The Traveling Photographer: Tip Roundup
So as I get ready to go on the first of three international trips over the next three months, I was browsing through the web looking for some travel photography tips. I wasn’t really looking for photography tips, rather I was looking for traveling with a camera tips to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything.
After browsing for a while, I thought I’d share some of the best tips I’ve found… Surely, not all “rocket science” but it might just help you get in the right frame of mind before taking your camera on that incredible trip!
Insurance, insurance, insurance
First, and foremost, get insurance!! Worldwide, all-risk insurance for ALL of your gear! Back in February, I recounted a tale of a photographer (me) who had $5000 worth of gear “lost” by an airline on the way back from Ireland. Not only did they lose the gear but their “compensation” form claims that they are not responsible for… well… anything valuable. Luckily, I had insurance. Had I not, I surely would be blogging this from jail. Call up whoever does your homeowner’s/renter’s insurance and tell them you want to add scheduled personal property items and that you would like worldwide, all-risk coverage. That way, no matter where you are or what happens, you’re covered. Camera stolen off your arm in a crowded London market? You’re covered. You drop it in the Nile? You’re covered. A bull tramples it in Pamplona? You’re covered. An Israeli bullet goes through a lens while you’re playing photojournalist in the West Bank? You’re covered.
My insurance policy currently covers a little over $7,000 worth of equipment. You know what my annual premium is? $115. And that’s even after losing all my equipment once that they had to pay me for. $115 per year. You’d have to be an idiot not to insure your equipment. Do it now!
Register your equipment with US customs
As I mentioned above, you may have a few thousand dollars worth of equipment on you when you travel. Let’s say you’re coming back home and a US customs official notices that you have some very expensive electronic equipment. Can you prove that you didn’t buy it while on your trip? If you can’t, and the customs official is in a particularly ornery mood, you may be responsible for paying a duty on your own equipment! I couldn’t find an exact figure on how much duty actually is, and the chances of you actually having to pay it are slim, but why pay anything at all? It’s your equipment! Make sure you can prove you left the country with it before you come back in with it.
To register your equipment, visit the US Customs and Border Protection website and download form 4457. Small screenshot sample below:
Buy a power adapter
Depending on where you’re going, electrical outlets may differ greatly from where you’re used to. Obviously, you’ll need to plug in your batteries to recharge them once you’ve been out shooting some exotic location all day. But, if you don’t have a power adapter, that might a bit difficult. Buy one now instead of realizing late at night in your hotel that you’re unable to recharge your drained batteries. While I am not endorsing any particular brand of global power adapter, we bought the Recoton ADF1650 50/1600W Dual Wattage Travel Converter from Amazon for a little over $15. It may work great, it may suck. I’ll let you know when I use it in Paris. The point is, spend a few bucks and get one or two of them.
Bring plenty of storage
Just think… You’re going to be in a new and exciting place! Think of how many photos you’re going to take! Don’t limit yourself because you ran out of space on your two 8GB Compact Flash cards. Bring something larger where you can store your photos each day. For example, I’ll be bringing my laptop with me. I have about 80GB of available space just dying to hold my photos for me. Another option is a portable external hard drive.
Finally, another option that will also help is to bring a spindle of blank DVDs. Burn photos to them when you need to, and mail them home. They’ll be waiting for you when you get home. Just be sure to schedule a few extra days of vacation so you can edit all those photos you’ll have!
Don’t pack your extra Lithium batteries in your suitcase!
As of January 1st, 2008, the Transportation Security Administration no longer allows passengers to carry loose Lithium batteries in their checked baggage. You must store them in your carry-on items. Here are some other guidelines from TSA regarding Lithium batteries:
“If original packaging is not available for spare batteries, effectively insulate battery terminals by isolating the batteries from contact with other batteries and metal. Do not permit a loose battery to come in contact with metal objects, such as coins, keys, or jewelry.
“Place each battery in its own protective case, plastic bag, or package, or place tape across the battery’s contacts to isolate terminals. Isolating terminals prevents short-circuiting.”
You can read all of the TSA’s Lithium battery travel tips here.
Minimize the gear you’re taking
This might seem obvious but, if you’re anything like me, you have a hard time leaving camera equipment behind. You can look at every piece of equipment and conjure up some scenario in which you’ll need everything. Don’t do it. Chances are, you’ll be carrying most of this equipment while you walk around and explore your destination. Carrying 20 pounds of camera equipment is going to get old. When I went to Ireland last year, I took five lenses with me. It wasn’t that bad since I had a decent shoulder bag and a rental car but I could have done just fine with two or three lenses. One wide-angle, one general-purpose, and one longer zoom. This time around, I’m taking two lenses: the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens. That’s it. Other than that, I’m taking my flash and a tripod and some miscellaneous cleaning equipment and filters. Oh, and I’m taking my point-and-shoot camera. Always a good idea because you never know when it will come in handy… particularly if you want to go out to dinner and not lug around your heavy camera bag.
For further reading
If you want to read a few other great posts on travel photography tips, I would suggest the following:
National Geographic Travel Photography Tips
Photography Travel Tips at photo.net
Digital Photography School: What to Take in Your Kit?
What Digicam: Top 12 Travel Photography Tips
Did I leave anything out? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Safe Travels - We will get a shoot together when you return
peace
Mike
Thanks Mike! I look forward to it!
Just one quick opinion about Lithium batteries.
During March I was on a trip to Nepal. Our flights were Helsinki-Delhi-Katmandu-Pokhara and back in reverse order. Instructions from travel agency were that you should check-in all extra battery, because security people in India and Nepal don’t seem to like people carrying large amount of extra batteries in hand luggages.
What comes to minimizing your gear, I am in 100% agreement with you. However there are couple things to keep in mind. Your traveling with 5D, so people with crop cameras, might want to ues something wider than 24mm on their back. Another issue is that minimized gear depends on what kind of trip you are planning to take.
When I am on hiking trips, I always carry one toploader in front and large pack in my back. If I would take my 70-200/4L with me, I would need Lowepro Toploader 75AW. 75AW is great for many things, but if you have to walk down stairs, go downhill, etc. bag blocks my view to where my feets really are and that slows me down quite bit. As a result, I prefer to have wide-angle zoom and one or two long primes with me (100/2.8, 200/2.8, …) which can be fit into Toploader Zoom 2. (also total volume and weight of 100/2.8 and 200/2.8 is pretty close to 70-200/2.8).
What comes to P&S camera, I don’t need those, because I always have two dSLR bodies with me and I don’t leave them behind me. I might leave flash and/or tripod to hotel room, but cameras and lenses comes with me to everywhere. This works fine on certain trips, but if I would go to beach resort, I would have to do some rethinking on this strategy. Thankfully, I haven’t yet been forced to figure that one out.
Thanks Juha! Those are excellent tips! I agree that a wide-angle lens is definitely a good thing to have on a trip. My next lens purchase will be the 16-35mm Canon lens, but for now, on the full-frame 5D, the 24mm is usually wide enough for me. But you’re right, those with cameras that aren’t full-frame, you might want a wider lens. If your camera takes EF-S lenses I would HIGHLY recommend the Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens. It was my favorite lens for my XTi…. And, it’s not that expensive… at least not when you compare to some of the L-series Canon lenses.
Thanks for the tips!
Hey there,
Tell me, what’s the deal with “an Israeli bullet”? For you this sounds like a typical way of getting shot these days, eh?
Danny
No, not really. Just an example… My insurance has an exception for action taken by “authorities” that they will not cover. I specifically called to find out if my gear would be covered if it were damaged as a result of Israel action since they are the authorities in the West Bank. Turns out, my gear would be covered.
Thanks!
Great tips. I always take as little as possible. Lugging gear up and down mountains gets old fast, as you said.
Great site.
Thanks Steve! Yeah, it does get old… I was carrying about 15-20 pounds of gear the whole time I was walking through Paris. In fact, I’m going out to buy a new bag this weekend.