Travel Photography How To

One of the basic tenets of landscape photography is to “be at the right place at the right time,” which is why many of us prefer to shoot at blue hour—just before sunrise or after sunset. But what if you stumble upon a beautiful scene earlier in the day when the light isn’t quite right?

Some photographers shoot landscapes, while others concentrate on wildlife or travel imagery. But you can take your outdoor photography to the next level by being less of a purist and combining two or three of these disciplines in your work.

Most landscape photographers carry a polarizing filter in their bag for darkening pale skies, making colors more vibrant, and eliminating distracting reflections from water. But what if you’re out in the field and your polarizer is at home?

Making great images is often about being in the right place at the right time. But that’s not always possible depending upon where you live, where you’re going, and the degree to which Mother Nature cooperates.

Share your best images with the world by posting in the Shutterbug Photo of the Day gallery. Here’s the quick and easy procedure along with some tips to help you navigate to the right place, and even some advice about composition and subject matter.

[Column Note: Most people come to professional photography by traveling a familiar route: from an early fascination with cameras, to photo classes and courses, followed by assisting a pro to gain some real-world experience. Then comes striking out on one's own as photographer, which, if all goes well, is followed by the frequent printing of invoices. Others, however, arrive at a pro career sideways—that is, coming at it from another occupation. The stories these "second career" pro photographers tell tend to be quite interesting, even inspirational. And those stories are what this new online column, titled Going Pro, is all about.]

It’s not your typical image of that place then, which means Mirjam Evers has done her job well. She has images of the colorful chaos of revelers in full regalia, but the challenge is to get something special. “The travel publications I work for ask for something different and unusual,” Evers says. “She was posing, and most of the photographers were shooting from eye level, so I crouched down.”