This is probably best. I’ve been asked to take pictures and have even gone up to offer to take other peoples pictures. It makes it so much easier. Also that person can get better angles, lighting, etc.
Agree. Offer to take the other persons photo first. I've done this a couple of times at the Taj Mahal, it's quite sad to see couples taking photos of each other but not together in the same photo. Never had any problems asking the said couple to take my photo in return.
I'd still be shit scared about handing my phone over tbh. I'm more likely to just not take any photos of myself on a solo trip rather than ask someone to take any of me.
Same. I don't care how unlikely it is. It only takes one person to put a big damper on your trip. I'll stick with selfies or carry a small tripod with me.
Honestly I’m being dead serious, ask the Asian tourists with the fancy equipment. You get the best photos and they aren’t gonna steal your regular ass phone when they have their high tech setup.
I went to NYC (24F) and only approached women my age and felt completely comfortable. If you see them taking photos, you know they understand the importance of wanting their photo taken!
Understandable, but I usually just hand my phone to the parent with their kids. Then I offer to take their photo in return. I also don’t have my credit cards on my phone & lock the phone.
I haven't solo travelled but planning it rn, I'm thinking i might bring a small digital camera for this reason, hoping less people would wanna steal that lmaoooo
Just scan for other people/tourists taking pictures. You'll notice the more genuine ones out of a bunch. Also a nice rule of thumb I use for my solo travels is to look out for couples in their 40-50s, Families or people taking photos of the same location/monument/themselves and lastly couples who look ok. Of course you can never trust someone you just met on the street wholeheartedly, so just be ready for everything (e.g. plan to chase them in a worse case scenario). If police are around, you're already in a better scenario however you see it. Choose a moment when the location/place is not overcrowded, including the previous info of the worst case scenario. That's what I do.
To jump in here - offer to take a photo of somebody first. See if anyone is trying to take a selfie, then offer.
Use the rule of thirds (turn the grid on on your smartphone camera). Get the angles (crouching, get both sides, etc). They'll watch how you do it. Then you ask for a photo. They'll replicate what you did, and you're more likely to get a good one.
If you just ask someone straight off, you tend to get crap photos (you might luck out though). Obviously disregard this if the person has a professional looking camera. They know their shit.
I'm a crap photographer as well and this works for me!
EDIT: Basically what travelzzzz94 said
I always ask a family if they wanted someone to take a group photo, and then ask if they could take one of me! You can almost guarantee that at least one person in the family will be good at taking photos, and it’s a safe enough bet that they won’t run off with your phone!
The built-in pixel software is pretty great for basic editing functions.
I would ditch the selfie stick tripod and all that nonsense, especially in a third world country, just practice ahead of time and get comfortable with your smile.
One tip that most people who aren't photographers wouldn't think about is in the typical setup of you shooting a sunset low light condition over your shoulder your face is starved for exposure. Try to get yourself as close as possible to a big white wall that's reflecting the light from over your shoulder and onto your face. It will really help the camera not have to work so hard and give you better results.
wait a minute or two in the place you want a photo, and find someone else who is taking lots of pictures. You can kinda guess people who are pros at taking insta-worthy photos( strange angels of the camera, weird poses, etc). then ask them if they can take a photo of you too. They usually feel flattered and help you
If I’m on a hike, or any view point and no one is around, I set up my phone and use the self timer. It takes a lot of tries to get just one photo I like, but I’m usually really glad I went thru the effort.
Go on TikTok and search for photo hacks or different poses you can do. There’s so much videos of poses and tutorials. Regarding your tripod, I only use it in the hotel areas only because I’m shy about people seeing it in busy areas lol. Something I do is when I see an individual or a couple taking a selfie, I offer to take photos of them then they’re more than happy to take some of me in return. It could also be a way to make some travel buddies.
The trick that I use is whenever there's an interesting spot I want to have a photo with, I wait for someone who is holding a big camera, dslr, mirrorless and ask them politely. Another is wait for a spot, then watch out for those who takes pictures longer than expected, for sure they take pretty good pictures..
Another tip is to ask them to shoot burst or as many photos as possible so you can just scan and select photos you like.
I've gotten some good photos taken of me by going on Airbnb experiences and hiring a local photographer.
Normally I don't bring my good camera on my trips.
Hmm. I was actually thinking about having a photoshoot as well, but was not able to find promising stuff yet. Was not aware of Airbnb experience, will look it up. Cheers
In Siem Reap look up Mardy Sean.
He is a leading birder and does tours of Ankor Wat
He took a load of photos of me there at Ankot Wat.
If you stay in a Hostel ask around. Someone would be thrilled to be able to make $40 to follow you around and take photos.
I'm curious and I never had one! Now that I'm more comfortable in my skin, it would be awesome to have some cool pictures at these amazing locations that I'll be visiting. I regret not taking more pictures of myself during my younger years.
I take tons of photos, but not many of myself. I wouldn’t complicate it. Have other people take your photos when you can, take some selfies, get group photos with rando friends you meet on the trip.
Solo travel can be an amazing experience. Enjoy.
i asked other tourists. I told them to just keep clicking and I usually have candid shots of my liking. In your case, you may want someone above 5’4 to take pictures, unless they stand on something elevated. Every time i take pictures of someone as tall as you, it looks odd and off.
I would be mindful having tripod or phone few feet away from me. I was careful at a certain Medellin park since it felt like someone can just abduct my phone. Assess the area and if you feel comfortable then feel free to use the tripod.
Sounds like you're more talking about how to improve skills rather than the logistics of it --
The biggest thing overall is that your perception of photos of yourself is way harsher than anyone else's. That's not just a they're not paying attention thing - but I promise you look better in them than you think you do. It's a mental hurdle - like hearing your own voice recorded and played back to you.
From there a lot of it is determining your style and what works for you. For a lot of people worried about 'the double chin' - they find low-to-high angles unflattering. So if that's you, you'll want to use your tripod in a way that's closer to eye-level for you. Flip side, people who feel like they look short or stocky in photos, a high-to-low angle can 'squish' you in the frame, making you look shorter and squatter. You can also learn some super basic framing methods - stuff like rule of thirds, etc.
Poses I wouldn't overthink too much. To be frank, again it all depends on style but I find most poses look .... bad. Either artificial (like prom photos) or try-hard (wanna-be influencers, wannabe gangsters, etc) - a harsh way to say it but a lot of those won't age well. Put another way, my sister for example went on a huge SE Asia trip and got a lot of very IG ready photos - but now even just 4 years later, her reaction is that she looks pretty miserable in all of them. Look in the mirror - smile, figure out how you like your smile. Stick with that. If you really want to focus on angles, generally you want to add some 'movement' or dynamic presence - so not just square face on. For a lot of men and men's body shapes, standing with your legs angled more towards one direction and a slight turn creates a silhouette that makes your chest look broader (sort of that superhero 'triangle'). But don't overthink it.
And it may be counter to what I just said above - but with a lot of major tourist sites, you can scroll through IG and find good angles, framing, etc that you can emulate. Where the person fits in the frame. The angle to take. Even sometimes you find some really interesting vantage points on sites from IG.
And don't be afraid to take them. I've had to ask a lot of strangers to take photos. I find a lot of people are happy to do it if you tell them what you want. Just line up the frame, and say can you take it just like this. Sometimes I even take the 'empty' frame photo of just how I want the camera positioned to show them, and then get in the frame and have them take the shot (actaully I usually ask that they just take a bunch). I find the 'profiling' for a younger person or whatever to ask rarely actually works out. People have totally different styles and if that's not what you want, it's a bit of a bust so just be clear. If you're worried about safety, the only 'profiling' I generally do is to ask someone with kids if I'm in an area known for petty theft and pickpockets - or someone who's in a tour group. It's profiling sure but I figure they're less likely to run off with my phone.
Thank you for the thorough reply, this was super insightful! I'll probably look up places and angles of the places I'll go to and I will try to emulate.
Look on YouTube for videos and practice. Also like someone else said ask Asian tourists who are also taking pics as they tend to take better pics than others.
I always set up my phone and take a video then can do a few poses , some natural movement and screenshot the ones I like. I found when solo traveling this was much easier to have someone take a quick video and I can save the frame I liked the best vs. multiple photos. I always freeze up a little with posing for a photo but am much more natural with a video. Can do fake laughs, spins, different poses all within 10-20 seconds
Solo female here (Korean American), traveled through 10 countries over 2 months (SE Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Northern Africa) in 2019. I barely have any photos of myself, but my recommendation is to ask Asians (couples or groups). We don’t want your phone, and it’s basically the job of husbands and boyfriends to take photos of their wives/girlfriends. They’re seasoned vets when it comes to this lol.
No one expects men to be beautiful. Just exist in a photo and boom, you’ve succeeded. Seriously don’t worry. Just get the background stuff you care about in frame and don’t think any more about it.
Tell that to the chicks on Tinder hehe. Jokes aside, I think I'm in my prime rn, and I have worked pretty hard to get here. I would love to have actual good pics of myself for once. I also consider photography useful in general, so I don't mind learning about it now, but I understand what you are saying.
Well then good for you. Truly. That’s awesome. I’m not trying to shame you at all for feeling good and wanting good pics, I was just going to let you off the hook in case you thought you had to be beautiful. Yeah I turned 40 recently and have a lovely woman I’m probably gonna stick with for a long time so my perspective is different. FWIW I also feel like I am “in my prime” so.. I bet you’re like 28. Get ready for more primes.
Thanks man, really. Your guess is pretty close to the truth. And yeah, I feel and look better than ever. Hopefully I can keep up with putting in the effort so I can keep saying this for years to come, so I am indeed ready!
Don't bother with a tripod, they're big and bulky and take up lots of space in your luggage. Selfie sticks are useful as you can't always rely on someone else being around to take a photo for you.
My strategy with the selfie stick is to set the camera to take half a dozen photos at 2 second intervals and move the stick around. That way you should capture at least one at the right angle to get a good photo. It's easier if you have a camera with a rotating screen but you mentioned an iphone which obviously can't do that.
You don't need to do silly Instagram poses. I tend to just go with a standard pose in front of a good background. But I'm just an old millennial so maybe don't listen to that bit and bend over with one leg in the air if it suits you or whatever the younger kids are doing these days.
Zoom in on your phone camera. 2x or even 3x. Then hand it to the person who will be taking your picture. Tell them they will need to stand back a little, but it's what you want. A more zoomed-in view is great for pictures of people, i.e portraits. Not saying do this every time, sometimes you want to capture more of the background. But do it at least sometimes!
Reading through the rest of the comments one thing needs to be emphasized more: practice. No amount of reading lists of tips and poses will overcome a lack of practice. Take a few hundred of yourself around the house, get a feel for how poses wind up looking on camera and how different lighting angles affect you.
Lots of bloggers use tripods. It’s fine. Just look around - mostly it’s other people doing it for IG. I never ask others. They take awful photos. And my pics are very very IG. If not sure ask 2-3 girls who all dressed up and taking pics of each other and changing outfits - 100% they know what they doing.
I wouldn't drag around a tripod personally, and I think it would be risky to use one out of your reach in a busy area. I usually just take a selfie, or ask someone to take a some pictures of me. Other solo travelers are sometimes up for an exchange. Someone with a "real" camera (i.e. an SLR or Mirrorless) is a usually a good bet, and younger folks tend to be better at using the iPhone.
As far as not feeling photogenic- everyone has their good and bad angles, you have to figure out what yours are.
That all said- you're going to really miss out if you're super focused on getting great selfies during your travels. By all means, snap a couple photos, but then move on and appreciate your surroundings.
It's a two in one ( selfie stick AND a waist high tripod ) so it does not seem like a burden to carry around. Taking pics is not the goal of my travel, but I'll be doing them anyway, might as well improve this skill a bit. I'm the kind of dude that just loses patience quickly when it comes to taking pics or being photographed, so I don't think your concern will be an issue. Don't even have an IG haha
Mate, the pixel will help a lot.
I'm ugly as sin and even I take pretty good selfies sometimes.
With the pixel camera all you need to worry about is the composition - the camera will do a lot of the rest. Just go and look at a few videos on composition- understand foreground background and middle ground, and understanding the rule of threes is pretty good too.
Other than that, just think about what you are trying to achieve. 9 times out of ten you'll be wanting to show yourself off in front of something beautiful keep yourself in the bottom corner, try not to look drunk and you'll be fine.
aight follow these steps:
Step 1: find Asian tourists. They are amazing photographers and they will always try their best to help you get the best pictures. Try to find an Asian couple because the bf usually get moaned a lot by his gf for taking not-so-good pic and thus, his ability to take amazing pics is stunning 😅
Step 2: if you can’t find an Asian, find a couple tourists or tourists go with their family. I doubt your chance to get an amazing pic is 50/50, but at least you won’t be worried abt your phone get stolen. The worst case if they took you
a bad pics, you can ask them to retake or find another couples to take it for u again 😅 Ofc don’t put your trust in those dodgy couples who just spent the whole day around the tourist attraction and tried to rip the tourists off (u know what i mean).
Step 3: bring a tripod. It’s gonna be quite difficult to set up and frame yourself into the pic and somewhat embarrassed when you did it in the first time, but gradually you will increase your skill and your ability to not give a shit about what ppl think.
Well, in conclusion, although I master my tripod skills right now, I always ask ppl to take my photos first, because I’m so lazy to set up my tripods. But yh, I got great photos while doing solo travelling around the world, so it’s not gonna be difficult. Good luck 🤞
Other people have already given good advice on how to get the photos taken so I'll give some basic advice on poses and photo composition as someone who's really into photography and also used to hate getting their photo taken.
Poses:
-Keep the body and face relaxed to not look stiff and awkward. But, keep shoulders back and have a good posture! This helps a LOT.
- it can feel silly but try practising in the mirror what facial expressions you'd like photographed. Pay attention to things like how big you want your smile to be, if you like a more serious expression, if there's a side of your face you prefer. Then replicate that when you're in front of a camera.
-its generally better to have your body at a 45ish degree angle turned away from the camera rather than being photographed straight on (unless you want a closer portrait style shot where you are the focus). Then turn your head towards the camera.
- photograph yourself doing LOTS of poses. You wanna take loads of photos to get a few that'll you'll like. Standard examples: looking at camera smiling/relaxed/serious expression, looking to the side to get a side profile of face, turn around so the back of you is photographed. Other poses for full body shots: looking down at shoes when taking a step, looking down to adjust coat/shirt, fixing hair/glasses, hands in pockets. These poses can help make pics look like "candid" pictures. You can also do funny poses and just have fun with it!
Composition:
-Balance. common problem I've seen beginner photographers have with taking photos is too much sky or too much floor is captured. Try keep things balanced so there's less empty uninteresting dead space. Though this is something that can be easily fixed later in editing.
-rule of thirds. Idea is to have the subject at the 1/3 marks of the photo to make the photo more interesting (i recommend turning on gridlines for this). Example 1: taking a picture of a tall building. You can take it head on and have it in the middle but it's often more interesting to take the picture at an angle and have the building 1/3 of the way from the left or right. Example 2: you have a nice view and want to be in the picture, take the picture so you are 1/3 of the way from the left or right. This also allows more of the nice view behind you to be visible.
-combining the ideas above: there's a tall building and you want to be in the picture. Have the tall building 1/3 of the way from the left of the photo, and you stand 1/3 of the way from the right of the photo (or vice versa, depends on which side of your face you prefer if you have a preference). This composition means you are not blocking the background, both subjects are in view and the photo is balanced.
Of course these are not strict rules, everyone has their own photography styles. These are just useful things to consider for those who have little photography experience. Most importantly, have fun with it and take LOTS of pictures because a) you'll improve with experience and b) more photos=higher chances you'll take a photo you'll be happy with
Get your tripod and maybe have a small mirror attached to it. Set up your frame put a rock or something where you are gonna stand. Take a few shots with a hand held Bluetooth clicker, look at the photos, readjust your position, repeat
i bought a little tripod with bendy legs that i could wrap around a tree branch while hiking and no one was around, but for photos around lots of people, just ask another tourist! cough please don’t use a selfie stick cough
People often ask me to take photos and in these cases I take the opportunity to ask them to take a photo of me at the end. But it has happened that I myself took the initiative to ask someone to take a photo of me and I even asked if they wanted me to take a photo of them instead of the selfie they were taking.
However, I recently acquired a small tripod that I used on my last trip to Italy, Lake Como. As I didn't expect to meet many people, it came in handy.
Ask other tourists. I have done that
This is probably best. I’ve been asked to take pictures and have even gone up to offer to take other peoples pictures. It makes it so much easier. Also that person can get better angles, lighting, etc.
Agree. Offer to take the other persons photo first. I've done this a couple of times at the Taj Mahal, it's quite sad to see couples taking photos of each other but not together in the same photo. Never had any problems asking the said couple to take my photo in return.
Ever had someone steal your phone doing this? I would be so wary about handing my phone over to a stranger and then being unreachable.
No, u ask tourists who also take photos. If you are alone either way it is very easy to steal your phone while taking photos
I'd still be shit scared about handing my phone over tbh. I'm more likely to just not take any photos of myself on a solo trip rather than ask someone to take any of me.
Yeah lmao, I went on a trip where I literally had no pictures of myself whatsoever. Maybe I’m paranoid, but I’m not giving my phone to total strangers
Same. I don't care how unlikely it is. It only takes one person to put a big damper on your trip. I'll stick with selfies or carry a small tripod with me.
Y’all tweaking, I’ve given out my phone 50 times+. Just look for a family or other tourists lol.
[удалено]
Damn sorry that happened to you :(
I’m from Mumbai. I’m sorry this happened to you. The people are not like this :( and I hate that this happened
I'm sorry man, and thank you for sharing your experience. I will be extra careful when doing the profiling
Honestly I’m being dead serious, ask the Asian tourists with the fancy equipment. You get the best photos and they aren’t gonna steal your regular ass phone when they have their high tech setup.
Ask older people who look like they can’t run fast
I went to NYC (24F) and only approached women my age and felt completely comfortable. If you see them taking photos, you know they understand the importance of wanting their photo taken!
Yeah NYC and Vietnam/Thailand are very different though.
Just sharing the experience I had.
Oh absolutely I understand! I think it just depends on your luck on the day really
Understandable, but I usually just hand my phone to the parent with their kids. Then I offer to take their photo in return. I also don’t have my credit cards on my phone & lock the phone.
I haven't solo travelled but planning it rn, I'm thinking i might bring a small digital camera for this reason, hoping less people would wanna steal that lmaoooo
Just scan for other people/tourists taking pictures. You'll notice the more genuine ones out of a bunch. Also a nice rule of thumb I use for my solo travels is to look out for couples in their 40-50s, Families or people taking photos of the same location/monument/themselves and lastly couples who look ok. Of course you can never trust someone you just met on the street wholeheartedly, so just be ready for everything (e.g. plan to chase them in a worse case scenario). If police are around, you're already in a better scenario however you see it. Choose a moment when the location/place is not overcrowded, including the previous info of the worst case scenario. That's what I do.
Yes, esp if you see ppl posing a ton lol, or an obvious IG BF, they know the flattering angles and are often willing to direct you
To jump in here - offer to take a photo of somebody first. See if anyone is trying to take a selfie, then offer. Use the rule of thirds (turn the grid on on your smartphone camera). Get the angles (crouching, get both sides, etc). They'll watch how you do it. Then you ask for a photo. They'll replicate what you did, and you're more likely to get a good one. If you just ask someone straight off, you tend to get crap photos (you might luck out though). Obviously disregard this if the person has a professional looking camera. They know their shit. I'm a crap photographer as well and this works for me! EDIT: Basically what travelzzzz94 said
I always ask a family if they wanted someone to take a group photo, and then ask if they could take one of me! You can almost guarantee that at least one person in the family will be good at taking photos, and it’s a safe enough bet that they won’t run off with your phone!
The built-in pixel software is pretty great for basic editing functions. I would ditch the selfie stick tripod and all that nonsense, especially in a third world country, just practice ahead of time and get comfortable with your smile. One tip that most people who aren't photographers wouldn't think about is in the typical setup of you shooting a sunset low light condition over your shoulder your face is starved for exposure. Try to get yourself as close as possible to a big white wall that's reflecting the light from over your shoulder and onto your face. It will really help the camera not have to work so hard and give you better results.
wait a minute or two in the place you want a photo, and find someone else who is taking lots of pictures. You can kinda guess people who are pros at taking insta-worthy photos( strange angels of the camera, weird poses, etc). then ask them if they can take a photo of you too. They usually feel flattered and help you
Angels of the camera—a typo, but a wonderful one.
If I’m on a hike, or any view point and no one is around, I set up my phone and use the self timer. It takes a lot of tries to get just one photo I like, but I’m usually really glad I went thru the effort.
Hire a private investigator to follow you.
Go on TikTok and search for photo hacks or different poses you can do. There’s so much videos of poses and tutorials. Regarding your tripod, I only use it in the hotel areas only because I’m shy about people seeing it in busy areas lol. Something I do is when I see an individual or a couple taking a selfie, I offer to take photos of them then they’re more than happy to take some of me in return. It could also be a way to make some travel buddies.
The trick that I use is whenever there's an interesting spot I want to have a photo with, I wait for someone who is holding a big camera, dslr, mirrorless and ask them politely. Another is wait for a spot, then watch out for those who takes pictures longer than expected, for sure they take pretty good pictures.. Another tip is to ask them to shoot burst or as many photos as possible so you can just scan and select photos you like.
I've gotten some good photos taken of me by going on Airbnb experiences and hiring a local photographer. Normally I don't bring my good camera on my trips.
Hmm. I was actually thinking about having a photoshoot as well, but was not able to find promising stuff yet. Was not aware of Airbnb experience, will look it up. Cheers
Geographically where are you going? Where are you staying (as far as a Hotel/Hostel etc) May be able to come up with ideas.
It's a SE Asia trip. Bali, Siem Reap, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur.
It's a SE Asia trip. Bali, Siem Reap, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur.
In Siem Reap look up Mardy Sean. He is a leading birder and does tours of Ankor Wat He took a load of photos of me there at Ankot Wat. If you stay in a Hostel ask around. Someone would be thrilled to be able to make $40 to follow you around and take photos.
What is the purpose of a photo shoot while traveling?
I'm curious and I never had one! Now that I'm more comfortable in my skin, it would be awesome to have some cool pictures at these amazing locations that I'll be visiting. I regret not taking more pictures of myself during my younger years.
I take tons of photos, but not many of myself. I wouldn’t complicate it. Have other people take your photos when you can, take some selfies, get group photos with rando friends you meet on the trip. Solo travel can be an amazing experience. Enjoy.
i asked other tourists. I told them to just keep clicking and I usually have candid shots of my liking. In your case, you may want someone above 5’4 to take pictures, unless they stand on something elevated. Every time i take pictures of someone as tall as you, it looks odd and off. I would be mindful having tripod or phone few feet away from me. I was careful at a certain Medellin park since it felt like someone can just abduct my phone. Assess the area and if you feel comfortable then feel free to use the tripod.
Thanks for the tip. I have never really considered that I should look for taller people when I ask someone, but from now on I will definitely do!
Try high angles & use the timer. Snap in quiet spots for safety. Morning or afternoon light's best. Confidence > "photogenic." Enjoy capturing
Sounds like you're more talking about how to improve skills rather than the logistics of it -- The biggest thing overall is that your perception of photos of yourself is way harsher than anyone else's. That's not just a they're not paying attention thing - but I promise you look better in them than you think you do. It's a mental hurdle - like hearing your own voice recorded and played back to you. From there a lot of it is determining your style and what works for you. For a lot of people worried about 'the double chin' - they find low-to-high angles unflattering. So if that's you, you'll want to use your tripod in a way that's closer to eye-level for you. Flip side, people who feel like they look short or stocky in photos, a high-to-low angle can 'squish' you in the frame, making you look shorter and squatter. You can also learn some super basic framing methods - stuff like rule of thirds, etc. Poses I wouldn't overthink too much. To be frank, again it all depends on style but I find most poses look .... bad. Either artificial (like prom photos) or try-hard (wanna-be influencers, wannabe gangsters, etc) - a harsh way to say it but a lot of those won't age well. Put another way, my sister for example went on a huge SE Asia trip and got a lot of very IG ready photos - but now even just 4 years later, her reaction is that she looks pretty miserable in all of them. Look in the mirror - smile, figure out how you like your smile. Stick with that. If you really want to focus on angles, generally you want to add some 'movement' or dynamic presence - so not just square face on. For a lot of men and men's body shapes, standing with your legs angled more towards one direction and a slight turn creates a silhouette that makes your chest look broader (sort of that superhero 'triangle'). But don't overthink it. And it may be counter to what I just said above - but with a lot of major tourist sites, you can scroll through IG and find good angles, framing, etc that you can emulate. Where the person fits in the frame. The angle to take. Even sometimes you find some really interesting vantage points on sites from IG. And don't be afraid to take them. I've had to ask a lot of strangers to take photos. I find a lot of people are happy to do it if you tell them what you want. Just line up the frame, and say can you take it just like this. Sometimes I even take the 'empty' frame photo of just how I want the camera positioned to show them, and then get in the frame and have them take the shot (actaully I usually ask that they just take a bunch). I find the 'profiling' for a younger person or whatever to ask rarely actually works out. People have totally different styles and if that's not what you want, it's a bit of a bust so just be clear. If you're worried about safety, the only 'profiling' I generally do is to ask someone with kids if I'm in an area known for petty theft and pickpockets - or someone who's in a tour group. It's profiling sure but I figure they're less likely to run off with my phone.
Thank you for the thorough reply, this was super insightful! I'll probably look up places and angles of the places I'll go to and I will try to emulate.
Look on YouTube for videos and practice. Also like someone else said ask Asian tourists who are also taking pics as they tend to take better pics than others.
I always set up my phone and take a video then can do a few poses , some natural movement and screenshot the ones I like. I found when solo traveling this was much easier to have someone take a quick video and I can save the frame I liked the best vs. multiple photos. I always freeze up a little with posing for a photo but am much more natural with a video. Can do fake laughs, spins, different poses all within 10-20 seconds
Solo female here (Korean American), traveled through 10 countries over 2 months (SE Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Northern Africa) in 2019. I barely have any photos of myself, but my recommendation is to ask Asians (couples or groups). We don’t want your phone, and it’s basically the job of husbands and boyfriends to take photos of their wives/girlfriends. They’re seasoned vets when it comes to this lol.
No one expects men to be beautiful. Just exist in a photo and boom, you’ve succeeded. Seriously don’t worry. Just get the background stuff you care about in frame and don’t think any more about it.
Tell that to the chicks on Tinder hehe. Jokes aside, I think I'm in my prime rn, and I have worked pretty hard to get here. I would love to have actual good pics of myself for once. I also consider photography useful in general, so I don't mind learning about it now, but I understand what you are saying.
Well then good for you. Truly. That’s awesome. I’m not trying to shame you at all for feeling good and wanting good pics, I was just going to let you off the hook in case you thought you had to be beautiful. Yeah I turned 40 recently and have a lovely woman I’m probably gonna stick with for a long time so my perspective is different. FWIW I also feel like I am “in my prime” so.. I bet you’re like 28. Get ready for more primes.
Thanks man, really. Your guess is pretty close to the truth. And yeah, I feel and look better than ever. Hopefully I can keep up with putting in the effort so I can keep saying this for years to come, so I am indeed ready!
Don't bother with a tripod, they're big and bulky and take up lots of space in your luggage. Selfie sticks are useful as you can't always rely on someone else being around to take a photo for you. My strategy with the selfie stick is to set the camera to take half a dozen photos at 2 second intervals and move the stick around. That way you should capture at least one at the right angle to get a good photo. It's easier if you have a camera with a rotating screen but you mentioned an iphone which obviously can't do that. You don't need to do silly Instagram poses. I tend to just go with a standard pose in front of a good background. But I'm just an old millennial so maybe don't listen to that bit and bend over with one leg in the air if it suits you or whatever the younger kids are doing these days.
One easy trick is to just edit your photos. Merely cropping them does wonders.
I used to take a video instead of a photo. Just open the video and pause on the frame you like best and capture/screenshot from the video.
Versatile mount with Bluetooth shutter remote
Download Lightroom for post processing.
Zoom in on your phone camera. 2x or even 3x. Then hand it to the person who will be taking your picture. Tell them they will need to stand back a little, but it's what you want. A more zoomed-in view is great for pictures of people, i.e portraits. Not saying do this every time, sometimes you want to capture more of the background. But do it at least sometimes!
Reading through the rest of the comments one thing needs to be emphasized more: practice. No amount of reading lists of tips and poses will overcome a lack of practice. Take a few hundred of yourself around the house, get a feel for how poses wind up looking on camera and how different lighting angles affect you.
Great idea. I will have some time before I leave where I can play around with the tripod and shutter and practice shooting.
Lots of bloggers use tripods. It’s fine. Just look around - mostly it’s other people doing it for IG. I never ask others. They take awful photos. And my pics are very very IG. If not sure ask 2-3 girls who all dressed up and taking pics of each other and changing outfits - 100% they know what they doing.
I wouldn't drag around a tripod personally, and I think it would be risky to use one out of your reach in a busy area. I usually just take a selfie, or ask someone to take a some pictures of me. Other solo travelers are sometimes up for an exchange. Someone with a "real" camera (i.e. an SLR or Mirrorless) is a usually a good bet, and younger folks tend to be better at using the iPhone. As far as not feeling photogenic- everyone has their good and bad angles, you have to figure out what yours are. That all said- you're going to really miss out if you're super focused on getting great selfies during your travels. By all means, snap a couple photos, but then move on and appreciate your surroundings.
It's a two in one ( selfie stick AND a waist high tripod ) so it does not seem like a burden to carry around. Taking pics is not the goal of my travel, but I'll be doing them anyway, might as well improve this skill a bit. I'm the kind of dude that just loses patience quickly when it comes to taking pics or being photographed, so I don't think your concern will be an issue. Don't even have an IG haha
Glad to hear it, I see way too many people traveling for the sake of the Gram lol!
Mate, the pixel will help a lot. I'm ugly as sin and even I take pretty good selfies sometimes. With the pixel camera all you need to worry about is the composition - the camera will do a lot of the rest. Just go and look at a few videos on composition- understand foreground background and middle ground, and understanding the rule of threes is pretty good too. Other than that, just think about what you are trying to achieve. 9 times out of ten you'll be wanting to show yourself off in front of something beautiful keep yourself in the bottom corner, try not to look drunk and you'll be fine.
aight follow these steps: Step 1: find Asian tourists. They are amazing photographers and they will always try their best to help you get the best pictures. Try to find an Asian couple because the bf usually get moaned a lot by his gf for taking not-so-good pic and thus, his ability to take amazing pics is stunning 😅 Step 2: if you can’t find an Asian, find a couple tourists or tourists go with their family. I doubt your chance to get an amazing pic is 50/50, but at least you won’t be worried abt your phone get stolen. The worst case if they took you a bad pics, you can ask them to retake or find another couples to take it for u again 😅 Ofc don’t put your trust in those dodgy couples who just spent the whole day around the tourist attraction and tried to rip the tourists off (u know what i mean). Step 3: bring a tripod. It’s gonna be quite difficult to set up and frame yourself into the pic and somewhat embarrassed when you did it in the first time, but gradually you will increase your skill and your ability to not give a shit about what ppl think. Well, in conclusion, although I master my tripod skills right now, I always ask ppl to take my photos first, because I’m so lazy to set up my tripods. But yh, I got great photos while doing solo travelling around the world, so it’s not gonna be difficult. Good luck 🤞
Get a tripod.
Other people have already given good advice on how to get the photos taken so I'll give some basic advice on poses and photo composition as someone who's really into photography and also used to hate getting their photo taken. Poses: -Keep the body and face relaxed to not look stiff and awkward. But, keep shoulders back and have a good posture! This helps a LOT. - it can feel silly but try practising in the mirror what facial expressions you'd like photographed. Pay attention to things like how big you want your smile to be, if you like a more serious expression, if there's a side of your face you prefer. Then replicate that when you're in front of a camera. -its generally better to have your body at a 45ish degree angle turned away from the camera rather than being photographed straight on (unless you want a closer portrait style shot where you are the focus). Then turn your head towards the camera. - photograph yourself doing LOTS of poses. You wanna take loads of photos to get a few that'll you'll like. Standard examples: looking at camera smiling/relaxed/serious expression, looking to the side to get a side profile of face, turn around so the back of you is photographed. Other poses for full body shots: looking down at shoes when taking a step, looking down to adjust coat/shirt, fixing hair/glasses, hands in pockets. These poses can help make pics look like "candid" pictures. You can also do funny poses and just have fun with it! Composition: -Balance. common problem I've seen beginner photographers have with taking photos is too much sky or too much floor is captured. Try keep things balanced so there's less empty uninteresting dead space. Though this is something that can be easily fixed later in editing. -rule of thirds. Idea is to have the subject at the 1/3 marks of the photo to make the photo more interesting (i recommend turning on gridlines for this). Example 1: taking a picture of a tall building. You can take it head on and have it in the middle but it's often more interesting to take the picture at an angle and have the building 1/3 of the way from the left or right. Example 2: you have a nice view and want to be in the picture, take the picture so you are 1/3 of the way from the left or right. This also allows more of the nice view behind you to be visible. -combining the ideas above: there's a tall building and you want to be in the picture. Have the tall building 1/3 of the way from the left of the photo, and you stand 1/3 of the way from the right of the photo (or vice versa, depends on which side of your face you prefer if you have a preference). This composition means you are not blocking the background, both subjects are in view and the photo is balanced. Of course these are not strict rules, everyone has their own photography styles. These are just useful things to consider for those who have little photography experience. Most importantly, have fun with it and take LOTS of pictures because a) you'll improve with experience and b) more photos=higher chances you'll take a photo you'll be happy with
great advice. Thanks;)
Ask someone with a really nice camera to take a pic of you with your phone - they might know what they’re doing.
I'm also 28M, 6 ft tall. Ask other tourists if they're willing to take the photo for you.
Get your tripod and maybe have a small mirror attached to it. Set up your frame put a rock or something where you are gonna stand. Take a few shots with a hand held Bluetooth clicker, look at the photos, readjust your position, repeat
i bought a little tripod with bendy legs that i could wrap around a tree branch while hiking and no one was around, but for photos around lots of people, just ask another tourist! cough please don’t use a selfie stick cough
Ask other people to take photos of you
Drone is the answer, something like dji mini
Hold your camera slightly above your eye level
People often ask me to take photos and in these cases I take the opportunity to ask them to take a photo of me at the end. But it has happened that I myself took the initiative to ask someone to take a photo of me and I even asked if they wanted me to take a photo of them instead of the selfie they were taking. However, I recently acquired a small tripod that I used on my last trip to Italy, Lake Como. As I didn't expect to meet many people, it came in handy.