Choose the right camera for your holiday destination

Bright Colours

Shooting colours worthy of a postcard – like the vibrant street scenes you see in Cuba - should be easy, right? Not always. Cait advises choosing your timings carefully to make sure you maximise bright tones. “The best time of day to capture colourful settings is definitely early morning and dusk. The light is super-soft, allowing the colours you want to come through the lens. As there are little shadows at this time of day, you don’t get darker areas of shadow in your images.

As for what camera to choose if you’re going to be immersed in colourful subject matter, Lauren says: "I really like the Olympus OM-DE-M1. Unlike some cameras which tend to shoot cooler tones, the Olympus manages to capture colours quite true to life.

Olympus itself says this model “is the most advanced compact system camera ever produced.” So there you go.

Spectacular Sunsets

Great sunsets, like those in beautiful Santorini aren't always a cinch to capture. Lauren explains: “Exposure can be very tricky. There is often a lot of dark foreground and a glaringly bright hot spot where the sun is setting.

Cait advises: “To shoot sunsets, you can do it multiple ways. I use my Canon 70mm-200mm lens which allows you to get a crisp, close up of the sun and enriches the colours. I use a high shutter speed to ensure you aren’t missing anything. You can also use a wider angle lens to create more ambience.

A good all-rounder is the Nikon D5500 which copes well as the sun dips. “From fast movement to challenging low-light situations, the D5500 doesn’t disappoint,” say the folks at Nikon.

Beach Life

A GoPro is ideal when you’re dealing with sand and sea – and Cait is a big fan. “I always take mine to the beach as it’s practically bullet-proof,” she says. “It’s small and compact and easy to fit into a beach bag, and fun to take action shots of shore breaks and snorkelling with friends (GoPro models start at £159.99).

If you want to venture into the waves for a surf-themed close-up, as you might in the Algarve you’ll need to get underwater casing for your kit. “I have a Canon EOS 7D which I use with AquaTech underwater housing,” adds Cait. “I also use a Sigma Fisheye lens, which allows me to take high quality images underwater. The fish eye lens can captures beautiful under and over-water images, which the naked eye can’t see.”

Snow Scenes

Wintery landscapes like you’ll find in Iceland might look pretty, but they are tricky to snap – even for pros. “The difficulty in shooting snow is that all that white can confuse your camera’s metering system,” says Lauren. “Basically the camera sees too many highlights and tends to underexpose, resulting in grey snow.

She adds: “Any camera with manual capabilities can offset this by shooting in manual mode and overexposing the shot.

It’s worth considering a camera that’s fully weatherproof for snow shots. The Nikon Coolpix AW130 copes well in all climates and is cold resistant to -10°C, as well as shockproof to 2m. What’s more, it’s got built-in wifi and is dive-resistant to 30m, making it a great choice for underwater pics, too.

“You can take your camera to extremes,” Nikon say of the AW130. “It’ll keep you shooting, wherever your adventures may take you.” Sounds like our kind of kit…

Night Vision

Buzzing Ibiza by night makes for an impressive photo – and evening photography can be well worth the extra effort involved. Cait says: “Taking a long exposure image of the stars and moon can be absolutely breathtaking. The aim is to set the camera up on a tripod and leave the shutter open for a long time to allow all the light to hit the lens.

A camera’s ISO – which is its built-in sensitivity to light – is an important factor in night-time photography. Says Lauren: “Any camera can take a decent night-scape at ISO 100 on a tripod, but if you are holding the camera in your hand, you need a camera with great low light performance. I personally shoot with a Nikon D750 when I need to increase my ISO.

Nikon itself labels the ISO range of this camera “spectacular,” and adds that it “delivers exceptional image quality with cleaner results than ever before at high ISOs.”

Ready to get your camera out?

Explore more great holidays to photograph on the Thomson site.

Author: Shaun Ringwood