First class photography tips from Paul Daly

On June 6 we held our first ever Travel Photography workshop in Auckland, New Zealand as part of the Auckland Festival of Photography. Talented photographer Paul Daly from Nomadic Planet enlightened and educated our audience with travel photography tips and tricks, then Libby Jeffery from Momento demonstrated the Momento software. She showed our audience how easy it is to design their own Momento holiday book and preserve all their travel memories in print.

If you were as rapt in Paul’s tips as we were and didn’t manage to take notes, here are some key points from his presentation.

7 Tips for Travel Photography

1. Do your research. Don’t leave home without knowing what potential images and shooting locations are going to be at or near your destination.
    
2. Use the light. Shoot outside in the golden and blue hours. If you need to shoot during the middle of the day then shoot building interiors and in shady areas where the light isn’t so harsh.
    
3. Don’t forget the rules of composition, many people tend to when shooting in an unfamiliar environment.
    
4. Explore street life, interact with the locals and get in close.
    
5. Leave the telephoto lens for the wildlife, and photograph people with short focal length lenses. And use Depth of Field (DOF) effectively; On a full frame body, the 35mm f1.4 lens (22-24mm on APS-C Cameras) is a favourite as it allows close proximity shooting, which incorporates the environment, but at the same time allows the ability to control DOF. If that focal length feels uncomfortably close, try an 85mm, then work down to a 50mm, and in no time you’ll be using a 35mm.
    
6. Get off the beaten track, get high (so you can look down) or get low (so you can look up).
    
7. Don’t be in a rush, do take a tripod, but don’t carry everything everywhere everyday. Pick the equipment you think you’ll need each day, and use it.

We thoroughly enjoyed Auckland, the festival and meeting so many lovely Kiwis. Thanks for having us to your beautiful city and we can’t wait to come back next year.