Tips on Travel Photography with Barend van den Hoek
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Based in Melbourne Australia, Barend van den Hoek is an international businessman. He makes frequent business trips to Asia, China in particular.
Barend feels his photos are creative witness of his travels and fond memories of the many interesting people he meets. His photos tell the story of hist trips and are memories to share. In this article, Barend explains how anyone can capture great shots of far away lands.
Take Your Camera Everywhere 
Photo opportunities present themselves the minute you leave your house for the airport. Even by the time you reach your final destination, you’ll have spent many hours traveling by airplane, car, train or bus. That time too could be filled with photo opportunities. You never know what will be around the corner, so take your camera everywhere.
Photo opportunities present themselves at the airport. Father and son look at airplanes and tarmac equipment.
Make the most of your time and seize every opportunity. Don’t be afraid to ask the driver / host to stop the car so you can take a quick snapshot.
If you’re traveling on business, there’s a tendency that locations might begin to look similar and your memory starts to fade risking that important facts can become a blur. A photo will help you to distinguish one factory or business from another. Photos allow you to explain to your boss at HQ what conditions are like.
Photos of the companies you visit can demonstrate the conditions, quality and manufacturing capabilities to head office. It’s important to build relationships known as “Guan Xi”. Take a group shot and send a copy to your hosts.
Chinese business culture is built on a network of personal relationships. The Chinese call these relationships “Guan Xi”. If you have Guan Xi then anything is possible. Without it, conducting business can be difficult.
China has really opened up to foreigners since the early 1980’s and despite the country’s fast pace of development, many Chinese people have little day-to-day interaction with westerners. The vast majority of the population will never have travelled overseas. Bringing you own personal photos with you of family, house, city, where you live, hobbies or place of work, will be an excellent way to introduce yourself and valuable for your first steps in forming your Guan Xi with your Chinese hosts. They will be thrilled to take a glimpse at your life through the magic of photographs.
After your business meetings and the mandatory banquets, there is always an opportunity to take a group photo. Remember to send a photo to your hosts. They will genuinely appreciate it.
Meals together will make excellent photo opportunities. Colorful, tasty and extravagant banquets and settings will be difficult to explain when you get back home. What better way to share than photos!
Respect the Local Culture
After all, this is what makes your host country different from your own.
Start with a smile . This is internationally understood. Learn a few simple phrases in the local language like “Ni How? “ for “How are you?” or “Xie xie” for “Thank you”. They are a friendly people and will respond with a smile. They’ll gladly pose or smile for you.
When photographing street vendors, consider buying something small like a drink or a souvenir. Then show your camera and ask for permission to take a picture. You’ll rarely be refused although some are shy. When photographing their wares remember to get up close for the finer details.
Beijing - The Wang Fu Jing night street market . A range of unusual and exotic dishes to try.
Get up close and see the fine details of tea cups or catch a smiling Bejing street vendor who poses with his specialties of scorpions, grasshoppers and silkworm skewers.
Discreet Street Photography 
If you are discreet you will be able to get excellent street shots of local life. Noisy, “in your face” photographers will not be tolerated. Remember you are a guest. Don’t hide your camera and if you are noticed by your subject , nod, smile and hold up your camera as an indication that you would like to take a picture. Most of the time the person will simply smile and get back to work so you can get your shot.
Be discreet – but don’t hide your camera. Traditional bamboo basket maker.
Take Pictures of Both Old and New
They’re proud of the modernization. I have occasionally been asked why I took a picture of an old traditional building when there is a new, better looking building next door. Old China is being demolished at an astonishing rate, so I want to capture it before it disappears completely.
Traditional buildings can still be found, but are quickly being replaced by futuristic skyscrapers
Tourist Spots 
Taking pictures at tourist spots is not a problem. The locals will enjoy being in your picture and they will like to have you pose in their pictures. So share and share alike.
The biggest problem for the touring photographer in China is to get a photo without hundreds of people in the scene. I’m afraid that with a population of 1.3 billion people this is going to be difficult. Use a zoom lens if you have one to get up close. Plenty of photo opportunities at tourist sites.
Sensitive Areas
Buckingham Palace guards in England are often the subjects of attempts to get a guard to crack a smile, This is tolerated and somewhat expected in the UK but totally unacceptable in China for police and military personel.
Even though China is now a more open country, there are still great sensitivities around police, military personnel and military installations. For example, at the Tian An Men / Peoples’ Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing, soldiers on guard duty will turn their backs to you if you try to take their picture.
You will be allowed to take a photos of the military guards at their posts from a greater distance, but do not photograph military installations under any circumstances.
Some temples prohibit the use of a camera inside the building. After all it is a place of worship. This varies from temple to temple, so look for the signs restricting photography. Respect and refrain. Look for alternative angles or positions. Try not to use your flash.
Forbidden City Beijing - Stern faced military guards shun photographs.
Take Lots of High Resolution Pictures
Start each day with fully charged batteries and an empty memory chip, after all, digital photographs are free, so take lots of shots. Take extra memory cards and download your photos to a memory device or PC at night.
Always take high resolution pictures. High resolution photos can be printed large and cropping for composition can always be done on your PC at a later stage. Avoid deleting your pictures until you have reviewed them on a large monitor. Sometimes the unexpected can be found like hidden gems in the corner of a larger picture. 
The intended subject of this photo was the carved doors and lighting on the floor, but in the right hand corner a young girl says her prayers.
You don’t have to be an expert photographer to take great pictures. All the pictures in this article were taken with a Sony F828 set on automatic.
So take your camera wherever you go!
Barend is also a well know and very active member at the Sharing Digital Photography Worldwide Forums.
Copyright © Marc Mantha 2009
