10 things for your camera bag

Regardless of where you are travelling to this holiday season here are my top 10 things to have in your camera bag:

1. 3 sets of batteries – one in the camera, one in the charger and one in your pocket
2. Battery charger and a power cable suitable for use wherever you're travelling
3. Spare memory stick or smart card for extra storage on the road
4. Cooler to put the camera in if it’s hot where you are headed (leave the ice behind)
5. Polarizing filter to suppress reflected light for more color in your images
6. Tripod for capturing panoramas, macro shots and for longer exposures
7. Camera manual to refer to if you have questions that you can't resolve
8. Lens cleaning cloths, cleaning fluid and a brush to blow dust from the lens (not your shirt tail – please!)
9. A variety of lenses including a macro lens if your camera takes interchangeable lenses

10. Underwater camera housing for your digital so you can take it swimming with you

Better Travel Photography #5 - Get in close

Do your travel photographs look just like everyone else’s?

If you wonder why you bothered lugging your digital SLR half way around the world and didn't just settle for buying postcards, it's time to revisit the way you photograph your travels. Here is part 5 in my new series of Better Travel Photography - a guide to getting great travel photos that don't look like everyone else's..

Today's tip: Forget the big picture and get in close

Some attractions are just plain difficult to capture close up - if you've visited the Eiffel tower you know as soon as you’re down the bottom of it, there's no way to capture all of it. It's just too big.

In this situation, look for some interesting detail to shoot and forget about trying to jam everything in.


These are the feet from a statue of Caesar in Rome, while the entire statue makes a great photo, his feet make an even better one.

It's surprising how little of an object you need to capture for it to still be unmistakably recognizable as, for example, the Eiffel tower but, at the same time, to look more artistic and less run of the mill.


You know this number plate is very old - you don't need to see the car to know this - the image carries the message.

Better Travel Photography #4 - Find a new angle to look from

Do your travel photographs look just like everyone else’s?

If you wonder why you lug your digital SLR half way around the world and still come home with postcard images, it's time to revisit the way you photograph your travels. Here is part 4 in my new series of Better Travel Photography - a guide to getting great travel photos that don't look like everyone else's..

Here's today's tip - Find a new angle to shoot from
A great way to enhance your travel photography is to turn the camera forty five degrees and capture the objects at an angle.

So, for example, capture tall buildings and lighthouses at just the right angle and you'll have an image seldom seen before.

Even rows of buildings shot on an angle give you a double bonus, repeated elements and a new angle on capturing them - the result is something very special.

Better Travel Photography #3 - Repetition - over and over again

Do your travel photographs look just like everyone else’s?

If you wonder why you lug your digital SLR half way around the world and still come home with postcard images, it's time to revisit the way you photograph your travels. Here is part 3 in my new series of Better Travel Photography - a guide to getting great travel photos that don't look like everyone else's..

Here's today's tip - Look for repeated elements
When you're photographing in tourist locations, look for repeated elements and focus on capturing them.

This can be as simple as a row of street lights or lights on buildings.

Our eyes love to see repeating elements and anything that you can find three or four of is a great topic for a photo.

Better Travel Photography #2 - Glass and puddles are your friend

Do your travel photographs look just like everyone else’s?

If you wonder why you bothered lugging your digital SLR half way around the world and didn't just settle for buying postcards, it's time to revisit the way you photograph your travels. Here is part 2 in my new series of Better Travel Photography - a guide to getting great travel photos that don't look like everyone else's..

Today's tip: Glass is your friend (not the lens type of glass either!)

If what you are photographing is in a busy location you can capture unusual detail by turning your back on it and find ways to capture it reflected in surrounding windows.

While the object's details might be less well defined when reflected and while you'll get a combination of the window detail and the object itself, the collage effect can make for a unique image.

If it rains as you travel, celebrate the opportunities available in shooting reflections in puddles. Capturing a popular tourist destination reflected in water is a way of seeing things that are there all the time but which few people ever really "see".


When you shoot reflections, in windows or in puddles take care to make sure your camera is focusing on what it is that you want it to focus on.

You’ll want the detail in the reflection to be visible and in sharp focus with the surrounding area out of focus.

If you’re used to using a polarizing lens on your camera - which you should when shooting in sunlight conditions - remove it when you’re shooting reflections.

One of the roles of a polarizing filter is to cut out a lot of reflected light from entering your camera and, when you’re shooting reflections that’s exactly what you want to capture.

Better Travel Photography #1 - take the road less traveled

Do your travel photographs look just like everyone else’s?

If you wonder why you bothered lugging your digital SLR half way around the world and didn't just settle for buying postcards, it's time to revisit the way you photograph your travels. Here is part 1 in my new series of Better Travel Photography - a guide to getting great travel photos that don't look like everyone else's..

Today's tip: Move out of the way
If you're tempted to stand alongside other photographers to capture photos of popular tourist destinations then it's time to move away.

The really unique photographs are those that you take when you look at something through your eyes rather than following what everyone else is shooting.

Look for things that are different and interesting to you in the place you are visiting..

For example, when photographing fountains look for something other than the big picture.

Get in close to the fountain to capture close-up detail or wait for something to happen.

It might be a child splashing in the fountain, a couple sharing a kiss or it might be something as unusual as a bird perched on a statue.

Even in the most popular tourist places there are great and fun and unusual things to capture.