Adventure Photography | Tips from Instagram

Do you like to travel? Do you like to go on adventures? Do you like to get out of your comfort zone? And, do you have a camera (no matter how old, dusty and battered)? If you answered yes to these questions the good news is that you're already halfway to becoming an adventure photographer (one for the CV).

If like us you have all the above credentials, maybe you've even been taking some photos and posting them to Instagram getting some decent feedback for a while, but you have that feeling that something is missing, scrolling through your feed and searching for hashtags like #adventure and #exploring but all you keep seeing is amazing photos and asking yourself - "Why are my photos not this good???" - "Why am I not getting the top posts??" Well despair no more, I have reached out to some of our favourite (and hugely talented) instagrammers and asked them what their top tip is for how to take a great adventure photo to help you get those shots you've always dreamed of.

I have only picked a select few photos from the people I've spoken to whilst putting this together; so please click through to their accounts where there are tons more amazing photos to be admired. If I could have put all of them on here I would, but you would get lost for days and have no data left for the rest of the month.

polar.girl

"My tip for taking adventurous pictures is to find a person at least as crazy as you are and go outdoors and have fun! I found out that my most favourite photos have been captured with very little effort, while exploring beautiful places around the world and enjoying the moments with friends."

neroexplrs

"Pre plan the adventure but don't over plan it. Just be aware of any scenario that may soon reveal itself in present time and have your camera with you at all times. Envision the scenario before it happens and hit the shutter repeatedly. I mean I normally just ask homies to hang out and go on an adventure, bring my camera and simply take photos while life happens and think outside the box."

rudirphoto

"One top tip? Well, Then it would be to invest in a carrying system like Peak Design CapturePro or Similar. Its a Camera-clip you can hang on one of the shoulder straps of your backpack, in front of you, so that your camera is always ready to shoot. I hate a camera dangling around from a strap, so the camera usually ended up in the backpack, before I bought CapturePro. With the camera in the backpack very few images and moments where captured. That sounds like a bit of an advert, but its not. So to sum up: Have your camera ready at all times, if you're not shooting, you won't capture the good image/moment!"

thebarefootboy

"My top tip would be to always be trying new things and living in the moment. Realize that life is about the now not what has happened or what will happen. Other than that be creative and have fun with the shot and edit!"

wanderloove

"I always say: find a great spot, fall in love with it and show this on your photo! Every journey is a love story. I don't know if this helps you but I do know that people love it when they can see passion in the pictures"

adventure_is_out_there6

"I take a lot of photos on my adventures and then spend a bit of time choosing the best ones and editing them. The weather always changes photos, you can go to the same place many times and it's different every time because the weather is different."

adventurerzguide

"Find peoples accounts that are locals in the area (they always have some of the best spots in the area) then find those spots and put your own twist on the picture"

There you have it, some excellent tips from some excellent photographers. Personally I love the idea that was mentioned a couple of times that you have to be out there doing it to get these images, you cant be an adventure photographer from your sofa, and as Daniel said from Adventure_Scotland

"you can't capture a sunrise in the mountains if your not in the mountains at sunrise"

so get out there, get adventuring and go capture some epic photos. Don't forget to use the tag #doah_adventures so we can check out all your shots. It was really great to get to talk to the people behind these accounts, they are all down-to-earth, modest and super friendly. Big thank you for taking the time to answer our question and allowing us to share some of your work, I hope that one day our paths will cross while adventuring around the world!

Words & Research | Mike