taking travel portraits

Packing for travel is a never-ending thing for me until the last minute that I get on the car and drive to the airport. Make that almost an impossible task this time when I have to discuss and argue and cajole with my husband who will share one luggage with me because we plan to travel light. We are bound for the Batanes Islands tomorrow.

We planned to make this vacation just to shoot the place. So add to the packing nightmare the equally scary 11th hour lessons on how to use the Canon 40D, since we just decided that I must outgrow the Canon 1000D for this trip.

I have tucked my camera bag in the dusty part of our room for more than four months already. And I was amazed how the mind forgets. I couldn't set the proper ISO. I even forgot how to view and move from one image to the other!

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Getting off from my online games, I brought to the table all the magazines and photography books from the shelves for a quick scan.

At the end, I decided on settle on a few notes from Manny Librodo on taking travel portraits:

1. interact with the subject

2. get close with the subject

3. set the stage, then be spontaneous

4. look for a face with character

5. watch out for light and shadow

6. train your eyes to see colors

7. tell a story

I haven't even started on how to shoot landscapes!

Yes, the single luggage will be crammed. The photography tips are in a jumble in my head. But the heart beats with anticipation. Vacation and photography with the best man in the world - I am a lucky woman!

photo: it's about the hat