50 Unfortunate Vacation Fails That Were Too Good Not To Share (New Pics)

While I wouldn’t wish a disastrous vacation on anyone, it doesn’t take much to end up with disappointing travel photos. Even after the best trip of your life, you might come back with pictures that don’t quite do it justice. Sometimes, bad lighting, confusing angles, or awkward composition are the real culprits.

Joe Switzer, a filmmaker based in St. Louis, Missouri, and Jordan Carnegis, a photographer and artist in Orlando, Florida, shared some helpful tips with Hilton on how to make your travel photos memorable, so you can look back on them fondly for years to come.

And don’t worry if you’re not armed with an expensive camera—Switzer notes that today’s smartphones are powerful enough to make anyone feel like a professional photographer.

When you’re on vacation, you’ll likely be surrounded by incredible sights. But Switzer and Carnegis recommend capturing not just the scenery, but also the people with you.

“Take pictures of the view in front of you, but take the cheesy selfies, too,” says Carnegis. “You can Google a picture of Yellowstone, but you can’t Google your kids’ [reactions to it]. Take the time to focus on the people you’re with and the memories you’re making. I think that’s what people miss the mark on most.”

Another common pitfall is taking photos with social media in mind, only looking for what seems “Instagrammable.” Switzer and Carnegis encourage letting go of that mindset. “Photograph the moment as it happens,” says Carnegis. “Keep it organic. Keep it loose. Keep it candid.”

One of the biggest mistakes amateurs tend to make is positioning their subject directly against the light.

“It’s all about the light,” says Switzer. “Always turn your subject to let that light hit it. Always look at the light.”

This might feel counterintuitive, especially when you want that perfect shot of your friend against a gorgeous sunset. But shooting directly into the light often leaves you with an overexposed background and faces lost in shadows.

To take your photography to the next level, learning a bit of basic composition can go a long way. Instead of always centering your subject in the frame, both Carnegis and Switzer suggest trying the “rule of thirds.”

Position your subject in the right, left, top, or bottom third of the image, moving slightly off-center. “It makes it so much more interesting than just a stagnant, ‘Here I am in front of the Golden Gate Bridge,’” says Carnegis.