It’s been a little quiet around here.

I’m enjoying time with my family, but I’m currently taking clients again – yay!!

As vacation season approaches I want to post about travel photography! One struggle I personally have with travel photography is balancing how to be present and actual enjoy my vacation while still coming home with great pictures to enjoy and help me remember. Here are three helpful tips and example pictures (woohoo!) from recent trips I took to Alaska and Mexico 🙂

Plan your “must-have” shots ahead of time

Last fall we went on a cruise to Alaska. I knew there were times it would be difficult or risky to have my (very expensive) camera with me; more on this later 😉 I knew, however, that I wanted to capture “ship life”, the expanse of the ocean, at least one port, glaciers, and some iconic shots of Seattle, the bookends of our cruise. Planning shots allowed me to anticipate needing my camera so I could make sure I had it with me!

Plan when to leave your camera behind

Since we planned shore excursions in advance, I could decide when to leave my camera on the ship. I got to be present and just enjoy Misty Fjords during our float plane ride (and landing!)  I have no regrets, especially because our plane was so small and another passenger dropped her glasses in the water when we walked along the floats of the plane to enjoy the view!

I don’t regret not having my camera on our super bumpy whale watching boat tour in Sitka, either! My hands were free to use binoculars to spot bald eagles, and our boat driver went full throttle to catch up with whales so we could catch them breaching; we had to hold on tight to avoid being thrown overboard! Oh, and we saw more beautiful eagles on our raft ride in Juneau, but also got soaked with freezing cold water. I’m glad my camera was safe and dry on the ship!

Capture shots without your fancy camera

Sure, I had to forgive myself for not having my camera on a morning beach walk… because we saw dolphins! But I was able to get a low-quality video of the action on my phone, and that’s better than nothing.

Plan ahead, relax and be present, and capture what you can with what you have on your next trip.

Happy shooting… and vacationing!