The travel photographer's checklist: 14 items to check-off before you leave

Before leaving on a trip, photographers need to prepare themselves and their gear so they'll be ready to shoot upon arrival and get quality images.

There is much that can go wrong that might end one's chance to take advantage of a great travel photo opportunity. It's impossible to predict everything, but research and a flexible plan to handle many if not most emergencies and gear failures can help you overcome problems.

I start to plan my journeys a month out, but my planning gets intense the week before I leave and with 24 hours to go. When planning is well thought out, pulling everything together before you leave should go smoothly.

Here are my 16 items to check-off before you leave on your travel photography journey.

Top Six Travel Photography Essentials

Today, travelers are often journeying to far-off lands and seas, many to “once-in-a-lifetime” destinations. During the past month, I was on such a trip to the Arctic. Most of the expedition trip was spent in Svalbard, an archipelago halfway between the North Pole and Norway, and in Greenland, with short stops in Oslo, Reykjavik and Paris.

Travelers can find themselves hundreds of miles from the nearest photo store or repair shop at destinations like Svalbard, and Greenland, and while in cities, where photo shops are available, who wants to waste precious time in them, for purchases or repairs.

Travel and photo gear self-sufficiency, while away from home, has become essential, especially for those for whom photography is an important part of their journeys.

Digital travel photography - Don't leave home without them!

My mom told me there were two essentials to pack for any trip.

Always take a toothbrush and toothpaste, as tooth decay doesn't vacation just because you do, and always pack clean underwear in perfect condition.

“What would foreigners think of Americans,” she would tell me, “if you got in an accident, were unconscious, and some strange nurse would undress you, only to see your underwear was full of holes?”

If my mom were alive today she might add, for those using digital cameras while traveling, to not leave home without extra memory cards, a spare battery and a way to recharge it.

Here's my list of ten digital photography gear items, in my mom's tradition of, “Never leaving home without them!”