Summer, or spring at least, is just around the corner – and our thoughts are already turning to holidays. For many people, this means travel… which also means more photography!

Ensuring you get the best possible results from your travel photography is about much more than having the right equipment and finding the right location. We caught up with internationally renowned and award-winning documentary and travel photographer, Martin Edström, who shared some tips on what to consider when taking photos abroad.

Ask permission:
• Wherever you are in the world, you need to be courteous and always ask before taking someone’s picture, even if this only means nodding to someone and showing them your camera.

• A great thing about digital cameras is the LCD screen – enabling you to instantly show people your images. People often want to have a look, and it always lightens the mood if you can show them the great picture you just took.

• If you are thinking about selling your images to an agency for commercial use, remember that you will need written permission from every person in the picture.

Think about lighting:
• Make sure to explore every possible light source before taking your photos. Using the palm of your hand is the best tool for finding good light. Just hold it up at the spot you want to photograph – if the light looks good on your skin, it will probably look good in a portrait.

Image taken with a Nikon D700

Make friends and influence people:
• Portraits are much more inviting when it feels like the person trusts the photographer, so if you can gain a rapport with your subject you can then try and catch them in action or capture a more natural image.

• In portrait photography you should keep the eyes of the person you’re photographing in mind. Make sure there’s some kind of reflection in them – even just a small glint or shine will make a portrait image come alive.

Image taken with a Nikon D700

Three is the magic number:
• The most important number to remember is the number three. Whether you’re photographing objects or people, having three positioned together – for example two people besides one object – will create the most powerful images.

Be inspired:
• Travel photography is all about trying new techniques and being inventive with the way you take your photos. For the best and most original images, take pictures of more unusual objects or look at a well known landmark in a different way. For example, instead of taking a picture of a beach landscape, why not focus in on a rock pool or a set of footprints in the sand?

Image taken with a Nikon D80

If these tips have inspired you, and you have any images or tips you would like to share, we would love to see them! You can share your I AM images with the I AM Nikon Facebook app, or on the Flickr group.

As the festive season approaches and the winter sets in, for most of us it’s a time for woolly hats, thick gloves and a warm coat. But for winter sportsmen and women amongst us, out come the skis, goggles, snowboards and adrenaline.

We braved the cold weather recently to attend the Big Freeze festival at London’s iconic Battersea Power station. With accompanying music from over 90 artists, it was a great chance for us to get that festival feeling and take some snaps of the best skiers and snowboarders in the world.

We brought along professional sports photographer and Nikon user Mark Pain to capture some of the action with our D3s, which resulted in some outstanding winter shots. Men’s Health magazine loved Mark’s pictures, have a look at it here.

Imparting some of his photography wisdom along the way, Mark also took time out to teach a few journalists his tricks of the trade as they tested out our new D7000.

We thought you’d like to have a look at some of his tips to see how Mark does it.

1) How to take the perfect action shot

Get to know the sport you’re photographing as well as you can. If you don’t know much about it, watch it for a while and choose the exact moment you would like to freeze. Try and keep your background as clean as possible. Use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action and don’t be afraid to turn up the ISO to do so; the new Nikon cameras produce fantastic results at high ISO levels.

2) How to take the perfect landscape shot

The best Landscapes are generally shot on a wide angle lens with a focal length ranging from 20-35mm. Try to shoot at the beginning and the end of the day. The light will be far more dramatic then with softer hues. Try to keep the two thirds / one third rule when composing your photograph. Avoid having the horizon in the centre of your image. Use a tripod to keep the camera steady so that you can get as small an aperture as possible (large F number!) to give you the maximum depth of field enabling as much of your picture to be in focus as possible.

3) How to get the perfect night shot

A tripod is pretty essential here as you’re probably going to need to shoot using a slow shutter speed which increases the chance of camera shake. If you haven’t got one, find something really sturdy to lean on to support your camera. A cushion placed on a wall or a table to support your camera can work just as well. Use the self-timer on the camera if you can, delaying when the shutter will fire. Just pressing the shutter button can sometimes in itself cause camera shake.

4) How to get a great portrait

It’s all about deciding how you want to show your subject; amongst their surroundings or isolated from them. Ask that question to yourself and make your lens choice. Use a short to medium telephoto, say an 85 or 135mm to isolate them or a wider lens like a 35mm to show them amongst their environment. Take time to think about your composition and how the light is falling on your subject. Remember; natural light will be softer and generally at it’s most dramatic and suitable for portrait photography at the beginning and the end of the day. Try to avoid shooting in the middle of the day if you can.

Of course, this isn’t the only way to shoot. Different techniques work for Mark and the other photographers we feature, but we want to give you some suggestions on what the professionals are doing. Let us know what works for you!

The Nikon booth at Photokina opened its doors yesterday. Here, Tad Nakayama, President of Nikon Germany talks about why Photokina is such an important event in Nikon’s diary and what’s planned for Photokina 2010.

So you’ve discovered a passion for D-SLR photography but you now feel it’s time to take the next step? Well, today we’ve launched the D7000, a camera designed for existing D-SLR owners who really want to push their love for photography and release even more of their creative power.

Nikon D7000

Image © Nikon / I AM Nikon

This 16.2 megapixel camera, available from late September 2010, packs a host of advanced features into its durable and portable body to help you shoot and edit exceptional quality photos and HD movies. The D7000 includes a new image sensor, EXPEED 2, AF system and metering sensor to make sure you get great shots, in great detail, even in poor light situations.

For loads more information on the D7000’s features (including supporting accessories such as our NIKKOR lenses), check out the product section of our website, here.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on our blog during photokina, as we’ll be posting an interview with outdoor and action photographer, Robert Bösch, who’s been trialling the D7000 for the past few months. He’ll have some great tips and insights on how to get the most out of the camera.

We’re aiming for bigger and better this year and we’re proving it with the new COOLPIX S1100pj with enhanced projector.

Image © Nikon / I AM Nikon

A worthy successor to last year’s groundbreaking S1000pj – the world’s first camera with an in-built projector (take a look at dpreview.com’s view here), the new S1100pj will not only project your images 40% brighter, but it can also project images from your Mac or PC, making it ideal for both work and play.

Its five functions to reduce image blur, as well as its Easy Auto and Smart Portrait System mode mean you can focus on the composition of your picture rather than worrying about the settings on the camera.

If you’re looking for a camera that combines high performance with easy-to-use functionality, why not check out the COOLPIX S5100. Even at night, when capturing great images is tricky, you can be sure of achieving clear, crisp pictures every time with lens-shift type VR (Vibration Reduction), enhanced Motion Detection, and a ground-breaking flash control system.

Nikon S5100

Image © Nikon / I AM Nikon

You can get hands-on with all the latest COOLPIX products at our booth at photokina world of imaging plus we’ll be bringing you visitors’ reactions to the new models in our update videos. If you can’t wait that long, more details can be found here: S1100pj and S5100 – both cameras will be available this month.

We’ve been adding new models to our COOLPIX range over the last few weeks. Here’s the lowdown on the latest in our compact line-up.

Nikon P7000

Image © Nikon / I AM Nikon

For any SLR fans or pros looking for a quality compact option, we’ve now got the P7000. We’ve been listening to our pro customers about what they’d like to see in the feature set and we’ve created the ultimate COOLPIX camera that delivers great quality images thanks to a cutting-edge sensor and image processing system. Bob Krist, contributing editor at National Geographic Traveller and Outdoor Photographer, took the P7000 on an assignment in Southwest America. Take a look at his report here and a video below.

Next up is the new S80. It’s super-slim with an 8.7cm multi-touch Organic LED screen which means you can interact with your images with a flick of your finger including on-camera retouching. Options include built-in filters such as a fisheye lens, selective color and a miniature effect. It also delivers the picture quality you’d expect from us here at Nikon thanks to 14.1 megapixels, new processor and 5x zoom NIKKOR lens. The S80 also gives HD movie recording at your fingertips.

The Nikon S80 touchscreen

Image © Nikon / I AM Nikon

If you’d like to get your hands on any of these cameras and try them out for size, visit us at photokina world of imaging or stay in touch with us here at the I AM NIKON blog. If you want to get the vital statistics of either of these cameras right now click here for the S80 and here for the P7000 (both available in October 2010).

Nikon S80

Image © Nikon / I AM Nikon