TRAVEL INSTAGRAMMERS
Instagramis ladenwith‘wish-you-
were-here’picturesofbeautiful
peopleposingin beautifullocations,
butthesephotographersareusing
theplatformtodomuchmorethanto
bragandit’sarguablya different,new
breedoftravelphotographybeing
honedbythenextgenerationof
photographers.Notonlycanyoumakemoney
fromit butit’salsoa greatresourceforresearchwhen
lookingforepicviewsorunusuallocationsin far-off
places.SometravelInstagrammersareprofessional
photographers,butmanyaren’t:they’reordinaryfolk
photographingthemselvesorcompanionswithin
culturesorepiclocations.Youdon’thavetoincludea
subjectin theframe,butit is onewaytogaintraction,
makingyourfeedfeelpersonalaswellasaddingscale
toyoursmallsquarescenes.Strongcompositionsand
unusualviewpointsarefundamental;thatpictureof
someonedanglingtheirlegsoffa cliffedgeorrope
bridgeacrosstheframeis a foreverpopularone!You
wanttoprovokea senseofadventureandawefroman
unattainablefar-offland,whichaddinga persontothe
occasionalframecanhelpyoudo.
Thekeytobuildinga following,andinterestin your
work,is consistencyin style,snappystorieswithstriking
photography,andregularity.There’snopointposting
thepicturesnowandagain,youneedtodoit dailyand
hashtagorganisationsandbrandsthatmaybeinterested
in whereyouareandwhatyou’reusing.It takestimeto
buildupa following,tobecomean‘influencer’andstart
cashingin onyourtravelsbutif you’reexploringthe
worldanywayyou'venothingtolose.thesepeoplein a traditionalportraitmanner
to give a sense of place and culture, but it’s a
prime opportunity to capture details on their
person, clothing or tools too. It’s important
to be culturally sensitive, however, so learn
about the boundaries to respect the people
and their customs. Be brave with portraits,
though; don’t just reside to innocuous street
photography, which does have its place too
- ask locals if you can take their portraits and
spend time in the community so they
become familiar with you. Packing small
rewards like pens and keyrings for children
in your kit bag, or a little currency to grease
a subject’s palm (if asked for), is also good
practice. It means you can feel more
comfortable asking them to move into
better lighting, for a couple more shots or
just to buy you more time as they continue
with a cultural activity, such as weaving or
cooking. There’s simply so much to
photograph in any given culture that you’ll
be spoilt for choice wherever you go.
LEE
FROS
T(^) LEE FROS
T
JOSHUA EARL
E/UNS
PL
ASH
PhotoMasterclass
Above: Young Buddhist monks always make for strong
cultural portraits. B e l ow r i g h t : Observe the daily activities of
the locals and find new angles for photographing them.
popular Travel
insTagrammers
@travisburkephotography
@chrisburkard
@natgeotravel
@Davidmrule
@Marvinkuhr
@hebenj
October 2019 Digital SLR Photography 61