The 4 best tips to take your perfect travel photos

The sun is shining, the weather is lovely: it's the perfect time to take beautiful photos. But how do you actually do that? This summer, we're taking you on a six-week journey into the world of photography and photo editing.  Each week, you'll get our favourite tips for taking great photos and editing them into beautiful images so you can create your own unique IXXI. Together with Reisjunk and Claire Droppert, we're giving you four top tips for making your holiday photos just a little bit more gorgeous.

Tip 1: Find the light

Light is key! It's almost impossible to take great photos without good light. If you want your photos to have a warm, dreamy glow, shoot them during the 'Golden Hour'. This is the hour just before the sun comes up or goes down. As Reisjunk says: 'Your photos will be twice as beautiful, and you'll often have the most fabulous places to take them almost entirely to yourself.' If you want to take photos that are clear and bright, wait until the sun has completely risen. But try to avoid bright sunlight which can make the colours in your photos look washed out. 

Claire: ‘For early birds who want to shoot the perfect photo, the morning mist can create really lovely images.’

Tip 2: Follow the horizon

Taking a great photo with your smartphone is much easier than it used to be. But how do you make sure that your image is straight? Before you take a photo, turn on your smartphone camera's gridline function. These are handy guidelines that will help to keep your photo straight. You can line the grid up with the landscape or other objects so that the photo doesn't come out tilted. A simple tip from Reisjunk: ‘Check your image to see if the horizon is straight. It will make your photo look a lot more professional!’

Tip 3: Change your viewpoint

Every angle you shoot from will give your photo a different effect. If you want to take a photo of that delicious lunch or a beautifully set table, go for a flat lay perspective and shoot from directly above your subject. For this technique, it's important that you have plenty of bright light and that you're careful not to hold your phone at an angle. When shooting landscapes, a popular choice is to take the photo at eye level. This creates a feeling of space and gives your photo depth. And of course, if you'd like to emphasise a detail, go for a close-up. By changing your position, you can constantly change the look of your images, and then afterwards, choose the ones that you like the most.

Claire's tip: ‘Change your viewpoint by, for example, standing on a park bench. You'll be amazed by the results!’

Reisjunk's tip: ‘Have you found a beautiful place to take photos of? Move around and shoot it from lots of different angles.’

Tip 4: Stay focused

Sharp, well-focused photos not only look professional, they can really bring your subjects to life. It's easy to take sharp images, even with your smartphone. First of all, make sure you have a focus point. Your phone will usually select this automatically. If you want to decide where to focus the image yourself, just double-tap on the point you want to focus on. Does your smartphone have an HDR setting? Use it to create hyper-realistic effects in your pictures. This setting filters the light more effectively, which can make your photos really come alive.





Over the next few weeks, we're going to be taking you into the wonderful world of photography. Our experts will give you their favourite fun and original tips for creating and editing great photos so that you can transform them into amazing wall art. Are you in?

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