If you're planning a trip abroad with your camera, keep the following tips in mind while you're shooting and you'll return home with some interesting images.

Explore
When you arrive, explore the area first. If you’re in a major city visit the tourist office for guides, maps and information on city tours. This will help you prioritise time between areas of interest.

Get Involved
Avoid just standing back as far as you can with a wideangle lens, as you’ll end up with the same shots as everybody else. Change your angles and try a telephoto zoom to focus on details for a more interesting range of images.

Details
Look for close-up details that help show the essence of a location. Sometimes it’s the smaller details that give us the most information.

Experiment
Don’t be afraid to overshoot, though not at the expense of good technique. Make sure you have enough memory cards and batteries to experiment with composition and exposure. Try different orientations and zoom in on details.

Time Of Day
Keep in mind what time of day will present the best light for landscape and architectural shots – usually early and late in the day.

Make Eye Contact
In between shots, drop the camera down so people can see your face; often a smile will show that you are non-confrontational.

Culture and Sport
Cultural ceremonies, dances and customs make for lively pictures. In crowded, touristy venues a good telephoto lens can help render the background out of focus. Sport can also be a good way to get an insight into a culture and its influences.

Tipping people
Tipping is a part of many other cultures, and subjects who are used to being photographed often expect it for the privilege of their picture. It’s worth finding out how much is expected in advance, and you can usually reduce the price by bartering. For the amount they would normally ask for, it’s not worth fighting about. This will afford you some flexibility in directing the shot and getting a good image, though it can sometimes lead to wooden expressions and unnatural poses.