Over the past decade, photography has been my favorite way to remember a place. Some people like to go to souvenir shops, some might even want to keep museum or exhibition tickets, but since I’m living off my cabin-size luggage most of the time, I cannot give myself this luxury. I know that many of you like to have suitable travel photos to document and remember your travels regardless of the reason. I’ve decided to write a post with easy tips about shooting better travel photos to make your memories better and talk a little more about the gear I use.


If you’re following us on Instagram, you may have noticed that we put a lot of effort into taking the best photo. Even though I’ve been a professional photographer for as long as I can remember, it is always a new challenge, always a new destination. Photography is an ongoing learning process, and if it is not, you’re doing it wrong. To get better travel photos, you will need to effort into it.

I’m aware that our early photos are not the best photos ever, making my last statement even more accurate. And the better the photos got, the higher the number of likes and followers. We went from 0 to over 14.000 in more than 2 or 3 years. An excellent sign that I’m doing something right.

I’ll break down everything you need to know to get the same results in photos and Instagram, starting with my equipment and some valuable and easy tips.

Over the past decade, photography has been my favorite way to remember a place. Some people like to go to souvenir shops, some might even like to keep museum or exhibition tickets but since most of the time I’m living off my cabin size luggage, I cannot give myself this luxury. I know that many of you, regardless the reason, like to have good travel photos to document and remember your travels. I’ve decided to write a post with easy tips to make your memories better and to talk a little bit more about the gear I use.

Let’s start the talk about better travel photos with the equipment I use.

If you read my previous posts about what I bring along with me and other posts from the Photo Tips session, you know my gear. If you don’t, I suggest you look at those quickly since I won’t go deep into that again.

But just for its sake, I’ll try to sum up everything I praise in a camera. But remember that you do not need to spend the amount of money I did if you don’t earn money with your photos, ok? Like I said: read the older posts before anything.

Over the past decade, photography has been my favorite way to remember a place. Some people like to go to souvenir shops, some might even like to keep museum or exhibition tickets but since most of the time I’m living off my cabin size luggage, I cannot give myself this luxury. I know that many of you, regardless the reason, like to have good travel photos to document and remember your travels. I’ve decided to write a post with easy tips to make your memories better and to talk a little bit more about the gear I use.

I chose the Canon 5D III for a few reasons. Reasons that maybe will make sense just to me but still, you need to love your camera and feel comfortable with it. Even if your phone is your camera, it does not matter, and expensive gear will not make you a better photographer. I think this is key, to be completely honest. To take better travel photos rarely, a photographer needs to spend money on a new camera. We get the best cameras because sometimes it is a matter of how much the equipment can handle. It is more about how many clicks per second and if it is waterproof or not, definition or even the size of the image later, and not so much for the clarity of the picture or the prettiness of it – I know some people do believe that a camera is responsible for the outcome. Still, they don’t understand a thing.

My 5D is the love of my life because of the way she (yes, she!) works in low light situations, can handle bumps, and sometimes falls – a travel photographer’s camera suffers a lot! – and has an uncomplicated menu for me. I’ve been using 5Ds for the past 11 years, so when I tried to change it, it didn’t work. My previous camera is with Felipe now. On the other hand, Felipe uses his iPhone more than the heavy camera, and his photos are only getting more significant. To make better travel photos, you need to understand what works for you!

Over the past decade, photography has been my favorite way to remember a place. Some people like to go to souvenir shops, some might even like to keep museum or exhibition tickets but since most of the time I’m living off my cabin size luggage, I cannot give myself this luxury. I know that many of you, regardless the reason, like to have good travel photos to document and remember your travels. I’ve decided to write a post with easy tips to make your memories better and to talk a little bit more about the gear I use.

Read a lot before getting your camera and research for days and weeks before upgrading. I like to always look at Photography Bay and see the reviews there. I also type the name of what I want to get on youtube, and I spend hours watching review videos. I don’t know how to answer questions like “What is the best camera?” because this is too personal and I only use Canon, but I can look at the functions and “translate” to you what everything means. If you need any extra help, get in touch with me in the comments or on our Facebook group, and I’ll try to help.

Another helpful tip I cannot stress is: always think to upgrade your lenses before thinking of a new camera! Spend your money on lenses!!! Clear and good quality LENSES! We’ve reviewed a few for this blog; take a look at some of the posts on Photo Gear Review. Those little fellas are, maybe, responsible for better travel photos.

And speaking of lenses…

Over the past decade, photography has been my favorite way to remember a place. Some people like to go to souvenir shops, some might even like to keep museum or exhibition tickets but since most of the time I’m living off my cabin size luggage, I cannot give myself this luxury. I know that many of you, regardless the reason, like to have good travel photos to document and remember your travels. I’ve decided to write a post with easy tips to make your memories better and to talk a little bit more about the gear I use.

Long Exposure + Wide Angle Lens

Always have a wide with you for landscape and/or travel photography. The images are outstanding, and if you make one like mine – a 24-70mm – you won’t need another one.

Over the past decade, photography has been my favorite way to remember a place. Some people like to go to souvenir shops, some might even like to keep museum or exhibition tickets but since most of the time I’m living off my cabin size luggage, I cannot give myself this luxury. I know that many of you, regardless the reason, like to have good travel photos to document and remember your travels. I’ve decided to write a post with easy tips to make your memories better and to talk a little bit more about the gear I use.

All those photos wouldn’t have been possible without my 24-70mm to capture the entire scene!

Next on my list is a 14mm, the one I reviewed here; it makes my Faroe Islands photos incredible! Wide angles will always make the entire frame richer and give the viewer a better experience. It will provide you with more room to take better travel photos because you can have almost all the beauty around you. It allows extra details that generally would be cut off if you’re using a 50mm. 50mm is what your eyes see; anything below falls into the wide-angle range.

Travel photographers usually rely on wide-angle lenses, and that’s why your eyes move around the entire photo, and you see more than you would in one frame. These lenses create an excellent warped effect around the sides, making clouds look like they’re stretching out into space. Of course, you can edit it out afterward with software like LightRoom, but sometimes they give that little extra to your photo.

Usually, a good lens will cost the same or even more than your camera. And this is the reason why if you have limited resources, go for the lenses. Cameras are just black boxes with a hole to capture the light. Modern cameras are fancy black boxes with ultra-tech features and a tiny hole to catch the light. Better travel photos need to pass through good lenses; good lenses will give you more options for capturing what you want.

Action Cameras and more portable cameras

And on the matter of wide-angles, let’s talk about my Legria and my Action Cam. Both are fantastic in their way. They have even wider, fisheye lenses that are perfect for capturing everything you need. And the Action Cam is waterproof, ideal for videos and photos in places where I don’t dream of taking my 5D. But do you need them both? No! Choose one and be happy.

My Action Cam is in the same family as the well-known GoPro, and the Legria is perfect for shooting videos where you need to be on the frame. Both are terrible in low-light situations so keep this in mind. You will have to use them only during daytime or inside when there’s a good light situation.

But what they lack in low light shows how practical they can be and how easy they make your life.

The Legria is easier to make stable videos since you can hold it in the palm of your hand. Its format is easier to maintain position than a regular camera. And the Action Cam can fit in your pocket, and it is perfect for adventures. Both have a good photo and video quality, but the colors are not even comparable to a proper camera or even my iPhone 6+ camera, ok? It is more about the opportunity of the photo than anything else. Even tho Felipe shows some incredible pieces with it, like these photos inside a Russian Church here.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg for Fotostrasse 18


Out of all the other gear I have, they were the cheapest and the most resilient. When in snowy or wet situations, I usually have to leave the other cameras at the hotel, relying only on them.

The heart and soul of all reasonable travel photos: Composition and shooting techniques

Let’s start with the basics here. First of all: Stop shooting in jpg now! Shoot your images in RAW format. Also, pay attention to when you go out to take your photos, aim for the golden hour or the blue hour or the pink hour. In other words, sunset and sunrise. Study a lot and get close to your camera. Let her (yes, her) be your BFF. Only then will you learn how to get out of the automatic setting.

And please do not forget to look for symmetry, lines, and all that same Bla Bla Bla you will read every article out there about composition. You know the deal already.

Golden, pink, blue hour and other amazing things

This will not sound weird if you’re already familiar with travel photography terminology. Golden, pink and blue hour, the hour after the sun rises and the hour before it sets, is an ideal time for photos. The names come from the predominant colors in the sky when it paints everything pink or blue or gold when the sun starts to dip below the horizon and creates an ethereal look to photos. But don’t panic if you can’t make it; you can have clouds making a great show any time of the day! Let the sky be your muse.

And if the not even clouds in the sky are exciting or if it’s noon and everything is mega bright and the shadows too hard, try to meter your camera in the middle point, where you think it is 50/50 between the most brilliant part and the darkest spot. And always use the lowest ISO possible so you can correct the photo later on LightRoom without too much damage.

Train Your Eyes

What differentiates a good photographer from a lousy photographer is this. And since we know better than believing in “talent,” we have to train our eyes to be consistently better in what we love. What I mean by that is how you frame and compose your photography. Something that every photographer will tell you, there are many ways to train your photography eye to make better travel photos; these are just some of them:

In the 1960’s the area around what was known as Leninplatz worked as a breaking pointing between Friedrichshain and Alexanderplatz. It was there that, gradually, the buildings started to look bigger and bigger resulting on what was the center of East Berlin at Alexanderplatz. But it wasn’t always like that.

  • Follow people on Flickr, 500px, Instagram, and other social networks who you consider way better than you in photography. Fill your feed with photographers who take amazing photos and look at what they do. Try to get those great angles and styles.
  • Spend some time on YouTube. Watch many tutorials from your favorite photographers, subscribe to their channel, make this a habit. Keep an eye on posts like this for more tips, and always try them out before seeing what works for you and what doesn’t. If you want to get good at something, just keep trying and learning; you will get there! I’m sure.
  • Only post your best work.
  • Move closer to your subject, move away from your subject. Don’t always rely on focus or your wide lenses. Go up that rock or down there, get dirty. Show your audience the scene from a different angle. Get their attention.
  • In the beginning, you won’t know what looked best until you get home and look at the photos on your screen. So get yourself some extra memory cards and take a bunch of pictures. The more, the better when you’re learning.
  • Keep learning

If you have a friend next to you, show them the photo and ask, “Is this photo awesome enough to make you go WOW?”. If they say yes, you post it. You don’t need them to tell you. You can tell by their faces usually. If the response is not satisfactory, think twice before posting it. You need people to feel something when they look at your shots. If there’s a reaction to them, you’ll see it online.

And if you’re alone, make the rational decision. And always check what gives you better results on your feeds. You’ll learn the tricks with time and persistence, and your account will bloom.

Get out of your comfort zone.

To get your photography to the next level, you need to be able to be uncomfortable. Sometimes you need to hike 20 km to get to the top of that mountain, sometimes you need to spend 3 hours until you get the perfect shot, sometimes you have to wait for long periods to get the excellent show with your tripod and low light. Photography is no easy-breezy task; you need to put up some work. And travel photography is one of the hardest since you rely a lot on what nature gives you.

That kind of dedication will earn you the trillions of fans you want.

And please do not get frustrated if all of this seems too much. It’s a long process, and every single one of the beloved photographers you love had to climb the same uneasy path you have to through persistence, learning, diligence, and or course by practicing.

I strongly hope these tips help you get there. If you liked this post, consider joining our family. We promise we won’t spam you; we will only send one email per month.