Are you a serious travel photographer constantly on the move? Check out these essential gear.
The amount of equipment my husband and I carry with us as we travel around the world has been described as extraordinary to insane. However, we use it all to capture various bits of content (text, photographs, video, audio) for our website and other projects.
That said, we do use some gear more than others. Here are the six things we can’t live without as nomadic travel photographers.
1. DSLR Camera
When choosing a DSLR for travel photography, opt for flexibility. We carry a Nikon D300 with an 18-200mm VR lens. Although a bit bulky and heavy, this combination yields professional quality photos with range and reach, from landscape to close-up portraits. For Nikon fans, the D90 is similarly feature-rich, but lighter on the neck and pocketbook.
Other camera accessories
Grab the following to boost your photography:
- Sigma 8 mm fisheye lens for those “how did you do that” funky wide angle shots and stitched 360 degree panorama photography.
- Tokina macro lens for close-up and occasional portrait photography.
- A circular polarizer (for our main lens) to handle sun, clouds and reflections on water and windows.
2. Laptop
Essential for reviewing, post-processing, captioning and titling our photos, I carry an old 12-inch Mac Titanium PowerBook. I still love it because of its size, durability and reliability. My husband carries a PC. If we were to buy new today, we’d probably both go for a 13-inch aluminum MacBook or one of these travel friendly laptops.
3. External Hard Drives
The sheer number and size of digital photos (particularly if you are shooting RAW) makes storage a major concern. To ensure we never have to delete anything, we carry two ultra-portable external hard drives – a Buffalo 320 GB MiniStation and a Western Digital (WD) 500 GB Passport. WD drives are an exceptional value; they are inexpensive, sturdy, reliable – and with each new release -smaller in size.
Low-tech backup
Carry a few DVD-Rs to burn photos and videos, and mail them back home. My mother is familiar with this trick; she receives a package from some new far-flung location every couple of weeks.
4. GPS Data Logger
A GPS datalogger cannot tell you where we you are or how to get to where you want to go like one of these GPS handhelds. Instead, it keeps a log of where you’ve been. These devices are small and can usually hang off the side of a camera bag or belt loop so you don’t even notice it’s there keeping track of your every step.
We use this location information to geotag our photos (i.e., embed location information into the EXIF data of each photo We used the Sony GPS CS-1 for two years, but recently changed to the Amod AGL-3080 because of its compatibility with Mac.
Why geotag photos? It’s a simple way to keep track of where each photo was taken. Additionally, we like how the Google Map that appears below each of our photos adds geographic context to the image.
5. Compact Camera
It may seem redundant to carry two cameras, but when the situation requires something less imposing and less conspicuous than a DSLR, a small handheld is the answer. If you choose well, it can actually do a decent job capturing simple video and audio clips, too.
We carry the Casio EX-V8 and are thrilled with the 7X optical zoom that it achieves without extending its lens (our last compact camera died because the lens got stuck).
6. Camera/Laptop Bag
Hauling around all this gear becomes heavy on mind and back. It’s worth investing in a durable, well-designed bag that protects your stuff, doesn’t scream “please steal me, I’m an equipment bag” and feels comfortable on long walks.
I can’t recommend the Crumpler Puppet (replaced by the Crumpler Keystone) camera/laptop backpack enough. It has survived tough climates and chicken bus rides, and remained flexible enough to carry all of the equipment above…and a little bit more.
Community Connection
Stroke your interest in travel photography with these articles:
5 Items to Set Off Your Obsession With Digital Photography
5 Essential Tips for the Budding Travel Photographer
How to Store Your Photography Safely
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5 Comments... join the discussion!
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Great post! We don't use all of this, but have a similar list. We are a 3 laptop family, 3 years into our open ended world tour. We do lots of videos so like to have a video camera with us as well and we are fans of Canon ( all 3 of our cameras). We often go off for months at a time with just a daypack each and that includes at least one laptop, cameras and homeschool supplies!
We love the Targus backpack and ofen carry 2 laptops and all photo gear in it. It has gotten tons of use from the Sahara to Norway fjord country and one of our best purchases. With a kidlet the refrigerated zipper pocket is a bonus for keeping healthy snacks cool for our picnics. We have a mac pro and a macbook which we use most, but also glad we have a PC vaio laptop as sometimes it is handy to have a PC for various reasons ( plus most of kidlets educational CD's don't have mac version).
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Great article, and you know, there’s this inverse relationship between how heavy the bag feels and how much you like what’s in it. If you didn’t love photography, I’m sure you wouldn’t feel as strongly about that particular cargo.
Great tips, and once again I am reminded that I want a camera body upgrade!
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Great list. We use similar equipment to what you mentioned above except we are Canon Fans ourselves. A good addition can also be a 2X tele-converter for your long lens. We like our Lowepro camera bag (a backpack that also carries our Macbook Pro) We have a Canon HD video camera as well. So, like you, we love our gear! Cheers. Deb and Dave
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Keep in mind too the you can put your padded backpack INSIDE a rolling luggage bag. That’s what I do ( I do weddings and have to have two peices of each item of equipment ) . The rolling luggage makes all the difference. The camera and lenses stay padded and your legs/neck/back are saved by being able to mostly roll your gear. The gear also stays hidden inside that way and doesn’t look obvious to theives as something they might want.
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