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Amsterdam & Travel Photography

Anonymous Sat 13 Jan 2018 13:43:07 No.3222823 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>3223058 >>3223129 >>3226912

Travelling to Amsterdam for 3 nights for the first time. Never really travelled for photography before so I'm looking for advice/tips/suggestions to get the most out of my time there with a limited budget.

How do I avoid ending up with nothing but tourist snapshots? Plan out shots before-hand I guess?

Also the weather will be shit and almost everything photography in Amsterdam seems to be canals or buildings- what do if the weather stays overcast and grey and shit?

Any other general advice for travel or amsterdam?

Also, would love to see some shots of the city if anyone has been, or any other travel photography

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 13 Jan 2018 15:06:12 No.3222854 Report

Quoted By:

It's wintertime in Amsterdam. The sky is gray but there is no snow and the canals aren't frozen. For photography it would be better tot visit in june when the sky is blue and the trees are green.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 13 Jan 2018 21:55:45 No.3223051 Report

Quoted By:

theres nothing to photograph outside the touristy places

t. i work in amsterdam

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 13 Jan 2018 22:04:23 No.3223058 Report

Quoted By: >>3223115

>>3222823
>. Never really travelled for photography before so I'm looking for advice/tips/suggestions to get the most out of my time there with a limited budget.
Don't do it you will take snapshits and have less fun missing on the sightseeing. You rarely can do both at the same time

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 14 Jan 2018 00:14:29 No.3223115 Report

Quoted By: >>3223124

>>3223058
For me the photography is the sightseeing

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 14 Jan 2018 01:02:38 No.3223124 Report

Quoted By:

>>3223115
I know this feel.

I didn't know it before having a camera in my hands. You really look at the world differently.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sun 14 Jan 2018 01:11:02 No.3223125 Report

Quoted By: >>3223135

>I'm looking for advice/tips/suggestions to get the most out of my time there with a limited budget.

Take 1 camera and 1 lens. I just saved you time and effort; no need to carry around a ton of crap and no second guessing which lens to use.

>How do I avoid ending up with nothing but tourist snapshots? Plan out shots before-hand I guess?

Don't be afraid to visit/shoot the tourist areas, but fill your time between visiting such places shooting photos as well. I shot lots between tourist destinations and typically put my camera away when I get to the really popular spots. (or shoot really loose to capture the touristicness get loads of context)

Every city has its spots geared towards tourists. This isn't the real city. Spend your time enjoying the areas that aren't designed to cater to you. Go where local people go and not just where Lonely Planet and Tripadvisor suggests.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 14 Jan 2018 01:27:49 No.3223129 Report

Quoted By:

>>3222823
You first need to think about how you would expect an audience to view your pictures and what story/message you want to convey.

ie If you are shooting for a travel brochure then touristy shots are fine. That doesn't mean you can't find new stuff or new angles on old stuff.

If you are thinking more magazine article then you will need to come up with a specific angle. "My weekend in Amsterdam" wont cut it. In which case I would suggest starting here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Amsterdam. Knowing your subject is very important, and the more you know the easier it is to find interesting angles.

But "My weekend in Amsterdam" is probably fine if all you plan to do is share with friends and Instagram etc

So what do they have in Amsterdam? Architecture, old churches, canals, bridges, drugs, hookers and johns, bicycles. Where do the canals go when you get to the outskirts of town? What do they look like at first light when there is no-one around? What were they used for when they were first built and are there any vestiges of that left?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 14 Jan 2018 01:36:12 No.3223135 Report

Quoted By:

>>3223125
>Take 1 camera and 1 lens
Only if all you you normally carry otherwise it is shit advice.

1. You bought the gear use it and stop looking for soft options

2. There is nothing worse than seeing a potentially great shot and knowing you left the right lens at home.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 19 Jan 2018 14:41:06 No.3226904 Report

Quoted By:

Bumping this because I just got back with 1300+ shots and I'm gonna share some in the thread

Cheers for all the advice and tips.

90% of what I took ended up being passing touristy snaps and the weather was a pain in the arse but I think I got a couple of good ones regardless.

Some stuff I learned/advice for people in my situation and amendments to advice above-

>Take as many lenses as you can reasonably have space for and carry. This really depends on the person and personally the kit lens is all I have so it's no biggie, but carrying a tripod was a pain in the arse after 10 miles or more per day so definitely limit yourself but don't just not take a lens because it's an extra few lb.
>Set goals. Set goals. Set goals.
The first day I arrived I just shot garbage because I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. The other 3 nights I set myself an agenda of places to get to and shoot and I came out with a few good shots for each, with one or two exceptions due to weather and city changes.
>Make sure you have enough memory and battery life.
I didn't bring a charger because I was limited to hand-held luggage so I just stuck 7 batteries in a pocket. I ran out of juice on the 7th on the last day so I was lucky but definitely have enough memory and juice for your time.
>Don't get hooked into other peoples shit, be there for a reason- photography
Goes back to before but I wasted nearly a whole day getting high and doing nothing because my mates wanted to. Do you.
That said, have fun if you're there to have fun. Personally the photography was my thing so I went with that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 19 Jan 2018 15:18:02 No.3226912 Report

Quoted By:

>>3222823
Fuck off, we are full, we don’t need any more tourists.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 19 Jan 2018 15:33:29 No.3226923 Report

Quoted By: >>3226976

I don't really get why people expect or even attempt to get """"meaningful"""" shot in a city they've never lived in. It takes months if you make it your point/job to get to know the people culture and history of a place, and years if you actually go about life there. I've been here for 5 years and there's new things every week, which shed light on cultural aspects (what started some saying, why do people do various things, etc)
What's so bad about taking nice pictures, what does it even mean for them to be "touristy"?
I mean it's fine to try to look for more interesting spots, but especially if you don't know a place , there's a high chance there's a bunch of people who know it. How many is too many?
What I'm saying is that it's pointless to explicitly try and be a unique snowflake just for the novelty of it. Take pics of what interests you. If it's a tourist spot, fine. If it's a nice design on a manhole cover, just as fine. Heck, a friend made a series of manhole covers they liked from various places they traveled and it turned out very cool

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 19 Jan 2018 17:39:47 No.3226976 Report

Quoted By: >>3227020 >>3227173

>>3226923
I wasn't asking how to be unique or better than the locals, I was looking for tips on how not to take just snapshots and boring travel pics everyone with a camera phone can do. I also disagree with you that you can't get a meaningful shot without spending a ton of time there- Edinburgh is somewhere I know inside out and shoot several times a month and, as you suggest, I'm always learning how to improve those iconic done-to-death shots a little better every time, but some of my absolute best and most popular shots have been from the first time I ever scouted a new location or literally just passed somewhere with a camera in hand

You can meaningfully "compete"/compare with the local talent if you prep enough

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 19 Jan 2018 18:50:21 No.3227004 Report

Quoted By:

First shot out of the camera- from inside arrivals at the airport

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 19 Jan 2018 19:18:41 No.3227020 Report

Quoted By: >>3227508

>>3226976
>if you prepare
Oh sure, I wasn't saying that it's some absolute law that you need to live somewhere to get good shots of the place.
Post some Edinburgh shots anon. It's a great place.
I actually liked my overly touristy pic I took there desu, but I literally got the idea from a brochure lol
Anyway, if you want to avoid canal pics you can go a bit further west in Amsterdam, Westerpark, maybe over the water with the ferry where there's an interesting area called NDSM, and for hip up-and-coming combined with less fortunate people you can walk around Amsterdam Oost.
De Pijp is also pretty
I guess it depends if you wanna do street or more about architecture or minimalist stuff. My overall advice for avoiding overly done stuff is to stay out of the so-called ring area (since the canals are like rings). Oh and south/north Jordaan are also very comfy imo
So that should be enough to get you started but feel free to ask specifics

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 01:24:07 No.3227173 Report

Quoted By: >>3227508 >>3227534

>>3226976
hey anon, i'm also an edinburgh fag, happy to share a lovely city with you

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 14:09:40 No.3227508 Report

Quoted By: >>3227547

>>3227173
Right on, small world. I'm 10 miles out but I've been shooting Edinburgh a ton in the last couple months.

>>3227020
I re-read your first post and you're right- worrying too hard about looking like everyone else in photography is wasted time- just take nice photos and let everything else happen in the background as a result.

I checked out Jordaan and a few slightly further away bits and loved em. I wanted to see Zaandam but the weather was garbage and my time was limited so I was pretty much stuck with the nearby stuff. I'm happy though, had fun and learned the layout and got a couple of interesting snaps if nothing else.

I'll share some Edinburgh stuff after I shitpost some Dam snaps, would love to see more of your guys' stuff from here if you got em.

That one of Calton Hill is nice- I love that you got the Castle, the Barmoral, the Scott Monument, the spires AND the monument all in the one shot. What time of day was that?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 15:23:54 No.3227533 Report

Quoted By: >>3227586

be careful taking pics in the red light district, definitely do not take photos of the women there or you'll get into some shit with the bouncers.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 15:26:05 No.3227534 Report

Quoted By:

>>3227173
The best thing to come out of Edinburgh is the train to Glasgow

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 15:26:18 No.3227535 Report

Quoted By: >>3227586

I wouldnt go around calling this "photography". Tourist snapshots from some phone would have equally as much artistic merit because you're genuinely not good at this.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 15:46:02 No.3227547 Report

Quoted By: >>3227586

>>3227508 →
It was something like 11 in the morning and the wind was so strong I could barely get a steady shot, it was crazy. I didn't get that much time to spend in Edinburgh itself so I went for the popular places first, but the countryside was super nice, even without the best weather.
I've posted some stuff from Amsterdam in the segue thread (which reminds me, needs a good bumping):
>>3182725
>>3186506
>>3189964
>>3191708
>>3191718
>>3198207
and pic related
>goddamn phoneposting I posted in the segue thread by mistake

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 17:13:56 No.3227586 Report

Quoted By: >>3227610

>>3227533
Good advice here. I turned down the wrong alley on the first night and heard some banging, turned around and titties were literally banging against the glass right next to my face. Was about to shoot a picture when a patrol guy wagged his finger at me. Didn't realise til later that tits are off limits for photography in the dam.

>>3227535
Valuable input. Here's your (You)

>>3227547
Right on. Skye and the west coast are the main place to shoot in Scotland but we have tons of iconic castles and mountains- it's a landscape shooters dream here but you need a motor to get anywhere interesting

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 17:41:42 No.3227610 Report

Quoted By: >>3227732

>>3227586
>comes to Amsterdam in January
>gets sunny day with clear skies
It's just not fair desu
If you're this lucky tomorrow too you can consider a trip to Zaanse Schans, it's a very cute comfy place and you can buy some great mustard there

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 17:43:04 No.3227612 Report

Quoted By: >>3227732

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 21:31:26 No.3227721 Report

Quoted By: >>3227732

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 20 Jan 2018 22:17:02 No.3227732 Report

Quoted By:

>>3227610
>>3227612
>>3227721

Dear god these are more cliche then getting a selfie in giant wooden clogs.

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