Travel photography is an excellent way to express your passion while capturing the beauty of destinations and your journey in a creative way. When travelling to historical areas such as Italy, Spain or Greece, photographers should keep their eyes open for the unique details of their surroundings.
As image artists, we are able to take in the beauty of a new place while also processing the information around us, visualizing our next image as we stroll.
For example, I have an interest in photographing doorways and alleyways when I am travelling in Europe. I am intrigued by the architecture and the attention to detail in the often weathered buildings. While strolling and visualizing how I want
to capture a shot, I often ask myself, “if these structures
could talk, what would they say?”
By keeping your approach to travel photography simple, you will find an engaging subject that creates visual impact. Again, architectural objects such as narrow streets, doorways and alleyways can be photographed at any time of the day as the light is usually indirect, giving you light on the opposite side of the narrow street.

Framing your perfect shot

No matter what you are capturing, remember the subject matter should be the impact point of the image, and using strong compositional elements is key to enhancing the visual impact of the final piece. Using fine art techniques such as surrounding square structures, lines and forms can help add balance to an image. Using strong horizontal or vertical lines also lend themselves to strong composition.
Colour in photography can often be used to enhance a basic image, creating a more dynamic composition. Like a lot of fine art works, some captures are based purely on texture, colour and light direction. The use of light direction can enhance the texture and details of the subject while directing our eyes to the focal point. Finding the best angle and lens perspective can add another dimension to the composition, incorporating light ratios and creating the correct level of contrast with the subject matter.

Picking the right gear for travel

When travelling on vacation, keep equipment selection simple and light, while not compromising quality. My camera of choice would be a Nikon DSLR camera body combined with a 24-70mm lens with vibration reduction. This is a versatile lens that will get you through most of your travels.
If you have space for two additional prime lenses I would recommend bringing a 20mm f1.8 lens and a 105mm f1.4 lens. The prime lens setup lets you consider extreme perspectives by providing a full range of opportunity to create images using depth of field and wide-angle dynamics (with the 20mm) and excellent lens compression for photographing people (with the 105mm).
Above all else, have fun not only creating the images but finding them as you stroll around on your travels. No matter where you are, be sure to take in the area’s beauty, culture and lifestyle. The photos will come. The idea is to document and record memories while also looking for the best photography opportunities in each location that can be added to your body of work.

Known for his unique approaches to portrait and wedding photography, Nikon Canada Ambassador Sam Sciarrino is an internationally known master photographer and owner of Horvath Photography located in Toronto. A second-generation professional photographer for over 25 years, Sam holds his Master Photographer Degrees and Accolade of Exceptional Photographic Achievement, Master of Photographic Arts from Professional Photographers of Canada, and also a Master Craftsman of Photographic Arts from Professional Photographers of America. He has also been honored as a Triple Master of WPPI.

For more on Sam go to: http://www.horvathphoto.com/