For this post I’d like to discuss travel because I recently got back from a trip to NY. Specifically I wanted to share a little bit of how I plan for a trip and photographing “tourist spots”. When I travel to places with the specific purpose of taking photos I find it helpful to do some research ahead of time to figure out what things I would like to shoot and start to build a “shot list”.

Often after my initial research the first items on my shot list are these “tourist spots” that have been photographed many times before. I don’t see anything wrong with shooting theses popular sights first because if it’s been photographed a lot typically it’s worth checking out. For example, if you were coming to San Francisco for the first time it’s worth seeing the Golden Gate Bridge even thou it’s a popular tourist destination.

Once I have these “tourist spots” on my list, I then populate the rest of my list with more unique and less popular locations that I come across after doing further research. Some quick ways I do my location research is through a quick hashtag search on Instagram of that location, a Google Search of the destination, and/or speaking with locals which is always the best. However, don’t worry about trying to plan your whole trip at this point. I thinks it’s good to have points of interest and then allow yourself time to explore and get lost once you arrive.

Once you arrive at your destination and head out to these “tourist spots” I do think it’s good to try and challenge yourself to shoot these places differently. Find a way to express your own creative twist that way you can come away with an image that’s more unique to you. This may be visiting that location at a different time then normal, under different conditions, finding an alternative perspective while on site, or employing a different photo/editing technique.

For example, I did this with my trip to NY where I went to Dumbo to shoot the NYC skyline. Dumbo has a location by Brooklyn Bridge Park that is a hotspot for photographers and it’s easy to see why. This spot provides not only a great view of the NYC skyline with some interesting foreground visuals via a series of pylons that stick out of the water creating some great leading lines to the city.

I arrived at that spot to take my shot there like many other photographers, but then I left to explore the surrounding area. By doing this I found a good view of the statue of liberty that I would not have seen if I did not walk around. I also played with long exposure and played with the colors quite a bit afterwards to make for some some fun images that were more unique to me.

Once I captured my images in this popular tourist spot I then ventured off to the surrounding area to see what comes up. This doesn’t always guarantee great new things to shoot but you may surprise yourself in what you may find. For example, from that Brooklyn Bridge Park location I walked along the waterfront and found other great views of the city. I discovered a cafe that had an amazing arrangements of lights which I spent time shooting and then Jane’s Carousel which I believe is a popular tourist spot. However as I was there after hours I had the opportunity to shoot it slightly differently since there were so few people around and I could get up close without any distractions and produced this image below.

Now not all these shots I took that evening were keepers, but I think it’s great to be curious as a photographer and let yourself wander a bit and see what you come across. I don’t think there is anything wrong with using popular tourist spots to start your photo journey but make sure to allow time to explore new locations, get lost a little, and try different things when shooting. Lastly if you would like to see more images from my NY trip you can view them here or San Francisco here.

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Seeing the Sights