This week Ytravel is very proud to bring you a photo essay and mini-masterclass in travel photography with professional photographer and arts educator, Aaron Bellette. If you are quick you can catch Aaron as artist in residence at the Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery.
There is nothing like exploring a new country or space. Travel as a photographer is even more enticing as it gives us the opportunity to see capture so many new experiences and vistas. The photos in this essay are from a trip to Japan. I am a bit of a gear lover when it comes to photography equipment, but when travelling with camera gear you really need to rationalise what is needed and what is just extra baggage.
For me I found that two lenses for my DSLR is more than enough.
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I mainly use a 24-105L F4 lens, which covers a great focal range and for the most part covers everything I need to shot.
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The other lens that I carry is a 50mm prime lens.
This is more than heavy enough to be lugging around, as I tend to walk around 10kms a day.
I will also use my iPhone as a “point and shoot” camera when I am on tourist sight-seeing tours and when I want to be less obvious about what I am photographing.
The one factor I see as a necessity is that my digital cameras (other than my iPhone) have the ability to shoot a raw image. This gives me the ability to manipulate and achieve the optimum image. I have a belief that you can use any camera to take an effective image once you know the limitations of the digital sensor.
When I am in a new place I am letting my eye wander and examining the space to see what catches my attention. I spend a lot of time thinking about the body of work I am trying to create and what it is I want to convey. So I will often think in 2-3 image groupings that examine details, and interesting textures and perspectives. A lot has been written on the tourist eye and photography, and what is in our obsession with creating these images of famously photographed buildings. Reading about this sort of photography will help you understand your own desires and help you think outside of the usual shots.
Often placing ourselves in the frame can create what could be viewed as a narcissistic image – the sort that is disseminated via social media. I am not opposed to this kind of imagery, but for the most part I am trying to document my travels for my own memory and to share a feeling, rather than a story about “me”. The chance to look at a photograph and let it take me back to that time, to the smells, noise and the feeling of that day, is extremely valuable to me. Travel photography, for me, is about curating a set of images that I can use as triggers for when my memory fades, to renew and reinvigorate these memories.
