6 Ways to Create Perfect Videos When You Travel

Written by EJ Ray

November 30, 2021
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There’s no better way to capture travel memories than with video. Here are a few tips to ensure you create perfect videos when you travel!

Whether you’re a business owner who needs to create professional-looking videos for your website, an amateur filmmaker hoping to take your top Chicago adventures from Instagram Stories to YouTube, or simply looking to make unique content, such as getting your picture to video, the video creation process can be challenging. 

Capturing beautiful memories on video is easy when you are into active adventure travel. However, if your videos look similar each time you travel, they can become boring and monotonous. We recommend this site for best photography tips before you move on to video. When you’re ready to tackle a travel adventure video, here are a few tips you can do to ensure you create perfect videos every time! 

Shoot in Landscape Mode to Create Perfect Videos

When holding the camera horizontally (as our eyes naturally do), the video looks wider and more immersive than when held vertically. If you plan to share your videos on YouTube, remember to shoot them using one of the horizontal video modes because vertical video gets letterboxed (black bars on the side) when viewed in landscape mode. 

Create Perfect Videos

If you plan to upload videos to YouTube, you should shoot in horizontal mode. Photo by JeanRee via iStock by Getty Images

Use Video Editing Software to Create Perfect Videos

Video software helps you create perfect videos. Video editing could be as simple as trimming video clips to include only the important parts or as complex as creating a complete time-lapse video from footage recorded during the trip. Several free video editors are available for download online, but the most popular are Shotcut and LWKS. These video editors offer great features and can help create good-looking videos with minimal effort.

Create Perfect Videos

Video editing software lets you do simple tasks or more complicated ones. Photo by scyther5 via iStock by Getty Images

When you are ready to upload your videos to YouTube, we recommend creating your YouTube thumbnail using a tool like Adobe Express.

You might also want to experiment with AI when creating videos. New tools allow you to convert text to video. Click here for more details: DeepBrain AI.

Use Automatic White Balance Correction

Professional travel video creators do exceptionally well because they know how to film in extreme conditions. If you’re traveling somewhere sunny, the chances are good that your videos will look either very yellow or very blue. White balance correction is essential when filming videos or photos in different lighting conditions, but it can be utterly useless if the light source changes during the clip. It’s a good idea to compensate with white balance presets, but this might not always be possible when you’re traveling and shooting video. So what do you do then?

This is where automatic white balance (AWB) comes into play. Generally speaking, your camera will set the optimal settings based on all its measurement parameters. If there are numerous light sources in a single shot, these measurements can overload your camera’s CPU, resulting in unpredictable results. Therefore, you create a reference for the auto-white balance after pointing at something that should create a reference white balance setting. This will make your camera create optimal settings to compensate for the light source(s) affecting your shot.

Create Perfect Videos

Use Automatic White Balance Correction to help create perfect videos.

Use Color Correction

Color correction is a vast subject, but even a little knowledge about the basics can transform your video from a normal travel video into a cinematic movie! That might have been a stretch, but it will surely affect how a viewer feels while watching your video. 

An online movie editor can make color correction easier, helping you create the perfect travel video. Many tutorials are available online to guide you through the color correction process.

Ensure Stability

You need to ensure that your camera (or phone) is stable so your videos are smooth and professional. These two tips will help you ensure stability to create perfect videos:

  • Use a tripod to achieve stable video recording: A shaky video that moves around unnecessarily distracts viewers from what’s important. For your audience to enjoy your video just as much as they would if they were experiencing it in person, you want them to focus on exactly what you want them to experience.A video tripod comes in various designs, accommodating a video camera or a smartphone. They have telescoping legs that support the weight of your video recording device while you’re on the go, allowing for sharp and smooth video recording, video after video. With image stabilization technology in high-end video cameras, getting an extremely stable shot with less work is easier than ever.
Create Perfect Videos

It is easy to ensure stable videos when you use a portable tripod. This one will be recorded at Moraine Lake in the Rocky Mountains, Banff National Park, Canada. Photo by lucky-photographer via iStock by Getty Images

  • Use a gimbal stabilizer when filming on the go: If you’re traveling by train or car while recording video, you will likely encounter bumpy roads and sudden starts and stops. You may also want to film while hiking, on a boat, or in other areas where you need to move but offer stability.A video gimbal stabilizer comes in different shapes and sizes. Still, the general idea is that it compensates for movement without any video jumpiness or shakiness associated with hand-held video recording.
Create Perfect Videos

A gimbal helps stabilize your videos while you’re on the go, such as here, where the photographer is on a boat. Photo by Yuizen via iStock by Getty Images

Use Background Music

Traveling, capturing the moment, and creating a video are always nice. However, what about adding background music? 

Adding background music to travel videos is a popular choice for travel vloggers. First, if you do not have anything in your travel video or clips in general, the video will feel empty and may even be boring. Second, when we add background music to our travel vlogs and publish them on YouTube or Facebook, we get more likes and comments because people like watching travel videos with fun soundtracks playing along in the background.

Background music is one of the best ways to make a video more interesting because it adds another layer of sensory experience. Video editors like FXhome have built-in features that allow you to add music without additional video software.

Shoot From Different Angles

This is important to remember when filming anything: think about shooting from multiple angles during your travel experience. To get the most out of your video footage, especially when editing down long video clips into short video clips for posting online or editing into a finished product on video software for DVD or Blu-ray use (if you’re aiming towards professional travel video services), it’s best to film the same subject matter from every angle possible. Then, go through and select video clips to create a video.

Final Thoughts on How to Create Perfect Videos

One of the most common mistakes inexperienced video creators make is focusing on the wrong subjects. What you think is a clear video may be blurry to others because they are not used to seeing out-of-focus subjects in video. To avoid this problem, create a custom preset for your camera settings to focus on what you feel is important during video recording. 

Create Perfect Videos

Take some time to plan and then edit to create perfect videos.

Lastly, when shooting anything, always have a backup plan. Even if you have a video camera equipped with a 4K recording function, you’ll want to have backup video storage. Be sure to check out Wander for great travel destinations to explore and create perfect videos. 

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There's no better way to capture travel memories than with video. Here are a few tips to ensure you create perfect videos when you travel!

6 Ways to Create Perfect Videos When You Travel

Written by EJ Ray

EJ Ray is a traveler at heart. It is part of her soul and she loves to share her travels through her words. She has traveled the world, seeking great food, wine, and experiences. EJ was born in the Eastern US but has lived across the country and in Europe and Mexico. She also took to the road for a while, exploring from her RV. EJ always seeks the next great sip, bite, and adventure.

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