Explore Journeys > Geography & Arts > Travel Photography

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

This tour is designed to offer practical instruction in the genre of travel-photography during a journey that takes places in milieus that are photographically inspiring. These trips are open for everyone ranging from complete beginners to advanced amateur photographers – most of the instruction is hands-on, conducted on a one-to-one basis, a kind of coaching that is adjustable to the level of each participant in the private group. Moreover, travel-photography tours are open to any companion – such as spouse or partner, colleague or friend – who isn’t particularly interested in photography. That’s because companions not involved in the practical instruction will still find the tour engrossing and rewarding – the places we visit are outstanding destinations in their own right, the routes are eclectic, and any companion will find plenty of absorbing things to do that don’t involve photography. 

The whole idea is that we visit a variety of exotic attractions – oasis of culture as well as inspiring landscapes – and then you learn to interact with the location and subjects around you through the lens, developing a knack for seeing the world through your camera. The itinerary is specially designed so that we encounter a range of attractions and landscapes and subjects that lend themselves to different sub-genres of travel photography – in this way we introduce techniques invoked in photographing landscapes, people, action, food, nature, historical monuments, architectural detail and so on – so that you can practice and hone all the range of skills involved in travel photography. The level and depth of instruction is determined by the participants, but generally speaking we will have one-to-one coaching throughout the day, and then optional evening discussions that cover theory, principles and techniques. The instructor and tour leader – who would be a professional photographer as well as a travel expert in the region where the travel takes place – will also carry a laptop computer, and in the evenings (or during other idle times), you would be able review the pictures shot throughout the day, either in group arrangement or in one-to-one discussions. Everything, all the instruction, is conducted in an informal setting.

Although the travel-photography tours are open for all levels of photographers, from beginners to advanced amateurs, SLR cameras are a prerequisite to participation. Any SLR camera will do and, if you are new to photography and need to get the knack of a digital SLR as well as learn more about the operational aspects before you buy your own, we can lend you a digital SLR to work with on the trip. If you are a complete beginner, the one-to-one coaching will start by introducing the basic elements of photography such as the depth of field, the relationship between aperture and shutter speed, and so on.

At the moment, travel-photography tours take place in western China and in Palawan in the Philippines.

Instructor in Western China:

In western China, the coach and tour leader is Victor Paul Borg, who is a professional travel writer and photographer whose work has been published in some of the most prestigious publications in the world – hundreds of magazines and books have published his work, and some of his pictures have even featured in posters for advertising campaigns. You can see some of Victor’s work in Pepper Mountains website, as well as in the Photography Dossier at the bottom of this page.

Instructor in Palawan

In Palawan, instruction and tour leading is by Al Linsangan. Al’s photography is sold in prints and postcards from an art gallery in the Calamians, and published in a variety of magazines, including the inflight magazines of various airlines. One of his landscape pictures – a picture of a beach in Palawan – garnered first prize in the prestigious Philippines Canon National Photo Contest.

For more details about the instruction modules delivered during the travel-photography tour, as well as suggested equipment, please launch and peruse the Photography Dossier in the box-link below.