** I have wonderful friends who I love dearly, so it is with all my heart that I blame them for this post being a few hours late. I had every intention of having this Monday post up on time, but my plans were thwarted by an amazing surprise birthday party. I came home to an apartment full of wonderful friends shouting “SURPRISE” and handing me wine and taking pictures. As important as it is for me to keep this blog on a regular schedule, sometimes it will just have to take a back seat to friends and wine and homemade cookies, cakes and cupcakes. Thank you thank you thank you to my sneaky friends! I honestly had no clue. So, now on with the post…better late than never.**

For me, certain things go hand in hand with travel. Foreign languages, local cuisine, world music and photography, just to name a few. I would feel like things were a little “off” if an overseas trip did not involve these four elements (and for the record, British, Australian and Canadian English count as foreign languages in my book). One element that I’m actively working on developing is photography. While owning a “nice” camera certainly does make it easier, I know that I have quite a bit to learn when it comes to capturing truly stunning photos.

For my trip to Lebanon in 2010, I decided it was time to take my little point and shoot photography to the next level and I purchased a serious camera. I ended up falling for the Nikon D90 and I’m very happy with my purchase. Even though I didn’t know what 90% of the buttons and settings meant when I made the purchase, the quality of my photos upgraded immediately and I began to feel more confident about the images I was trying to capture. I still haven’t gone through a formal photography class (in the works for next year), but I have dug into the camera manual, asked advice from skilled friends, researched on line websites and even began a self paced photo class with my friend and fellow traveler, Akemi.

All of these efforts have definitely helped, but there’s one bit of photography that I continues to intimidate me: taking pictures of people. I love looking through my friends travel photos and seeing crisp, clear images of locals just doing what they do – living life. Sometimes the picture of a young child or a local worker is more captivating than the tourist sites the city is famous for. Of course, there is some level of technical work that goes into getting those amazing shots of people, but there’s also a level of confidence and kindness which allows a person to trust you to take their picture. I know that I’ll have to get over my timid nature if I ever hope to get better at this. But what is the best way to approach these pictures? Do you always ask a person to take their picture which is of course the respectful thing to do? Or sometimes do you just try to blend into the background and take the shot when the person is not expecting it so they are not stiff and posed? I’ve gotten a few lucky shots in my life but for the most part, they seem removed or are taken at weird angles. Not ones where I feel like I’ve really connected to the subject. Any advice from seasoned travel photographers out there? How do you approach someone to get that great shot?