When traveling and experiencing new cultures it is easy to become overwhelmed at first. With all the new smells, sounds, and scenery bombarding your senses, the first few days in a new country can make even the most seasoned traveler reach for the pillow.
I remember the first few days in Malaysia, one of my first photography trips after leaving South Korea. The first time I stepped out of the hotel with my camera was exciting, but ultimately exhausting. Everything was new to me and I wanted to take
A woman prepares a wick for some homemade lime butter candles, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ©Skyler Burt.
a picture of it all. I was like a slaphappy, crazed photographer acting like the streets of Kuala Lumpur were the press pool at a high profile case. My photographic “don’t think, just shoot” approach for those first few days was not a good start to experience a new culture and it did not result in the greatest photos either. Instead, I recommend sitting back, taking a breath, and focusing in on “the small.” Shooting “the small” means to dive into your surroundings and come away with colorful detailed snaps depicting the less than obvious aspects of a country’s culture.
Every country has their own way of pulling in those valuable tourist dollars and usually they are great places to make photographs. Although tourist attractiosn are impressive, it might be better to leave them out of your photos. Go ahead and get that photo out of your system, but then move your lens to “the small.” Tourist attractions are usually full of detailed slices of the country’s culture. Zoom in on the people, the patterns, the trinkets, or whatever inhabits your destination’s monuments to make a more personalized photograph.
Next time you photograph your favorite hot spot try photographing “the small.” Simply think of a few categories so as not to get distracted. I usually try to focus on three categories. Sometimes a place doesn’t have all three and I don’t necessarily try to make pictures in any order, but I like to keep these ideas in my pocket so I can pull them out whenever I lose my focus. Detailed below are the categories I use most often when I want to find “the small.” What categories you choose is up to your personal style or taste and the situation at hand, but it helps to keep “the small” in mind while you’re snapping your next great photo.
Category 1: Color
Detailed photos with the theme of "color," Kuala Lumpur. ©Skyler Burt
Color can be your best friend when shooting “the small.” For the most part colors are everywhere, just lying around going unnoticed, but if you are keen to them, you will see them on every corner. Try picking a color to shoot for the day. It is amazing how certain colors repeatedly show up when you are looking for them. Look for it on walls, flowers, statues, people’s clothes, and everything you see throughout the day. Each time you see it take a picture of it. Try to find its opposite color and work with both of them together. When it presents itself, color will do wonders for those travel photos.
Category 2: People
Detailed photos with the theme of "people," Kuala Lumpur. ©Skyler Burt
People are great reflections of their culture and pictures of people can really give a sense of a country’s identity. When you take pictures of people, focus on what makes the person special to really make those travel photos come to life. If you are looking for “the small” when people are your subject, try zeroing in on simple characteristics. If a person has interesting eyes, hands, a mustache, or even jewelry, these features can make quite a nice picture. Another method is to concentrate on their actions. If the person is playing a musical instrument, look at their hands. If they are dancing, try capturing the motion of their feet. There are many possibilities when it comes to taking a detailed picture of a person and sometimes just pieces of them are enough to tell a story.
Category 3: Found Art
Detailed photos under the theme, "found art," Kuala Lumpur. ©Skyler Burt
The Found Art you see always changes depending on your location. Found Art can be anything from brooms to doorknobs, neatly bound rolls of incense inside a well lit Chinese temple, a brightly colored mailbox hanging off an old wall, traditional teapots for sale or baskets stacked up and tucked away in an alley. The number of things you will see during your adventure is endless. Usually these little seemingly insignificant objects will make great travel photos. More often, these little things can really symbolize the character of a particular culture and show everyone just how interesting the trip was.
When trying to make good travel photos, look for “the small,”it is important to capture slices of life which are symbolic to the particular culture. When exploring with your camera try to look for different colors, unique characteristics of the people, found art lying around or whatever is strange or new to you. Search high and low for these cultural cues so that your photos reflect what makes the destination so interesting. Every country has uniqueness like no other and if you are able to capture it, people will love the photos from your travel adventures. Want to see more travel photography check out Yellow Street Photos website!
Detailed photos under the theme, "mail box," Malaysia. ©Skyler Burt.
Jan Inglis
September 28, 2009
Wow!! The photos are great, the ideas are so right on I am going to try to utilize your ideas. And, the narrative was interesting and very well done. Great job all the way around, can’t wait to hear and see more.