3 Tips for When a Photography Trip Doesn’t Go According to Plan

“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

What is your number one fear when traveling to a new place? I’m sure most of us can say things like getting stranded, missing something, getting lost, and most recently having something Covid related happen to us. Sometimes I fear being considered a tourist, even though most times I visit somewhere that’s what I am. I even look like a tourist with my camera, backpack, fanny pack and hat. I guess the reason why I have that fear is because I don’t want to miss out on something because of something I am perceived to be. While I have destinations in mind when I travel somewhere, I try to keep myself open to seeing things when I travel that were not part of the original plan.

Have you ever visited a place, and you didn’t see what you intended to see? This happened to me when I visited @unccharlotte a few weeks ago. My daughter was having a drama camp there, so I decided to take one of the days and ride my bicycle around campus. I was looking for the botanical gardens that are located on campus. I tried to use the GPS on my watch, and I kept getting turned around. My goals were to take pictures of flowers and plants on that morning. That didn’t happen because I had the hardest time finding the gardens. I did, however, find this pretty water feature they have on campus, and I decided to take some slow shutter speed shots with it. I always have my filters with me because I never know what opportunities I might stumble on to.

Here are a few tips for when a trip doesn’t go according to plan.

Laugh at the moment and laugh at yourself. I laughed at myself when I tried to find the gardens because they have signs on campus showing you where they are, and I still couldn’t find them.

There is always more to one place than its highlight. Many times, some of my best photos taken at a particular place are not even the focal point of the location where I am at.

Always be prepared for anything. I’m glad I brought my filters with me on this day. If not, I wouldn’t have been able to take these awesome slow shutter speed photos.

I hope these words of advice are helpful. What tips do you have for when things don’t go according to plan? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.