Light is one of the most important factors. You can only expect good photographic light in the morning and evening hours. In many southern countries, these are also the busiest times of day, while during the hot midday hours life comes to a standstill—but then harsh, glaring light with short shadows prevents good photos anyway.

The time of year you travel is also crucial for good light. Deserts are best visited during the local winter. Then the sky is clear and the temperatures are pleasant. The risk of mosquito bites and encounters with snakes and scorpions is lower, the tracks are not blocked by mud as they are during the summer rainy season, and the sun is lower in the sky, providing warm, intense light.

Arctic regions should be visited in spring. By then the polar night is over, and you can expect clear skies and therefore good photographic light. The landscapes are still shaped by ice and snow, whereas in summer they sink into marshland.

Photographing directly into the sun is unusual, but it can produce spectacular images, especially when there is dust, snow, or fog in the air that glows in backlight. Depending on the exposure, subjects such as animals, plants, or people may appear dark, but they have an attractive halo of light around their silhouette.

One advantage of backlit shots in direct sunlight is that the people being photographed are not dazzled by the sun; another is that the photographer does not have to contend with their own shadow.

It is not always an advantage if all planes of an image are in sharp focus. Selective focus helps emphasize important parts of the image. This is achieved by using a wide aperture, that is, a small f-number. Then only the desired plane is rendered sharply, while the background becomes blurred and recedes into the background.

The effect becomes more pronounced the faster the lens and the larger the sensor; the focal length also plays a role. In the image shown, a telephoto lens with a focal length of 200 mm was used at a wide aperture, so that—just as intended—only the boy in the foreground is rendered sharply, whereas the second boy and the fire in the background are out of focus.

Inexpensive cameras or smartphones have small sensors, making it difficult to work with selective focus. In smartphones' portrait mode, a blurred background is digitally simulated.

A completely different type of striking blur is motion blur, which occurs when a fast-moving object—or, as in the image shown here, several objects—is rendered blurred due to a long exposure time. This effect depends on the speed of the object, the viewing angle, and the chosen exposure time, and it requires a willingness to experiment. As a rough guideline, you should work with exposure times longer than 1/30 sec.

The pinnacle of motion blur is panning the camera with a moving object. Ideally, the object is rendered sharply while the background is blurred.

Many subjects look better when they are, to some extent, framed by other elements in the image. This could be a mountain village between two rock faces, a priest between the columns of a church, or a flower between two tree trunks.

Photographers call this type of composition “framing,” as it directs the viewer’s gaze toward the main subject.

Die Bildwirkung insbesondere bei Fotografien von Menschen und Tieren ist stark abhängig vom Kamerastandpunkt. Der Blick von oben auf eine Gruppe kleiner Enten hat keinen Reiz, wirft sich der Fotograf aber auf den Boden und fotografiert die Küken in Augenhöhe, bekommt das Bild einen ganz anderen Zauber. Angenehmer Nebeneffekt der tiefen Kameraposition ist, dass außerdem die Umgebung im Hintergrund sichtbar wird. Auch wer seine Kinder fotografiert, sollte auf Augenhöhe gehen, denn das schafft Nähe.

Befindet sich die Kamera noch tiefer, wird also von unten nach oben fotografiert, wirken abgebildete Personen oder Tiere überproportional mächtig. Dies kann seltsam aussehen, manchmal aber auch gut, etwa bei einer Elefantenherde in Afrika. Da man in Nationalparks das Auto nicht verlassen darf, könnte man die Kamera, verschraubt in einem Kamera-Käfig und an einem Einbeinstativ befestigt in Bodennähe bringen.

Drones have revolutionized travel photography. The bird's-eye view is an age-old human dream that has lost none of its visual appeal to this day, and now flying cameras that weigh less than 250 grams and fit into any jacket pocket can capture high-quality aerial images.

Operating drones is very easy, but the relevant laws in each country must be observed. In the EU, for example, larger drones require an EU drone pilot license as well as liability insurance, and flights over residential areas and crowds of people are prohibited. The reward is unique shots that often complement ordinary travel photos perfectly. Even at low altitudes, they provide a better overview, reveal structures, and add depth to the images.