Shoot to thrill: how to take better travel photos Andrew Thomasson, director of Focus 10 Photography, helps amateurs understand light and composition. A TOURIST holds aloft her iPad, capturing a photo of Cambodia's Angkor Wat at sunrise. On safari in Kenya's Masai Mara, a spellbound traveller whips out his mobile phone to snap a big cat sauntering past. In Sydney's The Rocks, meanwhile, photography teacher Andrew Thomasson is showing me how to shoot a shimmering reflection of the Opera House using a small puddle of water on a concrete footpath. My photography skills are lacking, so I'm here clutching my compact Canon S100 to learn a few tricks of the travel photography trade; Thomasson, a professional photographer for more than 25 years, is packing a Nikon D7000, a Nikon D600 and a compact Lumix LX7 in his camera bag. With smartphones, tablets and inexpensive digital cameras so readily available - plus post-production software packages that can make even the shakiest photographer look like Ansel Adams - it's little wonder travellers are snap happy. Some of us are turning our holiday photos into books and creative art, or instantly beaming images to friends via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And the most savvy amateurs are transforming their hobby into a nice little earner. Thomasson, director of Focus 10 Photography, says digital technology has revolutionised the industry, and particularly the cost. "When I started running photography courses for World Expeditions in 1991 it would cost about $1700 (to buy, process and develop) 50 rolls of film," he says. Most people would use two or three rolls a year on kids' birthdays and the occasional holiday, and that was it. In today's digital age, there is no anxious wait for film to be developed before finding out whether those precious holiday photos are in focus; amateurs think nothing of snapping hundreds of shots, instantly deleting poor frames. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom can correct colour, sharpen edges and introduce creative techniques such as vivid or retro highlights. And there's seemingly no limit to how we use our best photos, which is a far cry from the days when an album was the main display option. "People are thinking more about what they're going to do with their photos, whether it be posting them online, displaying them on their iPad, blogging or even creating wall acrylics or coffee table books," Thomasson says. As interest in photography increases, he is diversifying into more specialised courses, such as a new business-focused workshop explaining how to earn a living from the craft and a specialised wildlife shooting course. iStockphoto is one organisation that accepts amateur photos. Images downloaded from its site attract royalty fees of 15 per cent to 45 per cent for the 100,000 photographers on its books. iStockphoto creative planning manager Rebecca Swift says a point of difference is key, such as an iconic building photographed from a new perspective, shots of a less-explored part of a popular destination, landmarks photographed at unusual times of day and natural, unstaged scenes. Thomasson agrees that while today's hi-tech digital cameras are almost foolproof, there are some basic rules to achieving the perfect travel photo. He says: Be prepared. Consider a short course to learn how to work your camera gear. It's imperative you get your camera set-up right and know what the essential buttons and functions do. Understand light and composition. A $100 Canon Ixus can deliver quality images but you're still going to take lousy pictures if you don't understand these basic tenets of photography. Choose your time and place. Carefully select your destination and the time of year to travel - don't go to Canada or Alaska in early June or July as you'll be eaten by bugs and it's hot and muggy. Higher-altitude destinations offer sharp, clean light. Humid jungles and rainforests are not really conducive to clear images but shooting near water is always fantastic (for reflections and to add movement and an extra dimension). Be inspired. Before you go, get some ideas from photography books such as D&K's Travel: Where to Go When or The Road Less Travelled. When you arrive, go to a newsagent or tourist office and check out the postcards and brochures - see what local photographers are shooting and how. Think laterally. What do you want to do with your pictures? If you want higher-calibre images for a book, think about its layout. Switch aspect ratios depending on the size and format of the picture you want - a 16:9 for a wide landscape, for example, or a 1:1 for a square image. And do a lot of cameo pics, close-up detail shots that can be laid out in a montage. Minimise your gear. Spending thousands on top-end, bulky equipment is fine if you're driving across the Nullarbor in a LandCruiser or on safari where the gear is transported. But if you're travelling with the kids around Europe, travel light with a baseline Nikon or Canon DSLR, and a quality compact such as Lumix LX7 or a Canon S100. Smaller cameras mean you can be inconspicuous. Protect your shots. Buy smaller memory cards and rotate them, so if one is lost or damaged you don't lose everything, particularly if you've snapped priceless pictures such as polar bears in Churchill, Canada, or the camel festival at India's Pushkar. Go for a memory of 4 or 8 gigs and have all the shots from one trip on one card, then label and keep it in a cardholder ($20 from photographic shops). Always have secondary back-up.