One of the things that, no matter what genre of photography you shoot—sports, people, landscapes—you’re always going to run into is distracting things that, well… crop up. (Yep. Photography pun.)
Anyway—stuff shows up in your photo that has no business being there. Bright things in the background, ugly stuff, random junk that draws your eye right where you don’t want it.
And when it comes to travel photography? Oh man. It’s distraction-palooza out there.
Let me show you what I mean.
[This article is excerpted from Scott Kelby’s course, How To Critique Your Own Photos on KelbyOne.com. Keep reading, or watch the video via our YouTube Channel.]
Recompose to Avoid The Biggest Distractions
This shot is from Le Train Bleu, an incredible, ornate, over-the-top restaurant in Paris in (wait for it… wait for it…) a train station!
Look out the window to the right. Oh… Nissan! Nissan ad!
Here’s the thing: if there’s text in your photo, your viewer’s eye is going to go straight to it. We are literally hardwired to read text. You don’t want someone reading about the Nissan Juke when you’re trying to show them the elegant details of this stunning, historic dining room.
So I just recomposed the shot. Changed the angle so the ad disappeared behind the window frame. Done.
That’s one fix. Just move a little. Frame it differently. Problem solved. But other times, it’s not so simple.
Wait It Out. Then Wait Some More
This is the famous “Dancing House” in Prague—also called Fred & Ginger. It’s got all kinds of nicknames, but whatever you call it, it’s a gorgeous piece of architecture. Unfortunately, it’s also located on a super busy street, with cars flying by and power lines criss-crossing everywhere. And signage. Of course.
So, what did I do? I parked my tripod. And then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. It took a ridiculously long time, but eventually I got a window where there were no cars—and maybe two people walking by.
Yeah, there’s still text on a column in the final shot. One day I’ll go into Photoshop and rebuild that column. But today? Today was not that day.
I did remove the giant power cable cutting through the shot, though. That had to go. Because stuff like that just drags your viewer’s eye away from what you really want them to see: the building.
So, that’s the deal. Some distractions, like cars and people, you can just wait out. The longer you’re willing to wait, the less time you’ll spend on your computer later on. If I have my choice, I’ll take waiting in an awesome place every time. Sometimes fixing your images in Photoshop, Lightroom, or a slick plug-in like ON1 Photo RAW is your only recourse — and that’s why we learn this stuff in the first place.
Dealing With the Real Enemy: Tourists
Tourists are the scourge of travel photography. They’re getting in our way, they’re ruining our shots. It’s a scourge. They shouldn’t be there.
If you look at my travel photography, you’ll notice something: you almost never see tourists in my shots. It’s because—well, number one: I hate tourists. Okay, I don’t really hate them, but I’m extremely sensitive to them trashing my composition.
So I’ve developed a few methods to make them vanish. Let’s walk through the strategies.
1. Shoot Over Their Heads
How do you get rid of the tourists? You scream fire and they all run out. No. No, don’t do that. Don’t do that. This one’s simple but solid. Just shoot above them.
If I’m inside a cathedral, standing at a monument, or anywhere packed with people, I’ll raise my camera and shoot high. Yes, you’ll lose some foreground. No, it’s not ideal. But you also lose the crowds, which is the point.
It works. Not every time, but often enough to be worth it.
2. Patience (Again), Lots of Patience
Sometimes the best tool you have is patience. Take this shot from Iceland. I wanted to capture this killer waterfall with a rainbow going through it, but there were like 20 people standing in front of me.
So I picked up my tripod, walked as far forward as I could, and then just… stood there. For 15–20 minutes. Finally, everybody cleared out for a second—and just as I’m about to take the shot, someone walks up beside me.
I looked over and said, “Hey, do you mind if I just grab two quick shots?” They were super nice, said, “Of course!” I hit the shutter, click-click, and done.
It was a long exposure, so not quite click-click, but you get the idea.
Same thing happened at the Eiffel Tower. I’ve seen it a bunch of times since I was 23 years old, but I’d never crossed the Seine to shoot that classic view from the other side. So I literally put it in my phone: “Go there.”
Of course, it was packed. Total mob scene. Construction, barricades, tourists, vendors—absolute chaos.
So I framed up my shot, set up my tripod, and just waited it out until I had a clean-ish shot. Now, yes—there are still people way off in the background. And if you saw left or right of the frame, it was still the same mob scene. But I got my shot.
3. Be the Last Person to Leave
Want to know how I got this shot inside the Paris Opera House?
I literally waited until I was the last person inside. The. Last. One.
Everybody cleared out. I took my time. Got the shot.
Then the security guard came over and yelled at me to leave. Totally worth it.
4. Tackle Distractions In Post
This one was shot just outside those windows at the Opera House. There’s a balcony out there with an incredible view. Also, tons and tons and tons of tourists. Just tourists, tourists everywhere.
On this shot I used a different technique. It’s called Photoshop. 😉 I went through and removed everybody but that red car and my daughter, who happened to be leaning on that little post down there in the corner, and I left the people on the sides ’cause I just got to the point where I’m like, I’m not removing anybody else. But look, I got rid of quite a few people.
Just a few clicks… annnnnnnd they’re gone. This was a couple years ago, so it took me some time. Nowadays with AI tools in our toolbox, it’s way faster.
The Big Takeaway
You’ve got four solid ways to deal with distractions and tourists in your travel shots:
- Reframe or shoot above them
- Wait them out (seriously, bring snacks)
- Be the last one to leave
- Clone ’em out later (or get AI to do it)
Whatever method you choose, just remember: nobody looking at your photo will know what was really going on behind the scenes. They’ll just see the clean, beautiful final image—and assume it was like that the whole time. And that’s exactly what you want.
Before you go, I’d like to personally invite you to join us July 15 and 16 at the ON1 Travel Photography Conference, hosted by KelbyOne Live. It’s two full days packed with tips, techniques, and inspiration specifically for travel photographers—whether you’re just getting started or looking to take your shots further. And since it’s a virtual event, you can join us from anywhere. Check out all the details and grab your spot here: kelbyonelive.com. Hope to see you then!
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