Photo walks aren’t anything special. As the name implies, they’re simply an exercise in taking pictures while you’re out for a walk. But they’re an excellent opportunity to develop your photographer’s eye by looking for pictures in the world around you.
Photography clubs and teachers will often organize group walks. These are great activities, because the organizer will probably be familiar with the area and can point out good photo opportunities for you. They’re also a good chance to meet people with shared interests and to find answers to any questions you might have.
But photo walking by yourself can also work wonders for your photography. It’s fun to roam around a place (especially somewhere you’ve never been before) and take pictures of whatever interests you. It can also help to have some general goals for pictures you want to create.
With that in mind, here are five things you can look for during your walk:
1. Establish the scene
If you’ve ever seen a movie, you’ve probably seen an establishing shot. When the story moves to a new location, filmmakers like to let the audience know about the change using an image that will set the new scene. For example, if our hero is pursuing the villain to Paris, the new part of the story might begin with a shot of the Eiffel Tower.
That’s a good way to start a photo walk, too. If you plan to do more than one walk before you upload your photos, an establishing shot will mark the point where you moved to a new location. It also helps to mentally say to yourself, “Here’s where I am today.” By establishing the scene, you think about the bigger picture before you start looking for small details.
In this example, the first photo establishes that I’m photo walking in a flower garden.
2. Fill the frame
This one seems like it should be easy, and yet it isn’t. Many photographers (myself very much included) have a tendency to shoot from a medium distance, not too far from the subject but not too close either. By challenging yourself to fill the entire frame with a single subject, you’ll force yourself to get closer and zoom in tighter. It’s also a good way to practice picking a single subject rather than packing a lot of visual information into just one photo.
3. Don’t fill the frame
Once you settle into the practice of working with subjects one at a time, try giving them some visual space. Filling the whole frame with your subject doesn’t require you to do much visual thinking. But if you take a step back or zoom out a little, now you have make decisions about where to locate the subject in your composition.
Challenge yourself to create negative space around your subject while at the same time making sure that your viewer can still tell what the main subject is.
4. Over (or under) expose
As you get more comfortable working with your camera and its various controls, you’ll find that you can do all kinds of visual tricks to emphasize the subject of a photo and de-emphasize the rest of the picture. One of the easiest ways to make your subject stand out is to make sure it’s properly exposed and everything else is either too dark or too light.
If you’re using a phone or tablet to take pictures, you can typically tap the screen where your subject appears and your device’s app should automatically set the exposure level so you get a good picture of where you tapped. If the area around your subject is either much darker or much lighter than your subject, then the rest of the picture will come out with an exposure where the background isn’t easy to see. And that will automatically make your subject the only eye-catching thing in the picture.
5. Find a face
As human beings, we’re naturally programmed to look at faces. It’s the easiest way for us to assess our surroundings, determining whether someone who just caught our eyes is a friend or a potential threat. Pictures of people looking directly at the camera (and thus the viewer) are instantly visually arresting.
Your walk is a good opportunity to practice putting faces in your photos. Even if you’re on your own, see if you can find a sculpture or an animal to add at least some hint of a face to your photography.
If you’d like to learn more about photo walks, take a look at this board on Pinterest. The board also includes links to articles about challenges, projects and other activities you can do to practice your photo skills.
Extra Challenge
Photo walks are a great way to experience something new. So one extra challenge you can do during a walk is to try out any new gear you recently bought. Did you just get a new wide-angle lens? Find a location with some wide-open spaces and look for good landscape photo opportunities. Is your new toy a telephoto lens? Go for a walk in nature and see how close the lens can bring you to easily-scared wildlife.
If you’re traveling to places you’ve never been to before, scheduled photo walks are a great way to see the sights and record your exciting new experiences. For more on travel photography, have a look at this Pinterest board.