Travel Photography - Packing Your Accessories For The Journey

Taking your camera with you on holiday provides a great opportunity to capturing on film new landscapes, different cultures and their landmarks. Whether you are at a beach, rural or city location, the pictures will provide a record of the memorable experience whilst building your photography skills and expertise. It is always worth learning a few new tips to improve on those skills and make those pictures more rewarding.

Before you travel

Get to know your camera and film well before packing all your accessories to travel with. Be sure to test all your equipment before you leave. Once you're there on your travels you may not be able to repeat the visit for some time.

Your film sees things slightly differently from you so get to know the characteristics of the type of film you use. This will help in predicting any differences, in doing so prevent any unpleasant surprises.

After booking your travel carry out some research on the area you are travelling to, making a list using travel guides, magazines and books will help plan for the location you are going to visit.

Try relevant web sites, online communities and newsgroups provide more up-to date information to get some first-hand information, travel tips and advice on finding some scenic spots.

This will save precious time when you are there and also help with the type of shots you may wish to take when you are there, nature pictures of animals feeding, sunsets, historical buildings or even fireworks.

Charge camera batteries before you leave, again this saves time. Take an extra memory card with you and clear the memory on both cards before you leave, this will help as with the modern digital camera holding so many pictures you can shoot lots of pictures of the same subject. Wait till you get home before deciding on and sorting out the good from the bad before printing them.

Try learning some of the language. Even a few phrases can go a long way with people as in many countries people do not expect visitors to be able to speak their language and are pleasantly surprised as this shows that you are taking an interest.

What to pack

Make a list of items you want to bring with you before travelling. You're guaranteed that whatever you leave behind will be the travel accessory you need when you are travelling.

As well as your camera, keep in mind the following accessories to travel with:

Batteries, extra batteries, battery charger, memory card(s)

Film (be careful, film purchased abroad may have been stored under the wrong conditions)

Portable storage device, external flash

Tripod (useful for low light situations or when using a strong telephoto lens)

Power adapter (if travelling abroad)

Camera case, waterproof if going to a wet location or beach (purchase silica gel packs from your camera accessories store to reduce moisture further)

Underwater camera if you are travelling to a beach location (even a small disposable underwater camera will capture great shots)

Get a wrist strap for your camera, helps against the possibility of losing your camera.

Using a flash, as fill flash can be more helpful in broad daylight than at night. Typically an in built camera flash
will have a range of only a few metres.

Wide-angle lens, monopod zoom lens

Purchase the best lens you can afford, these are more important than a camera with many features.

Take as many spare parts as you can, for example: second camera body, small pocket tripod, wide angle lens and 50 mm lens incase light conditions are bad. You can always keep these spare accessories at the hotel if you plan ahead for your day trip.

Filters

To reduce contrast use a neutral density grey filter to cover the bright parts of the picture.

When using filters, always take an unfiltered version of the picture aswell (except for UV or daylight filters).

A polarising filter may eliminate reflections and enhance saturation.

Airport X-rays

On flights, never check in film with your main luggage there is the possibility that the strong X-ray machines at airports that scan checked in luggage may damage your film. Hand baggage would be a safer option.

The damage can range from a lack of sharpness or a cast to severe damage.

Well that's it, I hope some of the above advice may help in your travel planning.