This month, May 2023, the theme challenge is “Travel Photography”. Now that the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions have been relaxed we now have a chance to do some travel whether you take a trip close to home or farther away there are so many photographic opportunities with pretty much any genre of photography. So this month grab your camera and take a trip close to home or away to shoot what you enjoy. This should be a fun challenge and hopefully encourages you to embrace the challenges of uncertainty with stamina, time, the environment, weather, and lighting conditions to come home with images you are proud of. Below you’ll find a few examples and ideas but does not suggest to limit you to what you may be able to create.

Planning: Whether it’s a day trip close to home or a longer trip farther away you should take a bit of time to plan not only where you are going, accommodations, creating a detailed itinerary, cost, but also what photo equipment you’ll need to capture the opportunities you may encounter. Check out your favorite social medial photo platforms to get some photo ideas of the locations that you plan to visit to help with figuring out the best time of day for taking the photos you’d like to create to help tweak your itinerary. Use apps such as “The Photographer’s Ephemeris” or “PhotoPills” to help work out those special photos you want to capture. However, don’t get too over whelmed with planning, remember it’s about getting away to relax and have some fun with your photography with a chance to take images that you normally don’t get the opportunity to take. Take the gear you need and remember your filters, tripod, batteries, chargers, and memory cards.

Think about what images are an absolute must that you want to come home with. Even though you will see so many opportunities on any trip take the time before you go to think of those few images that will be the highlight of your experience. On our trip to Newfoundland in 2015 we wanted to see Ice-burgs off the shores of Lumsden, Northern Gannets at Cape Saint Mary’s, the Rose Blanche Lighthouse, and Puffins at Elliston. Remember to do your research so it is the right season for the subjects you want to capture.

You don’t have to travel great distances to go on a trip, you can visit places that are close to home that offer many possibilities. Remember many people travel from other parts of the world to see things that are close by from antique cars and sail boats in Chester Nova Scotia to fishing villages on the Aspotogan peninsula Nova Scotia.

While planning your trip consider what you are going to do with the photos when you get back. If it’s creating a slideshow or photo book for a local interest group, friends, or family think about making a journal and using your phone to take at least one image at each location so you can capture the GPS co-ordinates which helps with maps, dates, and times while you are away so it’s easier to put your project together when you get home. Remember to take selfies these images add to your story and it’s great to look back at your book or essay in years to come. Here is a video slide show from our trip to Newfoundland in Spring 2015.

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out additional instructional resources. Below are some YouTube video links to give you more hints and ideas.
■ B&H Optic 2022 | Scott Kelby: What Makes a Great Travel Photo? By: Scott Kelby (1hr 1min 15sec)
■ B&H Optic 2018 | Step into the Frame: How to Approach Travel & Cultural Photography By: Adam Marelli (38min 48sec)

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.

This month, April 2023, it’s pretty much open for any genre with the only criteria being that your image should represent for your local area a subject that identifies spring is happening. This should be a fun challenge and hopefully encourages you to get outdoors to practice your photography. Below you’ll find a few examples but not limited to what is out there for possible subjects.

Now that spring has begun you’ll see flowers and buds starting to show which can make for great subjects. The main things to consider are; plane of focus, depth of field, clean background, and watch out for over exposed highlights depending upon the available light. As with most of our photography consider composition to help your subject stand out as well as minimize distractions.

Wildlife will be more active including many species of birds as bird migration is also occurring during spring which provides great opportunities to photograph them. However, it’s important right now to be aware if avian influenza is prevalent in your area and if so you should take precautions to avoid direct contact especially if there is any bird feces in the area and to stay clear while making sure there is no contact with your foot wear because the avian influenza can transfer to your pets. It’s also not recommended to be feeding birds when there is recorded detection of the avian influenza. The best practice is to be informed, so here are a few links to help:

■ Avian Influenza – Wildlife Dashboard (Map+Data)
■ Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative
■ Canadian Food Inspection Agency
■ Avian Influenza Fact Sheet

In the spring time there are weather events that can provide opportunities. Capturing waves is just one possibility. Using a slower shutter speed allows us as photographers to show motion in our images such as using a panning technique to create interesting wave images or just use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. Either way waves are a great subject to have fun with. If you are interested in finding out how to do intentional camera movement (ICM) you can find out more in our blog post September 2019 Theme Challenge on ICM.

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out additional instructional resources. Below are some YouTube video links to give you more hints and ideas.
■ 10 Creative Spring Photography Ideas By: B&H Video (5min 14sec)
■ Spring Photography Ideas By: The School of Photography (16min 12sec)
■ 7 Photo Ideas to Improve Your Spring Photography By: Nigel Danson (16min 50sec)

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.