Lessons
Lesson Info
Class Introduction
Travel photography is one of the most common forms of photography, and why not? Who doesn't love to travel? It's one of the best ways to share your experiences, share your trip, and in general, share the stories and lives that you encounter along the way. What most people don't realize is that travel photography is more than just going out and shooting the iconic locations. Sometimes the best stories are the ones that are intimate. Quiet places like restaurants, and the one right here behind me, the Salmon Bay Cafe. In this travel class, we're gonna talk about the who, where, what, when, and why. Those are the questions you would think about if you're a writer, and it would bring you in to the story, and after all, story is what really makes photography come together. We already know the where, we're gonna focus on this cafe behind me. But the who can really add a tremendous layer to your travel photography. You don't want to just focus on the little details, those are, of course, impo...
rtant. But you want to talk to people, you want to meet them. You want to find out what their stories are, why they like a place and why it makes that place special. 'Cause after all, places are as much about people as they are about the scenes that you're taking pictures of. There's also a lot of other challenges with travel photography that are different, especially if you like nature photography or landscape photography. It really takes you further into the scene to focus on other elements. You start to think about architectural elements, like the structure, and the building, and how you're showing a table or a lighting. And then of course, lighting itself is an entire new section that you need to think about, and how to make it work for you. And so for me, natural light is gonna play a pivotal role in this lesson. Some of the other elements that we're gonna talk about are how to make your gear work for you. When shooting travel images, unlike landscape and nature photography, you have to be very adept. You have to be willing to adapt to the scene, and move very, very quickly. And so often, I will usually just travel with a single lens and a body, or two lenses, so that way I can adjust my scene and work through it. So, I want to have settings that allow me to handhold as I go through it, because things happen quickly. You might have street performers, you might have servers in a restaurant, you might have a hot dish of food that comes out, and the steam is coming off of it, and you wanna be able to capture that. You can't do that if you have to set up your tripod, choose your lens, have a backpack. All those moments that you think will be important will pass you by very quickly. See, the ability to set your camera and your settings into a situation that allows you to move very quickly through the scene is gonna be very important. And having the ability to also find compositions that work in that same amount of time are also going to be very important. So, we're gonna work our way from the outside, all the way in. People, place, figure out the why and see if we can get that compelling story of why is this place unique and what makes it special to Seattle, Washington.
Ratings and Reviews
Black Fender Productions
If you are interested in shooting a travel story for publication, this is a helpful class. Ian breaks down the elements of storytelling through photography. He shows you what to look for in building that story and how to shoot it. This is a journalistic documentary viewpoint, not a go on a family vacation and take great photos class. In addition to the story-telling education, I also found it helpful to learn about the technical details; how he uses ISO, shutter speed, Aperture priority (Av), how to shoot into windows, and the importance of shooting both in portrait and landscape. If I were to add to this class, I would include segments on how to pitch your travel photos to publications and perhaps an interview with an editor to find out what they like to see from photographers. I would love to see more locations as well. I've taken some of Ian's other classes, and I think he's a great instructor. This class was definitely helpful.
Chris Miedema
I guess travel photography means different things to different people. I understood exactly where Ian Shive was coming from in this presentation and I found the information was extremely useful. I guess if you are looking for a video on how to photograph the Eiffel Tower, when traveling with family, this is not for you. If you wish to take back a deeper memory of a place, or wish to submit an article for travel publications, this series of videos would be more to your liking. I enjoyed watching Mr. Shive go through the process of documenting the cafe, its owner and its patrons. His general advice and strategies were useful to hear and see in action. He did provide some technical information on settings, although I did note he was in a well lit establishment. It would have been interesting to see how he would handle a place with less than ideal light. Overall, that is a small criticism. I very much enjoyed the flow of the videos and recommend them to anyone who is interested in seriously documenting the interesting locations they come across in their travels.
Marwa Elchazly
as the title is "travel photography" what came to my mind is walking through the street of a city, but it wasn't ... Ian Shive took "Salmon Bay Cafe" as a case study for traveling photography, through which he gave good tips for traveling/ magazine essay / telling a story in general. I've learned a lot about the effect of ISO and "handholding" the camera, tips for how to get the authentic story of a place and tell it with photo... It's not all you need about traveling photography, but it gives a good start and lots of valuble tips
Student Work
Related Classes
Documentary