Travel photos 2: Tenerife


Hints and tips
by Philip Grosset



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Take time to search around for the best viewpoint. This photo of Mount Teide is uninteresting because the peak is unimaginatively placed right in the middle of the picture, and there is no real foreground interest.
Mount Teide
Include this tree and its branches to provide framing and the result looks much more pleasing. There's some real feeling of depth now.
Mount Teide
Rearrange the picture so that the peak is at one of the intersections of thirds, as here, and you end up with the most pleasing version of all.
Mount Teide moved off centre
Parrot
Always be on the look-out for characteristic close-ups. This parrot in Loro Parque (the parrot park in Puerto de la Cruz) was decidedly aggressive and didn't look at all happy to be behind bars, so I showed enough of the bars to explain its situation. If I'd been further away, the bars would have been in focus and largely hidden the parrot. If I hadn't wanted to show the bars at all, I could have positioned the lens right up against the cage and used the accurate viewfinder of either a SLR or a digital camera to ensure that I had a totally unobstructed view.
Parrots
Watch out for humorous touches too. These parrots were perched on this refuse bin far away from Loro Parque which is advertised on the poster below them. They probably belonged to a local photographer who used them for posed tourist pictures.
Boys on scooter
Try to include local people. These boys sharing just the one scooter came hurtling up to the cafe where we were sitting, but, to ensure the picture was not blurred, I waited until they had came to a stop before I took it. They were then chased away by the angry cafe owner. Pity I wasn't able to photograph that too!
Orchid
On left: an orchid with a human face? I spotted this in the orchid garden at Puerto de la Cruz. I subsequently blackened out the background so as to concentrate all attention on the pattern on the flower.
On right: the photo as I originally took it. Keep an eye open for the unusual.
Food
If you enjoyed the local food, don't forget to include a close-up like this! But watch out for unwanted or distracting objects in the background. Here it is my wife's blouse that appears at the top of the photo - but for a family record, this sort of personal touch can be a positive advantage.
Seen at a local market. You might prefer to photograph it than drink it! The cost: only 3.61 Euros a bottle. A photo like this makes a good talking point for the family album.
Bottles of wine



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