Beyond the Selfie: Creative Portrait Ideas to Elevate Your Travel Photography

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Article: description: Travel photography often involves a healthy dose of selfies, especially if you’re traveling solo. But there are many other portrait ideas you can try to capture the essence of your travels!
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Photo by FilippoBacci via iStock 

Everyone loves a good selfie, but let’s be honest…Do you really want your entire travel photo album full of selfies? We didn’t think so. There are so many fun and innovative ways to take portraits while traveling, and in this article, we hope to encourage you to experiment with a few of them next time you’re on vacation!

Below, we’ll explore four creative portrait ideas that will help elevate your travel photography. They include environmental, candid, cultural, and silhouette portraits. Moreover, we’ll recommend our favorite way to showcase your new and improved photos once you have returned home and share our top tips for travel photography. 

Whether you are a hobbyist who wants to impress your friends back home, an influencer who wants better pictures for social media, or a professional who wants to capture stunning images for your clients, everyone needs inspiration occasionally. With that in mind, keep reading to discover which types of travel portrait photography inspire you the most! 

Check out Chris Hau's video above to learn more about travel photography and how to improve your results. 

Table of Contents

Environmental Portraits for Travel Photography

Photo by recep-bg via iStock

Environmental portraits are photos that utilize your natural surroundings to enhance the quality of the portrait. Iconic landmarks and beautiful natural features make excellent backdrops for portraits. So, next time you travel somewhere with a jaw-dropping landscape, snap a few photos with you and your loved ones in the frame instead of only scenic shots.

Two more advantages of environmental portraits are that they can make landscapes more interesting and are wonderful souvenirs. Shooting a subject in front of a landscape adds depth, context, and a sense of scale to the photo. At the same time, environmental portraits make great prints for hanging, photo albums for coffee tables, and cards for mailing out.

Candid Portraiture for Travel Photography

Photo by imgorthand via iStock 

Candid portraits are a fabulous way to capture authentic real-life moments when traveling. Staged photos are also great, but our favorite portraits are almost always the spontaneous ones. There’s just something special about seeing true emotion on someone's face that makes us light up when looking back on them later. Candid portraiture is a type of lifestyle photography. 

Whether you are shooting candid portraits of people you know or random strangers, one key is to be discreet. When subjects know you are taking photos of them, their behavior changes (consciously or subconsciously). Therefore, one of our top travel photography tips is to use a telephoto lens for candid photography.

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Cultural Portraits for Travel Photography

Photo by hadynyah via iStock

One of the best parts about traveling is immersing yourself in the unique culture of different countries. So, why don’t you try to capture some of that culture on camera next time? Our favorite way to do this is by showcasing local attire, food, and traditions in our travel portraits. We like to shoot both images of ourselves blending in with the culture and some of the locals.

One super important thing to remember when traveling is to always respect the cultural sensitivities and follow the cultural rules of the country you are in. Read up on these topics before you travel so you can be prepared once you are there. Also, asking people for permission before taking their picture is a good idea, especially if it’s an intimate portrait. 

Silhouette Portraits for Travel Photography

Photo by LeoPatrizi via iStock

Last but not least, there are silhouette portraits. They are one of the most creative portrait ideas out there, and when shot correctly, the results are breathtaking. The key to this type of portrait is backlighting, which creates striking silhouettes in contrast to the background.

When shooting silhouette portraits, be aware that the light will constantly change. Due to this, you have to be willing to play around with different angles, poses, and camera settings to achieve the most dynamic results. Additionally, you can adjust your images in post-production to make them look just right. 

The most impressive silhouette portraits are those shot with natural light, but you can also use an outdoor photography lighting kit to manipulate light and create silhouettes. For more information on this subject, check out our “Outdoor Photography Lighting Never Looked So Good” article.

Showcase Your Travel Photography in a Photo Book

Now that you have a big collection of gorgeous travel portraits, it’s time to build a photo book! Photo books are incredible memorabilia that preserve all your most treasured memories in one easy-to-view place. 

While many types of photo books exist, softcover photo books pair particularly well with travel photography. That’s because they offer the perfect combination of quality, durability, and affordability. Other popular options include hardcover photo books, layflat photo books, and sewn photo books. 

Photo Book Press is a terrific place to customize and order softcover photo books. It’s an easy-to-use online print shop selling high-quality products at competitive prices. In addition to softcover photo books, they also have hardcover photo books, layflat photo books, and sewn photo books. It’s a great selection for finding the perfect book to showcase your trips!

Recommended Photography Gear

Disclaimer: Just so you know, some of the cool stuff we mention comes with affiliate links, meaning we earn a commission if you buy (no extra charge to you!). Plus, we occasionally feature sponsored content, but rest assured, we only shout out products we genuinely stand behind.

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