What do you take with you as a holiday or travel photographer?
Let's look at it according to what kind of holiday or travel will go and let's go through the travel photographer backpack list.
Contents
Relax on the beach by the sea.
You know, you are lying more or less in the same place on the beach all week. Sometimes you walk, eat, and then return to your hotel room. You're going to have a good evening. And so around.
This kind of travel probably will not require very sophisticated photo equipment. Also, if you are lying on a sandy beach, you should be careful not to get sand into the cameras. This means that you can usually get by with a good compact or even Smartphone. I personally typically take a compact camera for this kind of travel. I have my favorite Fujifilm X100F. I like it because it has a lot of manual settings and also because of the resolution of 24Mpx. I can also use the RAW format.
General thoughts
I always carry a tripod with me. Even though it is a small mini tripod, there is always a situation where you cannot take a good photo without it. Most commonly, it is sunrise or sunset. The lighting conditions are not ideal, and then you simply need to stabilize. Also, the sunsets and sunrises are the most beautiful shots. They are full of colors and soft lights. But you can only take beautiful pictures if you set longer exposure time because you want to control ISO because of the low noise level. You also want to control the aperture to decide what the depth of field of each shot will be.
Of course, there are exceptional destinations where you want to have better equipment with you. That's when I take DSLR and one universal zoom lens. Even though the rule is known, making the lens more versatile is less quality. At present, relatively high-quality universal zoom lenses are available. I always think of sealing. At least ministatives must not be missing. Gear I wear in the photo bag. I put the tripod in the main travel luggage and pull it out only when I know I need it.
Educational trips.
When you go on a sightseeing tour, you know that you will have a lot of opportunities to do different types of photography. Then you have to decide whether you are willing to carry some extra pounds. It always paid off to me, and I made beautiful pictures. That's when I usually take my backpack. Of course, there must be a tripod. If I don't go to a specialized photo tour, I always have a small tripod Manfrotto that can carry a DSLR with a larger lens. In my backpack I put:
- Universal zoom lens 24-70mm, 2.8
- telephoto zoom lens 70-200mm, 2.8
- 50mm lens, 1.8mm
Sometimes I take a compact camera, which I have at my disposal every minute of my stay. Usually, it happened to me that I missed a great deal, just because I couldn't get my camera out of my backpack. Then it is a compact that you have on the hand stripe invaluable, and you can quickly take pictures. There is always a better photo from a compact camera than none. If you have a better quality compact that can shoot RAW, you can do miracles in postprocessing.
Memory cards
As for the memory card, I always take 2.5 times whatever fits in all my cameras. For example, when I take a Nikon D750 I know, it contains two SD memory cards. And I also have the Fujifilm X100F, which includes one SD memory card slot. Then I take 7-8 SD cards. Maybe it is like paranoia, but I am always afraid that some memory card will go wrong or that I will take a lot of pictures and therefore I will not have enough space for all the photos. Another alternative is an external hard drive.
How to wear a camera while traveling?
I personally use Peak Design products. I love Wrist strap from Peak Design. Although it is designed mainly for lighter and smaller cameras, I personally use it on DSLR too. Certainly, appreciate that with a wrist strap you have the camera immediately available when an unexpected situation occurs. However, if you wear a DSLR with a larger or larger lens, use the Peak Desing Slider. It is the most comfortable camera strap I had, and it is straightforward to handle. Whenever I buy a new camera, the first thing is that I disconnect the original strap and put on the Slider or wrist strap.
Protect your camera.
When traveling to many attractive destinations, you always have to face situations when your camera or accessories are at risk. I am always careful, and the most manageable lens protection is the lens hood. The sun visor forms natural protection if you accidentally come across any obstruction. Another usual situation is weather conditions. The most common obstacle is rain or dust in the worst case, the whirling sand. Then the camera cover from Peak Design is invaluable.
Backpack.
There is a myriad of travel bags in the market. I use Travel Backpack 45l from Peak Design.
Merged with Camera Cube makes a perfect backpack and travel are more comfortable.
The mobility and availability of the camera are amazing. Travel Backpack 45L has excellent possibilities and variability. I also appreciate the possibility of connecting a medium-sized tripod. You can even choose where you want to attach the tripod. You can choose the middle or both sides of the Backpack. The backpack has a waterproof zipper. It contains a considerable number of internal and external pockets. The contents of the backpack are accessible from all sides. From the back, front and both sides. Quick access to the tablet or notebook via the back zip.
What you should not miss in your backpack is a thin jacket, cap, sunglasses, raincoat, but also spare socks. Photographic gloves are also often used. Especially when I was on a mountain hike. It is necessary to prepare especially carefully here because the weather can change very quickly in the mountains and you should definitely wear warm clothes.
Filters.
Many photographers claim that they don't need filters and that they can additionally simulate or apply them during postprocessing. In most cases, it is the truth. The possibilities of Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop are colossal today, and you can do a lot in postprocessing. However, there are at least two areas of photography that you cannot do without a suitable filter.
ND Filter
The first is the ND filter if you are shooting long exposure shots and want to achieve a silky effect of flowing water or waterfall. Indeed, something could be done with this in Photoshop, but the result will never be like using an ND stopper in the field.
Circular Polarizer
The second is the Circular Polarizer, which allows you to achieve the effect of literally seeing below the water surface of the lake or any water surface. By properly rotating the Circular polarizing filter, you can influence the polarization of light that hits the sensor directly through the lens. This can not be achieved in any graphics editing software because the data is either confused or not captured. They cannot produce themselves in postprocessing.
The last situation is not so much about shooting itself, but the lens protection. When I buy any lens, the first thing I do is to put on a UV protector - a filter that mainly performs the function of primary mechanical protection of the glass itself.
Travel tripods.
The leading travel tripod parameter should be folded height and weight. I personally use Manfrotto BeeFree and GorillaPod 5K to travel.
Manfrotto BeeFree is an ultra-easy tripod that is quick and easy to install. Due to its folded height of 41cm, it is effortless to transport. And for a longer journey, you can keep it in standard luggage and then attach it to your photo bag at the shooting location. He has a ball head that can carry 8kg. Personally, I have tried this tripod with DSLR with a 70-200mm lens. I much appreciate the quick installation as well as the quick assembly after shooting.
GorillaPod 5K is a convenient tripod for virtually any device: Camcorder, DSLR, Mirrorless, Pro DSLR. Folded height is 38.5cm and is therefore easy to store. For example, it can carry up to 5kg and weighs only 739 grams. Moldable arms are very well moldable. You can even wrap it around a tree branch or simply put it in the spot. It is very stable and massive. Although it is relatively small, it has a full-featured swivel ball head with a clamping mechanism that allows you to mount or disconnect the camera.
All nature photographers or Landscape photographers will not agree with me and will recommend you the largest and most massive tripod. I admit when going on a photo tour with the explicit focus of photographing some scenery and wanting the best results, I use a large tripod that is heavy but stable, resistant to any shock, wind and other weather conditions. It is always good to realize what will be the output of your work. If it is a large-format printing, it is definitely worth taking the highest quality equipment, a quality lens, and a sturdy, massive tripod. In the large print photo, you will discover all the imperfections and compromises you made when taking pictures. However, if you plan to post your pictures on Instagram in size of 1080 px x 1080 px, then you will need only a compact camera of better quality.
Final thoughts
In general, I always try to take pictures in the RAW format, so that I have everything under control during postprocessing. Very often, I have permanently set bracketing to three shots (-1.5, 0, +1.5) and take pictures of all my photos practically three times. I admit it is very demanding on the capacity of memory cards, but I have the opportunity to choose the best occupation in terms of luminosity. If the lighting conditions are complicated, for example, the high contrast between light and shadow, I can compose the final picture from these three shots in postprocessing.
In complicated lighting conditions and when shooting close subjects - such as portraits - flash can be handy. But I only wear it if too much weight is not a problem.
