Travel Photography How To

Exploring Light is a new monthly Shutterbug column featuring tips, tricks, and photo advice from professional photographers in Canon's Explorers of Light education program. This month's column is by Bruce Dorn on how to shoot better travel photos.

What if an experienced pro told you that one simple shooting technique can instantly improve every image you capture in the great outdoors? This may sound implausible, at least until you watch the following video from the Gary W YouTube channel.

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Proper focusing techniques are essential for all types of photography, whether you’re shooting indoors or outside. This is particular true with travel and nature images that include a variety of elements from near to far. Do things right and you’ve captured a winning shot—otherwise it’s just another missed opportunity.

Photographing the ice caves underneath the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska, can be a challenge. First of all, the caves, while beautiful, are a treacherous place to shoot. “There is danger involved in going inside, particularly at the entrance, as ice falls regularly and the caves are sometimes closed and some become impassible,” photographer Blaine Harrington explains.

Have you ever made that bucket list trip to follow in the footsteps of the great masters of landscape photography by visiting places like Yosemite or Yellowstone but wished you came home with photos that didn’t look like those taken by everyone else?

Outdoor photographers love shooting at “Blue Hour”—that quiet, moody time just before dawn or after sunset. That’s because images take on a soft, ephemeral glow before the sun rises in the morning or drops below the horizon at night.