70% of Americans plan on traveling in 2022, Nerd Wallet reports. By learning how to take beautiful images of your travel destination, you can best capture its spirit and create some great moments to share with friends and family back home.

So, whether you’re a professional or amateur photographer, honing your travel photography skills can ensure you capture the best shots possible.

Research the location beforehand

Always research your travel destination and learn about its history and culture before you arrive — this is especially important when you plan on photographing that culture. For example, a number of significant conflicts dating back to WW2 have collectively influenced the current world order. So, by being mindful and respectful of the history that shaped a certain location, you can better ensure you’re given a warm welcome by the locals.

Keep in mind, in some locations, photography is actually considered disrespectful, and, in San Juan Chamula, Mexico, for example, it’s even prohibited to photograph the locals (many Mayan indigenous people believe photographing a person steals their soul). So, if you’re not knowledgeable about your location’s culture, you may accidentally end up causing significant offense that could have easily been avoided.

Plan your shots

Before you arrive at your destination, take time to create a list of the shots you want to take. Although wandering around aimlessly can be nice at times, knowing where you want to go in advance will give a better sense of purpose, as well as save time, so you can fully focus on taking epic shots.

Your research may involve reading travel guidebooks about your destination, scrolling Instagram and Pinterest, and looking at Google Images and Google Maps to give you some ideas of iconic locations. And, once you have a list of potential shots, find out other key info, such as what times does a certain attraction open and close?

When’s the quietest time to visit? Is it easy to reach certain vantage points? What time of day provides the best light? You can then plan your day around this info to make sure you’re ready and at your location when it’s the optimum time to shoot.

Get moving

Once you arrive at a location, don’t just immediately shoot from wherever you happen to be standing. Spend a couple of minutes walking around and looking for the best frames and composition (that means moving left, moving right, getting closer, getting further away, and taking your lens’ focal length into account).

A river scene, for example, may be made more interesting by you walking right up to the water’s edge, which allows you to incorporate some nice-looking rocks into the shot. In fact, your best approach is to take many shots of a single location until you fill up your memory cards; you’ll then have plenty of options to choose from once you get back home.

Good travel photography captivates, informs, and inspires. And, by learning to improve your travel photography skills, you can ensure your photos do just that.