The question we get asked the most is: “Who takes your photos?!” Well, we do! We would love to have a personal photographer follow us around on vacation to capture sweet moments, but that’s not realistic. Not to mention Lolo was a professional photographer before she became a flight attendant so we technically DO have a personal photographer on our trips! We have composed our top tips for those of you who want to know how to take the most amazing travel photos of yourself.

How to Take Amazing Travel Photos of Yourself

Equipment Must Haves

When we started taking travel couple photos we were way in over our head. We figured we could just ask a passerby to take a quick photo of us. Wrong. Sometimes there is nobody around to take your photo and other times for us it was the worst option. For us, personally, we hate inconveniencing others, having to pose in front of a stranger makes us uncomfortable and being a professional photographer handing my camera over and not being able to control the angles, lighting, etc. it created chaos.

Tripod

We quickly realized we needed a tripod. A tripod is an absolute necessity. We recommend getting a light weight, but sturdy tripod. We decided to go with a midrange priced tripod because we wanted it to be good, but not too pricey because we were going to be putting it in the sand and jungle and water. Once we got a tripod we THOUGHT we were all set, but once we arrived in Tahiti we realized that the only way to take photos of ourself was the self timer. I got a lot of steps in during that vacation setting up the camera and then running in to the frame to beat the 10 second timer. We didn’t think about the fact that you were going to want to take multiple photos at a time.

Wireless Remote

That brings us to the wireless remote. We have tried a few and it has been really restricted (for Raul) because of the fact that you are constantly trying to hide it in the frame while trying to be in the moment and create great content. This might work for some people, but for us it was such a nightmare. I spent many nights trying to photoshop out a bulbous black remote from Raul’s hand and it wasn’t pretty. Not to mention the first remote we bought only allowed us to be 8ft away from the camera to be in range and connect. We have decided that a wireless remote was not the way for the best travel self portraits.

Interval Setting or Intervalometer

If your camera does not have an interval setting on it you can buy an intervalometer to attach to your camera. This setting or device will allow you to take multiple photos without have to press the shutter button or use a remote. You can customize if you want the camera to take 1 photo every 3 seconds or more frequently or less frequently. Our newest camera Sony A7III has this setting built in and silent shutter. This has been so amazing for travel self portraits because we can just step in front of the camera and capture moments without disturbing anyone with a loud shutter clicking every 3 seconds!

Get over your fear of being judged

This is by FAR the hardest part about taking self portraits in public – especially while traveling because typically you are in a crowded tourist destination. As Alexis told David in Schitt’s Creek, “NOBODY CARES DAVID!”. But really, they don’t care. If you are being respectful to the people and the place you are visiting (which all of you should be!) push away your fears and capture your adventurous moments. There is a 99% chance you will never see those people ever again. And there is a 100% chance if they are judging you it is only because they wished they could get out there and take photos like you are. I think a lot about super instafamous travel couples like Marie Fe & Jake Snow – if they never got over their fear of being judged they would not be able to inspire so many people and now they are not persecuted for taking photos they are praised for sharing them. I have no doubt that they encountered the same reservations that everyone else has with the spotlight being on them. You have to push through and look at the big picture and capture your special moments while traveling.

The Best Lighting

There is no doubt in any photographer’s mind that lighting is the number one factor in a good photo. When you are traveling it is so hard to only shoot during sunrise and sunset. There are so many places to explore each day it’s usually not possible to always be at each spot with the perfect lighting. You have to be flexible and work with what you have. We have been to so many spots at high noon and you just have to find the shade and turn your back to the sun. If you learn to accept the sun you can create some great portraits. When traveling it is very important to roll with the punches and working with lighting it is exactly the same. You might have seen your travel spot captured with beautiful soft light, but you arrive and it is overcast and raining. Just remember that you are creating this content and your creativity can shine. Never go in to a situation stuck on exactly how you’ve seen the travel spot photographed on instagram or Pinterest. Create your own moments and be grateful for your experiences.

Sometimes crowds are unavoidable

Most of the places we have been to were crowded with people. You can’t always wait for your entire shot to be perfect. You either have to spend all day trying to create the perfect frame, you need to accept that people will be in your photo, or do as most people do: photoshop them all out. I think most people don’t realize that the most popular travel couples photoshop people out of every single one of their photos. Sure, you can arrive right when it opens like everyone suggests, but guarantee you will not be the only people there trying to get the place to themselves. This has happened to us so many times. Now if you do arrive right when they open there usually will be significantly less people to avoid and/or photoshop out. Sometimes crowds are just unavoidable. Be flexible and respectful always. Wait your turn and do your thing when it comes time.

We hope these tips on how to take the most amazing travel photos of yourself helped! If you have tips you’d love to share feel free to let us know in the comments below!