Capturing stunning photographs in crowded tourist scenes can be a challenge, but with the right techniques, you can elevate your photography game.

As I mentioned in the my previous videos, we’ve traveled for 23 weeks, or 5 and a half months last year.   The original plan was to travel together as a family, but due to unexpected incidents, I ended up traveling with our kids for 4 months over 15 countries in Europe.  Alone!

For logistics convenience, I picked mostly urban locations.  We saw lots of old towns, world heritage sites, amazing beaches, and meanwhile, big crowds everywhere!

Nevertheless, I still took hundreds of photos everyday, and would like to share my top 10 tips to help you improve your shots in bustling tourist spots.

1. Timing is key

Visit popular tourist spots during off-peak hours to avoid the largest crowds.  It might be true that early mornings or late evenings might offer quieter moments and beautiful lighting for your photographs.

But oftentimes this might only solve part of the problem.  For example when we were in Morocco, most of the souks (or local markets) wouldn’t open until 10am in the morning.  If you arrive too early it’s true you don’t see the crowd but the stores are closed, and you won’t see the merchandise either, which is the important part of your cultural exploration.  So no need to arrive too early, just early enough to beat the crowd.  For example arrive around 9:50 or right at 10am.

Here’s another example when we were in Vatican.  We arrived mid morning, but right before the barricade blocking the entrance to St Peter’s square was removed.  These two images were taken 10 minutes apart.  The first one was the moment we stepped onto the square, and it didn’t take long for the big crowd to flood onto the square.  What a huge the difference of 10 minutes!

2. Focus on details or do closeups

Amidst the chaos, don't forget to focus on the smaller details. For example, look for unique architectural features, colorful signs, or interesting textures that can make your photos stand out.

If you have a telephoto lens, it would be easier to do the closeups.  Just zoom in. 

If you don’t have a telephoto lens, you can still focus on details by walking closer.

3. Change angles / Experiment with perspectives

Changing angles is the easiest way to change your composition, and to remove unwanted crowd.   

Changing angles doesn’t mean to change left or right, you can point up and down or even position your camera at different height.  Do not always photograph from eye level.

In these three sets of images, the left ones were taken at standing position and the camera was at eye level, I got huge crowd in my composition.  The right images were taken from the ground level with the camera pointing up.  I got much better images with cleaner background.

4. Change subject

Rather than photographing family and kids in front of the chaotic scenes, photograph window display, ceilings, food, all part of your culture experience during your travel.  In another words, your travel photos do not always have to include people. 

5. Embrace crowd - Use crowd as subject

Rather than trying to avoid the crowd, incorporate it into your composition. Showcasing the energy and diversity of people and the bustling atmosphere can add depth and interest to your photographs.  Pay attention to the visual elements of your photos, eg. the lines, colors, balance of contents etc. to create captivating compositions. 

Or pay attention to the interaction of the crowd to enhance your story telling. 

6. Pay attention to proportion - subject much bigger than crowd

Move closer or zoom in on your main subject, make sure to keep a good distance between your main subject and the crowd in the background to create a size contrast.  The bigger your subject relative to the crowd, the more effective your visual storytelling. 

7. use light contrast

Human eyes are naturally drawn to brighter spots in the photo.  If your photo has high contrast, putting your subject in the bright spot than the crowd can visually reduce the importance of your crowd, making them less distractive. 

8. Use crowd as foreground to frame your subject

Use shallow depth of field to blur your foreground.  You can use the crowd as your blurry foreground to increase depth of your photo, and even better, frame your subject. 

You can use the same technique to even blur one of your family members/friends as the foreground while focusing on the other subject, or the landmark piece. 

The person close to your lens takes up some space in the corner, and can effectively block the crowd behind him as well.

9. Patience Pays Off

This might be a no brainer and perhaps what most amateurs would do.  Be patient and wait for the perfect moment to capture your shot. Sometimes, all it takes is a few extra minutes to find a gap in the crowd or for the light to hit just right. 

And this leads to my last tip for the day.

10. Change location

I know I was sharing tips to deal with crowded scenes.  But oftentimes crowded scenes are not the only place to take photos.  Walk around and avoid lines.  You see the Swiss mountains are so big, why do you have to line up and take the same photos in one spot like everyone else does?

Explore the world in your own eyes.  Explore off the beaten paths.  Some of your best travel photos might come from unknown places, and your best and most memorable travel experiences might come from unique or unexpected encounters, regardless how popular the location is.

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