1. Always Be Ready
Leaving your camera at the hotel means you can’t take any photos. So the most important thing is to always carry your camera with you. If you find a DSLR too bulky, consider getting a compact digital camera or an M4/3 camera. Even a Canon 5D Mark II is useless if left in your hotel room.
Besides bringing your camera, you should also be ready to shoot at any moment. Photo opportunities often appear unexpectedly and vanish just as quickly. If you’re busy adjusting settings, you might miss the shot—and that moment will never come again. Choose the right shooting mode. For a more relaxed shoot, I usually use aperture priority and adjust exposure compensation as needed. If you’re not very familiar with your camera’s settings, you may need to do some post-processing to fix imperfect shots. Remember, a slightly underexposed or overexposed photo is better than no photo at all.
Elderly Man
2. Avoid the Crowds
Have you ever seen people at tourist attractions all fighting for the same spot, taking the same photo from the same angle? It doesn’t take much effort to find a different perspective—you can climb higher, shoot from the side or below, or even include other photographers in your frame. I believe photos taken this way are more creative than those shot from the most common spots and angles.