time of day can greatly affect a photo. Mid-day is when the sun is at its highest and you should not take pictures with the sun in the background. More impressive dramatic scenes are taken at sunrise or sunset.
Readers’ questions: Do you have any tips for taking good photographs?