#iPhoneOnlyPhotography 🙂
As most of you know, I just got back a little over a week ago from an amazing trip to Europe’s Mediterranean Coast. This was my first time flying and bringing camera gear with me, so I thought I’d share a few tips that I learned about traveling with your camera gear, for personal trips.
#1. Leave anything extra at home.
I brought my D700, a 35mm lens, a 50mm lens, off-camera flash, and a prism. I put all of this in a backpack on the way there, and a Kelly Moore bag on the way home, so that it was always on me. I ONLY used my D700 and 35mm lens, and once I used my prism for fun while eating dinner outdoors. Definitely don’t bring more than you will actually need. It was actually nice to leave my 35mm lens on my camera the whole time and learn to see what I could do with just the one type of lens. It allowed me to be a little more creative! So, don’t bring three camera bodies, seven lenses, and all the equipment for off-camera lighting. Just bring what you will need to help you remember what you experienced. By all means, if you are shooting a wedding or something bring all the gear you will need and just make sure your bag doesn’t get checked.
#2. Keep all of your gear in your carry-on.
I didn’t pack anything camera related, except my flash, in my suitcase. My original plan was to have my suitcase as my carry-on but it ended up needing to be checked, so I was super thankful that I didn’t have any camera gear in there. It is really important to keep your gear on you should your bag get lost. I heard a great tip from Shannon Cronin before I left for Europe and she said that she brings a fold-up bag with her every time she travels so that if her carry-on with gear needs to be checked for some reason she can take her gear out and put it in the foldable bag and bring it on the plane. I have also heard other photographers saying that in a worst-case scenario where your gear needs to be checked, to grab the essentials for what your session requires.
#3. Let your business insurance/renter’s insurance know you are traveling.
Especially if you are traveling for personal reasons. My business insurance wouldn’t cover my gear for a personal trip, so I added the gear I was bringing with me to my renter’s policy. This was really important to me because the value of my gear has increased significantly since the gear I had when I went to Italy three years ago. Also, I had heard a lot of shady things about pickpockets and theft in Barcelona so I was pretty nervous about something happening to my camera. Having the policy for my camera and lenses while I was traveling gave me great peace of mind.
There you have it. Like I said, this was my first time flying with my new camera gear so I’m sure that as I travel more I will have more tips to add!
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