Biggest mistake: Being so caught up in taking all the pictures and missing out on enjoying the moment. So planning a few great shots is probably the way to go. Thanks for the video.
For me, the camera encourages me to visit a place with greater awareness. I’m not a touron marking a checklist of POIs conquered. I’m breathing the air, looking around, trying to find a nice composition.
Yup, I'm seeing this a lot. Not just from photographers, but just from regular tourists. They are experiencing a place from the perspective of an instagram post, which is a really limiting perspective.
One thing I’ve found useful for travel photography: Take pictures of the trail signs and town signs. When you review your photos, those are landmarks that clue you in to the location of the photos. Of course, using a camera with GPS that geotags the photos is super useful too.
When traveling in the company of people who are not photographers, it's about the trip and NOT about your photography. This is a hard lesson to learn and accept. Failing to keep this perspective in the past has, for me, resulted only in immense frustration and disappointment. On equipment, we photographers tend to always be fighting the battle of FOMO, Fear Of Missing Out, and so tend to take more (much more) than we really need. The trade off for ourselves then becomes the Tyranny of Photography (heavy loads, sore backs, extra security strains, exhaustion, etc.). So unless you're on a specific photo assignment, a photo workshop or tour, or are going solo on your trip, may I suggest the delightful experience of going unburdened with a minimalist kit. Maybe just one body and a couple of lenses. How liberating this approach, and yes, you will survive. Quite possibly, your images will be even better because you will be seeing and making images at a deeper level. My two most favorite sayings: "To see clearly, you must limit your vision" and "It's not what you see, it's how you see it." The first seems counter-intuitive, and the second goes to applying one's vision for the image to the craft of photography. Tony & Chelsea, and to the commenters all, thanks for sharing your insights and tips on travel photography.
Tip: Actually be in some pictures! So many times I've gone on a trip and being the photographer I end up being in zero pictures! AKA enjoy the moment. (which seems to be a trend in the comments)
I am almost NEVER in any shots. My hard drive is filled with these pics. So many great shots, but I'm not in very many of them. I also have a bit of distrust with others handling my gear, especially my camera. I have control issues too, but with good reason...most people have no clue how to use anything more than an app on their smartphone or, at best, a point-and-shoot pocket camera.
The biggest mistake of my traveling photography: traveling with people who have zero patience for photography. I couldn't even fill up a single 64 GB SD card for a 7-day trip and I was shooting 24MP uncompressed RAW.
Me and my wife have to disagree, we really like to make photo trips with some friends. But when everyone is at least a hobby artist and/or photographer ... we are getting 64Gb cards decently filled with single day trips. :)
Just make it known with those you are traveling with what your expectations are. I'm the photography hobbyist of my travel group while one of my travel companions isn't. But guess who likes taking their time taking photos? It isn't me. :) I personally prefer the company of a close friend while traveling but that's just me.
#1 Don’t argue over what to see. There’s no guarantee that what you want to see will meet your expectation, but you are guaranteed a better trip if you have enthusiasm for your partner’s priorities.
I stopped taking tripod for most of my trips, especially with stabilized lenses. Take a small pocketable one for angling the camera, but there's always a rock, a piece of wood laying around, a chair you can borrow from a nearby cafe or for just a few seconds exposure, set the camera to electronic shutter mode, hold it against a wall or something and set it on 2 seconds timer to avoid shake from pressing the shutter. As long as you're not fussy about getting few scratches and scuffs on the body it works perfectly.
One of the most important things is to wear the right shoes. I bought cheap shoes once only to find out on vacation that they had no padding and every stone I trod on was agony. So now I only buy good quality shoes that I can walk in for hours. Makes photography so much more enjoyable.
Ooooh. When I was just switching over from film to digital, I did this very thing. Had some decent framed shots, too, but they were so small. I should have been clued in when I saw the number representing how many estimated shots were possible. Worse yet was the quality setting was set so low that any attempt at increasing the image size looked incredibly soft and/or pixelated.
How about this mistake I’ve made through the years: Taking too many pictures! I’ve been on trips where I was so obsessed with photography that I realized I didn’t make time to enjoy the country I visited. I didn’t even feel rested after my vacation. It’s a hard habit to break but I’ve slowed down especially when doing video work as that takes up so much time and you’re constantly not even taking time to view the “real world” instead your viewing it through a viewfinder or screen.
Yes, I have!! Saw all of Norway through a camera lens, Went to Europe in 2014 and left the camera at home. Going back this summer and have just a few shots planned.
I enjoy traveling so much more because of my camera. I am so much more eager to explore the place I am. And I see so many interesting details I would have otherwise missed and just walked past.
Early morning on a Botswana safari, we were tracking a male lion that had just visited our camp and as sun was just about to rise we located the big fella and my wife madly clicked away; however, she had her camera set to shutter priority from the day before and all her shots we way under exposed. Always need to check initial settings on the camera before heading out for a days shooting especially on these once in a lifetime trips. Lightroom saved the day but with grainy images.
Not checking the camera settings may have been the absolute hardest thing I ever had to disiplne myself to do. I've ruined more shots by just putting the camera to my eye and assuming that all the setings are where I want them than anything else. I'm not talking about just exposure settings but things like white balance, foucus metering and so on.
I’ve made that mistake. I try to reset to something like f/8, 1/500th (auto ISO). And on the trail back from Brook’s falls in Katmai, I nearly missed an Arctic Lynx because I had the focus limiter on my 70-200 switched on. I recovered before the lynx moved on, but missed a nicer pose.
I'd add some sort of rain protection for both yourself and your gear. I also use my rain jacket to hide my camera. I take the lens off, put the cap on and put the lens in a large pocket and zip up my jacket to hide the camera. Small, mirrorless bodies are a real plus for this.
Biggest mistake, IMO: Losing perspective on what's important. I have been to amazing locations and seen incredible things, and been upset. Why? Because I missed a shot. A picture is less worth than the experience.
+Florian Better to miss the shot than to live life through a viewfinder. I should print that. That should be printed. Quick, somebody quote me and slap it on a scanned pastel impressionist beach painting, with some slanty font or other! I'll be internet rich! I'll have all the internets I can eat! That's how this works, right?
This happened to me when I had a trip in the Philippines a few years ago. From the capital, I had to travel 5 hours by plane, bus, ferry boat to go to Boracay with 8 pounds of camera bag - only to find out that I left my batteries charging at home :((
OMG. I did that too. They were all still on the chargers when I returned home a week later...fully charged and ready to be used for my shoot. I ended up taking less-than-stellar pics with my Android phone and Kindle HDX tablet. The trip wasn't a complete waste, but I had waited six months for this trip, dreaming about the amazing shots I would take...only to leave my gear in the hotel because I had no batteries and no camera store in the village which had replacement batteries. Though we had internet access downstairs in the coffee lounge (slash) internet cafe so I could order new ones online, there was no way the batteries would reach me before we were headed back to the USA.
My biggest mistake is (was) waiting until random people are out of the frame in places like a beautiful town square or fountain or... People are part of the scene, they ad texture and scale to the location and much more interesting. I only figured this out after watching people view my albums and quickly pass over a beautiful shot void of people only to pause and linger over the next that included people. Hordes of tourists might be an exception, but generally I avoid such locations anyway.
Keith, this is an excellent point. Need to view people not as distractions but as interesting objects in the photo. Need to consider their placements in the photo just as one might consider a tree, sign, etc .
My biggest mistake is buying footwear for a trip and not spending the time to break them in. I only did this once, and while walking 10+ hours a day in Rome, by day 3 I had blisters that hurt so much, I wasn't able to do most of the things I wanted to do/see for another couple days. That took at least 2.5 days out from my possible good shots...
My very first day of vacation, I fell from an elevated platform onto concrete and seriously injured my foot. I had to be pushed around in a wheelchair the entire time we were there. It wasn't the pain in my ankle, foot and knee that hurt the most, it was the countless missed shots. I did get several pics by balancing on one foot as I tried to keep balance and focus my camera, but it was difficult, to say the least. My wife and I try to take one trip a year together, which is very difficult due to both of our schedules and the money involved.
My biggest travel screwup: Last year I planned a trip to photograph the total solar eclipse. Every detail was scrutinized as I knew totality was very short timewise. I rented a 600 mm lens so my image size would be decent. I ended up in Sweetwater TN which was on the max totality line. I developed a set imaging protocols for the beginning and end of totality. This is when Baily's Beads appear. My mistake was not appreciating how much the sun moves. I was constantly rejiggering the tripod mount to keep the sun in frame. Some photographers at Sweetwater used a suntracker device which automates this task. Next time (2024) I will be better prepared.
Just sold Fuji X-T2 (just not right for me) and re-bought my original gems: Nikon D750/Tamron 24-70mm G2/Nikon 50mm f1:4D. Getting ready for a Baltic Cruise to Russia and this video provided great last-minute advice. Thank you for all your videos, they're priceless for a hoppy photographer like me.
We all make mistakes and when we do we learn for the next time. It's all about learning, experimenting, and just enjoying the journey. Thanks for all the tips as I'm planning a trip in the beginning of May...
I just spent 3 weeks in Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Brought along my D5600 with the kit lens (16-50mm), the 35, and the 50mm fixed lenses, two batteries, and a tripod. Got exactly 250 great pics and all because I've learned from you two so much. Thank you, guys!
The first lesson I learned is that unless you are in a group of photographers nobody cares about the enjoyment you feel when shooting pictures, but at the same time they expect you to accept unconditionally that they migh spend a ton of time to shop around when you could be out taking good pictures. Just bring a zoom and a fast prime, and no tripod (they will not have the patience to even let you mount it), and if you cannot take a picture just watch it with your eyes because no one of your travelling mates knows what you feel when you're able to freeze a moment with your camera.
Too much gear. I lugged up the Mist Trail in Yosemite. Nikon D610 Nikkor 18-35mm Nikkor 24-120mm. Nikkor 80-200mm. 2 x tele Manfrotto 190 tripod. Lowepro backpack, full to the brim. Even took a 300 f2.8!!! on a central Australia trip :/ New travel setup. Fujifilm X-T20 Rokinon 12mm Fujifilm 18-135. Modified cheap lightweight tripod (470 grams) Hiking backpack with socks for the lens. My back loves me. :)
Talk about taking your work (passion) on vacation. Great tips that I will certainly keep in mind. I dare the both of you to go somewhere on vacation without a camera. Good luck and thanks for a great vid...
My travel Photography began with a disposable camera (BOX) because Mom wanted pictures... and saw how crappy they were... so I took an NYU Photography Class and took the suggested TWO rolls of Chrome to the Dominican Republic for ONE week using a 50mm on a Nikon FM (as in Fully Manual) BEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE EVER!
TIP : think about bringing a camera and a lens that you know very well , and know how to get the most out of them. Spent two months in India with only a Nikon D610 and a 50mm 1.8G. Proud of what I got.
Most recent mistake was to only bring Prime Lenses. After watching more and more RU-vid videos everyone says use a prime it will help you learn this and that. That might be true but for Travel I wished I had a zoom (24-70) countless times on my trip I could not move back or could not move in (Monalisa for example) lucky i had APC mode that helped a little then made panoramas to help with the landscapes. having to change lens made me miss a few shots and got my senor a bit dusty. so for me ill just bring one prime for those portraits and bring a zoom for the tourist stuff.
Thanks guys, very helpful info!! Went on a big trip to France last August & quickly realized I needed a better camera bag/backpack & a lighter tripod! All that hiking we did with the wrong equipment was not fun! You Live & Learn, right?!
Forgetting that there's a difference between traveling to take pictures, and taking pictures while traveling. Especially if you're with people who aren't as in to photography as you are. Snap a few shots, but remember to also experience the world with your friends/partner/children. The DSLR may not be the right camera to bring to a nice restaurant, and you don't need a telephoto to go to the beach.
I find it best to bring a bunch of gear, but pick and choose from that pile each time you get out of the car or go out for the day, dependent on what kind of shots you intend to take. Same philosophy with hiking/camping gear. Gigantic list of stuff you can bring, but what small portion you end up taking will be at least somewhat different every time.
Great video guys. Tony and I would definitely get along on trips, as I tend to way overpack too...and the 100-400 mk ii can get real heavy in a bag with other lenses and a 1DX2...and food and water for three people. Yes, I'm the pack mule for my wife and son, though they're getting better about carrying their own gear now.
Great tips, especially planning. Your Machu Picchu stories brought back memories. I too took the Huayna Picchu hike, all the way down to the Lunar temple and back up. I had been preparing for 9 months for Peru, and was still very grateful for peruvian tea at the hotel. I brought a selfie stick with a tripod base and didn't get any grief. One nice incident on day one, when I went to the Inca Bridge, one of the ministry of Culture guys likes my hat and traded with me. So I spent the rest of my time in Peru sporting a Ministry of Culture hat. Never got any grief about anything.
Definitely agree with the comment about not being obsessed with the photography and missing the experience of being there. On the other hand, people say "put away the camera and really BE there." But for me, photographing is part of my seeing, regardless of whether I get home-run photos. Moderation in all things, and yes, take time to just BE there.
A good tip I learned from another photographer is to SWITCH CARDS EVERY DAY and leave them in your hotel. If your camera or cards get stolen at least you get to keep the rest of the cards and the photos inside are from different days. That way you don't lose all your photos after a certain date but only some will be missing
I went on a camping trip to Ithaca NY. Taugahannock falls. Well I didn't realize it was a dry season and majestic water fall resembled a clogged shower head. Walking the dry river bed was a saving grace
Love your channel ❤️ 💕. I think you have the best channel for photography! Your contents are very helpful! More power to you guys. I can watch your videos the whole day and learned a lot! Thanks❤️
for city trips, I just take my original eos m and the 22mm f2 pancake (or "a poor man's fuji x100", as I call it) with me. Works out pretty good every time and it's really small and light. My 5D is too big and I get sick of it pretty quickly when I travel. A small gorilla pod is also very versatile with that combo and allows for long exposure.
I always advise people to consider taking a superzoom and then take a few primes for specific photos you know you will be taking (or take often). When traveling you often don't want to be changing lenses all the time, and when you do change lenses you will often miss the moment. A superzoom will allow you great flexibility that helps you enjoy your vacation. A local photographer will always have a better photo - so don't sweat it too much. Break out some primes based on when you really want great image quality or require low light. Photography is about using creativity to get around the limitations you set yourself. You will always be balancing image quality with being light and nimble... So choose your poison...
I have two tripods (both resting against a wall only a few feet from me at this moment, in fact) without plates because I lost one when I sold a camera with it still attached, and I lost the other when my camera was stolen years ago.
Once rented a cabin in northern canada with my friends, far from any major city so the stars were phenomenal. By nightfall, I realized i had brought a tripod but forgot the release plate so I ended up wrapping my camera to the tripod with so much plastic cling wrap. Just meters and meters of it
I remember going to Disney World with family and simply loved it. No cooking, no driving, no plans, just see what ever we wanted of all the worlds in Florida. My problem, not a mistake, was when I saw a great shot and ran over to take it, and the shots were great, I couldn't tell where my family had gone! I know about where they were and had to wait until they came out of whatever shop they were in to find them. That was before we had cell phones. But that trip was full of excitement. Even the night fireworks at Epcot were great fun to shoot. That trip taught me so much about composition and shooting angles. I was also careful to copy my files off camera to my laptop and an external hard drive so as to free up SD card space. The worst problem we had though was when my family was away without me and someone put their finger right on the lens and not realizing it (using a range finder type compact camera), they kept taking some 800 pictures of which any shot taken into a any white area GHOSTED out (had a eerie white glow around it). Wow was that terrible and unfixable in post. So if you use a tiny range finder camera on vacation, check the lens and make sure it's clean. That camera would leave the lens open when viewing shots and when you handed the camera to someone it was easy to finger the lens.
One bit of advice I can give from experience is forget about a camera backpack. I don’t care what make or model they are designed for the comfort of your gear, not you. My recommendation is if you know your gonna be doing a lot of walking or hiking, get yourself an Osprey pack with a hip belt. Go to REI and get sized correctly and get a real backpack. I’d rather be comfortable taking gear. I use those wraps for my lenses and use a Peak Design Capture Clip attached to my backpack shoulder strap. Get one with hip belt pockets so you can have batteries and stuff like that handy. I use a Sony A6000 with a 18-105 lens that gets me a lot of mileage without switching lenses. I usually carry one wide angle prime and choose one other zoom. That’s it. A 35 liter is a good size pack and will have plenty of room for rain gear, souvenirs and food. I keep my stuff organized in zip lock bags to keep things dry and organized on the cheap. Also get a rain cover for the pack and your gold. I traveled with a camera pack a few times and was sorry. You have to get the weight off your shoulders especially when your photographing a lot. Your welcome.
As part of the planning ahead process, it of course makes sense to see what kind of camera shops are in the area you'll be visiting and what if any rentals they typically offer, and at what prices. So if you're iffy about whether or not you'll really need a particular piece of equipment, you'll know whether or not you'll likely have the option to rent it for a day or two if you have to.
I really enjoyed this video. Good tips, especially about the drones. I went to Peru too! I ended up bringing my point and shoot opposed to my DSLR and got some good pics! It didn't weigh me down. I also climbed up a mountain which gassed me out! It was worth it though.
10:23 - Honestly that's solid advice! The number of times I find myself climbing, crouching, kneeling, carrying heavy loads for the sake of photography - honestly I wouldn't be able to get the pics I want if it wasn't for the regular workout ^^ You don't have to be a body builder of course but it helps your photography a LOT if you are fit and nimble.
My 10-year-old is my back-up photographer whenever we go somewhere and has been for the last 6 years (keeps her busy, out of the way and feeling important). I have a decent point and shoot that can get some great photos because nobody thinks anything of it. I forgot to check the settings at a wedding we were photographing for a friend [great practice as my first wedding as it was small, and she wouldn't have had anybody otherwise!], and my kiddo had somehow flipped to that setting that gives you B&W plus one color - and I had wanted her to use that, but we didn't have time to fully set it up to the right color. Her pictures were great, except the colors were sooo so bad. Skin was coming out a weird blue-grey. Luckily, they converted to B&W and we were able to save the good ones. A couple are even my favorite shots of the day... but note to self: double check settings and shots from time to time.
Mapping out locations of where your planning to shoot should be a personal requirement. However a spare of the moment can be challenging. With choosing multiple lens/gear like you said, you gotta pin point what your trying to capture. Nice topic, great coverage.
The last comment before mine was a year ago but I’ll add a new one. I backpacked the world for a year in 1988-89. I took two camera bodies, 3 lenses, filters, a tripod, batteries and because digital cameras didn’t exist back then, about 60 rolls of 36 slide film, ASA 64, 50, 100 and 400. On other trips of 2 to 6 months long I did much the same. Honestly, I feel like I’ve seen the world thru my viewfinder! Also, my wife and family don’t want to wait for me while I fiddle around setting up and taking pictures. With the onset of digital cameras, even though I have a full frame Sony A7 and lenses, I leave it all at home and use a high end point and shoot, currently the Sony RX100 v and vii. My advice, unless you are a professional on a paid assignment, enjoy your travels first and do your photography second. I still find myself wandering around sightseeing with my eye always looking for ‘the perfect shot’ but enjoying my vacation is paramount and I know I will still take some great memories home on my SD card.
Huge fan of the both of you and watch every week. I would say my biggest travel mistake was charging my fourth and final battery the night before a two week trip only to board the plane to remember the fourth battery was still at home charging (with the charger). So I now have a spare charger since I wasn't going to make it two weeks on a single charge of three batteries.
Tony Quismundo - That happened to me as well. I was traveling from IL to MS. I was halfway into the trip and realized I didn't pack my camera battery. It was home still in the base charger. D'oh!!The good news is, I now have an extra battery and charger.
This video is highly relevant for me, I’m always under or overpacking when I travel....Since you mentioned Tokyo and Kyoto by name, I’m leaving for 7 full days in Japan in less then a week. I’m debating if I’m packing to much or not enough camera gear. So far it’s my D500, 10-24 vc lens, 24-70 f/2.8 & 70-200 f/2.8 for photography. For video I have my Panasonic Lumix G7 w/14-40 kit lens, Crane v2 gimbal, rode video micro, and then a GoPro Hero 5 black...also bringing one of the WD pro wireless HDD with one touch backup....I’ve always enjoyed your videos and suggestions foe gear!
Biggest mistake is purchasing the 256GB cards thinking that you won't need to switch it out. Later when you go to review your images, you find that the card went bad. I use one 32GB card for when I first get on scene to the half way point, then switch to a second card for the way back duplicating most of the shots. My pro body Nikon's I'm not overly concerned about with two card slots. Smaller bodies that only have a single slot always get cards swapped half way through the attraction.
Just got back from a three-week trip to Europe: Czech Republic, Austria, and Croatia. "Only" brought my APS-C and three lenses. Used the prime maybe a handful of times and the zoom for like two shots. The 17-50 was glued to my camera 99.9% of the time.
i definitely took too many photos on my Europe trip, had 60,000 raw photos, plus a few terabytes of video. took way too long to go through it all when i got home. Never doing that again.
Just booked our tickets to Croatia and Slovenia yesterday. This will be our 5th trip to Europe together, my 6th overall. This will be the first time that I'll be there with a "real" camera. Looking forward to it!
I suggest you google "Clamp Tripod" and get one of those. It looks like a C clamp with a tripod socket. It's way smaller than a big tripod and can clamp to railings. And, mine has metal feet that pop out so it can stand on a table. Take just your kit zooms...and I recommend a camera with image stabilization and water resistance. Some of my best shots are in full on rain, and the weather resistant lenses and camera make that possible. I also live in the Pacific NW, so it rains a lot here.
MeFoto tripods are pretty amazing for traveling. I had the Backpacker, which I carried for 6 weeks around the Balkans a couple of years ago. I have now upgraded to the Roadtrip; its' only slightly larger packed but it gives you so much more height. I got the carbon fiber one and it's SO light and easy to carry. I highly recommend them both; they both pack really small but are great.
Well, all camera gear my dad brings is his Canon 450D (or my 80D, when it's free), a lot of SD Cards, Sigma 18-250 mm f/3.5-6.3 (most of photos done at daytime, so light is rarely a problem) and Canon 50mm f/1.4 lenses, Speedlite 430EX II, some batteries and a charger, of course. Plain simple, enough for a lot of stuff, even close-up birds (since it's 400 mm in 35 mm equivalent). Sometimes he takes a tripod, but that's way too rare to happen.
Great video , I’m heading off on a 5 week trip to China and going from the west across to the east. Taking the Sony RX10 iv and the Mavic Air, plus the 2tb WD Passport. Thanks again
I enjoyed your comments immensely. I live in Tucson, and my son graduates this month at San Francisco University. I plan to follow the west side of the Sierra Nevada's stopping at Sequoia, and Yosemite; then on to San Francisco. After spending the time with my son, we will go to John Muir and Stenson Beach, then down the Pacific Coast Highway to Orange County and visit some friends and relatives I didn't know I had until a month ago. Will we go back via Phoenix? Or San Diego??? Will I get to shoot everything I want during the golden hour???? Not without a TARDIS! So I'll be grateful for what I get and move on. If I get 20 great shots, I'll be happy... Best Wishes...
Practicing with new gear is essential before traveling. Back when I sold cameras, I would always encounter someone buying a camera for an upcoming trip. I would advise them to run a few rolls of film (!) through it first. I also suggested that they bring the CAMERA MANUAL with them. It's not always possible to learn all of a camera's features right away.
I have a small bag that when fully loaded is the most kit I'll want to take with me anywhere, so I use that to limit myself, and may carry a few extra things in the carry-on but that's it. Also, don't think I'll need a telephoto but want one just in case? Those 55-200mm kit lenses make fantastic, "Just in case," options, especially the newer collapsible ones, and they keep up at 10 FPS on a D500. :)
Enjoyed your tips. Going to Switzerland next September and started planning 2 months ago. Last trip to Europe the value off offline maps was awesome. With my iPad I have files and now I while buy something to back them up too. Thanks great tip ! Planning is part of the real excitement for me and all the planning is interesting. You feel like to been there before when you plan but the anticipation of seeing things for the first time never gets old. Planning helps me feel prepared, relax and really enjoy thee trip and go with some level of flexibility in case unknown things and opportunities change. Great advice is pick out fewer things as must see or shoot. This trip I will spend the first 7 days in the same location. Specific train schedules, specific hike elevations and views, back up days in case my subject photo has a bad weather day, etc. I now own a new Fuji X S10 and am renting lenses to see what zoom(s) I will take. The camera combo with a either and 18- 135mm, 55-200 or 16-80mm ( apsc ) are a TOTAL weight of less than 2lbs. Yes < 32oz. Camera and lenses are both stabilized as well. I plan to travel with no more than 2 lenses unless I bring a second rented Camera like the one I own. Keep up the good work and Thank you
We have been to all 7 continents, and about 90 countries. I am near 80 years old, and have been doing "travel photography" since I was a teenager. But my photos are not designed for sale, I put them into 45 minute travelogues that I present to senior citizen residences, church groups, schools, etc. As a "documentarian" I record a scene as I find it, and do not usually go back to hope for better conditions. Your advice is generally excellent. I especially endorse the idea of having at least two copies of every photo in case of problems. When traveling home, I put one copy in my camera bag, one in my carryon bag, and one copy in my suitcase. I keep the cards, put one copy on an SD capable hard drive (I have something I have had for many years called a "NEXTO" made by NextoDI inc. which has stood me in excellent stead) and I usually have a third copy on my laptop hard drive. I make those copies at night before going to bed. We used to travel entirely alone, but the past 20 years we have been going on tours or cruises, and even with the limited time, satisfying pictures can be made. I have a drone which I wish I could use in more places, and a 360 camera which is great for posting to Facebook. I take all these things along; since we will be with a group on a bus, it is little trouble to take a carry on bag full of gear on the bus and take out only what is relevant to the destination of the moment. Ditto on cruises. I have made every mistake it is possible to make. The most recent was in Indonesia a couple of months ago: the tour offered the opportunity to go to the top of a volcano riding a pony. I thought I could walk. I couldn't; it was too far and steep. There was no extra pony available on the way so I missed some brim of the volcano shots. Moral: listen to your guide's advice.
My personal experience is that taking too many photos can ruin your trip, too. Sometimes it's best to enjoy with your eyes rather than constantly looking through the viewfinder. Quite a weird comment to make on a photography channel, but I really realised it can become obsessing getting everything documented and in the end you don't really see the place with your own eyes. PS: Pixel is quite fluffy :D
Hey Guys, great podcast as usual! Biggest travel screw ups; recently was in Cozumel. 1 Day I struck off on foot walked 20 minutes to the beach to get a sunset shot. It was going to be truly original, I swear! ;-) Anyway, got to the spot, got everything setup, and realized that I had taken my card out that morning to back it up, and it was still in my laptop. The next day my wonderful non-photographer wife was good enough to get up with me @ 5:00 AM so we could travel to the opposite end of the island and get a sunrise shot. We had rented an old School VW Bug which I had a blast driving. I had so much fun in fact, that when we returned the car I left my tripod in the back seat and only figured it out when we were packing for the airport.... Cheers,
Maps.Me is a fantastic offline mapping app. Ive used it in several countries. And you only download the maps for the places you want so it doesn't hog all your device space with useless data.
Same with me, I use to care a lot of gear with me because I have the mindset of thinking I'll need all of my lens to get certain shots. I for one don't like caring my large DSLR so I'm planning on rolling with Sony for travel purposes.
I screw up a LOT apparently LOL. I always bring 50lbs of gear, go hike with it, and then get to a location filled with other tourists and can't get the shots I want nor use any of the crap I packed. I always arrive at bad times when I bring non-photographers along, who only want to visit places filled with other people so they can say "I was here TOO with all of these people you see in the background, I'm cool!". That Google estimation of peak times is now KEY for me when I travel solo.
Don’t forget to take a laptop with your image processing software. You can then download and check your images and retake them before you leave the area. If you aren’t geo-tagging your shots, allow Google (blocked in China) to track your phone so you can find out where you were when you took a particular shot from the timestamp.
I did win tickets to a show in Manhattan, determined I could bring my camera (No Flash) and figured I'd thank the artist with a small photo book. So I took my "new" stabilized Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 and got a nice crisp clean set of low light photo's of the wall behind the singer and string quartet. @@ Otherwise I haven't really traveled since the mid 1970s
Great video!! totaly loved it and thanks for the advice and info!! I absolutely love your channel and photography!! my biggest mistake was traveling in western Australia with only one lenses an It broke halfway through the trip. That Sucked oh well lucky i had my Ipod to get photos with.
In another video about what you carried on your trip to Morocco, Tony said, "I used 70-200 once during the whole trip for shooting a flamingo/crane" that's the best advise ever.
I once accidentally moved the auto focus switch to manual and didn't realize it for about half an hour. Lesson learned to check photo focus and exposure more frequently.
Learned to lean on the side of less than I need. This usually means a daytime zoom, and a small prime for low-light/indoors/night that makes the camera smaller and easier to take to night activities. I think since I shoot Sony it's going to end up being the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 and the 35mm 2.8 combo. If I plan on hitting a zoo, the 70-200/4 and the 35 2.8
Thank you for sharing your experiences with travel photography mistakes. My biggest travel photography mistake is forgetting to bring spare camera batteries. I am out all day exploring an area and next thing I know come 5 pm my camera is on one bar of life. I had to baby my shots for the next 7 hours. Lesson learned bring multiple spare batteries.
Yep, been there, done that. My main camera now has a vertical grip on it which holds two batteries, plus I have four more batteries that I carry with me when shooting in remote locations or when traveling. I do video also, so my camera burns through batteries more quickly than if I were only taking photos.
Funny that you guys mention Tokyo. I'm here now. 1 week. I've been to the Fushimi inari shrine twice now and I'm going to go back a third time before I leave. I wasn't happy with the first set of shots. Very happy with the second but I also want to get a few at night with my tripod. Get a few long exposures. I would have done it today but I left at 4pm and I've been there since 9am and my feet are killing me. And if you've been to Fushimi inari, you'll know why.
