How to Take Better Travel Photos of Yourself

As a seasoned solo traveler, I know that capturing your adventures with photos is essential. Whether you’re looking to grab some Instagram-worthy shots, find the best gear to take along, or figure out how to pose, you’ve come to the right place! Here are 11 photo tips I put together for the solo traveler to help you get the best possible shots on your next adventure.

Interact with your scene

Sometimes, it’s not enough that you’re just standing there in a shot. You want to create a moment in your photo, and there are many ways to do this. One of the simplest is to interact with the scene itself. It can be subtle. A light touch of an object or a glance up at something tall in front of you will draw the viewer’s eye in. Now, it’s not just a person standing there looking at the camera; it’s a photo of someone experiencing their surroundings.

Rapid fire

Rapid fire is a setting that lets the camera take multiple photos after just one press of the shutter. If your camera has this feature, and most do, I suggest using it as much as possible. There’s rarely a time that I take only one shot, and it ends up being exactly what I wanted. Using rapid fire allows you to move about the scene in either significant or subtle ways to capture different options. Maybe your face is weird in one shot, but your positioning in the next is just right. Multiple photos are always the way to go, especially when traveling. You don’t want to miss that one special moment you had in a particular location after you’ve gotten on your plane ride home.

*If you’re a light packer like me check out my post 6 CAMERA PRODUCTS FOR A MINIMALIST TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER

movement

A great way to add intrigue to your photos is by capturing movement. Walking into the frame while shooting or just moving around while the shutter’s going off can achieve this. Just make sure to shoot at a higher shutter speed so that you don’t become a blurry blob. The more movement, the better, so jumping, throwing your arms up, or getting your clothing to sway with you are all good go-to’s.

consider the grid

If your goal for these photos is to post to social media, consider how they will fit within your feed. The ideal crop for Instagram is 4x5 so that it will be the prominent image when people scroll. Since Instagram then crops into squares for the profile grid, you need to shoot with that in mind. Whether that means going a little wider to make sure everything will be in the frame or making sure your face or subject of the photo is within that middle square.

You’ll see the photos below can easily be cropped into squares while still featuring the subject.

location, location, location

Find an element representative of where you are and place yourself within the scene.

You can see that giant palms and tropical plants surround me in the photos below, which is fitting for Costa Rica, where they were taken.

Think creatively

Placing yourself front and center in a scene and setting up the tripod is always great, but when you don’t have that option, it can be interesting to think outside the box.

Here are three examples of instances I didn’t need a tripod and set up to fully capture the moment.

When riding in a tuk-tuk in Cuba, I really wanted to document the moment but knew there was no way for me to capture the whole scene while moving, so I placed myself in the rearview mirror. By doing so, I captured the cars in front of us and the casual nature in which tuk-tuks are operated.

The same thing goes for this motorcycle shot. Focusing on the bikes in front of me gives the viewer an idea of what’s happening, and making the sidecar motorcycle the main focus helps them realize that I might be riding in a sidecar myself.

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rule of thirds

An essential guideline in photography to note is the rule of thirds. It’s the idea that if you look at your photo as a grid, you can place your subject in the top or bottom third, leaving the other 2/3s largely empty (or left or right for horizontal). This is not a rule that needs to be followed every time, but it can elevate a photo when it’s implemented.

You’ll see below that the bottom third of these photos hold most of the weight. When you look at the top 2/3s, there’s more negative space.

Move around the scene

Try different options. You might end up with one really great shot that just nailed what you were going for, or you might get lucky with multiple photos that work well together.

find a different perspective

Instead of dropping the subject (yourself) front and center, try standing off to the side and opening up the frame a bit more. You don’t have to be the prominent figure in the image to still draw the viewer’s eye right to you.

You can see below that these scenes are interesting as they are, but by placing myself in the negative space, they become less architectural and more of a moment.

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Lighting

You can never go wrong with golden hour light, but sometimes it’s overplayed.

If you have no choice but to shoot in the middle of the day, use your shadows to your benefit. Instead of giving yourself raccoon eyes from the 12 pm sun, turn your body around. Make shapes and see where the shadows land.

An overcast day can also be beautiful lighting if you use it right because it wraps the light evenly. Pacific Northwesterners get it!

shooting method

Phones

If you’re using a phone, everything I’ve mentioned until now can still apply. For a shooting method, however, I would suggest investing in a phone tripod and researching what features your model offers regarding remote shooting. The good news is that basically all smartphones have self-timers now, so if that’s all it offers, you’re already starting out strong. Other features might include different timer increments or rapid fire.

Cameras

If you’re using a DSLR, mirrorless, etc., then read on.

There are so many great remote shooting features that cameras offer now. Doing a quick search for your model or browsing your manual will tell you exactly your options, but here are a few of them.

wifi function

This is my favorite and most reliable. One of the main reasons I bought my Sony A7iii is that it had WiFi capability to shoot using my phone. This means that I can connect my iPhone to my camera’s WiFi network and use it as a trigger with the Imaging Edge app. All the controls are right there for me, so I don’t have to walk back to the camera to adjust exposure, etc., and the display shows me the image in real-time. All the major camera manufacturers have their own remote trigger apps.

After connecting to my camera, I set it to timer mode. Then, after I’ve gotten into place, I click the shutter on my phone and either hide it or throw it out of the scene. The camera takes the picture, I check my phone to see the result and then repeat. I do this as many times as I need to get the shot right, and it’s so much faster than setting the timer on the camera, running into position, and running back to set it again.

remote trigger

This is a separate remote you can buy to hold in your hand as you stand away from your camera. Just remember to be discrete about the little remote you’re holding. This is a good option if your camera doesn’t have the WiFI function.

self-timer

This is just your standard timer that phones have as well. A lot of cameras offer 3, 5, or 10-second timers, allowing you to run back and forth as needed. If you have to start somewhere, self-timer is always reliable. It might just be a little more tiresome than the others.

how to take better travel photos of yourself