You’re the most amazing person on earth & who am I to debate YOU on this subject.
However, from entirely my own subjective & biased opinion, I find most individuals take too many ‘personal’ shots while traveling. It’s great to have plenty of shots of YOU exploring new destinations, but not to the point where you feel you have to be in every photo.
You miss out on grandiose opportunities to emphasize ‘something’ else as the main subject. Historic buildings, landscapes & monuments often look far more amazing when you’re spending time to compose an interesting shot of ‘that’ itself as opposed to figuring out how to look cute & ever so cheeky standing right beside it.
Furthermore, it just becomes a little stale, at least for me, to view a large gallery of shots based entirely on photos of the same individuals (YOU) in almost every shot.
Try spending more time focusing on pictures of what’s going on around you – especially candid shots of locals and detailed close-ups of interesting subject matter.
The truth is that the time you spend setting up a tripod (or asking somebody else to take your photo) could be spent noticing what is around you. As an aspiring photographer, you’re going to want to start noticing things that others who aren’t paying attention miss out on.
Becoming comfortable being the individual behind the lens, as opposed to the main subject, is going to be a crucial part of your transformation from taking ‘amateur’ photos to works of art that are more serious and respected. It takes time to change this habit and you can actually NOT take enough photos of yourself.
This is the kind of travel photography tutorial, where it’s good to reduce but not eliminate shots of yourself. After-all, family and friends do want to see shots of your wherever you go – just don’t be in every single one of them.
