On the road with the camera. Travel Photography

Traveling. There is something magical about this word. The big world outside your door. Incredible landscapes, unexpected encounters, someone’s unfamiliar culture, food, cities full of all sorts of sounds and smells. Today the world is open, traveling is much easier. Make a route, pack a backpack and go. And more and more people are adding a camera to their travel kit. And it turns out that they are no longer just travelers, but travel photographers. But what is really travel photography?

Full review and test drive of the Niko D500

Nikon D500, AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2 lens.8-4E ED VR,

Nomads of Kyrgyzstan – shepherds and perfect riders. Their story is one of herds and equestrian competition

It’s a good idea to start by thinking about what the journey is. A trip to Morocco, Yugoslavia or Iran is a journey. Photos taken in Canada – travel photography. And a trip to a neighbouring town is a travel? And a walk down the street next door is a journey? Suppose you took a picture of your hometown – is it a travel photo or not? Rather not. What if a Moroccan comes to your hometown and takes a picture of it?? Perhaps it’s travel photography after all. But how would these photos differ? Exoticism is good, of course. But to be quite honest, a journey is any outing for the purpose of learning something new. It’s prosaic, but it opens up many budget travel destinations, doesn’t it??

And if you went on this trip with a camera it is already travel photography. Almost. You went to Sahara to shoot dunes. You take one photo, three, ten. And they showed ten pictures of barchans. This is travel photography? No, these are ten pictures of a barkhan.

Travel photography is an attempt to show through your photos how the country, town or village where you went to live. It’s not just landscapes, it’s much more – architecture, cuisine, national holidays, crafts. And of course, the people. You want to tell a story, to capture a country’s spirit and flavor, so much so that the viewer says, “Yeah, I’ve been there myself!”That’s what travel photography is all about. And that’s a task that takes a lot of skill and experience on the part of the photographer.

A travel photographer has to be attentive and clearly understand what’s important and what’s not. In the life of any place, there are important things, and then there are secondary things. When I was testing the Nikon D500 I was shooting in Kyrgyzstan. I traveled around this country a lot, learning about the local people and their culture and traditions. I can tell you for sure, that for these people a bazaar and yurts are much more important than for example the shopping malls in Bishkek. Certainly these malls can be part of the story and help show the contrast between the capital and the high pastures with their traditional life. But it would be wrong to focus on city life in a story about Kyrgyzstan.

So when you buy a ticket or pack for a trip, try to learn as much as you can about the place you’re going to. Who lives there?? What they live by? Where they live? What nature is like there? What history is behind this place and how it plays out today? Start asking all these questions even before you travel and look for the answers. But don’t forget the world may be different from what you learn on the internet.

Buildings fall apart, people change careers and move, beautifully woven rugs from photos can turn out to be just a well shot doormat. You have to be prepared for this turn of events. If you see that the chosen theme, to put it mildly, not very good – do not waste your time on it. It’s better to dedicate it to something more interesting. And on the other hand, if your journey brings you interesting people or subjects, then don’t think too much, change your route, stay and shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot!

Nikon D500, AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR,

The Karakol cattle market is an important part of Kyrgyz shepherd’s home and work.

Going there and taking pictures means understanding and communicating an important part of their lives

If everything goes right, your travel reportage will be a moderate mix of landscapes, reportage, portraits of locals, some sketches of local life.

Obviously, this approach requires the photographer to be able to shoot everything he or she encounters on the trip. Nature, wildlife, architecture, even macro. You have to be able to shoot it all, if not skillfully, then at a decent level to have the same overall level of quality for your reportage. If your viewer sees an interesting landscape, but it’s followed by a lousy portrait or banal reportage, chances are your viewer will simply be disappointed and go look at beautiful photos somewhere else.

Experience and knowledge, ability to work fast and adapt to changing conditions are important components of success in travel photography. But they’re not the only ones. The choice of equipment plays an important role. A good travel photographer should be prepared for anything that you encounter on your journey. You have to know and feel your camera well. You’ll get used to the controls and learn how to change settings without looking. Then at a critical moment instead of messing with the buttons you’ll get your shot.

Nikon D500, AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2 lens.8-4E ED VR

A yurt is a shepherd’s dwelling in summer and an important part of Kyrgyz culture.

Choose your camera carefully. It should be good for any scene, it should be fast, and it should last a long time. You’ll likely have to shoot a lot of fast-paced scenes, possibly in low light conditions. So, it would be nice to have a camera that shoots decently at high ISOs. Don’t forget that you will have to carry all the equipment on you. I had to backpack through cities and towns for 10-12 hours a day, carry my gear up into the mountains, and go for long drives with my gear on my back. So, the weight of your set of equipment matters a lot. The new Nikon D500 is the perfect camera for travel photography.

Being ready for anything applies not only to your knowledge, but also to your set of optics. Certain scenes are best shot with certain types of lenses. For landscapes a wide angle is great, for animal portraits a TV, and for city scenes it is best to use a stopgap camera. But if you don’t have the ability or desire to lug an entire set of optics, you can choose a lens with a wide range of focal lengths for travel, such as the AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24MM F/3.5-4.5G ED.Or try to match your style of photography to the focal lengths you have. After all, it’s not just the point on the map that interests your viewers in your report, it’s your personal perception of it as well.

Nikon D500, AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR