How to remove tourists from your travel photos

Some of the most popular landmarks around the world look simply stunning in photographs, and equally beautiful in real life.

But if you want to capture some of the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China or the Statue of Liberty, without the other hundred or so other tourists around, then you’re going to need a couple of photography tips on your side to get the perfect shot.

If you’re going on holiday soon, and you’re planning to take some photos of popular landmarks, take a tip from us about how to remove tourists from your travel photos. It will make for some great photos at the end of your trip.

Read more: 7 Ways to improve your travel photos

1. Go early

One of the best ways to get a tourist-free photo is to visit the landmark as early as possible. If you visit the Taj Majal during the afternoon, when everyone else is likely to visit, then of course there are going to be a whole bunch of tourists taking up space in your otherwise award-winning photographs. But if you go early in the day, just as the sun is about to rise, then you’re much more likely to get a snap without a single person in the frame.

2. Crop your photos

For this one, you need to make sure that your camera setting has your photo size set at a high resolution, that way when you resize the images they don’t become pixelated. Take a look at some of your photos that have other tourists in them and see whether there is some way you can cut them out. It won’t be possible for all your photos, but you might just get lucky with a few, and give a new perspective to your photographs.

3. Take long exposure shots

Set up your tripod, get comfortable and prepare to wait while you take a photo of your favourite landmark with a long exposure shot. The great thing about this type of photo is that even if someone walks in front of your frame, they probably won’t appear in the actual photo because it was just one brief moment during a long exposure time.

4. Photo stacking

If you’re a bit of a whiz with the computer and have the design and photo editing software, Photoshop, then you’ll be happy to know that there’s any easy way the software can delete all the pesky tourists that have somehow managed to appear in your photos. All you have to do is set up your tripod, take a series of photos of the landmark, and then open the images on your desktop. Once you select the files and select the “Choose Stacks Mode” button, the program will automatically use the photos to delete all the people and make one shot from your series of photos.

Do you have any other tips for people wanting to remove tourists from their travel photos? Let us know in the comments section below.