Traveling with Camera Gear on A Wildlife Photo Workshop
How can you safely travel with camera gear on your wildlife photography trips
When you’re shooting wildlife photography seriously, you will ultimately want to travel: safaris in Africa for the Big Five, the once-in-a-lifetime Antarctic cruise, bears in Alaska? Hey, if you're going to dream, then dream big!
But you have to get on a plane to reach these places, and that's where that dream loses a little of its luster. You've probably heard the horror stories about flying with camera gear – or flying in general - and we're not going to tell you it's a pleasure cruise. Here we are going to give some guidance for making it easy as possible to get you and your gear safely to your final destination.
Our first recommendation is that you take your camera bag on the plane with you. Most airlines allow for one carry on and a personal item on the flight. Your camera bag is that carry on. This is for two reasons. First, baggage handlers aren't known for the loving care they give our precious cargo, and camera gear is fragile. Second, there's always the possibility that you can land in one continent and your checked baggage in another. You can pick up an extra shirt, socks, and underwear almost anywhere. But a premium camera and 400mm lens? Not so much.
Before you put that bag in the overhead compartment, make sure all your gear is backed snug, and the lenses and bodies have padded dividers between each one of them. Pull tight any compression straps on the bag to keep items from moving around in case of airplane turbulence. Make sure all zippers and snaps are closed.
If you need a tripod where you're going, that's a different matter. You can strap it to your camera pack and try to bring it on the plane but depending on the country and airport, you might be asked by security to go back and pack it with your check-in luggage. That's a serious hassle and loss of time, so I pack mine in my checked baggage.
The "personal item" that the airline allows should be a computer case or briefcase for your laptop computer, hard drives, and computer accessories, wallet, credit cards, passports, and other personal things.
A day's worth of extra clothing should be packed into any extra space in your camera bag or personal item, just in case you need to go a day or two without your luggage. Prepare for the unexpected.
When traveling with several large telephoto lenses, such as a 300mm, 600mm and a 800mm, or if you just don't relish the idea of carrying heavy photo gear from flight to flight through multiple airports, you can always ship all your gear to the hotel where you are staying. It might be expensive, but depending on the amount of equipment you're taking with you and how many connecting flights you have, it might very well be worth it. There is no better feeling in the world than getting on the plane, knowing your gear is already at your destination waiting for you.
And lastly, you should consider getting travel insurance that covers your photography gear. If your photography gear is lost, stolen, or damaged by the airline, travel insurance should cover the loss. The amount covered, the deductible and plan details are subject to each specific plan, so do some research to find the best plan for you.
OK, time to move onto another topic that we really love to discuss — managing your images when you travel.