Now, I am no photographer but I do have a habit of getting flash happy when I am on my travels. Below are a selection of what I consider to be some of my better photographs. I’ve been meaning to do a photography course for years now and it is something that I will definitely one day do, but until that point I’d welcome any feedback from any talented photographers out there who can spot the school boy errors in these shots.
China Town, Bangkok, Thailand
This was in the first week of my trip and Bangkok was a complete assault on my senses. However, I remember this day well and the delight I felt to be away from Khao San Road. It was hot and so busy you could barely move along the street, but there were so many wonderful sights and smells in every direction that I didn’t mind one bit.
Railay Beach, Krabi, Thailand
I have a thing about photographing boats on the water and I personally love this picture, even if I do say so myself. This beach is considered the back entrance to Railay where deliveries are made, which meant no area for swimming. As a result it was fairly deserted, just how I like it for taking some scenic shots.
Jakarta, Java, Indonesia
A rare moment of serenity in a city that quite frankly made me feel ill. One afternoon wandering the streets of Jakarta left me with a stinking headache and a sore throat, so bad is the congestion and pollution. But in a back street near the canal, we stumbled across these guys, taking some time out to play a game of chess.
Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, Thailand
The classic Koh Phi Phi shot and I believe also the location that various scenes from the Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Beach were filmed. There are some truly beautiful parts to Phi Phi and also some parts that for me were too crowded and touristic. Having said that though no one can argue with the colour of that water!
Melaka, Malaysia
Melaka (or Malacca) was one of my all time favourite places, a beautiful city that felt more like a town. The length of this winding river was flanked by buildings covered in the most beautiful art. This picture doesn’t even begin to do it justice, but hopefully gives you a flavour.
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
I couldn’t do this post without including a picture of the rice fields in Ubud. One of the things I loved most about the rice fields were the large amounts of ducks you would see feeding on the water.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This shot of KL was taken at the top of Kuala Lumpur Tower which despite being visible from almost anywhere in the city took me and my friend an age to actually find. I have to admit I prefer looking at Kuala Lumpur from on high rather than from within, but then it’s no secret that I’m not really a city girl. Give me mountains, forests and surf over city any day.
Mount Bromo, Java, Indonesia
This shot was taken when I should have blatantly been in bed. We left our guesthouse at 3am to watch the sun rise over Bromo and then spent some time walking around its huge rim. In case you don’t know Mount Bromo is the flatter volcano to the left with the large crater, oh yes and it’s still active.
Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia
According to Wikipedia, Lake Toba is both a lake and supervolcano. The lake is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide, and 505 metres (1,666 ft) at its deepest point. All I know is that it’s bloody gorgeous and the thought of staying on an Island on a lake, on an Island in the sea made me smile more than once.
Koh Lanta, Thailand
This picture was taken on one of my favourite days of this trip, in one of my favourite places of this trip with one of the best friends I’ve made on this trip. So whilst it might just look like another beach shot to you, when I look at this picture, my heart smiles.
Monkey Beach on Penang Island in Malaysia
This picture should have been replaced with one of the incredible monkey shots I took this morning in Monkey Forest in Ubud but alas my laptop decided to die on me this afternoon (not great timing in light of my 30 day challenge) so I don’t have the picture to upload. The monkeys on Monkey Beach in Malaysia were nowhere as near as bold as those in Ubud but still just as cute, plus I took this shot after hiking for 90 minutes through forest and jungle to get to the beach so it’s worthy of inclusion methinks.
Well that’s it for now folks, I’m sure there will be more travel shots in the future but for now I’ll leave you with a reminder to send me any photography tips you might have up your sleeve. I’m always keen to learn! If you liked this post, please share by hitting one of the buttons below.
Hi there, I'm Caroline. Welcome to Life is Limitless, my blog about personal development with a focus on facing fears and living a life without limits. Check out my about page to find out more and pop your email in the box below to subscribe for regular updates.
Looking forward to checking out Lake Toba for myself
No photography tips, they all look great. But if you were in the market for a bit of guidance, there’s a cracking book out by @BeersandBeans, searchable either on twitter or google.
Enjoy!
Andrew recently posted..Devine Spiritual Enlightenment
Andrew, I’d love to hear what you think of Lake Toba, if you want recommendations on a place to stay, drop me a line. Where are you at the minute? Thanks for the recommendation, I’ve found the book and think I just might buy it
Thank you for making us participate of your travel with these pictures. Now I just wanna go there and see that by myself!!!
Maria recently posted..Intercourse in Turkey: Discoveries about seduction and connection with strangers
Come to Thailand! You know you want to. Seriously though you are always welcome to visit me wherever I am in the world!
Loving these posts
Thanks dude
xx
Hey Caroline! Love your blog and I’m loving following your travels. While you’re getting to grips with your photography think of your image in thirds. So you have two equally spaced horizontal lines and the same going vertical (giving you 9 equal parts to your image). Then place something of interest where the lines intersect. So for example the monkey from the last image may be further over to the left. It also means that you wouldn’t place the horizon dead centre on your beach shots – place it further down (or up) meaning more sky and less beach (or the other way around). Take a look at this: http://photoinf.com/General/KODAK/guidelines_for_better_photographic_composition_rule_of_thirds.html
or good old Wikipedia!: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
Hope this helps !
Hi Lorna, so lovely to hear from you. Thanks so much for your tips and the link, you are one of the few professional photographers I know and I love your work so it’s amazing to get advice from you! Let’s see if I can put them into practice before I do another photo post!
Just to add to what Lorna was saying, I love the boat pic, but in that one, I would have had the boat at the intersection of the left and bottom thirds. It’s the dominant piece to the image, and placing it there would have given it a bit more impact.
Also, keep in mind “lines” that can pull you into a picture. Just looking at your examples here, notice how the strip of grass (which may have been a little more to the right) pulls you into the image. The curve of the kind of does the same thing in the picture above it. And in the Mount Bromo pic, notice how all the lines pull your eye toward the peak.
Some of these may have been unintentional when you took them, but they take advantage of some of the things the pros do.
If you’d like to learn some, you might want to check out the TwitPhoto show at http://twit.tv/show/twit-photo/ where Leo LaPorte and Catherine Hall interview professional photographers to learn their tricks of the trade.
Here’s another podcast at TheDigitalPhotographyConnection.com that also has some great, quick tips: http://www.thedigitalphotographyconnection.com/photography.php
Sounds like you’re having fun!
Grady Pruitt recently posted..Living the Law of Obedience
Grady thanks so much for taking the time to send me these tips and links, I’m excited about trying them out!
beautiful pics for a non photographer
I would love to take a photography course!! grrr i can’t remember the name now, but I stumbled on an amazing looking one that offered courses/excursions all around the world! all I seem to remember is it started with an M. or W???
janet recently posted..Oh My God Look What the Cat Dragged In
Hi Janet, thanks so much for the comment. I have found a place that runs courses in Chiang Mai which is where I’m headed pretty soon so hopefully my skills will improve but if you remember the course you saw, let me know!