Time to be Inspired by Travel Photography

As the 2011 Travel Photographer of the Year is announced, some tips to invigorate the way your document your trips

Winter is always an interesting time of year for photographers specialising in international and travel-based work.

Falling somewhere between art and journalism, travel photography is a genre of its own. What is more, with a wealth of portable HD and SD cameras available in both pocket sizes as well as full-size models from electrical experts such as Currys, travel photography is extremely accessible to anyone with a camera and a ticket to ride…

This year’s winner of the coveted Travel Photographer of the Year Award was London-born Louis Montrose, who in fact grew up in New York City and is now based in the San Diego area of California.

Whilst Montrose, formerly an Elizabethan scholar now turned professional photographer, is a working artist with an established portfolio, the beauty of the TPOTY Award is its openness to work by amateur and new artists.

As well as the Young Travel Photographer of the Year Award, the scope and range of the competition – and the subsequent exhibition held at the Royal Geographic Society in London every year – allows photographers to command huge sums for their images.

17 and 18 year old former winners have gone on to garner five figure deals for their portraits of diverse communities and individuals from their travels. Are there any tips to fellow travellers and camera-lovers, regardless of whether they want to earn money?

Key is to purchase a camera with which you feel both comfortable but which also has the capacity to capture the kind of definition you require.

If you are very interested in taking portraits of communities in the countries you visit, prioritise high-definition cameras with excellent crisp zoom and manual focus, which will allow you the time and personalisation to make small and significant changes in your photo-taking.

Alternatively, if you are planning a very long trip, or a trip to countries where you do not wish your photography to be ostentatious, one of the latest pocket high-def cameras from Canon or Sony could be just the ticket.

Taken on a Nikon D80

About Jason

I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and love photography, sailing, and of course travel. Before heading off to travel the world with my wife and daughter I worked in the Civil Engineering and GIS field.