Travel photography tips: Richard I'Anson reveals his best tips and favourite photos

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This was published 8 years ago

Travel photography tips: Richard I'Anson reveals his best tips and favourite photos

By Steve Meacham
Updated
Holi - Festival of Colours - in India.

Holi - Festival of Colours - in India.

Richard I'Anson has made a profitable career and international reputation out of travelling the world and taking photographs that capture the spirit and essence of a location.

He has 11 photographic books to his name, ranging from large-format publications to the Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Photography.

His work has appeared in many of the world's most prestigious magazines and newspapers, and each year he hosts photographic tours for World Expeditions (the next one to Kolkata, Darjeeling and Sikkim runs in October).

Dancers performing at a temple in Bhutan.

Dancers performing at a temple in Bhutan.Credit: Richard I'Anson

I'Anson is also just one of five world-class photographers commissioned by the National Geographic Channel to feature in the current documentary series, Tales by Light (I'Anson's episode screens tomorrow, Sunday June 28).

He spent five years as a wedding and portrait photographer. It was only when he took a seven-month trip in 1986 that he found his proper calling.

"That was a genuine backpacking trip through Asia and Europe, seeing far too many countries in too little time," I'Anson says. "But by the time I got back I knew I wanted to be a travel photographer."

Hot air balloons over Cappadocia, Turkey.

Hot air balloons over Cappadocia, Turkey.Credit: Richard I'Anson

Two years later he took off again for another big trip. "It took two years and was much more deliberately planned," he explains. "I set off with the aim of building a library of travel stock images. And that has been the basis of my business since 1988, shooting images which will be used by multiple commercial publications."

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It requires rigid discipline, lots of preplanning, and an eye for finding a fresh and unusual perspective on much-photographed landmarks.

"When I arrive in a place I shoot as many different subjects in as many different places as possible. A city skyline is essential. The best light will be at dawn or dusk. I'll work out the best place to shoot from during the day, then go back an hour before dusk.

Trees over Aurora Borealis, near Tromso, Norway.

Trees over Aurora Borealis, near Tromso, Norway.Credit: Richard I'Anson

"A rooftop bar is often a good place, and the staff don't usually mind you setting up your equipment if you buy a couple of drinks."

I'Anson says there are five key categories he has to cover at every location. "Those are landscape, people, the urban environment, events and entertainment - by which I mean festivals, clubs, bars, cafes and eating - and wildlife. My aim to to get good photographs in each of those categories, and of course they are lots of subheadings. Landscape, for example, could be a big wide shot or a detail."

After 30 years, "the adventure that is travel photography continues to stimulate and challenge me", he says. "At its best, it gives an insight into the world at large in all its diversity, adding something new to our understanding of a place and and the people who live there.

Tiger drinking at a watering hole, Bandhavgarh National Park, India.

Tiger drinking at a watering hole, Bandhavgarh National Park, India.Credit: Richard I'Anson

"It portrays familiar places in unique ways, reveals lesser known places with equal import, captures the spirit of the people with dignity and encapsulates unique moments in time that surprise, inform and intrigue viewers.

"Ultimately, it inspires in others a desire to see the world for themselves, and to take their own photographs along the way."

See richardianson.com

HOT AIR BALLOONS OVER CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY 2014

Each morning something like 90 hot air balloons take off before sunrise over Cappadocia. It's visually stunning in itself, and everyone tries to get pictures of the other balloons or of the landscape. This was my attempt to combine the two. I'm in a very high balloon, leaning out of the side of the basket and shooting straight down, a deliberate attempt to abstract the landscape. Those licks of orange at the top are caused by the sunlight hitting the fields, adding colour to the lunar-like, volcanic landscape.

TIGER DRINKING AT WATERHOLE, BANDHAVGARH NATIONAL PARK, INDIA, 2015

We were in the national park for four days for the shooting of my episode of Tales by Light. We'd seen this tiger with its kill and our guides were pretty adamant she would be back to the waterhole. So we hung around it, waiting for her to come. She not only came, but sat down and had a drink for ten minutes. That tongue is striking, and shows how comfortable tigers can be around people in jeeps.

TREES OVER AURORA BOREALIS, NEAR TROMSO, NORWAY, 2013

I went out four nights in a row to shoot the Northern Lights, setting off at 5.30pm and returning 12 hours later in temperatures that got down to minus 15 degrees C. The first two nights I didn't see anything, so I was getting pretty anxious. But on the third and fourth nights the lights were spectacular. By the time I took this shot, near the end of day four, I was looking for a newer, different image. I found these trees with the Northern Lights behind them, but as I was waiting a car came round the corner and its headlights lit up the trees. So I set up there and waited for other cars to come by to get this shot.

DANCERS PERFORMING AT JANBAY LHAKHAMG TEMPLE, BHUTAN, 2014

This shot shows a temple festival in the Bumthang valley. The challenge with a lot of these events is that there are so many spectators, including Western tourists taking photos, that it is hard to get a clean image. So I always try to fill the frame with the subjects. The dancers were taking it in turns to step forward and do their thing, so I concentrated on the guy with his tongue pointing out and waited for him to step out. The line of the other dancers leads you straight to him.

HOLI (FESTIVAL OF COLOURS), VRINDAVAN, INDIA, 2015

Holi is a Hindu spring festival held throughout India, but the small town of Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh is where it is at its most colourful and exuberant. I like to get an overview, a sense of place and scale. From this high spot you can see the crowd, the chaos and the colour from powders being thrown into the air. They're all looking at the main stage. Soon the curtains will rise to reveal the gods, but you're not allowed to photograph them. So once the curtains lift, I'll go down and shoot amongst the crowd with my back to the stage.

RICHARD I'ANSON'S TOP FIVE TIPS

1. Learn the technical stuff so you can take your camera off the automatic settings. Particularly, understand the exposure triangle – ISO, shutter speed and aperture – so that the multiple options you have for setting a correct exposure become instinctive.

2. Learn to see the transformative power of light and its ability to transform a subject or scene from the ordinary to the extraordinary. This is one of the most powerful tools at the photographer's disposal.

3. Practise, practise, practise. You can photograph most of the subjects you'll encounter while travelling in any town or city in the world, including your own.

4. Research and planning will go a long way to getting you to the right place at the right time. The more time you have, the more opportunities you give yourself to photograph subjects in the best light.

5. Be patient. So much time creating good pictures is spent not actually taking pictures but incessantly looking, either on the move or standing around; watching, waiting.

RICHARD I'ANSON'S MISTAKES TO AVOID

1. Not knowing how to adjust the settings on your camera. Learn how to change the ISO, shutter speed and aperture settings, turn the flash on and off, change lenses and filters and get your tripod up, camera mounted and shutter-release cable attached as quickly as possible

2. Not having a point of interest. The very first thing to consider is the subject – what is it and why are you taking a photo of it? It's probably the thing that caught your eye in the first place.

3. Placing the subject in the middle of the frame. As you look through your viewfinder or study the LCD screen, imagine two vertical and two horizontal lines spaced evenly, creating a grid of nine rectangular boxes. Try placing the point of interest, or other important elements, on or near the points where the lines intersect.

4. Assuming your eye level is the best viewpoint. A few steps left or right, going down on one knee or standing on a step can make a lot of difference.

5. Putting your camera away when it's raining or threatening to rain. Unsettled or unusual weather often brings with it moments of spectacular light and a change in the daily activity of the locals. Wet streets also bring about the possibility of reflections adding an unpredictable dynamic element to familiar scenes.

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