In September, I spent nearly two weeks photographing beautiful Italy. While there, I used two film recipes, one for Matera and one for Florence. I wanted to separate the two locations, creating a different feel while still maintaining my style of photography. With Fujifilm, there are many choices when it comes to shooting modes.

With some additional free time this month, I have been planning a solo trip these past weeks. When looking at how I could use this time, there were many destinations I was considering. Using Google Docs, I was working on multiple itineraries and flights to consider. What would be the best option?

It was May of 2019, and Lisa and I were assembling an itinerary for our upcoming Scotland trip the following May. We would land in Edinburgh and extensively tour Scotland, looping through many country areas. There were dozens of points on our custom Google Map of places we would visit. We booked our flights and waited until we would touch down in Scotland for the first time.

I was looking through my photo archives from 2023 and realized I had a great travel year. London, New York, Mexico, Chicago, and South Africa. I’m more than happy with the opportunities I had last year and the content I produced from those destinations. London was an entire week, New York was three days, and Chicago was only one day to shoot.

Flying out of Halifax across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe can be inconvenient for people who are unaware, and desperately so if doing it during the winter months. Leaving Halifax, we often need to travel west for a connecting flight to fly east to our final destination. That adds a significant amount of time to the total flight time. That may include flying from Halifax to Toronto, Montreal, or sometimes Newark, but all those connections easily add four to five hours of flight time.

I’ve travelled far from home many times and had great experiences, capturing many photos I adore today. However, there have been destinations I have travelled to where I did not get any photos that I considered very good or ones worth sharing. Some steps can be taken to get the best out of travel and what photos we come home with, and this post will look at five tips that can help you capture better travel photos.

Travelling can be a wonderful experience, but it’s not without challenges. Among the worst aspects of today’s travel are the inevitable flight delays or cancellations, lost luggage, jet lag, navigating unfamiliar airports, and crowds of people, mostly rushed, tired, and irritable. Those challenges can be stressful, with significant travel time and numerous connecting flights or long layovers.

Let’s start by saying that I enjoy travel immensely and that I regard travel as one of life’s greatest privileges. I love to travel, and obviously, I also love photography. Does that make me a travel photographer? Based on the standard definition of one, probably not. I don’t get paid directly to take photos of the places I visit, and I’m not associated with any publications. But if I travel and take photos when I do, what does that make me?

It’s an early morning here at Halifax International, and a long day of travel awaits me. In a short time, I will board the first of three flights - Halifax to Toronto, Toronto to Newark, and Newark to Johannesburg. The last of the three flights is about 15 hours. This will be my longest continuous flight to date. I have headphones, podcasts, updated Spotify playlists, a remarkably comfortable neck pillow, and an aisle seat! Let’s do this.

In May last year, Lisa and I went to Mexico to stay in El Dorado Maroma, meeting up with some colleagues she has worked closely with, primarily virtually until then. We have been to numerous resorts and had great times, but resorts have never been our primary travel style choice. We enjoy exploring cities and local neighbourhoods, trying restaurants, and seeing landmarks. Still, every few years, we get the urge to get away and relax without worrying about additional planning and expenses.