How to Create High Quality Memories Captured from a Holiday

Have you ever been disappointed after watching your holiday videos?  Do the jaw-dropping peaks of a mountain seem to be no different from the protruding hills in your homeland, and does your video of a spectacular educational trail show simply a dusty track instead of the beauty of nature? If so, keep on reading – and you'll find some helpful tips that will allow you to immediately improve the quality of your videos and photos, without much effort or extra cost. We will also share ideas on how to choose the most suitable video camera for your holiday.

Capturing the Seabed with an SLR Camera is Not Possible

Let's start with the fact that, depending on the nature of your holiday, you should choose the correct method of recording it. For instance, if you are thinking about diving, a professional SLR camera that costs hundreds of euros will be of little use. “For active holidays it is best to choose an action (GoPro) camera. When these are placed in a waterproof case, they can be immersed in water at depths up to 30 metres. Also, with the use of various camera accessories, you can easily attach the GoPro to almost anything – to a helmet or to the handle of a four-wheeler, in order to film dynamic videos,” said Justas Tamošiūnas, Specialist in the Product Technology Field of ACME Europe.

“Meanwhile, if you are planning to walk around museums or parks with your friends and family during your holiday, you could choose either the camera that was already mentioned, or a 360° camera that appeared on the market just last year, which will allow you to shoot an image with a 360° degree view all around you. Professional 360° cameras cost tens of thousands of euros, but there are now certainly significantly cheaper alternatives on the market for creating amateur videos. The 360° degree camera has also just come out in a variety of models that cost less than 160 euros,” J. Tamošiūnas said. He added that videos and photos made by drones are strongly gaining popularity nowadays: “You can choose from both drones with an integrated camera and those with a versatile case where you can insert an active (GoPro) camera that you already own.”

An Expensive Camera Does Not Guarantee High-Quality Photos

Some people think that purchasing an expensive camera with spectacular specifications will automatically lead to the production of high-quality photos. Unfortunately, snapping everything you see in the auto mode will not often give you the desired result. Here are some easy but effective tips on how to improve the quality of your photos with no effort, by the professional photographer and lecturer in photography courses – Eglė:

• Read the camera's manual. You will be surprised how many useful practical tips you will find that apply precisely to your device.
• Pay attention to the background. Have you ever thought, while looking at a picture, that everything would have been great if it were not for a trash bin, a car, or a sign covering half of the setting? It is not only the main object, but also the background that is important, as it can create or completely ruin the perfect atmosphere.
• Maintain a straight line on the horizon, especially when taking pictures of the water, since the impression that the sea is flowing out of the picture never looks good.
• Hold the camera properly, by holding the lens at the bottom with your left hand and keeping the camera itself in your right hand. This will avoid smudgy photos. For even greater stability, you can support your elbows by resting them on your sides.
• Choose the right lighting. It is often mistakenly believed that it is best to take pictures when the sun is shining on your back. However, pictures are much more interesting when the sun is shining from the side, especially when shooting portraits.
• Rule of 2/3 – imagine that the frame is divided into 9 equal parts, with 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines. Try to have the person or the object that is the focus of your picture on one of the vertical lines, and the horizon should coincide with the lower horizontal line. You can forget about the myth that an object must be in the centre.

Simple but Effective Tips for Creating High-quality Videos

The quality of a holiday video depends not only on the camera. Properly selected camera movements, lighting, or the filming angle can convert a simple shot into a cinematic one. We would like to share the tips from our bloggers about how to capture higher quality videos during your trip without much effort:

• Pay attention to the lighting. The best time to shoot outside is in the early morning or the afternoon, when the light is the softest, and the colours are more natural. If you are filming indoors, try to do this close to the source of natural daylight, and the image will be soft, clear and smooth.
• Consistent camera movement is very important; for example, scanning from left to right. This will smoothly combine even entirely different sights, while also giving the images integrity. This kind of video will look much more professional than one where a camera is constantly being moved in various directions, where it's hard to figure out what's being shot at all.
• The same motion of the camera also gives the video a sense of consistency. Let's say all of your videos show your partner walking in front. Whether you're filming on a busy city street or on a deserted beach, the consistency should remain.
• Choose the correct filming angle. If you keep the camera further away and lower, things will look bigger than they really are. This is a great tip for filming both the city and the natural landscape, as it gives the scene a sense of magnificence. Meanwhile, in this case, people just look bigger than they really are so a different filming angle should be used.
• If you are thinking about editing your video, choose the right music. If the music changes – the image should change as well. After all, the bustling sounds of the city centre and the soothing sounds of the sea simply do not fit.

So, the next time you are getting ready for a ski holiday, take an action camera instead of an SLR camera; while in the case of visiting a museum, it should be the other way round. Pay attention to the lighting, the background in your frame and the other details that were mentioned above, and you will soon turn your holiday photos into valuable pictures.