Kamara is nuzzled by 18-month-old black rhino Kilifi who he is hand-raising along with two other baby rhinosat Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. Kamara spends 12 hours every day watching over the vulnerable baby rhinos. He loves these animals like his own children and is part of the reason Kenya’s black rhinos, whose population had plummeted to near extinction, are doing so well here. All images © Ami Vitale
In a recent article in Wired, the writer Laura Mallonee posed the question: “Why do we all take the same travel photographs?” She notes that in many cases, photography actually popularized many of the tourist attractions that now compel thousands, if not millions, to traverse the globe in search of the same image that a friend, relative or Facebook connection has already taken.
Professional photographers are after something different than tourists, and we can learn a lot from them about how to take more interesting photos when we travel. Their images are not merely shouting: “I was here, and YOU WERE NOT.” Travel photographers tell the story of a place or time for a purpose: the best ones are trying to shed light on the human experience and educate people in the process.
That is exactly what Ami Vitale does in her work. In every image, she aims to tease out the connections between humans and animals in diverse environments. Over the course of her career, Vitale has traveled to over 100 countries to photograph stories about conflict, love, and the last white rhinos, to name a few. Vitale has worked for National Geographic magazine and her other accolades include receiving five World Press Photos awards.
PDNedu recently caught up with Vitale, who was home in Montreal for a brief stay after returning from an assignment shooting elephants in Kenya. We asked her for her top tips for taking great travel photographs (i.e. how to not take the same travel photographs that the tourists in your Instagram feed are sharing). Whether you are a professional photographer dabbling in travel photography for the first time, or you are just starting out with a camera, here are Vitale’s top ten tips for taking interesting travel photographs:
1. Don’t think only about making a beautiful photo. A GREAT photo has a story inside of it. When I’m on assignment, I’m thinking about how to make a beautiful image and the importance of that image. It should be more than just “pretty.” An image should provoke thoughts and questions. It should have a story. To create a meaningful image, I read and try to learn everything about the place before I even get off the plane. Once I am there, I try to be present in the places that I am: listening, watching, learning and asking questions. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, something new is revealed to me.
2. Be patient. I’m not a patient person usually, but when it comes to my professional life and understanding people and places, I have to be super patient. I’ll go back as many times as it takes in order to witness a moment that creates an evocative image.
3. Don’t hide your intentions. If you are photographing people while you are traveling, don’t do things just for a picture. People will see through you; don’t try to be surreptitious.
4. Less gear is more. If you have them, put away the big lenses and gear and operate really simply. Don’t have your camera pressed up against your face the whole time. Long lenses might be great if you’re trying to photograph wildlife, but they’re really intimidating to people, so I don’t use them as much if I’m incorporating people into my images.
5. Don’t look at places as different or exotic. When I’m shooting, I’m trying to find the things that connect us and create images that have a universal human element that everyone can relate to.
6. Know your camera. If you’re working with a camera you’ve never traveled with before and you’re struggling to figure out how to use it, people may sense your apprehension.
7. Consider switching to mirrorless. I recently started using the Nikon Z 7. I no longer have to have the camera pressed against my face. Because it’s completely silent, I can continue to engage with my subjects while I’m photographing them. They know I’m taking pictures, but they are less likely to be distracted by the camera because it has a silent shutter and so they can’t hear the noise of the shutter clicking. Animals respond really well to this as well.
8. Embrace new media. Embrace every single bit of technology because they each tell the story in a different way, and taken together, offer a more comprehensive and holistic picture to your audience. Depending on where you are sharing your work, whether that’s Instagram, your website or with a client, you might want to try different types of media to cater to different audiences.
9. Put the time in. I’ve gone back to the same places for a decade, and I continue to go back. One example of this is the time I’ve spent over the years photographing white rhinos. I was invited to Kenya to photograph the final moments of life of the last white male Rhino, named Sudan, who passed away last year. I was the only photographer they invited to come back for that heartbreaking moment because I had built a relationship with them over the course of a decade.
10. Embrace failure as part of the process. Of course you’ll fail and make mistakes. It sounds crazy, but failure is what motivates me because I know those are THE most transformative moments. Embrace every new tool and know that you’ll keep on failing but that’s your biggest moment of growth.
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