11 Travel Photography Composition Tips That Will Instantly Improve Your Shots

Do you want to take more interesting travel photos? Well, I do, and I hope that you do too. It is too easy to go somewhere and take average, boring photos of something you never do anything with. I have taken loads of these myself, so don’t worry. And it is so easy to take the same photo of something we have all seen a thousand times. Let’s not do any of that. 

No, there is so much more that we can do, and in this episode, I will tell you 11 things you can do to help you take better travel photos. 

In this episode, I tell you this little lot. 

• Why photographing the popular stuff is fine – just do more after.
• Eight things you can think about before taking a photo.
• Three things you can try when you finally get to taking photos.
• Some things that you can do – yes, you, dear listener

I also tell you

What if you use a phone to take photos

• What I do
• How you can ask me a question
• And a little bit about me.

All explained in plain English, without the irrelevant detail, in (much) less than 27 (ish) minutes!
 
What is not to love? How utterly splendid!

Chapters

• 0:38 And that was the answery bit.
• 0:39 Hi, and a very warm welcome
• 1:08 But wait, hang on Rick
• 2:13 1 Photograph interesting stuff
• 3:51 2 Find out what a place is all about
• 4:40 3 Walk, look and think before you take that photo
• 5:42 4 Don’t just photograph the obvious
• 6:08 The Leaning Tower of Pisa
• 7:36 Check out the Battistero di San Giovanni
• 9:01 5 Find different viewpoints
• 9:50 6 Try to get one photo and one photo only (yes, really)
• 11:43 7 Don’t be put off by rubbish weather
• 13:09 8 Work out where and when the best light is
• 14:44 9 Try a minimalist approach
• 15:42 10 Choose a rule (or rules) of composition and work with it (them)
• 17:27 11 Fill the frame
• 18:02 12 Edit, use and share the interesting photo
• 18:51 OK – that is that – here are some things for you to do.
• 19:25 What if I use a phone to take photos?
• 20:02 What do I do?
• 22:32 Some thoughts from the last episode
• 22:45 Next episode
• 23:07 A quick plug for me and what I do.
• 23:44 Get an email from me.
• 24:04 Ask me a question
• 24:30 Brought to you by - a coffee

Transcript

Do you want to take more interesting travel photos? Well, I do, and I hope that you do too. It is too easy to go somewhere and take average, boring photos of something you never do anything with. I have taken loads of these myself, so don’t worry. And it is so easy to take the same photo of something we have all seen a thousand times. Let’s not do any of that.

No, there is so much more that we can do, and in this episode, I am going to tell you 11 things you can do to help you take better travel photos.

And that was the answery bit.

How utterly splendid.

Hi, and a very warm welcome to Episode 204 of the Photography Explained podcast. I'm your host, Rick, and in each episode, I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details. Yes, really.

I'm a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my splendid podcast.

But wait, hang on Rick, are you saying I can’t take all those photos of famous landmarks and landscapes? Yes, I was, sort of, but let me explain.

I said don’t just take the photos everyone else has already got, didn’t I? Don’t just. Why should we deprive ourselves of the headline shots just because everybody else got there first?

So, it is fine to do that, but after we have done that, we can do so much more.

Now, the title of this as a search query normally gives you a list of 11 rules of composition. But not my list. Oh no. Of course not. There is so much more to do than the taking photos bit.

We all have some work to do before we take a photo. So, let’s get into these 11 things.

1 Photograph interesting stuff.

There is interesting stuff everywhere – you just need to find it. Travel photography does not have to be all about stunning beaches and blue skies, or world-famous landmarks. Where you are is a potential travel location for anyone who is not where you are after all. This depends, of course, on where you live and what is around you. I am very fortunate to live in Dorset in England, a lovely place with travel photo opportunities all around me.

So go somewhere interesting to take interesting photos. Find somewhere interesting where you are, or somewhere near you.  There will be somewhere.

Yes, this is the starting point. Find something interesting. This will significantly improve your chances of getting more interesting photos. 

And I repeat - this doesn’t just mean going to famous landmarks, far from it.

Wherever we find ourselves in this big old globe of ours, there is always something interesting somewhere nearby – sometimes we have to look, think and do some work to find these places.

If you think there is nowhere interesting near you, you are not thinking or trying enough. So, think about it, get out, and photograph those interesting places!

2 Find out what a place is all about

Travel photography is all about capturing a location, taking photos that show a place at its most interesting best. A successful travel photo makes someone want to know more or even want to be there.

And what is interesting in a location will, of course, vary from place to place.

And the only way to really get a feel for a place is to get out and explore. 

And we must keep telling ourselves, where you are might be a travel location for other people – travel photography is not constrained to places abroad from where you are.

3 Walk, look and think before you take that photo

I talk about this a lot. My photography superpowers are walking, thinking and looking. And of course, you too can do this; it costs you nothing other than your time and the wear of your shoes or other footwear of choice, whatever that might be.

Rather than turning up somewhere, getting your camera out, and snapping away (that is a reference to someone who used to ask me to take some snaps of buildings who will remain nameless here), have a good old walk around and see what you can find. And when you think you have found something interesting to photograph, keep walking and looking and thinking, but at the thing that you have found, as when you move things in a composition, change.

This is a narrowing-down process, which ends up with something interesting to photograph.

4 Don’t just photograph the obvious

I touched on this. If you are going to a landmark location, don’t just photograph the landmark stuff. Let me give you a very specific example. And it is a building in a nice place. Let me remind you. I photograph buildings and nice places, as well as buildings in nice places.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy. Of course, it’s in Pisa, the clue is in the name after all!

I have been to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, real name, wait for it, Tower of Pisa. And boy does it lean. I was surprised by how much it leans. 

We’ve all seen the photos. So yes, take the photo that shows that remarkable lean, we shouldn’t deprive ourselves of such wonders just because they are popular. But once you have done this, then do something different. Do what no one else is doing.

You can photograph this tower from an angle where it is not leaning. It is a beautiful structure after all. I wish I had done this.

And you can also do this, which I did do.

Rather than getting the headline shot and then moving straight on, look around and see what else is there. Which, in the case of the Tower of Pisa, is the utterly wonderful Battistero di San Giovanni. And there is also the spectacular Piazza del Duomo—apologies for the pronunciation.

Check them out for yourself.

I spent more time at the Battistero di San Giovanni than at the leaning tower. Now I am not being smug here, I am not looking down on all those people who took photos of the tower and all the various poses that people do with the tower in the background – no, that is all good stuff. This is people enjoying where they and taking photos. We should never look down on people taking these same photos; they are creating their own memories, which are special to them.

But if you want your photos to stand out like I do, and take the best photos that you can, if photography is your thing, in all these cases, there is so much more that we can do.

Which is what I did. And there was just me at this architectural splendour. And thousands of people around the tower.

Move on, Rick.

5 Find different viewpoints

I mentioned this in the last bit. Any scene can be viewed from more than one viewpoint; it is up to us to find them. And I have told you how to do this. By walking, looking and thinking.

To do this, you need to give yourself time without pressure to get something—time to look around and see what you can find.

And what do you do next when you have found that viewpoint and composition that looks interesting?

6 Try to get one photo and one photo only (yes, really)

Seamless transition, Rick, seamless.

Yes, my one photo rule. Here is the 12-word version of it. 

“Take the time to take the best one photo of one thing”

If you want to know more, check out episode 152, How My One Photo Rule Will Help You Take Better Photos, for much more. And episode 197, How To Take Fewer Photos But Better Photos In 2025 (With My One Photo Rule)

I use this rule to remind myself what I am all about, and that I don’t want to get home to sort through 200 photos of one thing. Sorting photos is boring, and I do not like doing it.

So, if I get home with one photo that is a contender for my portfolio, I am a very happy chappy.

Trying to get a better photo than one that you already have is a super effective way of approaching taking photos, it gives you a purpose and takes away a load of variables.

7 Don’t be put off by rubbish weather

Rubbish weather can give you great photos.

I live in England. If I had to wait for lovely clear blue skies and wall-to-wall sunshine, I would take photos on about 1 day in every 20. We English people talk about the weather a lot. We complain about the weather a lot. It is something of an English tradition to talk about the weather. At the start of every weekly email I send on a Friday, I normally start with a comment about the weather. And if you want to hear my thoughts on the weather every Friday more on this later! (Don’t let this put you off).

My take is this – blue skies can get boring. I would imagine. I love clouds. I am a big cloud fan. And I love dramatic weather. Any bad weather has the chance to go dramatic, especially in our more unpredictable than ever climate. Not a good thing I have to say.

So, if the weather forecast is terrible, I do not let it put me off getting my camera out and going off somewhere. And neither should you.

But if you live somewhere where the weather is always lovely, please let me know if this is boring or not.

8 Work out where and when the best light is

Photography is drawing with light. So, it makes sense to find out when and where the light is at its best. It is the free but most important ingredient of every photo we take.

The position of the sun varies during the day, of course. Well, it is easy to forget that here as we go through weeks of cloud and general dullness. But let’s not just restrict ourselves to golden hour, sunrise or sunset and the time before and after. No, for every photo, there will be an optimal position for the sun, so we need to work this out. And some apps can help us with this.

When looking at the light, we need to see what it is doing to a composition and work out when the light is best for that photo, whenever that might be. And we can only work this out by walking around, looking, thinking, and returning to places at different times and seasons. If you can.

OK – I have covered eight things and only now do I get on to the taking photos bit. Yes really. I told you my list differed from many others, didn’t I? These three things are three approaches that you might like to take.

9 Try a minimalist approach

Yes really. It is always tempting when you are in a super interesting place to capture everything in one composition. Sure, you can do this to capture a place's scale and overall feel, but more often than not, the interesting stuff is in there somewhere. Single things make simple but interesting compositions. This is why the looking and thinking bit is so important.

My one photo rule doesn’t mean taking one photo of a location and then moving on to another. Far from it. What I mean is, take one photo of one thing, don’t take 20 photos of the same thing from similar angles.

10 Choose a rule (or rules) of composition and work with it (them)

I listed all the rules of composition in episode 202, What Are The Rules Of Composition? (And Which Do I Use?). Choose one, two, three, whatever, and use them. Remember, the rules of composition are not rules; they are well-established guidelines that help us to get better compositions.

Use the same rules consistently and your photos will develop their own look, their own style, their own feel. And knowing that you are using say two rules of composition really helps you to take photos because when you are composing a photo, you have these guidelines to help you make that composition.

This really works, and I do this all the time to help.

Check out episode 202 for all the rules and find the ones that work for you. And the rules that you use will vary depending on what the subject matter is. Take a photo of a beach, and you will use some rules that you would not use for a photo of a bohemian market at night. Unless you want to. But work out which rules can help you for the variety of things you are taking photos of.

I use the rule of thirds as a starting point for my photos. I use the rule to help me to place things in a photo.

I talked about the rules of composition. But there is one more specific thing I want to mention.

11 Fill the frame

I see so many travel photos where there is something lost in the middle of the photo. What was meant to be the point of interest is so small that it is not contributing to a photo. You can barely see it. If it is not clear what the subject of a photo is, we have a problem. We need to be clear about what we are photographing and what we are trying to say and show people.

And one way of doing this is to fill the frame with the subject matter.

Do all these things and let me know how you get on, dear listener,

12 Edit, use and share the interesting photo

And not the one that everyone else took.

Yes, I am back to that headline landmark photo that we have seen a thousand times. Don’t share that photo. Don’t use that photo as part of your body of work. Use your alternative photo – that will make your photo stand out for sure.

So, dare to be different.

And that is where I want to stop. I have given you things to think about, things that you can do.

Yes, that was 12 things. I didn’t want to change the title from 11 to be honest, so let’s treat 12 as a bonus.

OK – that is that – here are some things for you to do.

Choose some rules and use them. Start with 1 or 2 and get used to taking photos using these rules. And see if this changes your photos, and how you approach taking photos.

And try to fill the frame.

Have a go and let me know how you get on.

What if I use a phone to take photos?

You can do all this good stuff with a phone the same way you can with a camera.

And I want to repeat the fill the frame bit. With a phone, the default lens is a wide-angle lens, meaning that you are starting off with stuff some way away. So, making the conscious decision to fill the frame will improve many photos taken with a phone.

What do I do?

I have already told you that. These 11 things are what I do. And many times, I need to do them better. And writing this and spring being here, I need to get out and do much more of what I talk about!

One thing I want to say here is going back to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I took one photo of the leaning view. I haven’t even edited it. I have never done anything with it. But the photo of the wonderful Battistero San Giovanni has had multiple edits and been used for loads of different articles that I have written.

And when I was taking the photos of the Battistero San Giovanni, there was no one else there. Ok, there was one person sitting in the shade of a doorway, but no one else. I had this amazing place all to myself. No people in the way of my photos. And the main event, the leaning tower, which is a 2-minute walk away, was absolutely rammed.

Again, not snobbery, I love people taking photos, but I like to be a little bit different where I can.

Another thing that I do is this: I do not research a place before I go there. I do not check out photos of a place I am going to. 

Why not? I want to find my own things to photograph; I am not going there to photograph what everybody has already photographed. This builds on what I said earlier. I’m not saying you have to do this, just that this is what I do.

And that is what I do.

Some thoughts from the last episode

How did you get on with working out what 20mm, 50mm, and 200mm look like with your eyes?

Next episode

Landscape photography – same question, different subject. Yes, I am going to give you some practical examples of getting the best compositions when we take landscape photos. Nice.

A quick plug for me and what I do.

Well, why not? If I can't plug myself on my podcast, where can I?

You have found this podcast, so why not check out the podcast website photographyexplainedpodcast.com? I have another photography website, rickmcevoyphotography.com, where I write blog posts about my photographs of buildings and other good stuff. On my courses page, you will find my course, How to Become A Real Estate Photographer. You can also find me on YouTube talking about my podcast and my blog - type my name in, and you will soon find me.

Get an email from me.

If you want a weekly email from me, fill in the box on any of my websites, and every Friday, you will read what I am thinking about photography-related.

That's enough of the self-promotion.

Ask me a question

If you have a question you would like me to answer or you just want to say hi, email me at sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk, visit the podcast website, or text me from the podcast feed.

It is always lovely to hear from you, dear listeners.

This episode was brought to you by a cheese and pickle sandwich and a bag of salt and vinegar crisps. Yes, I consumed it before settling in my homemade, acoustically cushioned recording emporium. 

I've been Rick McEvoy. Thanks again for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast (it says here) and for giving me 27 minutes of your valuable time. I reckon this episode will be about 23 minutes long after I have edited out the mistakes and other bad stuff.

Thanks for listening

Take care and stay safe.

Cheers from me, Rick