By Ray Pearson

It’s summertime in America, and the open road beckons. Whether you prefer wandering quaint country roads, rushing down interstates, or tracing Route 66, one thing is certain – the trusty camera is a wonderful co-pilot on such adventures.

Fast forward a bit, to when travel season is but a fond memory, and those friendly (but in all honesty—frightening) invitations to “C’MON OVER AND LOOK AT OUR VACATION PICTURES!” start filling up the voicemail box. Really, why didn’t they just buy post cards? I don’t care how cute your kid is eating a drippy ice cream cone; 12 pictures of the experience is excessive.

Here are ten suggestions to make your photos the most sought-after show in the neighborhood:

  1. Photograph in less-than-ideal weather – oncoming storms are awesome

 

 

2.) Photograph at dawn and at night – immediately “something different”

 

 

3.) Include people you encounter – especially if they are doing something exciting

 

 

4.) Photograph especially colorful food or restaurants 

 

 

5.) Photograph from different perspectives – get down to kid level

 

 

6.) Be willing to pull over when something unusual pops up – road trips are great for this

 

 

7.) Include an interesting foreground – this leads the eye to the main subject

 

Interesting foreground gives the picture depth of personality

 

Uninteresting foreground

 

8.) Photos do not have to be tack sharp to be interesting – blurring conveys action

 

 

9.) Include special activities from your vacation – it’s an exciting world

 

 

10.) Include details from unusual accommodations – rustic B&Bs are great for this

 

 

About Ray

Ray is a nationally recognized single malt Scotch expert. He recently retired after 16 years within the spirits industry, including four as Glenfiddich U.S. Ambassador. Ray currently presents educational whisky seminars and tastings for corporate events, destination management companies, and national whisky shows. He is a photographer and member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association.

For more articles from Ray, you can visit his blog:

whiskymeister.wordpress.com

And of course check out all of his Whisky 101 articles right here at intotheSoup.com.