Going on vacation is definitely one occasion where you aren’t going to want to leave your camera behind; as the opportunities for capturing new and interesting images abound, and looking back on these photos in future will hopefully spark fond memories. On the other hand, selecting what gear to bring with you can make the difference between a pleasant excursion and an absolute nightmare.
Rightsizing
There are a lot of factors that go into deciding what exactly to bring with you; and if you’re like us, you have a ton of options at your disposal — each ultimately contributing to the bulk and weight you’ll have to deal with at various stages of your journey.
Of course your first consideration involves how you’re getting to your destination. If you’re travelling in an RV, you obviously won’t have the same constraints as would apply should you be flying aboard commercial aircraft. Airlines are becoming increasingly strict about what you can bring onboard as carry-on; and checked baggage has its own associated costs, to say nothing of risks.
If you are travelling via commercial jet, we’d recommend taking as little as you feel you can possibly get away with, and avoid checking your photography gear. Additionally, you’ll want to bear in mind that despite what some bag manufacturers say about their products being the correct dimensions for carry-on, many regional jets have significantly smaller overhead luggage bins than their transcontinental counterparts; and maximum sized bags designed for the latter, definitely won’t fit in the former… nor will they fit beneath the seat.
So what to bring? Well, if you are travelling primarily with photographic pursuits the object of your excursion, you’ll want to bring your best body, as well as a backup camera; however, if photography is secondary, you may wish to consider something lighter and more portable — with a smartphone for backup.
Ok, so let’s assume you aren’t off to do a location shoot for National Geographic, but rather to enjoy yourself and hopefully get some great shots along the way… Generally, you’ll be better off resisting the temptation to pack your long zooms. Sure, having that 70-200mm f/2.8 with you would be nice; but are you going to use it often enough to justify its considerable bulk? You do want to cover the range from wide angle through telephoto however; so, how should you go about it?
We’d recommend opting for a few primes (non-zoom lenses) in conjunction with a single wide range zoom designed for portability. If you are in the Nikon world for example, you’d do very well by selecting the 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, and the often overlooked 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 compact superzoom. This yields a very lightweight kit, and provides enough flexibility for nearly any photographic situation you may encounter. It allows for great shallow depth of field portraiture, quick snapshots, good wide angle coverage (where generally you’ll be stopping the lens down anyway, so the f/3.5 limitation isn’t an obstacle), and decent telephoto shots.
Leave your reflectors, tripods, extra flashes, diffusers, etc. at home. On the other hand, some accessories that you do want to bring include spare batteries, extra memory cards, your charger, cleaning kit, and a compact storage unit to offload your images to. Try to resist the temptation to bring your notebook computer. A smartphone will probably serve you well enough to accommodate your desire to stay in-touch with friends and family back home; while a tablet such as the iPad can also serve as a supplementary storage medium in addition to performing rudimentary edits on your images. For the most part you’ll want to save your processing for when you get home however. You’ll do a much better job in general, and you get the opportunity to relive your trip while doing so!
Subject Matters
Ok, so you’ve arrived at your destination and have excitedly started snapping everything in sight… you might want to pause a little and consider your audience. Certainly, travel photos are for your own enjoyment; however, most of us also plan on sharing them with family and friends. How many of you have been forced to sit through excruciating vacation snap presentations by others? Do you want to join their ranks?
I find the best way to think about what to shoot is to imagine you are creating a travel guidebook and select your subjects based on their ability to convey a sense of place. Capture what’s different from your everyday experience in a way that would pique interest in your readers. In fact, we would recommend actually creating a printed book of your adventures using one of the many excellent online services such as Blurb — they’re far more likely to be enjoyed on a regular basis, and allow you to provide text to illuminate each image.
So let’s say you were taking a trip to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula; what kind of images would you aim to capture? Certainly you’d want to get lots of photos of the ancient ruins; however, as interesting as they are, one pyramid after another can get pretty boring. You also need to mix it up and include images of modern Mexico, locals in traditional dress, photos featuring the native cuisine, juxtapositions of new and ancient, family scenes, street vendors, religious processions, Mexican cowboys, beach life, and so on.
When actually shooting the ruins, while you’ll obviously be taking a lot of wide angle images, you’ll also want to mix it up by capturing scenes from odd angles, creating images that stress geometry over detail, photos that include people to convey a sense of scale, detail shots from bas reliefs, artifacts taken from the excavations, people working on restorations, hawkers in the parking lots, and the like. The key is to think of how this next image will propel the story you are trying to relay forward in advance of actually clicking the shutter.
One further hint would be to take photos of all plaques and signage around the sites which explain what it is you are looking at. You won’t print these, but they’ll serve to inform your text should you wish to create a coffee table book. No matter how good your memory is, you’re bound to forget some interesting details; and these images will help remind you in order that you might better share your experiences.
Final Thoughts
Travel photography can quickly become a chore if you find yourself lugging around too much gear — especially in the hot sun. It can also become a bore for others if you don’t take some time selecting your subject matter. ‘Because it’s there’ may be reason enough to climb a mountain… this doesn’t apply to photography.
If, on the other hand, you take some care in what you bring, and put some serious thought into what you shoot, the process of travel photography will enhance your experience of the place, and the product of that endeavour will be a source of enjoyment for family and friends alike.