Are you looking for some useful photography accessories that won’t break the bank? You’ve come to the right place. There is no shortage of accessories on the photography market, but…
Are you looking for some useful photography accessories that won’t break the bank? You’ve come to the right place.
There is no shortage of accessories on the photography market, but here, we have compiled some really useful ones that you can get for a fraction of price.
Happy shopping!
25 Great Photography Accessories You Can Get On AliExpress
This is a guest post by Max Therry of Photo Geeky. Traveling gives you great opportunities to photograph and record the places you visit. Street photography is a great way to…
This is a guest post by Max Therry of Photo Geeky.
Traveling gives you great opportunities to photograph and record the places you visit. Street photography is a great way to capture the atmosphere and people, and you don’t even have to go abroad to do it – visiting towns and cities near where you live and shooting street scenes makes great practice for when you head off on your travels.
You may feel a little apprehensive about taking your camera into the streets to photograph people, but all you need is some common sense and patience. This article will give you some tips and advice on how to go about capturing street scenes without you feeling intimidated or accidentally offending someone.
7 Awesome Street Travel Photography Tips
Shoot the Images You Like
Often, it seems like the “photography police” takes pleasure in telling people what their images are “supposed” to be like, and that it isn’t a proper street/fashion/travel/portrait image because it “doesn’t fit the rules of the genre” etc.
That’s a shame, because attitudes like that stifle creativity and stop people experimenting and enjoying their photography. Don’t let anyone tell you that your type of street photography isn’t valid – shoot the images that speak to you, not what you think you “should” be shooting!
Keep an Open Mind
You’ll come across many different people and cultures on your journeys, and it pays to keep an open mind and relaxed attitude towards the people and local customs. Try not to judge, even if you don’t personally approve of some things – you’ll get some great images because people will be more relaxed and open around you if they know you’re not condemning the way they live.
At the same time, try not to interfere or get involved in people’s personal lives – keep a respectful distance.
Ask for Permission for Close-Up Shots
It’s always better to ask someone for permission to take their photo close up, if you can. You don’t have to stop and explain at length why you want to, just smile and gesture towards the person and then your camera. This crosses the language barrier (if there is one), and the people will either reply “yes” or “no” to you.
Don’t be afraid to ask for permission. If someone does say no, respect their decision and move on, but don’t let it get you down, or stop you from asking someone else. You have nothing to lose by asking, and a warm smile will go a long way to getting someone to say “yes”!
As a courtesy, you should offer to send them a copy of the edited images if they have internet access, and are willing to give you their email address.
Photograph Festivals and Markets
If you don’t feel comfortable with asking people for permission, you could try going to places where people often expect to be photographed, and are used to it, such as festivals, street performances and tourist markets.
Don’t be afraid to take images of interesting scenes in these places. You’ll find your confidence growing the more you do it. If you do take photos of street performers, it’s only right to put some money in their hat or box after you’ve finished shooting.
At long last, street photography doesn’t just have to be only about people. The buildings, street food, markets with local produce, the vehicles, or even shapes, textures and colors can all tell us about the place you are in. Shoot in your own way, with your own style.
Tell a Story
What is it about the place that you’re in that fascinates you? Is it the people, the buildings, the scene unfolding around you? Capture the essence of the place in your own unique way.
One thing you can do to give your street scenes a dramatic look is to turn your images black and white in your image editor. Traditionally, street photos used to be black and white because the absence of color means you concentrate more on what’s happening in the image, instead of being distracted by the color.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was, perhaps, the master of street photography, and you can learn a lot from his images, as you can also learn and gain inspiration from Vivian Maier’s work in the streets of Chicago.
I wouldn’t recommend shooting in black and white mode on your camera, as all you’ll get is a color JPEG that has been desaturated by the camera. You’ll get much better control and great results if you shoot in color and convert the images to black and white in your software – there are tools (like Tonality or B&W Effects) designed specifically for working with black and white photos.
Don’t Aim for Perfection
With street photography, it doesn’t really matter if parts of your image are blurry, or there are some overexposed highlights. It’s all about the people, and the interaction between them.
You will also need to be quick and sure when you shoot street, because it’s too easy to miss those little moments that speak volumes in a photo, such as a fleeting expression or an incident. This is one of the reasons why you should get out and practice your street photography at home, so you know your camera controls instinctively, and can shoot quickly.
Recommended Settings
It doesn’t really matter what type of camera you use, or what gear you have. You can take great photos with just a smartphone, and for street photography they are lightweight and unobtrusive. But if you decide to use your camera, below are a few setting suggestions to start with.
As light and lighting conditions differ from place to place and season to season, it’s impossible to pin down exact settings, so the following are guidelines for you to start from:
For fast-moving action shots of parades and performers, set your camera to Shutter Priority (Tv mode on Canon) for DSLR, or the Sports/Action mode. Set your shutter speed to above 1/250th second to freeze movement. The camera will choose the aperture and ISO settings automatically.
For portraits and close-ups of people, choose Aperture Priority mode, or the Portrait mode on your camera. For AP mode, choose an aperture of between f/2.8-f/5.6 for good separation of your subject from the background. You may need to use a tripod if the light is low to avoid blurry images.
For long-exposure street images after dark with ‘ghostly’ figures of people walking on the streets and light trails from vehicles, you will need a tripod and should set your camera to use Shutter Priority (Tv for Canon). Set your shutter speed to 4 seconds as a starting point, and reduce it until you get a pleasing result.
For wide-angle street scenes, set your camera to Aperture Priority mode and set your aperture to between f/8-f/16 to get the entire image in clear focus.
Hope that these tips have inspired you to think about shooting street photography. Enjoy your travels!
The beauty of photography lies in capturing a moment. A photograph takes you back to some of your most cherished memories and sometimes allows you to notice things that you…
The beauty of photography lies in capturing a moment.
A photograph takes you back to some of your most cherished memories and sometimes allows you to notice things that you might’ve missed in the moment picture was being taken.
Photographs can transpire moments of intimacy, happiness, sadness to beautiful little details of everyday mundane life.
Whilst traveling I always carry my Nikon camera with me. Although I am accustomed to carrying a bulky camera, sometimes its size and weight can be tiring if I’m going on a long hiking tour, or it can attract unwanted attention. So with all these cellphone cameras upraise, I’ve become interested in just how much I can do with my phone camera.
I used to detest taking photographs with my phone and always swore true to my Nikon but nowadays, you can find phones with really good cameras. It is amazing how much cellphone cameras have progressed in the last couple of years and phones just becoming more lightweight and compact with each newer model.
If you’re not interested in photography enough then maybe, it’s not worthwhile to invest in a good camera. Buying a cellphone with a quality camera can go a long way.
I’m not going to advise which cellphone to pick. Everybody has their favorite. Some people swear by iPhones and some prefer their Androids. I will say that I’ve seen amazing pictures being taken with both cellphones. Samsung S7 edge and iPhone 6 are great phones if you wanna get serious with mobile photography. Of course, you can find a fantastic phone for much lower price and still take great photos.
There are two things I bought that I feel like they upped my whole mobile photography game.
First one was buying camera lenses. I bought Aukey camera lenses. They were on sale on Amazon, and I got them for about 15$. I got 3 types of lenses, a wide angle, fisheye and macro lens. They came in a small case with a mini clip-on to attach to any phone’s camera.
You can have a lot of fun experimenting with all those lenses and make for some creative photos.
For a finishing touch you can add an Instagram filter.
Second one that I really loved was investing into a Polaroid ZIP Mobile Printer. They are a little bit on the pricier side (about 130$) but I really do think it pays off. You can check out the reviews here.
The reason why I didn’t get a polaroid camera is, because every picture that you take with it, is going to print – but with my Polaroid ZIP printer, I can make as many photos I choose with my phone (or a regular camera) and then select the ones I wish to print. One of the other benefits is that I can also edit it in Photoshop on my phone or add an Instagram filter etc. before printing.
You can edit all of your photos and get them developed and as you travel and meet a lot of new people you can also leave them a token of your new friendship. I love that I’m able to give them a physical reminder of some fun moments spent together.
The Polaroid ZIP Mobile printer came with a USB cable that you use for charging purposes, one Zip pack of photo paper (10 per pack) and a “Quick Start Guide”. It’s really easy to use.
I’ve downloaded their app ‘Polaroid ZIP’ and just used Bluetooth to connect my phone with the printer. It takes about a minute for one photo to print out.
The photo paper is not so expensive; I’ve bought 9 packs (so 90 photo paper) for less than 30$ on Amazon (I think that it’s more than obvious that I have an Amazon shopping addiction).
To make your photos less blurry you can also invest in a mobile tripod. You won’t need to worry of keeping your camera steady all the time and this is particularly helpful when taking photos in low light.
And what about the apps? There are hundreds of mobile photography apps nowadays so it might be little bit difficult to make a choice. I use Instagram and VSCO Cam. I’ve heard great comments about Camera+ for iPhone but this is a paid app.
These are just some of the gadgets that I’ve tried out and liked best so far. I’m always on the lookout for new creative add-ons for my mobile photography travelling kit.
Even though I am still going to carry my Nikon everywhere with me, because the quality of photos being taken with an actual camera is still, no doubt about it, way better than any phone’s camera, it’s nice to know that if my battery dies – I have another option.
This is a guest post by Justin, a blogger behind True Nomads. His blog is dedicated to his adventurous travels (and I mean falsely-accused-and-detained-in-prison-in-Egypt adventurous) and scuba diving of course!…
This is a guest post by Justin, a blogger behind True Nomads. His blog is dedicated to his adventurous travels (and I mean falsely-accused-and-detained-in-prison-in-Egypt adventurous) and scuba diving of course! If you’re interested in discovering how life under the sea looks like around the world (he is on a mission to scuba dive the top 100 sites in the world!), you definitively want to check Justin’s blog. You can also follow him on Facebok and Twitter.
The street art of Lisbon is one of the best that I’ve seen. I take a lot of guided graffiti tours, from Brazil to Palestine to Perth to Germany, and the one I took in Lisbon was one of the best I’ve been on.
There was so much of it in the 1+ hour car tour of the city, that we only got to see a small percent of it! But what I did get to see was some amazing art work.
My guide in Lisbon knew exactly where to take me for the greatest pieces, including a city wall, a health clinic wall, giant murals covering whole buildings, and many other hidden treasures.
Here are the highlights of one of the best graffiti/street art tours in Europe. Check out my guide for more information on things to do in Lisbon.
These buildings were completely covered with HUGE pieces. I had to cross the street to get the whole thing in the photo. Apparently the city figured it was cheaper to hire famous graffiti artists from Brazil to cover these old ugly buildings, then it would be to tear them down and build something nicer. So they did, making them less of an eye sore. Now that’s something you don’t hear governments doing very often… paying graffiti artists to do their work on their city.
This whole underground station was covered almost completely. It was cool to see how local and famous artists coordinate on where they would do their art, and never cover, ruin or touch any one else’s.
My guide explained how artists will get together and decide on where each person got to do their work, and if a section or a piece was really old or really bad, and artist unknown, they would decide if it was okay to cover. Anyways, all these places were done legally, and apparently it’s allowed because the city of Lisbon agrees with me that these graffiti murals make the city’s dull places look awesome!
If you look closely you’ll see that the head of this one is done with a chipping technique where they chipped away the paint and plaster to make the face. I saw this unique and awesome technique all over the city and loved it. In this one above, the story goes that the artist was chipping away secretly on this piece when the owner arrived. A fight ensued as the owner of the building was rightly angry about the defacing of the building. The artist had the guy step back and look at the piece, and the guy was so shocked and impressed that he let him finish and paid him to do more of his buildings!
This blue wall above circles is a big mental hospital. Artists got together and gave each other sections of the wall to do projects on, and the hospital painted it all blue to be based on. I have no idea how long it took, but each and every section is unique and a masterpiece. Some are very intriguing and detailed with the help of many a stencil, others masters of free hand and minute detail. It took me a long time to get through all these, and it gave me a really good feeling about Lisbon for sponsoring such big and wonderful projects like these!
So if you wonder what to do in Lisbon, find the nearest graffiti tour and make sure your camera has plenty of battery!
RAW which is the short version of Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk (railway maintenance yards) is a place full of cultural delights which are set in an old industrial complex. I absolutely love alternative…
RAW which is the short version of Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk (railway maintenance yards) is a place full of cultural delights which are set in an old industrial complex. I absolutely love alternative cultural places, so it was great to stumble upon this complex while sightseeing the German capital. The reason for this is that desire of young people to create and build something is always inspiring.
RAW hosts a club, a bar, a theater, artist workshops, climbing playground and more. There are numerous gigs, performances and literary readings so anyone can find something they like. I haven’t partied here but if you are interested in the underground culture of Berlin I genuinely recommend this place.
Beogradjanka is a high-rise building located in the downtown area of Belgrade. Construction of this building which is one of the highest in the city (101 m) began in 1969…
Beogradjanka is a high-rise building located in the downtown area of Belgrade. Construction of this building which is one of the highest in the city (101 m) began in 1969 and was completed in 1974. There used to be a restaurant at the top which was closed for safety reasons. This tall building houses department stores, business premises and media offices. One of them is a city-owned TV and radio station called ‘Studio B’. The quality is not the best (dirty windows!) but the view of Belgrade skyline is still great! Take a look;
