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Photography 102: Travel Photography Tips for Beginners

When we were beginners in travel photography, initially we used to think we don’t need any travel photography tips for beginners because we know enough. And then we went under a practical ambiance. 3 of our friends including me went to visit an island for 3 days. We took our cameras, default lenses, batteries & 16 GB memory cards each.

Travel Photography Tips

After reaching the island we started taking multiple snaps & videos. As a result after day 1, our memory cards were totally full. Then we started deleting many shots & made some spaces for the next 2 days. On day 2 when we were visiting a site, my battery charge became zero. Then the whole day I hung my almost dead camera on my neck.

After returning from that tour we all understood every beginner should research some tips for travel photography. These tips must include a good packing list & things to be considered on your trip. And finally, we listed the following photography tips for every beginner.

Choose Right Backpack

Choose a travel backpack that has individual cores to keep at least one camera body, two lenses & other accessories like tripod, flash, etc. inside it. In addition, check whether there is an individual core for keeping at least one 13.3” laptop or not. A variety of travel backpacks are available in the market. Many of them are specially designed for travel photographers.

But before purchasing a backpack for your go for lighter backpacks. Its true heavy backpacks are more durable, but during your overseas trip, they’ll be embarrassing. We all know airplanes have luggage weight limits & heavier bags may tend your luggage weight out of limit. So, avoid the weight of your backpack as much as you can.

Keep Extra Lens

In the case of carrying lenses, there are lots of opinions among photographers. Some say as traveling is an outside job, carrying more than 1 lens can make your movement slower. So depends on your destination, choose & carry one lens which will be perfect for that location.

But practically every travel destination has varieties of sceneries and carrying only a single lens can’t fulfill all your criteria. So, our suggestion will be taking 2 lenses where one is a prime lens. For zoom lenses, we’ll recommend 18-135 mm & for a prime lens, any basic lens will be perfect.

If you are traveling to a forest, in that case you can do  take photo of animal lives, as well. In that case lens with big zoom should be chosen instead of prime lens.

Carry Backup Battery

Since you’ve to stay on the road for a long time, the chance of getting electricity is not always possible. And you never know when & how you’ll get a gorgeous view or object for your travel photography. So, always keep an extra battery in your purse so that you need not face scarcity of charge. And of course, don’t forget to check the charge status of every battery.

Another thing you should remember also. If you’ve 2 batteries & you returned your hotel/resort before discharging one battery. Then the charge this battery again & the next day use another battery which was charged one day ago. It is because every battery contains some leakage current & keeps 2-3 days can discharge a notable amount of charge. So, use all batteries regularly & charge them regularly.

Select Appropriate Memory Card

The common memory cards are now 16 GB or 32 GB. Most of the beginners think this is the only thing to consider. And here comes some tips from practical photographers. There are 2 factors 2 be considered.

One is to use two 16 GB memory cards instead of one 32 GB memory card. I know it’ll be a little expensive as there is no great price gap between 16 GB & 32 GB memory cards. But think about the data. This is a common phenomenon where memory cards get scratched, infected by virus & formatted. If you use a 32 GB memory card & somehow it loses data, then all your hard work will go to hell. So, using different cards will reduce this risk.

Another factor is speed. For example, in sports photography when you’ve to capture speedy objects not only the memory is helpful, but also the card should enough fast to record the total composition just in time. And in the case of travel photography, you may take the snap of sunset, billows, people surfing on sea waves or flying birds etc. In those cases, a speedy memory card is also necessary because of the same reason.

Other Accessories

A tripod, a camera selfie stick, flash, lens filter, small portable camera bag etc. are most recommended photography accessories for your travel. In addition, if your trip duration is more than 3 days, then don’t forget to take your laptop also. Because, extra memories will not be enough sufficient to keep all memories. So, if you’ve a laptop you can transfer your data regularly.

Every photographer should maintain a quality Instagram profile. So take some snaps on your mobile also & upload them to Instagram. So, carry a minimum 10mh power bank so that you can be connected to your mobile all the time. For beach traveling maintain a waterproof camera bag & also a waterproof cover for underwater photos.

Finally, you must remember that a photographer is not only a photo taker. He is a composer, an artist. So in your journey to the world, don’t confined yourself only to the places & scenery.

Rather try to be mixed with local people, culture & arts. Then compose your own scenery, own landscape photos from the life of local people. This is not a tip, rather this should be the destination of a travel photographer. This is such a destination that can make a travel photographer to a travel story teller. Turn a photo into a story. Bon Voyage.