You’re finally doing it - taking that trip you always dreamed of. If you are like me, you will take tons of pictures as a way of taking the memories home with you. You may choose to bring a camera other than your phone with you. What you don’t want to have happen is losing any of your images along the way. How can you optimize your chances of getting your images home safely?
Be prepared!
Have extra batteries and image cards with you at all times. Many tourist destinations charge a fortune for batteries and image cards! You’ll save money and not end up without power or memory when you need it most.
Store your image cards in a small container made for them separate from the camera. Small protective packets - usually thick cloth with a zipper or hard plastic - have slots for individual cards. Make it clear to yourself which as used cards or new. When you finish a card, slot the small button over to lock it - that way it won’t take or lose any images until you unlock it, so you won’t make the mistake of taking photos over older ones you son’t want to lose.
If you can bring a laptop with you, copy your images onto it each night as soon as you get home. Don’t delete the images from your disk. That way you have copies in case something happens to a disk or the computer. NOTE: If you take as many pictures as I do, you’ll want to bring a small, portable hard drive with you as it is easy to fill up a computers internal drive with pictures! Copy the images onto the external drive rather than your internal hard drive.
Carry carefully!
If you are shooting film, it is best to have your camera and any film checked by hand at the security counter. It could be damaged during the security x-ray process
Unless you are carrying a very small or rugged camera, do use a proper camera case for flights, trains or buses. You don’t want to damage your camera in the process of travel! You may use a lighter case or just wear your camera during the day when you are at your destination, but otherwise protect it.
I highly encourage you to bring your camera with you in your carryon! Your luggage can be a risky place for a camera - due both to theft and possible rough handling.
Keep your facts straight so you can tell your story later!
Keep a log, either in your phone, in a notebook, in your computer, of where you were each day. Keep notes on anything interesting you learned or saw, names of locations and tour guides, or friends you made. This will help you identify and tag your photos so you can tell great stories when you share them!
CONSIDERING AN AUTHENTIC PORTRAIT SESSION?