You are smart enough to know that you’re going to need to pack along your camera with you when you travel. You’re also already to the point in your skills that nearly half of the gear in your pack is photography related. You’ve got your tripod, extra batteries, rain covers, and all the other bits and pieces that your set consists of, so what else do you need to pack as a travel photographer? Here are 5 essential non-photography items a travel photographer needs to pack well travelling.
Good Travel Insurance
It might seem obvious that you need to take out specialist medical travel insurance when you head out on the road. But what many don’t realize is that you have to be extremely careful when picking your travel insurance as a travel photographer. Most regular insurance offers don’t really protect professional camera gear. For that, you really need to make sure your plan covers all your items. Some travel insurances only include items under $500, for example. Which means that if you have a $1000 camera body or a $2000 lens, it’s not covered in your insurance. Make sure your gear is covered, before you leave home.
Duct Tape
I take duct tape with me everywhere. It really is an essential travel item. But, as a travel photographer it becomes even more useful. If your backpack gets a tear in it, you can use duct tape to cover the tear. You can also use it to hold together your tripod if it breaks and is on its last legs. Also, if you use a rain cover that slips off your lens, you can duct tape it to your lens hood. It’s so handy.
Waterproof Shoes
As a travel photographer, you often find your feet in less than ideal places. One day you might have your shoes in a river trying to get those silky smooth waterfall photos. Another day, you might find yourself walking through snow, or hiking up a muddy mountain slope. The best photos aren’t usually taken from the tourist paths. Thus, you often have to go off trail a little bit to get to the great shots. This often means that your feet are going to get muddy, wet, or cold. Make sure you buy good shoes, you’ll regret it otherwise.
Good Photography Apps
Photography is 50% inspiration, %40 effort, and %10 execution. Thus, a couple good photography apps can be really helpful for the inspiration side of things. And well people are all too familiar with sites like 500px and 1x.com, there are actually much better bits of information on websites like Trover, and loc.alize.us which not only shoe off cool images but show you exactly where they were taken. Trover, in particular, is great as the photography community often gives a lot of information in regards to where the images were shot and how.
Fingerless Gloves
In Canada, we call these “‘smoker’s gloves” because they were basically made for people who smoke in cold climates. Essentially, they are mittens that have a convertible top you can pull down, exposing your fingers and giving you back the use of individual fingers. Like for smokers, these work great for photographers who might want the use of their fingers to operate the functions of the camera.