How to shoot... Your best-ever travel shots!

Travel to far-flung and exotic destinations is looking more possible than it has at any point in the past two years. Steve Davey dusts off his passport and tries to remember just what to do...

- Steve Davey

Steve Davey

Steve Davey is a professional travel and location photographer. He also leads a unique series of travel photography tours to some of the most photogenic parts of the world. Forthcoming destinations include the stunning mountainous region of Ladakh in India. More information at: BetterTravelPhotography.com

Photographing the Indian Holi Festival in March 2020, Covid seemed like a distant concern. The UK had just had its first cases of the virus and news reports were full of toilet roll shortages, but life in India was continuing as normal.

While crowded events were being cancelled in the UK, in the ancient city of Mathura, thousands of pilgrims seemed intent on slathering me with brightly coloured paint. I flew home with some trepidation, a bottle of Old Monk rum and two bottles of super-strength Indian hand sanitizer. Naively, I hoped it would all be over in a few weeks: it wasn’t!

I don’t think anyone imagined at that time that, two years on, we would only now be looking at some of the most photogenic parts of the world opening to travellers. The UK has finally dropped all Covid travel restrictions, and whilst a number of short-haul holiday destinations have allowed tourists for some time, the great long haul destinations of India, Australia, and countries in Asia and Africa are only just re-opening their borders.