The Beginner’s Guide to Making Amazing Travel Content
If you clicked on this post, you’re probably curious about blogging, vlogging, or using photography to showcase your travels. Maybe you want to document your journey, or just take really good pics for your Instagram feed. Hey, I get it. You’re going to want to have stellar images and video to remember your experience! As Greenheart Travel’s Marketing Content Coordinator, I’m here to share some tips & tricks to make your content as amazing as the country you’re in using what you already have.
No camera? No problem.
For most travelers, It’s just not practical to bring high-end camera equipment with them. Quality is key, but you don’t need a professional camera to take awesome pictures and video. If you have a smartphone, you probably have a high-resolution camera built in.
TIP: iPhones shoot in 4k (higher quality but takes up more space)
- Go to Settings
- Scroll to Camera
- Tap Record Video
- Select 4k
Find the light
iPhone pictures taken seconds apart at the same gelato stand in Cinque Terre.
There are two types of lighting, tungsten & daylight. Tungsten is the orange tinted lighting found from most indoor lightbulbs. Daylight gives a white light that shows colors for what they are on camera. Your subject should face wherever the light source is coming from. If the subject is you and you’re outside, that means the sun should be hitting your face.
TIP: Turn on the flashlight app on your phone if you really need a bit of extra light.
What’s that?
Know what you’re documenting and write it down. When you’re traveling, you’re going to be experiencing so many new things that you’re bound to forget some stuff. Snap a pic of that tasty dish you had for lunch, but also write down its name so you can reference it later. It’s great to have a bunch of beautiful images, but if someone asks you about it and you can’t give any information, it’s not as cool.
#NoFilter
The image on the left has a filter, the image on the right does not
Go easy on the preset filters. They are obvious to detect and take away from the authenticity. If you want to make some adjustments to make the image more vibrant, there are plenty of editing apps that give you more control, like Lightroom or VSCO.
Tell a story
Pictures of you doing something are so much more memorable than just standing a smiling. This isn’t school picture day, so feel free to show some personality.
If you’re taking video:
Explain what’s happening. Explain how you feel. Interact with people around you. Pretty views are great and all, but recording the same footage that thousands of other people have done before is a tad boring.
For the love of guacamole, take your images horizontal
This picture taken horizontally shows much more of the landscape
Unless it’s only going to be posted on Snapchat or Instagram, avoid taking vertical pictures and video. Horizontal content is much more versatile and you end up showing more of what’s around you.
Mistakes to avoid:
- Selfies: They don’t show very much except for your face. If you could have taken the same image in your hometown, it’s not travel content.
- Tourist Traps: Remember, you’re going for original. If 1000 versions of this image already exist on the internet, try to find a way to make your picture unique.
- Shaky Video: This is a hard one, because unless you have some sort of tripod or steady cam, it’s impossible to keep the camera perfectly still. Just be cautious and you’ll be okay.