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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!

Tags: batteries, customs, equipment, france, insurance, ireland, lithium, paris, Tips and Tricks, travel

The Traveling Photographer: A Cautionary Tale

I was reading through the Ultimate Travel Photography Checklist over at Single Serving Photo and it got me thinking about a travel photography mishap that happened to me last year. I wanted to share this story with you as a warning when you travel and, perhaps, get some tips from you on how I could have avoided this.

Last year, in June, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Ireland with my father and brother. On the way back from Dublin, I had a connection in London’s Heathrow Airport. I had two carry-on bags, as is customary in the US: my backpack with my laptop and my camera gear:

• Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
• Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens
• Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lens
• Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS USM Lens
• Canon Speedlite 580EX
• Remote wireless shutter release
• Miscellaneous accessories, filters, and cleaning equipment

A lot of stuff worth a lot of money, right?

Well, unfortunately, the European Union only allows 1 carry-on bag per person. Unless you’re a woman, of course, and you can carry a purse, too. A purse that is, of course, around the same size as my camera bag. (Sorry ladies, but this infuriates me.)

Anyway, in Dublin, they tell me I have to check one of my bags. I resist but there was nothing I could do. I decide to check the camera bag because, ultimately, my laptop (and all the information and photos on it) is more valuable. I check it at the counter for “special” and “fragile” items.

Lo and behold, I get to Washington, DC and my camera bag is nowhere to be found. I file a missing baggage report with United Airlines and go home. After two days of them not being able to locate the bag, they tell me to file another report complete with receipts of what was missing. However, in very small print on the form is a disclaimer that says, essentially, “Please note that we are not responsible for the following items:” which is immediately followed by a list of anything that could have any value at all. Computers, cameras, jewelry, you name it.

So, instead of going down this path, I just call my insurance company. Wait, let me stop right here…

If you don’t have insurance on your camera equipment, stop reading this and get it NOW!

OK, where was I? So, I call my insurance company (I had added all my equipment to my renter’s insurance as scheduled items on an all-risk policy) and file a claim. They collect the airline baggage info and tell me they will pursue it but they don’t expect to get very far. Within two weeks, I received a check and went out and upgraded my camera to a 5D.

They never did “find” my equipment. My suspicion is that a baggage handler somewhere has a pretty sweet set of camera equipment right now.

So with a trip to Paris coming up for me in April, I wanted to ask some of my readers how they’ve traveled through the EU with their equipment… Two carry-on bags for a photographer seems pretty standard, right? A bag with a laptop and reading material and a bag for camera stuff.

Have any of you traveled through the EU with your equipment? Did you check your equipment? How did you do it and still manage to avoid enriching a random baggage handler?

Tags: baggage, eu, european-union, insurance, ireland, travel