Photography and videography on the road

A great picture is worth a thousand travel miles—Tips, hints, and recommended photo and video gear

Before you start packing your $700 Nikon and assorted lenses, buying extra memory chips for your digital camera, or even going old-school and stuffing rolls of Fuji into a lead bag, you need to come to terms with one thing.

Someone with an array of equipment far more sophisticated than yours, with a tripod, who could afford to wait 365 days for the best light and snap 115 images to get everything just right has taken a much better full-frame picture of that monument, church, or painting than you could ever hope to get.

It’s called a postcard. 

Accept this and buy a shot of Big Ben or the Crown Jewels that was made by a professional. 

Of course you’ll take a picture of it anyway, and Im not going to stop you. Just don’t waste more than one shot on an overall view. Instead, make your photos interesting, make them unique, and take home chips full of travel memories and great pictures, not just snapshots. The next page contains tips for doing just that. » more

But before the photo and video shooting tips, a few general pointers and equipment advice.

Gear & clothing links