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Tim And Ally Wilson Travel Photograpy

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Pro-photographers, have a few tricks up their sleeves, to help their images look awesome. We want to share all these techniques with you in our travel photography tutorials and give you the inside scoop on getting pro results, without spending pro money on your equipment.

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Create beautiful images  with the minimum of photo gear.

Edit your images so they look ‘how you imagined it’.

Create photographs in both Film and Digital.

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  • Although the title to this post is how to photograph like Steve McCurry, it should be subtitled “How to make an image in the Steve McCurry style”.  When it comes to colour travel journalism photography, there is one photographer who stands head and shoulders above...

  • From Raw to finished image In this post I will show you the photography editing steps I went through to turn a mundane image into something that brings me a lot of joy and is the image I pre-visualised. Let me show you how it...

  • The joy of Darkroom Printing Darkroom printing of Black and White images used to be the main way most photographers created their work. It was a rite of passage and everyone who did it will probably have a host of stories to tell. I know...

  • Finding the Jurassic coast To photograph the Jurassic coast where dinosaurs used to prowl, incredible plant-life grew, and the steamy swamps took the life of many an unwary creature, you would think we would need to travel to an exotic Island. Maybe somewhere where people...

  • Notre Dame Tribute after fire The 15th April 2019 was a very sad day. Not just for Catholics, nor for Parisians, historians, theologists or tourists but for all of us. Europe has lost one of its most beautiful buildings. Ally and I love Notre Dame...

  • Editing in Camera Raw This is how we edited the steam train cab image of the Umgeni Steam Railway train from the before and after post.  The following screenshots show the process of editing in Camera Raw to finished photograph. The image was taken on...

  • Before and after photographs Do you ever look at your images and wonder why they just don’t have the ‘pop’ that you see on other people’s shots. There are many reasons that this could be, but we have found that the main one is down...

  • Black and White Beach Photography Black and white beach photography can be a really cathartic experience. Standing on the rocks hearing the crash of waves, feeling slight spray whilst watching the sun come down, can help the day’s worries just evaporate! After this blissful experience,...

  • How to photograph steam trains to get great images To paraphrase Mr Toad. “There is nothing quite so awesome as messing around in steam.” We love steam trains. Old, new, big, small – we don’t care. To be perfectly honest we don’t even know much...

  • What is aperture – why it is important to travel photography Aperture is one of the ways we control how much light gets to the film or sensor but it is is just so much more useful than that. In this article we will look...

  • What is Bokeh and why it is important for travel photography Bokeh! Got to be one of the weirdest terms in photography It is only beaten by scheimpflug (ability to get your focus plane to any angle you like on a large format camera) and mackie...

  • Night Photography in London London at night is an awesome city. Lights, music, noise and a feeling of culture mixed with bohemian lifestyle. There are millions of images of London at night from the main tourist areas to dimly lit backstreets of East London where...

  • Using panning to create camera motion blur (or how to photograph like J.M.W. Turner) This is Creative use of Shutter and Aperture series no 1 We are great fans of super sharp images and usually do all we can to get things razor sharp. This...

  • Photographing Contre-jour : Shooting into the light What is shooting Contre-jour? Well Contre-jour is a French term for “against daylight” and it is a technique where you photograph directly into the sun. The technique has been used for decades as it was originally a painting...

  • Africa is a wonderful land to photograph so we have put together a few tips for photographers travelling to South Africa that you will need to know. Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first. Is South Africa safe for photographers?...

  • How to photograph like Arnold Newman “But Tim, he is an environmental portrait photographer you know. What is he doing in a travel blog and why would you want to show us how to photograph like Arnold Newman?” Yes, okay, you got us! We know...

  • What is the best camera bag as a present for the photographer in your life? Well whether it’s Christmas, birthday or any time of year there are always things that most photographers need so a special occasion is the perfect opportunity to treat yourself or...

  • Phone camera tips to improve your photography As an experienced photographer I would have laughed about using my smartphone as a camera a few years ago but all this has now changed. Although it’s not ideal some very good images can be made with an...

  • Is it possible to get Adobe Photoshop free online? I often get asked about free online Photoshop and my stock answer is that if you can’t afford or don’t want to pay Adobe the monthly rental then there are a few options. My first option...

  • Why you should sharpen your photos “BUT MY CAMERA IMAGES ARE SHARP! Why should I sharpen my photographs?” This is a common question I hear all the time as an Adobe Photoshop trainer and lecturer. The other question that goes with this one is, “Why...

  • How to photograph like Ansel Adams I, Tim, have 2 favourite photographers. I could sit and contemplate their work for hours on end. Both these photographers are landscape master craftsmen and artists of the highest order and their images bring me untold joy. One of...

  • How do you get Beautiful Low-Light Photography in Churches & Cathedrals? Churches and cathedrals provide some truly extraordinary lighting. The glow from the altar candles, the multi-coloured light reflections onto stone textures from stained-glass windows or even the delicate light rays visible through the darkness...

  • How to Photograph Reflections So, you’re out with your camera and you come across a really interesting landscape or scene. It looks good from every angle, but it’s not awesome. We’ve all been there and struggled with making an eye-catching image from a great, but...

  • Latest Photoshop Creative Cloud Update There was a new release of Photoshop today as Photoshop CC 2019 on Adobe Creative Cloud. Adobe never cease to amaze us with the updates that come forth making editing images easier but still allowing you to be creative. This...

  • How toast can teach you how to create Awesome B&W images with the Dodge and Burn tools “TOAST! Tim and Ally…. Really?” “Erm yes…It really does help with Dodge and Burn tools. We’ll get to that later but first things first.” Dodge and burn tools...

  • Creating Unique Photographs from The Eiffel Tower – Paris, France One of the most iconic towers in the world has to be the Eiffel tower in Paris. Rising up from next to the Seine, (Paris’ main river), it can be viewed from most parts of...

  • Photograph Paris graveyards “So Tim and Ally, you went to Paris for a week. Awesome! What was one of your favourite times? Maybe the romantic river, how about the photographic interior of Notre Dame?…..” “Er no. It was when we went to photograph Paris graveyards.”...

  • 5 professional techniques to make a photo look old Occasionally, in your photographic life, you will find that creativity comes to a grinding halt. A bit like writers’ block! You are bored of looking at super sharp, over-saturated, perfectly grainless travel images and your creative...

  • How to photograph a panorama Have you ever seen a scene that is so expansive and beautiful and thought to yourself something like “A single image with my wide angle lens just can’t do this beautiful vista justice”? On the other hand, maybe when you’re...

  • Ever wanted to photograph a secret place in London? Waterloo in London, is the busiest railway station in the United Kingdom with a quarter of a million people traveling through it every day. How do we find a secret place in London to photograph, in...

  • How to photograph like Michael Kenna Learn from the Masters Some days we look at well-known photographers images and something in us just cries out “I wish I could create images like that”! At first I thought it was just me but I have discovered...

  • Best Black and White films for travel photography So, you’ve bought your beautiful film camera and are ready to take a trip to give it a jolly good work out. Now you need to feed it with Kodak, Ilford or Fujifilm’s finest offering. So what...

  • 5 essential filters for black and white photography you should own When you walk into a camera store or look at an online photographic shop there are so many filters for black and white photography that you could buy. The problem is, which one?! What...

  • Texture Photography More than once, Ally and I have arrived in a new town to photograph, all prepared and excited however things don’t go always go according to plan. The weather is dire, the scene itself is spectacularly awful due to building work, there are...

  • How to photograph like Edward Weston So you’re out travelling and all prepared to go out to photograph that amazing landscape you noticed on the drive to the hotel yesterday. Unfortunately, the weather has other ideas and it’s pouring with rain. What can you do?...

  • How to make the sky dark in a photo Everyone has seen the images of scenes where the sky looks really dark and the clouds stand out and look awesome. From a slightly darkened down adjustment to an almost black sky these skies just bring...

  • How to load film into a camera So you have bought your first ever film camera and want to get a new box of film ready to pop in so you can join the world of analogue photography. Let us show you how to load...

  • Robben Island and Nelson Mandela’s cell So often when we photograph places of interest, we look solely at the aesthetics of the scene. How does the light make it feel? What interesting shapes appear in the final image to draw the eye in? Which details...

  • Best film cameras for beginners Before we consider the best film cameras for beginners we need to ask a question. Why would you wish to shoot with a film camera when digital is so relatively cheap and immediate, and the quality is second to none?...

  • Make a digital Cyanotype photo easily Have you ever seen beautiful old photographs with a blue tone and wondered how you could create the same? A romantic cyanotype photo can look so stunning yet is so easy to do digitally. Let me take you through...

  • What makes a good black and white photo? Before we look at what makes a good black and white photo let us first see why we want to create black and white photos. There are so many reasons why we would create a black and...

  • Convert Colour to Black and White Why would you wish to convert colour to black and white? After all, we all see in colour. There are so many reasons. Maybe the original image has too many clashing colours? It could be that the weird mix...

  • Crocodiles, snakes and Zulu shields Who doesn’t hanker after photographing crocodiles, snakes and a traditional Zulu shields maker, not to mention Zulu dancing?  If you do then you need to visit PheZulu.  Forty minutes drive inland from the City of Durban, South Africa in the...

  • Where’s my dramatic sky gone? Very often you may photograph a dramatic sky but when the image is straight out of camera, you look at it and think, I know the sky looked way more interesting that that!   Example! Dramatic Sky not as dramatic...

  • Embocraft and Low Light Photography Embocraft are the the local South African heroes who are empowering local entrepreneurs with skills training. Making portraits of these amazing people was a bit difficult due to the low and very extreme lighting conditions involved and required low light...

  • Best Camera for Travel Photography Very often people will ask us, “what’s the best camera for travel photography?” So, we’ve decided to write a post to cover a few of those questions.   Whilst it has been quoted, “The best camera, is the one that...

  • Woza Moya Upcycling Woza Moya Upcycling is a key part of Woza Moya and the Hillcrest AIDS Centre trust and not only brings in well needed funds for the centre but is also playing a huge role in the recycling of unwanted waste that would...

  • Top 10 Essential Photoshop Shortcuts Photoshop shortcuts can really speed up your workflow, so we’re going to share our favourite top 10.       1. The Tab Key The tab key will show and hide all of your panels and toolbar. This is one...

  • Woza Moya – A beacon in South Africa’s HIV / AIDS Pandemic Woza Moya. It just rolls sweetly off the tongue and means “Come spirt of change” in isiZulu. (IsiZulu is the language of the Zulu South Africans usually living on the East side of...

  • Vatican Museum staircase photography – multiple image edit The problem with the Vatican Museum Staircase photography is people. From opening time until closure during the summer, there is a constant stream of tourists descending this beautiful architectural masterpiece. A plethora of photographers at the top...

  • Is there a really cool part of Cape Town? No, because absolutely everything is very cool! Let’s start with at the place God designed purely for wave lovers … Muizenberg! Muizenberg sits in False Bay, so called because the early sailors used to often mistake...

  • Tombs of the kings before and after The Tombs of the kings before and after image is of a UNESCO World Heritage Site about 2 km from Paphos Harbour. Many of the tombs date back to the 4th century BC. It has nothing to do with...

  • Durban beach front – the Golden Mile Sand, sand, sea, surfer, sand, surfer, sun, sea, sand, surfers, surfers …. and sharks? Known as the Golden Mile, Durban beach front stretches for what seems like miles of golden sands with experienced lifeguards, in front of a...

  • Many people ask me how to photograph the moon. A lot people who try to photograph the moon get problems with an overly bright moon, but not enough detail around it. The main problem is when you take a photograph of the moon at night,...

  • Table Mountain Everybody ‘does’ Table Mountain. However, for one of the best experiences available in Cape Town, the sunset trip is second to none. As the sun went down, the clouds descended below and next to us onto the top of the mountain, cascading down...

  • Photoshop vs Affinity Photo – What is the difference? When you are looking out for editing software the usual choice is Adobe Photoshop. The industry standard is everywhere and image manipulation is now even known as “Photoshopping”. But what are the cheaper options and are...

  • Woodstock Market – Cape Town, South Africa. On the surface, this doesn’t sound terribly interesting but Woodstock Market in Cape Town, South Africa really is one of the coolest markets. It is also one of the most exciting places for the two f’s – foodies and...

  • Why Your Camera Lies to You – Exposure Compensation The light meter in your camera is a very useful tool, but there are times when you need to know that it’s actually lying to you. So how you can overcome it? Exposure compensation to the rescue....

  • Photographing with a Neutral Density filter (ND Filter). Why do it? A Neutral Density filter reduces the amount of light coming through the lens thus giving you longer exposures that you are unable to get in bright light even with an ISO of 50. Why would...

  • Looking for the elusive image (and a trip to Shongweni Farmers and Craft Market with a shiny new ND Filter) Do you ever wake up and think “This is going to be a great day for photography?” We woke up just like that. Well…… the...

  • Ever wondered why your black and white images look a bit flat? Watch Tim explaining the best practice to convert your colour images into black and white in only 30 seconds. Adobe Photoshop has so many different ways of converting colour images to B&W. These...

  • The dark and contrasty Avakas Gorge The Avakas Gorge was super contrasty with direct sun streaming in and lighting some walls with a golden sandy glow. I exposed to get detail in the highlights knowing that I could rescue the shadow detail in the Raw...

  • Spectacular Cyprus photography at the Avakas Gorge floating rock. As with most of our Cyprus photography, the approach did not fill us with confidence about creating spectacular images however once there it was a different story. Beautiful rocks, a quiet stream and wonderful Cyprus blue...

  • Are your holiday images a bit on the tame side? A Cyprus shipwreck and an ancient ruined tomb are just what you need to give you that Indiana Jones feeling. Cyprus has a bit of a reputation as either a party island or a place...

  • Aerial photography landscapes Very often as you fly over somewhere interesting you can be blown away by the view, but it can be quite hard to get a reasonable image through the nasty scratches and cloudy window. Have a look at how we create interesting aerial...

  • Photographing in Steam, Smoke and Noise If like us you can’t photograph enough of mechanical vehicles, then this is the place for you. A very English pass-time is to wander around a farmer’s field whilst grease and soot covered people display their beautiful, and often...

  • Tourist Free Photography – How to photograph Venetian Gondolas without the crowds? Tourist free photography! Impossible you cry! Not impossible we say! During our short Italian trip, we had a few days in Venice and were desperate not to “just photograph” the gondolas but to...

  • If you visit Dubrovnik, in Croatia, one of the must-see areas from a photographic point of view is Lokrum island. This is an uninhabited island, but was formerly home to, (and was founded by), Benedictine monks in 1023 who had to leave in 1798. The...

  • One of the joys of Dubrovnik, apart from the scenery, are the amazing textures in the walls. (“Wow”, we hear you say. “Walls! You need more excitement in your life!” Just you wait. We haven’t even started to extol the virtues of the roofs of...

  • Dubrovnik Old City Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! Turns out that having walked up and down several hundred steps in the Dubrovnik Old City, produces this unique sound the following day, and the following …   Why Dubrovnik Old City? There are so...

  • What is it? Queen Caroline’s Temple is a classical style summer house overlooking the Long Water, east of Lancaster Walk in Hyde Park, London. When I saw it at sunset I envisaged a beautiful temple with all the detail of the brick work against a...

  • Is Truth Coffee the best coffee shop in the world? In the centre of Cape Town in South Africa, the Mother City, is an unassuming coffee shop with a tiny, easily missed, sign outside saying Truth. So what is the truth? Is this the worlds best...

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