Check that your equipment is working before you go and keep it protected. Consider taking both a film camera and a digital camera — that way you'll be sure to get all your shots. Pack plenty of film, fresh batteries, plus chargers and cords for your digital camera (an extra memory card is a good idea if you're traveling to remote areas). Don't pack your equipment in luggage that you plan to check.

 Take pictures of anything you find interesting. When you're traveling, look beyond shooting only big, panoramic scenes or landmarks and focus on just a part of that landscape, city street or building. The details of a statue, a beautiful doorway or a flower market can capture your experience just as effectively.

 Look for different ways to show "you were there." Instead of taking impersonal shots of famous buildings to prove you visited them, sit your kids on the steps for an ice cream in the shade of the US Capitol dome. In foreign countries, shop signs, billboards and even road signs can be evocative of the strange and unusual.

 "Break the ice" with your camera. Strike up a conversation with your waiter in a café, chat with a shop keeper or ask a gardener about her flowers, and they will probably indulge you for a picture once they get to know you. To break the language barrier, try hand signals and lots of smiles! (And it goes without saying — almost — be courteous and ask permission before taking that snapshot!).

 Shoot lots and lots of pictures. On Shutterfly, you can enhance, crop and print only the pictures you like best. Try turning your colored snaps into black-and-white or sepia versions to emphasize line, shape and texture and add drama. Sometimes it takes lots of experimentation, but you will end up with photos that you'll really be proud to show off.

 When you get home, do more than put your pictures in an album. With Shutterfly, make a Snapbook™ of all the places you've been — one for each country or city. Create a collection of photo cards to keep handy for personal notes or holiday cards. Send prints to new acquaintances abroad, or frame your choice "postcard" shots and give them to family and friends.

Read more about Bill Foley.

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