The Fundamentals of Travel Photography

A sightseeing photographer stands apart from the culture; a travel photographer immerses herself or himself in it; discovering an important part of good travel photography; Mr. Krist's assignment for a story on the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Learning what every travel photographer needs to cover to tell a complete story; geography, people, culture, wildlife, food, lodging and history; seeing how it all applies to a National Geographic assignment in French Polynesia.

Every good travel photograph is built around light, composition and movement; studying several travel photographs in terms of these ingredients; pondering what happens when one only has two, or even just one, of these key constituents.

Great travel photographs require the ability to tell a story. National Geographic Photographer Bob Krist shares his insights with you in this guide, packed with some of his best work.

Explore great lighting options for photographing the people you meet while traveling. There's backlight. There's open shade. You can even take good shots lighting your subject from the front.

Studying composition through wide-angle and telephoto lenses; learning why 28mm-300mm is an ideal travel lens; exploring the useful properties of a wide-angle lens; the telephoto lens' compression of perspective is a useful property.

Mr. Krist, on an assignment in Central Mexico, applies some of the techniques learned before; witnessing a travel photographer at work; discovering why a proactive approach to travel photography yields much better pictures than mere inspiration.

From gear to clothes to preconceptions, learn how to find the coveted middle ground between preparedness and mobility so you can focus on what matters most: telling a visual story of your travels.

Bad weather, language, logistics, time limitations and money are some of the most common barriers to getting great travel photographs; looking at some photo assignments, many of which feature more than one obstacle; seeing how one might handle them.

Exploring pointed techniques for capturing the spirit in the people; learning how to make breaking the ice a little less painful; looking at methods for photographing people, including the candid approach and the up-close-and-personal approach.

Great travel photographs require the ability to tell a story. National Geographic Photographer Bob Krist shares his insights with you in this guide, packed with some of his best work.

Great travel photographs require the ability to tell a story. National Geographic Photographer Bob Krist shares his insights with you in this guide, packed with some of his best work.

A good landscape shot shows what a place looks and feels like; Mr. Krist dives into shooting landscapes to capture what one travel writer called the spirit of place; strategies include altering the horizon line and suggesting a sense of scale.

Focusing on special techniques to employ when one feels a little out of the box; some include shooting in black and white and some include high dynamic range, or HDR; when applied judiciously, travel photography gets a boost.

Great travel photographs require the ability to tell a story. National Geographic Photographer Bob Krist shares his insights with you in this guide, packed with some of his best work.

Great travel photographs require the ability to tell a story. National Geographic Photographer Bob Krist shares his insights with you in this guide, packed with some of his best work.

Making a city skyline, many of which have been photographed to death, original; from varying the point of view to waiting for unusual lighting conditions, Mr. Krist offers ways to take photos of cityscapes that are not stiff, formal and cold.

Travel photographers love festivals and parades; being more proactive about how one approaches celebrations of cultural heritage; arriving early for unique shots, searching for new angles and exploring the perimeter of a special event.

No travel story is complete without shots of what a neighborhood and its life look like; making day-to-day life look as interesting as a massive spectacle; giving viewers a real feel for what life is like on the streets one travels through.

A critical component of travel photography involves mundane work: securing and organizing your photographs. Join Mr. Krist for an exploration of the nitty-gritty details of workflow on the road.

Seeing how the techniques of travel photography look in real life; visiting Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love; from City Hall to cheesesteaks to Rittenhouse Square, discovering ways to capture these and other Philadelphia icons in new ways.

Great travel photographs require the ability to tell a story. National Geographic Photographer Bob Krist shares his insights with you in this guide, packed with some of his best work.

Great travel photographs require the ability to tell a story. National Geographic Photographer Bob Krist shares his insights with you in this guide, packed with some of his best work.

Great travel photographs require the ability to tell a story. National Geographic Photographer Bob Krist shares his insights with you in this guide, packed with some of his best work.