Travel blogger Tran Dang Dang Khoa: How to take beautiful photos when traveling?

Tran Dang Dang Khoa - the first Vietnamese person to circumnavigate the world by motorbike - is making his second trip around the world by car with Vietnamese license plate and is on the legendary Route 66 across North America.

Overcoming storms, floods, and hail to get to Houston (Texas, USA) in mid-July 2025 with his car affectionately named “Squirrel”, Mr. Tran Dang Dang Khoa shared with Dong Nai Weekend readers useful experiences to take beautiful travel photos.

Images are a bridge of communication

After a 1,111-day motorbike trip around the world (from 2018-2020), Mr. Khoa made his second trip around the world, prioritizing filming and making videos and vlogs over taking photos like the previous time. However, he admitted that "I still like taking photos and feel more talented at taking photos than filming".

Mr. Khoa uses many different machines from Fujifilm XS20 digital camera, 3 Gopro cameras, Insta360 X3 for 360-degree wide-angle filming, handheld Gimbal camera that can record 4K video DJI Osmo Pocket 2, 2 DJI Mini 3 Pro flycams, DJI Neo and a Samsung S24Ultra photo-optimized mobile phone.

Having traveled to nearly a hundred countries in 5 continents, Tran Dang Dang Khoa calls himself "A Vietnamese world overlander".

“Flexibly using many fixed or mobile devices in different locations, depending on the filming environment, taking photos while walking or driving, meeting all types of experiences on the journey, including adventure tourism, so the “logistics” such as: charging batteries, uploading files to hard drives, maintaining and cleaning these devices also took up a lot of my time” - Mr. Khoa said.

Mr. Khoa added: “I brought an Instax camera to take instant photos to give to international friends and fellow Vietnamese people I met along the way as souvenirs to make friends.” Taking photos on his journey around the world for Mr. Khoa is not only to “preserve moments, memories, and every place he visits as a daily photo diary”, but also to serve as a bridge connecting him and those who are interested in following the trip.

Women in the Republic of Vanuatu archipelago (Southwest Pacific) through the lens of Tran Dang Dang Khoa.

“The photos can help people see the journeys I have traveled, the scenery and people of different places, helping friends learn a little more about the world through my perspective. I am inclined to take photos of landscapes, architecture, daily life and especially enjoy taking photos of traditional festivals in each country to reflect the characteristics of each country as honestly as possible,” Khoa confided.

Your eyes are more important than the camera

Mr. Khoa shared his opinion: “For a traveler like me, all the photos you take at a certain moment on your journey are beautiful photos, not too concerned about whether the photo must meet any evaluation criteria or standards of technique, composition, lighting… A photo of a golden field, a corner of an afternoon market, a little girl in traditional costume and a radiant, happy face dancing in the middle of a cultural festival… no matter how beautiful or ugly it is, it is still a photo taken by you. Behind that photo is the time, money, and effort you spent to reach strange lands and learn many new things.”

Tran Dang Dang Khoa came to Sydney (Australia) by motorbike (2019) and car (2025).

Of course, travel blogger Tran Dang Dang Khoa, born in 1987, still acknowledges that a photo that is "basically bright enough and not blurry will let viewers know immediately what we captured and what message we wanted to send when taking that photo."

A note from Mr. Khoa is: “No matter how passionate you are about photography, don’t forget to take time to rest and admire the scenery with your own eyes; at the same time, remember in your mind the happiness of admiring the moments before you. No matter how beautiful the travel photos are, they cannot compare to the direct recording of the eyes.
human".

Loyalty

6 tips for taking travel photos from Tran Dang Dang Khoa

(1) The best camera is the one you have in your hand, it doesn't need to be expensive, just enough.

(2) Take pictures of whatever you like. You are unique and so are the pictures you take. Love every picture you take.

(3) Traveling often involves a lot of moving around, so always have a memory card, extra capacity, and a fully charged spare battery ready. Have a bag to cover your camera carefully in case of rain or bad weather.

(4) Bring a tripod to take pictures at night or in solitary conditions or difficult terrain.

(5) When taking pictures of landscapes, you need to actively change many angles, high - low, left - right, to get the most satisfactory foreground and background. When taking pictures of landscapes, pay attention to the "golden hour in photography" (golden hour), the photos will be as beautiful as sunrise or sunset.

(6) When taking photos of locals in their daily lives, get as close to them as possible to capture sharper, more vivid photos; at the same time, have the opportunity to ask for their permission to take photos with a friendly and polite smile.

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202507/travel-blogger-tran-dang-dang-khoa-lam-sao-chup-anh-dep-khi-du-lich-a4e3601/