The art of travel photography is quite different from taking pictures for personal use.The challenges faced by the wandering photographer differ from day to day and have to be overcomed by adopting certain tricks, a task which requires skill and dedication. Whatever the situation, these seven trusted photography hacks will help you save your day.

Pack right

You would not like to tote every piece of equipment you own when you are going on a vacation. Not only will it add to the weight, most of it would come back unused. Take a call from your last holiday and then decide if what you want to capture now is the same. If yes, then you can safely leave either your wide or long zoom lens at home.

See that the sun is behind you

If you want your pictures to be as vibrant as the travel brochures and magazines you read, then always work with the sun either behind you or to the side of the subject so as to allow maximum light to fall on it.. A sunny day will eliminate harsh shadows, the use of graduated filters and make up for the light difference in shadow and highlight areas.

Try the ant’s eye view

Photography is about being creative. If you want your image to stand out, leave the tripod at home, and try shooting from a very low angle. You don’t have to set the camera exactly on the ground but can place colorful carpets underneath it or a line of stones for the best effect. You can get crafty and make use of fence posts, tables or anything that is still.

Boost the pictures

Boosting the vibrancy and saturation during the post-production stage can really make your pictures look lovely.The secret is to boost just till the saturation point when the picture looks colorful and will look great on magazines and newspapers.

Research locations

Use Google Maps to look for hidden spots away from the tourist hordes. Just type in the address about any area you are interested in and you will discover pretty locations and places where you will find something photogenic to shoot.

Use aperture mode

If you are hoping to hone your photography skills, it is better to take pictures on aperture priority as most professional photographers do. While manual may have its plus points, using aperture after adjusting the ISO and Exposure settings is a great way to build confidence and capture a good image.

Take multiple shots

A good way of capturing great travel photos is by taking multiple exposures and then blending them at the post-production stage to create one nice image.The common method is to take exposure for highlights, for mid tones and another for shadows to get the correctly exposed image.

Like any art form which takes skill and dedication to perfect, travel photography too can be learnt. The more you travel, the more technique you will develop to capture the world in colorful detail.