Design

How to Take Amazing Vacation Photos

By Wynn Myers
vacation pool spot

EDITOR’S NOTE: Team Camille Styles could easily be the founders of photographer Wynn Myers’ Fan Club. Her ethereal, colorful approach to photography always leaves us charmed and inspired. We all love seeing Wynn’s view of the world through her lens and getting to collaborate with her is an even bigger treat. After seeing her jaw dropping Instagram posts from her recent honeymoon throughout Africa, we went straight to the source to get all her secrets to taking truly amazing vacation photos. Take it away, Wynn!

photography by wynn myers

This recent video starting Kirsten Dunst reminded me that sometimes it is better to step back and enjoy the moment sans-social media, but Instagram is still a really fun tool for sharing and creating your own visual diary. When it comes to photo taking, there are no hard and fast rules, which is one of the beautiful things about it, but here are some of the things I do when snapping photos….

Try not to over-post. 

Being on vacation is exciting, and it can be tempting to post a bunch of photos at once, but try to dole out the photos over time.

Use the camera app on your phone to take your photo. 

Maybe this is an ‘Insta-cheat,’ but I love being able to take a few different photos and see which one is best.

While using filters is fun, I try not to go overboard.

If an image is overly-filtered, it sometimes is not as visually appealing, so consider the level of filtration before posting.

Try black and white. 

Experiment with black and white images. With color being the dominant way of posting, a black and white photo can be really stunning.

Play with the dimension of your photo. 

Sometimes it can be really nice to show more than a square. I use the app Squareready to make some images horizontal or vertical; the one caveat is your overall image grid will not look as neat and tidy.

Follow an Insta vacation pro!

I love following along the Instagram feeds of My Tiny Atlas and Fathom as a way to get inspired.

Instead of always posing, try taking candids!

Get sneaky and take a photo of your friend walking in the distance or people laughing.

Don’t be a afraid to create a moment. 

Pros do it all the time! Move stuff around, or ask your friend to stand in a certain spot to create a more appealing image.

Watch that zoom. 

Pixelated images and photos that are really zoomed in do not come across as well. Try to get a little closer rather than using your zoom feature.

Find your filter. 

Try using filters beyond the ones that Instagram offers. I love VSCO, but other favorites include Afterlight, PicTapGo and Snapseed.