GoPro, DSLR, mirrorless, action cam, camera bag, tripod, drone? Do you really need all of these for travel photography?
There are hundreds if not thousands of brands and tech options to choose from, and it’s often incredibly overwhelming!
If you’re a blogger, keep reading to learn about essential blogger equipment and the tools that we always have in our camera bag.
Read More: How Camera Design Can Influence Your Creative Vision and the End Product
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In a rush? Find our full gear list on Amazon.
All of the travel photography gear listed below fits into one camera bag. We’re all about budget travel which means that we have to lug our gear around while hiking, city trekking, riding public transportation, and squeezing into tiny airplanes. We rarely check luggage!
Additionally, all of the prices listed below are new. We almost never purchase new products. Not only is it cheaper, refurbished and reused products are better for the environment!
Wandrd Prvke Photography Bundle 31L Camera Bag
An essential piece of blogger equipment is your camera bag. It goes everywhere with you, from shoots and planes and keeps your computer safe.
After much deliberation, we decided to go with the Wandrd pack as our go-to camera bag for day-to-day use because of its customizability. The 31 L rolltop makes it perfect for the plane (fits under the seat), and the removable straps mean that you can keep your tripod underneath or attached to the back if you're also lugging a sleeping bag, jacket, etc.
We can keep one camera body, a drone, two laptops, and three lenses in here. And pockets, pockets galore! Not to mention it's water-resistant with special zippers to boot. It's not cheap but with a lifetime guarantee, it's hard to go wrong. This bag is truly a must-have for travel photography.
The company itself is also very focused on sustainability and their customer service is great! I missed a big sale and they gave me a discount code to get the same sale price a few days later.
Benefits of the Wandrd Prvke 31L
Nikon d750 Camera Body
The d750 is our go-to. It's always at the ready to whip out at a moment's notice and the d3100 is there should something go wrong, or should we need to shoot in a more precarious situation. To be honest, these days it almost never lives in our camera bag since the d750 is very durable.
Note: The d750 is an FX camera and the d3100 is a DX. Essentially, this means that we need to be careful when buying new lenses, as they won't always work on both cameras.
At the end of the day, your camera body doesn't really matter. Skill and practice are much more important to travel photography than gear is! Start improving your skills with our FREE Lightroom mini-course. Find it here!
Nikon d750 Camera Body Benefits
GoPro HERO8 Black
The GoPro Hero 8 is a top-quality action camera. With built-in stabilization and addons like lighting and microphones, this is becoming the all-in-one camera.
This probably isn't what you traditionally think of as essential travel photography gear, but a big part of travel is getting yourself into unusual situations. The GoPro is the perfect solution to wanting to capture a moment but keeping your expensive DSLR safe.
The GoPro Hero 8 is also a great vlogging camera without the need for any of the GoPro accessories like the mic or additional screen. Check out our vlogs here to see the mic and video quality.
Make sure you also invest in extra GoPro batteries because they do not last long at all. A full day of vlogging may require 5 or 6 batteries if not more. You'll also want to invest in GoPro's own brand batteries as other ones cause the camera to freeze (speaking from experience here).
Benefits of the GoPro Hero 8:
Nikon 35mm Prime Lens f/1.8 DX
An absolutely beautiful lens and an essential piece of blogger equipment that is worth its weight in gold. I've been using this lens for several years now for travel photography and still use it when shooting clients and portraits. If you've got the money and the FX camera body, give a more expensive FX lens a shot, but if you're just starting out or looking for something budget-friendly, don't hesitate to invest in this DX lens.
Nikon Wide Angle 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 FX
This absolute beauty has become our go-to lens. It offers us so much versatility from great close-ups to fantastic landscapes. Additionally, the wide-angle allows us to get great shots when we don't have a lot of space to play with. All of the shots here were taken with this lens.
Unfortunately, this lens is not cheap but it is well worth the expense. From Covent Garden in London to Lake Windermere in the Lake District, this lens has not disappointed us yet. If you are looking to step up your travel photography game then we couldn't recommend this lens more.
- Versatile
- Allows you to stay close to your subject
- Perfect for cities and architecture
- Not much depth of field
ESDDI TP-40 Photo Camera Tripod
If you read this post in 2019, you might have seen that we didn't believe in spending a lot on a tripod. However, the more that we used the plastic tripod, the more that we realized that a cheap plastic clip holding a very expensive camera and lens was a terrible idea. So we upgraded! The camera is now much more secure on an aluminum tripod.
Joby Gorillapod
When you're looking for a low shot or if the terrain is a bit uneven, the GorillaPod by Joby is there to give you the helping hand you need. Super easy to use and ideal for travel photography, you just need to bend the legs to fit your environment. We chose the 3K kit as it offered a lot of support for the weight of cameras we use. The tripod also works incredibly well for holding the GoPro and vlogging. It truly is a vlogger and blogger equipment essential!
Polarising and ND Lens Filters
There are so many different lens filters out there, but the main ones we like to have on hand are UV filters (which we have on our lenses at all times) and polarizing filters. We also like to have a variety of ND filters in case we decide to do some long exposure shots and need to filter the amount of light we let into the camera. Keep in mind that you will need a different size (mm) of filter depending on what lens you have.
We love using the brand Gobe because of their commitment to sustainability and the quality of their products.
We often use the remote release for D3100 as it doesn't have the option for interval timer shooting. For instance, we can set the D750 to shoot 50 shots at 1-second intervals. The remote switch is also for long exposure shots as don't have to worry about accidentally moving the camera. A remote switch is a must-have for travel photography!
If you have the Nikon d750 there's an interval timer built-in, although this is still beneficial for long exposure shots.
Portable Phone Charger
When we are out and about we can both get through our phone batteries pretty quickly. With how much we're on our phones, they're constantly draining. It has become imperative that we bring at least one external charger. A true necessity for travel bloggers and photographers.
Peak Design Wrist and Body Straps
The Peak Design Wrist and Body Straps are an absolute wonder team. The quick detach system is super slick and easy to use.
They are on the expensive side for camera straps but considering the value of the camera they are holding, the price is more than worth it. Both are super durable and supposedly can carry up to 200 pounds! That being said, we felt it was best not to put that to the test.
SD Cards and Case
SD Cards are vital! You never know when you might run out of space, or when one might just decide to fail you. For the drone, we need a micro SD, but for the camera, we need the full-size deal.
We use SanDisk in a variety of different sizes, usually purchasing 32GB or 16GB. These come with adapters so they'll be able to fit a micro or standard size. So far they've been good quality for a decent price. It's best to invest in a variety of smaller cards instead of one large one on the off chance that one gets damaged. It also acts as a reminder to move your content to your computer every night.
I also highly suggest investing in an SD card case in order to protect the SD cards and keep them organized. You don't want to be rummaging around in your bag while something amazing is happening!
DJI Mavic Air Drone
If we had to pick one blogger equipment essential, it wouldn't be a drone.
However, drones are amazing and are do allow you to create incredibly unique and beautiful photo and video content that your audience will love.
We chose the DJI Mavic Air because it's small enough to easily fit in any camera bag and it's very user-friendly while still offering a lot of the features standard to bigger more expensive drones. For instance, the Mavic Air has many different tracking features that make it very easy for Jack to record both of us without having to constantly stare at the remote. We would both strongly recommend this drone to first-timers.
The DJI Mavic Air that we have isn't sold anymore, and we recommend investing in the DJI Air 2S which is even higher quality.
Generally Useful Travel Items
- Snacks – We love Cliff Bars and Lara Bars as opposed to unhealthy airport food but we would love to start making our own to take with us in reusable bags – link to your favorite vegan protein bar recipes below!
- Stain stick – For obvious reasons. I swear these things are magical.
- Chapstick – I can’t go anywhere without it!
- Collapsible Water Bottle – I’ve raved about these in other posts. They’re perfect for travel!
- Dramamine – The ultimate nausea medicine!
Read More – Eco Travel Products: 12 Sustainable Must-Have Items
Ready to Improve Your Travel Photography?
Now that you have a better idea of products to invest in, keep learning! Check out the posts below to improve your travel photography or explore the rest of the site to find your next destination.
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