Using Photos to Enhance Your Travel Stories
Don’t lose your audience with boring photos
I have been a travel writer/ photographer for about 12 years. I’ve had the luxury of going on some wonderful press trips, including a visit to Barbados, and a luxury barge cruise through some of the wine regions of France. Unlike the many other styles of writing, travel writing is something that is near and dear to me. It is always exciting to discover a new place and bring it to life, and to have readers comment that my travel pieces make them want to visit a particular destination. To do this though, you have to employ some discipline.
It is not only imperative that your writing is clear, concise, and accurate, but it also has to be unique, allowing the reader to enjoy a bit of whimsy and excitement. Use vivid imagery to make a place pop in a reader’s mind. Imagination works wonders with travel writing.
In this day, when everyone is time-poor and hurried, you have to do something to catch the reader’s eye. I do this with photography. I find that an engaging photo will lead the reader into the story, allowing them to visually fantasize about the area, thus enticing them to read the entire story that I have published. With photos largely being the thrust of my travel writing, I embark upon every journey with a keen eye to discover the nuances of a particular destination and render them in a way that is visually exciting. Whether you are using the sophisticated DSLRs or a good smartphone, if your photos are boring, you will lose readers along the way. Facebook is clogged with so many ho-hum photos of people’s vacations. What can you do to make a place seem interesting? I always take far more photos than I will need, because it is easy to discard images rather than beat yourself up for photos you neglected to capture. You must get outside your comfort zone.
Rather than just standing there and shooting a picture, see if there is an element in the image that you can isolate to make it interesting. Get close to capture people. Crop out the conflicting elements of the photo that distract from the scene. Focus on a detail that you don’t see in other travel photos. Get on the ground or get above to render an image from an interesting angle. Shoot early or late in the day when the light is more favorable. Use some software to improve on a picture that is less than ideal.
If I am taking photos of food, I always try to position myself so that the available window light renders the food in an appetizing fashion. If I go in to sample a meal, I try to go in before the sun goes down, and when the restaurant is less crowded. This will give you room to move around so that you can capture the food in an interesting way. The publishing business is not as easy as it used to be. Magazines are folding, editors are being laid off, and there are more and more people out there trying to make a living as travel writers. If you set yourself apart with interesting verbiage, and fascinating photos, this will at least give you an advantage as you embark upon this exciting career.
