The essence of travel photography

People often ask me, “What's the secret to snapping memorable travel photos?”

Personally, I always focus on capturing the essence of the place I'm visiting. However far – or near – you are from home, there are always special moments, colours and landscapes that will surprise you. As a photographer, you'll want to portray that sense of wonder and surprise to your audiences, so they'll feel like they're travelling on the trip with you.

That's why I love travelling with my Sony Alpha 7C compact full-frame camera and FE 24mm F2.8 G prime lens. This compact pairing is light enough to carry anywhere, making it that much easier to capture spontaneous moments.

Why a prime lens is perfect for travels

When I'm travelling, I'm usually on my feet for most of the day. I enjoy exploring cities on foot to really get a feel of my surroundings, and a prime lens like the FE 24mm F2.8 G is so lightweight, I almost forget I'm carrying it.

Being a 24mm lens, it also does everything I need for my overseas shots. It's great for capturing gorgeous, wide landscapes – while also performing brilliantly for close-ups with its clarity, as well as its deliciously smooth bokeh that dissolves into the background.

Precise, quiet focus
You'll see lots of fascinating subjects on your travels, but not all will be willing to strike a pose – especially those of the feathered variety! This is where the FE 24mm F2.8 G excels – when you're taking covert shots of birds, insects and animals.

The lens features an incredibly quiet autofocus that won't scare your subject off, even at close distances. And its sharp and fast focus makes it easy to take great shots of your subjects – even if they're on the move!

Smooth, natural bokeh
When I'm photographing food and people, I love getting up close and personal. With that said, context is important - and having the background touched by smooth and natural bokeh, gives context to the shot, while making your subject stand out.

For portraits and selfies, I create this effect by using a wide-open aperture like a F2.8. The FE 24mm F2.8 G prime lens excels with animal portraits too, as seen in this shot with a squirrel. In this shot, I got very close to the subject to capture sharp details on my focus point – without losing the story that the photograph is sharing with audiences.

24mm lens quality
As shown so far, this 24mm prime lens lets me get really close to subjects. But that's not its only trick – it's also amazing for capturing wide shots, without losing any texture or sharpness. On your travels, you'll definitely come across situations where you'll need to get wider shots without a lot of space – and the FE 24mm F2.8 G is perfect for these situations.

You'll really appreciate how the quality of photos taken using this lens, stays consistent in multiple situations and environments – for example, when shooting buildings in bright sunlight.

One camera. One lens. Perfect for every trip.

I absolutely love the combination of the Sony Alpha 7C and FE 24mm F2.8 G prime lens. Their lightweight builds make them easy to carry on your travels, and their compactness makes it instinctive to take out and shoot with one hand – so vlogging and selfies are that much easier and more natural.