How to take your own pictures when traveling solo
People are always surprised when I tell them that I take all my own travel photos while traveling solo. As a content creator, I understand how important it is for anyone traveling to get those cute, insta-worthy photos that will turn heads. Well, it’s your lucky day, because I have a cool hack for taking your own pictures that most people are probably not aren’t even aware of.
Before we get into my hack, let’s talk about what I see a lot of solo travelers doing today. By the way, these are all great methods for getting great travel photos, some of which I also use.
Ask someone to take your picture. This is helpful if you don’t have time to set up your tripod. However, as a germaphobe, I don’t enjoy handing my phone to someone whose cleanliness I know nothing about. I’ve also had an incident when someone acted as if they were going to run off with my camera, so a bit of trust issues there.
Self-timer. This is a great tried and true method. All you do is set up your camera on your tripod or other surface and then put the timer on. However, if where you have your phone and where you want to stand are far apart, then you’ll end up running to get in position in front of the camera before the timer goes off.
Bluetooth remote. This is one of my favorite methods. However, I somehow always forget to pack my remote or I can’t find it because it’s so small. I need to work on that.
Selfie stick. Ok 2014 called and they want their selfie stick back. Lol, just kidding. These were my jam back in the day, but most people don’t use these any more. And their use is also prohibited in a lot of places, believe it or not.
Long arm it. You can go old skool and just stick your arm out and take the photo. Nothing wrong with this; I do it all the time. However, it’s not the best method if you want more professional or lifestyle-looking photos.
Alright, are you ready for my hack?
Drum roll……….I use my Apple watch!! Here’s how:
Set up your iPhone on your tripod like normal. Make sure you frame out your picture well. It doesn’t matter if you use front or back camera.
Then get your fine self in place…stand where you’d like to be in the picture
Open the camera app on your Apple watch. You’ll see a preview of where you are, and can adjust your position as needed.
Then click the shutter button from your Apple watch. I prefer to use the 3 second delay because it gives you some time to pose
You can preview your picture from your Apple watch and if you don’t like it, you can repose and shoot again, without having to go back to the phone on the tripod.
This also works for shooting video as well! Just make sure you set it up as video on your iPhone first when you’re setting up your tripod.
Check out this video for a recap of all the steps! Thank me later!