Wedding photo shoot with the Japanese Bridge in the background, Hoi An, Vietnam. Hoi An has a very touristy but still nice and picturesque old town (it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The bridge dates to the 16th or 17th century.

Related: Rice Drying on the Street, Hoi An, Vietnam – Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám, 文廟) Hanoi, Vietnam – Circumhorizontal Arc (Fire Rainbow) in Hoi An, Vietnam

Stone bridge over river (that I was rafting down) in Yangshuo, China.

Related: Beautiful View of Limestone Karsts in Yangshuo, China – Pink lotus flower in Yangshuo, China – Stone Bridge at the Confucius Temple in Jianshui, China

Art by John Hunter when I was in Nigeria (and was 10 years old).

Related: A younger me – 911 Memorial, New York City (Ceramic Tiles on a Fence) – Stuart Davis Painting, Los Angels County Museum of Art – Buenos Aires Street Art

This is a photo (by my father) of my early experience with vanlife. My family took this VW Van in Kenya when I was a kid. We only spent a couple weeks in Kenya before living in Nigeria for a school year.

I remember at one point getting stuck in a dried out riverbed in a game park after having passed a small herd of elephants just a short while before. We had to get out and push the van free and watch it zoom forward to safe ground while I thought about the elephants getting curios and deciding to see what the fuss was about. It was quite fun once I was back in the van.

Related: Exploring Vanlife in the USA – Cheetahs in Kenya – Kenya Game Park Safari photos – Elephants, Kenya (on a later trip)

John Hunter by Bill Hunter.

Related: more photos by Bill Hunter – Me, with My Walking Stick, Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia – Girl in Orange Sweater, Laos – Boy at Mesa Verde National Park

People skating on a frozen lagoon in Vilas Park, Madison, Wisconsin.

Related: Child as a blur – Self Portrait by Vincent van Gogh – Curious Cat with School Kids in Indonesia – How to Frame Photos of People Well

I actually owned a camera that used film. The barrier to talking multiple photos was much greater then – not only the cost but also you only have so many shots left so you can’t “waste” too many. Digital cameras are great for quite a few reasons but one of the best is how easy it is to just snap a bunch of photos and hope some are great.

You really can make quite a bit better photos without much effort. Just paying a bit of attention to good photos can help a great deal.

John Hunter, Bryce National Park

One thing I find amusing is selfies actually take advantage of something good photographers knew a long time ago. To get good photos of people put them in the foreground. You still see it today, but it was much more common (like 98% of these type of photos), where the people are tiny dots next to some tourist attraction. Selfies go a bit overboard with putting the person in the foreground (most of the time) but they are often better than the tiny dot people photos.

I still remember the photo a professional photographer took of my grandparents at their house where I saw this lesson and have remembered it since. The people were put at the front of the yard so they took up a good 50% of the photo but it was staged to capture their home of 40 years. So often this type of photo is with the people little dots in front of the house with the framing of the house nearly the same.

Me, my brother Justin and my mom in front of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece by Bill Hunter. This isn’t the greatest example, but it is what I could find right now, and I think the idea is there – get a great photo of the people and have the background provide context and be interesting. The people are taking up a good proportion of the image, though normally a bit more space for an interesting background would be ideal.

Related: Canon PowerShot SX60 HS Digital Camera – Macro Lens Band for Phone Cameras

Sometimes it can make sense to have the person be a little dot, such as this case where the person provides scale.

Bill Hunter by 25 foot termite mound in Nigeria.

The last two images were originally taken with film. I captured the images by taking a digital photo of the screen when showing them via a slide projector. Obviously they are not that crisp as images, but I am amazed how decently they come out when you just take a photo of the screen.

It was a village on the way from Luang Prabang to the beautiful Kuang Si waterfall. It is a bit disheartening to see how the village puts out the children to encourage the tourists to buy.

But the kids seem like they are mainly having fun and the truth is it is likely about the best way, right now, for them to bring in a bit of extra cash. It is far from perfect but I thought it was a nice stop and something that benefits the village more than it hurts it. Figuring out way to have local populations benefit from tourists is very important to raising standards of living in a sustainable way.

They had various handicrafts for sale and some food.

Related: Chomphet Hike, Luang Prabang, Laos – Mosaic Art at Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang, Laos – Electrical Outlets on Tree Trunk in Luang Prabang – Jianshui Wet Market in Yunnan, China

Watch a webcast on my experience and see more photos: Floating Down River in Yangshuo, China on a Bamboo Raft.

Related: View from the top of Bear’s Hump Trail, Waterton International Peace Park – Stone Bridge at the Confucius Temple in Jianshui, China – Mother Cat with 2 Kittens

Women with her son on a motorcycle in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Related: Self Portrait by Vincent van Gogh – Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park