Summary

I consider myself moderately traveled. I have gone to many places, but not as many as other people that have been bitten by the “travel bug”. I do however have an addiction to taking pictures wherever I travel. This has somewhat calmed down over the years, but there is a deficit in the experience of a vacation for me, if I do not bring along my camera. I feel a sense of panic and a feeling in the pit of my stomach that the memories made will be forgotten.

As a photographer, there are several challenges to travel. Aside from being sentimental, I also have a difficult time culling the photography gear down from everything I want to bring, to just what I need to bring and even further down to the most difficult – only what I should bring. The most difficult challenge that I face is not with either of the former hurdles, but with the latter, which is; trying not to slow down my family with whom I am on vacation with and not destroying their trip with constant lagging behind to capture the perfect shot.

In this article, I will briefly touch upon the possible reason why I have to capture every moment, as well as the photo gear I travel with and some recommendations. I will also be sharing a few galleries of trips that I have taken in the past.

Theory

• Living through memories
  • Durkheim’s theory of collective emotion and the concept of perceived emotional synchrony

Durkheim’s theory of collective emotion and the concept of perceived emotional synchrony are used to explore tourism memories and to create a conceptual model explaining how and why we come to agree on how we felt when reliving past tourism experiences (Wood, 2020).

Durkheim’s theory explains how memories are kept and made through the sharing of them with others. Although I do share some memories on social media, the vast majority of my travel experiences I keep to myself and only share with my very close loved ones – seldomly at that (my wife is of the nature of living in the present and future, and not through pictures of the past).

Gear

There is a huge difference between what I want to take, what I should take and what I need to take. I have made the immense mistake of hiking up Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park with more than 50 lbs of photography gear strapped to my back, making me very top heavy and exhausted. Do not make this mistake. Below are some tips/suggestions for a more streamlined vacation:

“Plan ahead and travel as light as possible”

– Shaan Johri

It will save you and your loved ones from headache. Ask yourself questions such as:

1. What lenses will I absolutely need?
2. Will I need a tripod – will you be shooting video, or long exposures?
3. What sized backpack is manageable for me?

An example of what I did right on my trip to Malaysia was to assess the environment I wanted to shoot. I was going to be in dense and expansive jungles (landscape photography), I was going to be in markets with many interesting people (all-round travel lens) and lastly I would be trying many different foods that I would like to capture in the most beautiful way (portrait/wide aperture lense).

I ended up not needing a tripod, because I had no intention of long-exposures or video. I did not need a flash because my camera did low-light very well.

I did pack:

1. Compact Camera Satchel
2. 10-24 mm wide angle lens
3. 24-300 mm travel lens
4. 50mm 1.8 portrait lens
5. Nikon Df
6. Extra battery and memory card

For my trip to Turkey, I packed the same equipment, but with the only exception of an added tripod for long-exposures.

When I traveled to New York City, I wanted a photography challenge. With all of the tall buildings, and very compact environment, I wanted to test my skills as a photographer and only brought my Fujifilm X-T3 and a 33mm f/1.4 lens (50mm equivalent) and small travel tripod. This was extremely challenging, but fruitful. I was not able to capture all that I would have wanted to, but I did the best with what I had – turning a landscape photographer’s skyline paradise into an abstract/black and white challenge.

See all three galleries below:

Malaysia

Turkey

New York City

Wrap up:

When traveling, tread lightly and don’t let your gear slow you down. Sometimes, a challenge is a good and healthy way to grow as an artist and photographer. A challenge can bring you back to mastering the basics of photography, paying closer attention to the rule of thirds, leading lines, gestalt, and color theory; that one may have fallen away from while nurturing one’s own unique style over the years. With much introspection, I can see that Durkheim’s theory does apply to me, and that my memories are sometimes made through the lens. We must all remember that even with tremendous advances in technology, the best tried, tested and true cameras; are our eyes to capture images, and our hearts to store memories.

References

Wood, E. H. (2020). I Remember How We All Felt: Perceived Emotional Synchrony through Tourist Memory Sharing. Journal of Travel Research, 1339–1352.