Photography on Holiday

[Guest]

What do you photograph on holiday ? 

 

Scenery, temples, buildings, people  ?   Nothing ?

If it's your boys, do you try for partially clothed or naked ?

 

Over the years I've photographed all sorts of countryside, buildings, temples, vehicles, people at the beach etc.   My favourite shots would be those of waterfalls & beaches.

 

 

Relatively few bedroom shots, perhaps less that 2 boys per trip. Maybe I should try more frequently, but also when getting a cute subject in the room, I need to do a much better quality job with the settings than in the example below.   

[Vessey]

First of all, let me say that you 'example' in the shower room is exemplary - please feel free to show us more. LOL (just wondering if I haven't seen him before - but its probably wishful thinking)

 

I have a, by now considered fairly humble, IPhone5 and the camera in that is actually pretty good and so I take tons of pictures of everything - I can do so quickly and relatively discretely. I do also have a small point and press camera which I use on occasions, but actually the quality of the pictures is not much better.

 

I usually plan on doing a trip report, and fundamentally that acts as a sort of daily diary for me - so I would probably still prepare one even if I wasn't going to 'post it' on one of the Boards.

 

My phone camera, like most I suppose, records time and date of each picture, so I also end up taking basic 'record shots' of most things I do to remind me what I did on any particular day and when.

 

I take less bedroom shots than I used to do, but if my room-mate is keen then I will happily get them to pose - they often ask for copies of the pictures for their own use, and I almost always oblige.

 

I am no David Bailey, and nor do I try to be, although I do use a photo editor when I am downsizing pictures to trim off any unwanted background, but I lack any skills to properly 'photo-shop' them, I usually just take a number of pictures and hope that at least one 'works'.

 

So I probably take 50 or more pictures a day, sometimes a lot more, but rarely much less. If nothing else they help me remember my holidays when I am stuck at home slowly counting down the weeks and months until my next visit.

[firecat69]

Z0909       Both those photos look just fine to me!

[Guest]

First of all, let me say that you 'example' in the shower room is exemplary - please feel free to show us more. LOL (just wondering if I haven't seen him before - but its probably wishful thinking)

He was the first Thai guy I offed from Classic Boys in 2007. Still one of the best looking.

 

I have a, by now considered fairly humble, IPhone5 and the camera in that is actually pretty good and so I take tons of pictures of everything - I can do so quickly and relatively discretely.

I take less bedroom shots than I used to do, but if my room-mate is keen then I will happily get them to pose - they often ask for copies of the pictures for their own use, and I almost always oblige.

I generally take a camera out during the daytime & the phone has to cover the unexpected opportunities when I haven’t got the camera. I usually come back with hundreds of shots from each trip, although since I usually go somewhere new on each trip as well as BKK & Pattaya, most of the pictures will be from the new destination.

A recent camera upgrade means I should be able to take better shots in poor light. Hopefully I can find some willing models to pose in the bedroom to test that point. (Advice on negotiating that is welcome).

[Brummbaer]

I've never been one to take many pictures on holiday. I kept forgetting my camera at home/hotel room and nowadays I don't even pack it. The digital camera I spent a fortune on some 15 years ago has not seen much use at all, I was disappointed by how much time it actually took to be ready to take a picture, compared to an old mechanical 1950s camera using 35mm negative film, which got handed down from my parents. The Voigtlander I took to Australia in 1983 was twice my age at that time, but took wonderful pictures and slides.

 

My boyfriend is the picture crazy one, he managed to fill the storage space in his 64GB phone within half year with pictures, many of which I had to pose for in the glaring sun in front of some sight or the other, while he was standing in the shade.  Thai boys and their obsession with white skin

[Guest]

The run of the mill point and shoot cameras do seem slow to boot up and take photos.

However, if you splash out on one of the premium models with a large sensor, they also come with a faster processor & seem to be ready for action much faster.

I'm actually taking many more photos in the digital era, since they all fit on a tiny card.

 

Here is an example of what happens with a camera which is slow to start up, although in this case at least the subject has not completely escaped. I eventually got the other side (see avatar).

[Guest abang1961]

Yes taking good photographs with the phone camera is quite a mammoth task.

From my little experience and observation, most tourists do not really care about image composition when flicking the camera.

One trick is NOT to take the picture in portrait format but in landscape format as our computer screen is oriented this way.

Furthermore, invest in a good wide lens attachment to get a bigger picture but be careful that the image may become blurry at the corners.

 

Recently I acquired an Action Camera .. just one of those knock-offs that functions like a Go-Pro.  It is rather compact and very inexpensive (less than USD 85) but works well with 170 degree wide angle shot.  I wear the camera like a pendant (much like this)

 

[baobao]

Depending on the length of time I'm in Thailand and where I end up going, I take between 2,000 and 5,000 images per trip. Going to a new country always ups those numbers. Digital is almost free compared to 35mm print film, so why not? If I manage to get one good image out of 50, I'm happy, and I whittle them down once I'm home.  

 

I tend to take more pictures of every day things when I travel - but nobody back home wants to see my pictures taken on a morning walk of mailboxes, street signs, wiring nightmares, doorways, etc. Go figure! I've been working more with available light images the last couple of years, but that's just because it interests me.

[vinapu]

Because those days we have mighty inflation of pictures everybody takes and nobody wants to see past first 20 shown, I'm very disciplined and allow myself no more than 10 pictures a day when I travel.

 

Even those are usually cropped at home  to some like 7 a day. When I show them to friends , before they got bored whole set is already depleted so never have those funny looks when asking if they want to  see my pictures.

 

So yes , when z909 asked his original question and suggested ' nothing' among other options, I'm close.

 

If I force myself to take a picture it's scenery or ruins, very , very rarely people and never my boys, dressed or not.

 

Now I wonder if I'm pervert or what? 

[Guest abang1961]

For me, I simply put together the best 20 to 30 shots and use Microsoft Video Maker to link them together like a MTV.

 

 

So far I've done several such videos and the response was well-received..They dont have to sit through pages and pages of STILL photography but enjoyed the process of watching them within a MTV context.. My videos are often accompanied by appropriate music, e.g. La Vie En Rose for the French quarters in Ho Chi Minh and some oriental music for my trips to Taiwan and China.

 

I will probably do a Thai one soon.  I'm not a selfie queen but more interested in photographing children at play, blue skies and of course, the beach and the pool.

[Dalewood]

I wondered if I was the only one who took pics of the wiring nightmares....

[Guest]

I wondered if I was the only one who took pics of the wiring nightmares....

I've done that too, but can't find the specific picture I want to share at the moment. Instead, here is someone welding a plate to cover up the hole in an engine block (only in Cambodia).

 

[fedssocr]

I mostly shoot scenery... buildings, landscapes that sort of stuff. But also lots of nature, insects and wildlife. I don't do a lot of "street" or people shots. And I never photograph my romantic partners unless they specifically ask me to. But I would never share them without permission.

 

I also usually end up with a few thousand shots on a trip. But a lot of them are the same subject just from different angles or HDR sequences. On my recent trip to Sri Lanka I think it was something like 3000 shots in a little under 3 weeks. Culling and editing does take some work.

 

Some one else used to claim they limited themselves to something like 5 or 10 pictures a day which they further limited to just a few from a whole trip. I never personally saw the point of that. Some days will be more photogenic than others so why artificially limit yourself? But to each, his own.

[Guest abang1961]

Spot on ... 

In this age and time with everything digital and (almost) FREE, I am one of those idiotic people who points and shoots at whatever that may interest me.  I am as guilty as charged and tend to take too many similar pictures at any particular location.

 

However I do have a limit with regards to taking selfies.  There is a finesse in it - meaning, I do not let my face occupy more than 25% of the screen.  I detest those who pose and take selfies without any reservations.  There is a trick - have an extended selfie stick and a wide angle lens.  This way, the background is more important than the person.

 

One more simple yet effective trick for camera phone ...set a timer of at least 2 to 5 seconds.  With such a delay, there is more time to think of picture composition and the hand is FIRMER and this avoids blurry images.  I bought wide angle lens with LED light.  It was useful when the background is much too bright. The picture below was taken some 3 weeks ago in Kao Hsiung, Taiwan's famous Formosa Boulevard Underground Station.  Don't know why but I do like the 2nd selfie I took - colourful but blurry background of the same location!

 

 

 

 

 

[Joeblack]

Wah... ahbang... yandao!

[vinapu]

 

 

Some one else used to claim they limited themselves to something like 5 or 10 pictures a day which they further limited to just a few from a whole trip. I never personally saw the point of that. Some days will be more photogenic than others so why artificially limit yourself? But to each, his own.

it would be me , reasoning is instead of spending hours combing thorough photos  from by-gone trips it better to spent time thinking about next one.

But as you noticed , to each , it's own.

[firecat69]

I have all the fancy gear and telephoto lens, and yet I find some of my best photos come from my  iPhone. Quality has gotten better and better and except when you need a zoom, it does the job.  It also means it is always with me .

 

Recently I have started to create hard books of the best photos from an IOS app called photo books.

 

You can make it hard cover , lay flat pages and add comments. Takes a little used to but then you have something of each trip to put in your library or book shelve.  Price is reasonable at least I think it is.

 

Of course they are all scenery. Boys stay hidden on my computer in a locked file.

[steveboy]

 The picture below was taken some 3 weeks ago in Kao Hsiung, Taiwan's famous Formosa Boulevard Underground Station.  Don't know why but I do like the 2nd selfie I took - colourful but blurry background of the same location!

 

What would help on your camera is a very funny jack-in-the -box who comes out just before the shot,

so that something makes you laugh and you don't appear so somber on your pictures.

[Guest Hutchison]

To the last poster:  I read all your comments- you span the whole range from the banal to the ridiculous.

[Guest abang1961]

Steve baby,

Pardon yourself.   That's my style... I really dislike showing my teeth in front of the camera.  

 

Mr. H,

Yes please forgive him for his ignorance... but he thinks he knows all...he is such a  pathetic loser..

Don't bother about his negative remarks.  

I just do what I like.

[fedssocr]

 

Recently I have started to create hard books of the best photos from an IOS app called photo books.

 

You can make it hard cover , lay flat pages and add comments. Takes a little used to but then you have something of each trip to put in your library or book shelve.  Price is reasonable at least I think it is.

 

 

 

I used Blurb for several years to make hardcover photobooks after my trips. I went for the big format "coffee table" size. They are very nice to have but they take up a lot of room at that size. So I've skipped the last few trips.

 

I also shoot with Olympus OM-D cameras now so they are much smaller as are the lenses. So it's not a hardship to carry my gear around like it was when I was shooting Nikon.

[ChristianPFC]

What do you photograph on holiday ? 

Scenery, temples, buildings, people  ?

If it's your boys, do you try for partially clothed or naked ?

 

All. Only some of my boys, usually in underwear in my room or fully dressed outside.

 

I take about 1000 pictures per month. About 20% of this is buses, timetables, information posted on platforms so when I look for a bus between A and B, I can go through my pictures.

 

The problem with selfies is sun. Either I'm blinded by the sun, but my face is well illuminated, or I'm in the shade, then I'm in the dark and the attraction I'm standing in front of is well illuminated.

[Guest abang1961]

Christian,

You must add a white angle lens that comes with LED light when the background is BRIGHT. This way, the details of the face is not blurred or blackened.