Travel Photography 101: ISO, Shutter Speed & More!

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If you’ve been travelling recently, then you must have taken a lot of photos.

But what’s that? Shots so dark they look like an eclipse happened? Snaps so blurry an earthquake would look better?

Maybe it’s time to learn just what those settings mean on your phone to better preserve your fun vacation memories.

Here’s a quick guide on your camera settings and how they can help you take better travel photos, whether you’re a smartphone snapper or a camera connoisseur.

Turn on Pro Mode

Camera apps on mid to high-end smartphone models usually feature a Pro Mode which unlocks more fine-tuning options like shutter speed and ISO that can help boost your photography. So make sure to turn it on for that extra control!

If your Android phone doesn’t have a Pro Mode, then consider installing Open Camera, a free, open-source camera app that has a whole suite of features to try out.

Just make sure to switch to the Camera2 API in the settings for the more advanced features. Here’s a simple video guide to activate the Camera2 API:

Do note that not all phones support the Camera2 API and its additional features.

As for iOS/iPhone, the stock Camera app doesn’t allow you to specify the shutter speed or ISO but there are freemium apps such as Adobe’s Lightroom with said features (using it requires an Adobe account however).

There are also paid apps such as ProShot ($7.99) or Halide Mark II (7-day free trial with subscriptions or one-time purchase).

Note that for smartphone photography, due to differing software and manufacturer/hardware limitations, certain features may be absent when it comes to smartphone photography.

Shutter Speed

If a camera can be likened to an eye, then how fast its “eyelids” shut, i.e. shutter speed, is one of its most important features. 

Besides controlling the amount of light that enters your camera lenses (brightness), shutter speed also affects how fast or slow it can capture light (sharpness).

Ultimately, shutter speed is usually a trade-off between brightness and sharpness.

Faster shutter speeds (around 1/100 of a second) means sharper pictures but at the cost less exposure light and darker images. This is usually recommended for general daytime photography or street photography, where prep time is scarce and taking advantage of fleeting moments are prized. Travel photography also benefits from the quick speed and reduced blur, especially with time-constrained itineraries.

Slower shutter speeds (anything from a few seconds to hours) can net you more than enough lighting for low-light, artistic shots, but at the risk of a blurry mess when whipped out for a quick snap. This is usually meant for nighttime photography and long-exposure photography, both of which require preparation, time and patience.  

In the images below, you can see how shutter speed affects both brightness and sharpness.

In the top image, the slower shutter speed bumps up the brightness in this night scene, making the trees pop much more. However, any minor shake from an unsteady hand or simply walking will cause a blurry final image.

Meanwhile, the bottom image has a faster shutter speed which allows you to quickly take sharp images while on the move, but at the cost of darker images. This downside can be corrected by increasing ISO or exposure compensation.

Long story short – be aware of your shooting conditions and adjust your shutter speed accordingly.

ISO

Named after the famous standards organization, ISO in the world of cameras basically means how sensitive it is to light, aka brightness.

Under bright and sunny conditions with still subjects, ISO is usually not a big deal. But low-light conditions are where ISO really shines.

In darker conditions, longer shutter speeds are required to increase exposure time and ensure enough light hits your camera’s sensors. However, this also increases the risk of accidental shakes during exposure – hardly a rare occurrence when travelling – eventually resulting in a blurry mess.

Here’s when ISO comes in. By bumping up that ISO, you can get away with shorter shutter speeds while maintaining enough exposure and brightness.

However, high ISO also has a trade-off – grain.

The higher your ISO goes, the more ugly patches called grain appear on your images, marring their fine detail.

So unless you’re taking a pic out in the middle of a moonless forest at midnight (not recommended without a proper camera!), a low ISO is usually good enough.

For normal daylight photography, keeping to the low base ISO is recommended, which is usually at or below 100.

As you start entering low-light conditions, ISO numbers ranging from the low hundreds to even the thousands might be needed to make your pic bright enough. Just don’t expect the sharpest images with all that grain though.

In other words, when it’s dark – bump up that ISO!

Aperture

Although not as relevant in smartphone photography, aperture or its unit f/stops are essential in camera photography to injecting a little oomph into photos.

An aperture is basically the “iris” of the camera, the opening which allows light to hit the camera’s sensor.

A larger aperture or f/stop number means a larger hole and more light entering while a smaller aperture means a smaller hole with less light. 

While both shutter speed and aperture control brightness, aperture is uniquely responsible for depth of field.

If you’ve ever noticed Insta-worthy travel pics with a sharp foreground subject and blurry background, there’s a high chance it was taken with a close-up camera set up with a massive aperture.

This blur effect is also called bokeh. Specialist camera lenses can create better bokeh, some with wild effects, but most DSLR or mirrorless cameras can do a fine enough job with kit lenses.

Basically, large apertures (f/1.8 – f/2.0) mean a shallow depth of field and a blurred background. This is fully utilized when there’s a nearby foreground subject that needs highlighting, such as in portrait or still life photography.

Conversely, small apertures (f/5.6 – f/16) mean a large depth of field with a sharp foreground and background. This is particularly important with landscape and macro shots where you need both foreground and background nice and clean.

White Balance

If you’ve always wondered why your photos look like a bit too “cold” or “warm”, a mismatched white balance might be the culprit.

White balance is basically your camera’s attempt to correct a scene’s lighting to match based on what it assumes to be the colour white.

This is because differing light sources can give off wildly different wavelengths of light, resulting in either deeply blue or orange colours.

The problem comes when the camera overcorrects or misjudges, creating photos that get drowned in either red-hot or freezing colours.

This is when white balance comes into play, adding just enough blue or orange to balance things out back to white.

Although white balance can help correct images with wildly off-base colour temperatures, there isn’t really a “right” or “wrong” white balance because it highly depends on the subject, the lighting available and what mood or vibe you’re going for.

Usually, it’s best to set your camera’s white balance to Auto for the most natural-looking shots, with some occasional tweaking for your desired effect. Cameras even have presets for lighting conditions such as various artificial lighting or simply cloudy days.

And if all else fails, white balance can be tweaked later using post-processing programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Photopea.

Need a muse to test out your newfound photography skills?

In Malaysia, you have seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a retro cinema-turned-foodie hangout and plenty of impressive and serene churches to photograph.

Looking abroad, the colourful stores and streetscapes of Akihabara, the breathtaking wilds of northern Xinjiang and the classic coffeehouses of Vienna make great subjects too.  

If you’re visiting China, make sure to download some of the must-have apps in our Traveller’s Guide to Apps in China (2025).