How to Take the Perfect Holiday Snap

NATALIE HOWARD - Celebrity Cruises writer

08 June 2016

A woman photographs Asian temples

One of the few good things about coming back from an amazing holiday is that you can share photographs and brag to your friends and family. However, not all of us are gifted photographers, so how do you make sure you’re taking the best photo of your holiday highlights?

To make sure you have your friends and family green with envy over your photos, we’ve joined forces with the World Photography Organisation (WPO) to gather some handy tips on how to take the perfect holiday snap. From choosing which shutter speed to use on your digital camera, to knowing whether or not to use the flash on your smartphone, you’ll be a pro once you’ve read our photography hacks. So, get your camera of choice at the ready and get snapping your holiday’s greatest moments.

How to make the most of your digital camera

Whether you’re hurtling along the open water on a speed boat, or looking to capture the moment you took part in onboard dance lessons, taking a photo can be tricky. To ensure your photos come out clear and precise, – particularly if you are in a fast-paced environment – be sure to use a high shutter speed of 250 or more. If you want to get a bit more creative and capture action in all its motion, try a long shutter speed. Doing so can help you follow the action, rather than blurring the image. Kaley Sweeney of WPO explains that “One good way for amateurs to practice this [shutter speed] is to have a friend move while keeping the camera fixated on the subject. If the camera and subject move simultaneously, the background blurs, with the subject still in place. It can make for a very fun effect for various travel photos.”

Next time a view takes your breath away, such as the top of a hill in Santorini, take a moment to adjust your camera’s focus before snapping away.

A lot goes into snapping the perfect landscape photo, but there’s one easy step you can take to ensure your photo looks good – just make sure everything is in focus! So, next time a view takes your breath away, such as the top of a hill in Santorini, take a moment to adjust your camera’s focus before snapping away, and you’ll notice a world of difference.

We’ve all been there, sat down for dinner to be faced with a meal so delicious and beautifully presented that you can’t help but get snap happy. A great way to get creative with your photography is by introducing depth of field – it’s a great effect that will leave everyone believing you’re a pro. To do this you must adjust your camera’s aperture/f-stop. The lower the f-stop, the more fine tuned the focus of the frame becomes. Kaley Sweeney explains, “A lower f-stop will push all out-of-focus items to a further blur, whereas a higher f-stop will keep an entire frame in focus.”

How to make the most of your smartphone

If you want to make the most of your smartphone’s camera when taking photos of beautiful scenery, then a great way to start is by focusing on one central point, the rest should fall into place. But don’t try to zoom in; unlike digital cameras, the zoom on your smartphone lessens the quality of the final image.

Try to never use the flash on your smart phone, it creates an artificial sense of light that tarnishes the end look of the photo.

To give your smartphone photos an added edge, why not download a photo editing app? With an editing app you can get really creative with your photos, from increasing the contrast to introduce brighter or darker lighting.

Lastly, try to never use the flash on your smart phone, it creates an artificial sense of light that tarnishes the end look of the photo – also, nobody likes those pesky, flash-induced red eyes!

A round-up of top tips

Before you go away on your trip, try and spend a little bit of your time practising photo composition and lighting. It might seem silly at first, but your eyes will notice the slightest of changes quicker than they would have before, making the end results even better.

Try to avoid taking photos of objects that are in the middle of the photo and use the Rule of Thirds. To do this, you must divide the photograph into three horizontal and three vertical parts, this will ensure that the end photo is perfectly balanced.

And finally, get creative! Have fun with photography by breaking all of these rules.