What equipment should I bring on vacation is a common question. The simple answer is what are you going to try to photograph on vacation. For example, if you are going on safari you are going to need a long telephoto lens, this will ensure that you keep your distance from some potentially dangerous wild animals, this will help you get closer while keeping your distance.

A 24-70mm can be used for a multitude of situations, they are also convenient and typically lightweight so as not to add too much to your baggage allowance and to cover just about any situation you might encounter. A teleconverter can be useful and not as expensive as a telephoto lens.

If you don’t already have a battery grip, this could save you time and trouble, especially in those isolated locations. Most of today’s battery grips will carry normal batteries, of course you will need to refer to the instructions for the grips. Because when traveling, weight plays a crucial role, as airlines limit it.

Make sure your camera bag is airline-friendly and you can take it on the plane, the last thing you want is to search your camera bag, arrive at your destination, and find that your camera bag is somewhere else in the world. Be sure to bring an international travel plug adapter so you can charge the batteries with your laptop or just charge the iPod.

Since most of us don’t have small laptops, it may be worth taking a portable hard drive or one that has a viewer, like media storage viewers, these can be quite expensive. A circular polarizing filter can be useful when photographing skies and help reduce reflections on glass or water. These are lightweight so they won’t add too much to the final weight of the bag. Don’t forget a lightweight tripod, like a gorilla pod, you need it for sharp images when shooting in low light, such as at dawn or dusk, or even after dark.

It may be worth using the bathroom scale to check the weight of your bags. Check your limits on the airline’s websites as you don’t want to pay for excess baggage as it can be quite expensive.

One of the main things to remember is to pack only what you need. Read up on where you’re traveling to see how to access hard-to-reach places at the best time to shoot. Google Earth before you go is great for checking routes and finding good vantage points. Once at your destination, check local postcards that often show normal tourist locations, but often have locations of much lesser known places.

Home exchange is becoming more and more popular, it is a good way to stay in a cheap place, if you have a house in a good location.

The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the rest, remember do not take any work unless you are a professional photographer.

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