P#9 Q4: How Can I Get My Vacation Photo to Capture the Mood and Recreate the Experience of the Place I Visit?

Let The Light Shine

Brenda Tharp: Lighting is everything. A lot of us are traveling with family or friends, or maybe you're taking a group tour. We're not always able to photograph under the best lighting conditions. As a result, it can be hard to get a vacation photo that captures the mood of what we were feeling while we were there.

In the moment, our brains seem to accept that it's 11:00 in the morning. We can feel the awesome power of the Taj Mahal when we look at it.

When we take a picture of the Taj Mahal at 11:00 in the morning, however, it doesn't translate. A lot of our feeling and a lot of the mood are gone from that the photo.

It's because of the light.

I encourage people to get out and work the early morning hours or work the late afternoon and early evening hours, at sunset time, when they're traveling. I think they would be happier with some of the results. There would be a stronger mood to some of their bigger scenics.

I have a friend who is married to a woman who does not wish to get up at sunrise. She'd rather get up and meet him at 8:30 or 9:00 for breakfast. He, however, goes out at the crack of dawn. He's happy as a clam. He takes his pictures, comes back, and meets her for breakfast. She's happy. He's happy. They get along really well that way.

If you can work a scenario like that out with your family, even with kids involved, it's a great way to compromise. You'll be able to capture some of those really special lighting moments for your vacation photo without dragging everyone out of bed with you.

If you can't work out a situation like that, then one of the things I often suggest in my workshops is to maximize the benefits of the lighting you do have to work with.

Let's say, for example, you're at the Taj Mahal at 11:00. It's not the right time for the big cathedral shot because it's backlit and the sky is going to be overexposed. You won't get the detail on the façade of the church.

What do you do?

You have to accept the fact that the big picture isn't really going to work. Instead, come in on some details or some sections of the architecture that capture the uniqueness of the building.

Maybe grab vacation photos of a series of arches that repeat down a hallway. Perhaps they have a nice mood to them because of the way the light and shadow are playing in them.

Make the best of what you have to work with. If you really look, walking around, spending some time at the place, you'll find some closer in pictures that will still be very powerful and be a great memory to bring back in a vacation photo from your trips.

In closing

You can't control when Mother Nature is going to provide the best lighting for your photographs. You'll either need to work around her hours, or adjust your shots to accommodate the lighting that is available.

Because light plays such an important role in the mood and experience of your travel locations, the right lighting can make all the difference in capturing that experience in your vacation photo.