How to Avoid Cliché Shots in Travel Photography

It’s a small world; everything is closer nowadays. Photographically speaking, everybody is a photographer – even my auntie just bought a pretty darn good digital camera. She is now asking me how to post on Instagram.

The glamour of travel photography is not what it used to be.

Gone are the days where just jumping on a plane and going to far-flung places was all we needed to make real, authentic and original travel photos.

It’s a cliché picture – so what?

Unless you really go off the beaten path, most places will already have been photographed and shared on social media a gazillion times.

So what do you do?

Personally, I stopped caring a long time ago.

For me, traveling is an experience. Photography is part of that and is the perfect companion, almost like a perfect marriage.

Photography is there to document that experience, to make it memorable.

When you get to a place for the first time, you want to see, sense, and feel it. Chances are, you’ll commence the adventure by first visiting the iconic places, those which are likely the most photographed as well.

But why is it that I have stopped caring?

I think (you probably should too) that a photo is not mine if I didn’t make it.

It doesn’t matter how many times that place or subject has been photographed, good or bad – I want my own photo too.

Tell a story

On the other hand, travel photography is also about storytelling.

Think of how travel magazines do it.

You want to convey a sense of place by showing a location from different perspectives, and frequently the opening photo of a travel story is from that beautiful, well-known place.

Then, of course, you want to get the rest of the images – the ones of locals, food, details, and things that are going to be part of that story or will make your memories as well.

Shoot details

Take, for instance, this example.

I was in Delhi for a couple of weeks on a scouting trip (for our upcoming photo tour to India).

Delhi is fantastic; there are so many things to do and see, among them the great Lotus temple. This is a Bahai house of worship, notable for its marble petals and flower-like shape. In the first photo I’ve photographed the whole temple; granted, I waited almost until closing time to avoid the crowds. But after I had finished with my photo, I stayed a bit longer and worked on some of the architectural details.

While visiting Yangon in Myanmar, one of the first things you get to see is the Shwedagon Pagoda. It is truly an incredible stupa, located on top of a hill that dominates the Yangon skyline.

The golden stupa is over 90 meters tall and surrounded by smaller structures, so I did the obvious; pulled out my great angular lens, found a beautiful spot, and shot it.

Then I wandered around and watched people, experienced the moment, went to a quiet corner, and photographed the worshipers from there.

Photograph people, not just the place

Wait for unique moments

How about Inle Lake?

I am pretty sure that if you are more or less familiar with Burmese traditions you have seen some photographs of the skilled fishermen and their nets on Inle Lake.

They are great people and make excellent subjects. After the typical sunrise photo, our fisherman decided to relax and take a moment to rest. In turn, I continued photographing and got a not-so-conventional image, rather one of the subject in his environment.

Note: I am going back to Myanmar in November to scout a brand new DPM photo tour. If you are interested in joining us on that tour, please add your name to the waiting list and we’ll notify you early when it’s available! 13 lucky people on the India waiting list got their spots and filled the tour (we had to make a second one which is available here now), so we can confirm that being on the list if you’re interested is very important.

Time of day matters

Here is one more example from India.

While in Udaipur, the Lake Palace is a must-see attraction.

If you are close to Lake Pichola, you’ll see it. So I took my first photo from somewhere around the jetty close to the City Palace. It was a warm and beautiful day, there is a little cafe nearby, and after I had taken the photo, I enjoyed a chai and the breeze from the lake. Later that night I found another spot from a rooftop and got a more compelling image of the Lake Palace during the blue hour.

Darlene did a lighting experiment to show the difference time of day matters when you’re shooting a subject.

Enjoy the experience

Making a photo is not just clicking the release. It is also an experience on its own, something that you enjoy.

Waiting for the sunset or sunrise, watching life going by, feeling your surroundings.

What if, during that process, you’ve caught a picture of a place that’s so photographed to death, it’s a cliché? So what? I personally don’t care because now I’ve made it mine, and I have not only captured it but most importantly, I’ve been there and experienced the moment.

Conclusion

I frequently find myself coming back to my computer. My screensaver plays photos of the places I’ve been, and in just a quick peek all those moments come back my mind, as if were there yesterday. Just by looking at a photo I can almost remember what I did that day.

So go ahead, get up early, skip dinner, and make a cliché photo. It’s yours, after all. Then, look for something different, but most of all, enjoy the moment.

Do you have any photos like these that you can remember? Share your images and stories with us in the comments below, we’d love to see and hear them.

Daniel Korzeniewski is a Miami-based travel photographer whose work has appeared in several publications. He contributes to various stock photography outlets and leads photo tours here at Digital Photo Mentor. Find more about his work, travel adventures at his website here. You can also follow him on Instagram.