Travel and photography tips

 
 Planning
 
 The most important thing that you can do before going to another country, is to plan your
 trip well, in advance. The internet is a fantastic source of information. There are many
 pages out there that will offer advice and guides for things to see and do. Here are some
 useful web sites:

 - A lot of countries have a visit webpage e.g. Australia have www.visitaustralia.com,
 Norway have www.visitnorway.com etc.

 - Lonely planet (www.lonelyplanet.com) is a good resource for information about countries.
 I find that Lonely planet guides are a good resource if you already know that you are
 traveling to a specific country. But if you need to do research to find out if you are
 going to go to a specific destination, i would suggest other sources, such as Wiki travel
 (wikitravel.org).

 - Finding accomadation: There a many webpages that offer searching for accomadation all over
 the world. Depending on your budget, here are some links to webpages for searching for
 accomadation. Hotels: www.expedia.com, www.agoda.com and www.cheaprooms.com.
 Backpackers accomadation: www.hihostels.com

 - Flights: There are many good websites that offer searching for flights all over the world,
 and that will give you a list of airlines and prices. Some examples are: www.skyscanner.net,
 www.expedia.com also have flight search in addition to hotel search. If you are going to
 travel around Asia i would suggest www.airasia.com. An example flight with AirAsia from
 Kuala Lumpur to Singapore cost 15 USD. AirAsia is one of the best airlines in the region.

 - Also remember to check if you need a visa, before you go! Most countries will give a
 stamp or visa on arrival at the airport. But there are still some countries out there where
 you have to go to an Ambassy / consulate and apply for a visa before getting on the flight
 to the country. This includes countries such as India, Russia, central China and others.



 Photography tips
 
 Taking photographs is not difficult. It takes some experience to be able to be artistic
 and create photographs that are composed in the "right" way. The two most important 
 things to think about when you take photographs is light and composition:
 
 1. Light
 If you take a photograph outdoors when it is overcast, there is a good chance that the
 photograph is not going to be one that you are very happy with. Photographs where you
 get a good light source. E.g in light sunlight, in the afternoon or in the morning, I
 find is the best ligh sources. The camera can pick up much more detail in sunlight,
 but when the light is not good (as when it is overcast), the chances are that if you move
 the camera, even just slightly, the shutter of the camera could still be open, and you will
 get a blurring effect will reduce the outcome of the picture. It is of course possible to
 use the "wrong" light in an artistic way and create a photograph with a certain mood, but
 that is for an advanced tutorial.
 
 As an example: I took the photograph below in the afternoon in Krabi, Thailand. The
 light in the afternoon created shadows that made a nice depth in the photograph. I also
 used the leaf in the foreground as a way to create more depth (which has more to do
 with composition covered below).
 
 


 
 2. Composition    
 How the elements are arranged in the photograph is one of the most important things to
 think about when you take a picture. If you arrange the elements wrong, or they are
 placed in the wrong position, to far apart, you are too far away from the subject etc.
 will make the photograph look "wrong". As an example, take a look at the two photographs
 below that I took in Egypt. Note that I tried a lot of different compositions /
 arrangements before I got the Photograph just right and the way I wanted it to look.
 The pictures was taken with a Kodak compact camera. So you do not need a big expensive
 reflex camera to capture your travel photographs!

 The picture below has a slightly "wrong" composition, because the pyramid in the
 background is mostly covered, which is what makes it a little off.

 
 
 A couple of steps further to the left, I got a photograph with a
 composition that I was much happier with:
 
 


 For more information on taking photographs, visit this great website:
 www.photographytips.com
 
 The webpage above is pretty much where I learned everything I know about photography.
 And of course when it comes to taking photographs remember: Practice, practice, practice.


 
 
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