12 Tips For Taking Awesome Pictures On Your Next Vacation

Take something that's worth sharing. With a few small tweaks, you'll be taking vacation photos that friends will actually want to see. Show them off with Expedia's new Facebook app Find Your Story.

1. Pay attention to colors

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Is your significant other wearing blue? Then don’t take a picture of him standing in front of a blue wall or else he’ll blend right in.

2. Take a step forward

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Is there something distracting in the frame of your picture, like perhaps a cow when you're trying to get a picture of a horse. Just take a step forward or zoom in slightly so it's out of your picture.

3. Change perspectives

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Something as simple as taking a picture on your knees or lifting your camera above your head for a shot can give a whole new look and feel to what you’re photographing.

4. Always have your camera on you

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There’s an old photography saying that goes “the best camera is the one that's with you.” Always have your camera ready, preferably in your hand or around your neck, so that you can take pictures at a moments notice. Some of the best vacation photographs occur spontaneously, so you always want to be ready for that shot of a lifetime.

5. Hold your breath

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Hold your breath right before you press the shutter so your breathing doesn’t shake the camera.

6. Rotate your camera

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Remember that your camera can take vertical pictures as well. Some subjects such as buildings, people, etc. are more suited for vertical pictures than horizontal ones.

7. Think about composition

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Position people close together.

8. Spread 'em

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Space your legs apart for balance so you have a firm foundation to take pictures off of.

9. Get off the beaten path

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Talk to locals to find out where they eat and places they like to visit in the area to get more authentic photos and a richer vacation experience.

10. Use your surroundings

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If you want to take a long exposure photo at night for a richer photograph, but don’t have a tripod, try propping your elbows up on anything chest height nearby for support. OR MAKE YOUR OWN TRIPOD!

11. Know your subject

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It’s important to know what you’re taking a picture of so you don’t end up with boring photos that have a little of everything but no clear focus. Is your goal to take a picture of your significant other’s face, or is it to get a shot of the Eiffel Tower in the background? Pick one and make sure your image is focused on it for more succinct images.

12. Keep your eyes open

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Always be aware of your surroundings and what’s going on. If you’re hurrying to get from one location to another in the hopes of visiting the most you possibly can in one day, you’ll end up missing out on all the moments in between. Slow down and take it all in, you’re on vacation after all.

13. Keep it simple

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With the popularity of Instagram’s filters a lot of people have developed the sense that filters instantly make any photo better. Too bad they’re wrong. Keep the filtering to a minimum if you have to, only using it to accentuate the natural colors of your image. Better yet, just focus on taking a good picture instead of using filters as a crutch.

14. And don't do this.

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