Coping with electrical devices while traveling

There's an issue which keeps coming up for international travelers. Years ago it wasn't like today, where everyone seems to be carrying equipment needing to be plugged in or charged to work.

Traveling abroad in the '60's through 80's, I only had to worry about having extra alkaline batteries, and if my hotel had a bathroom adapter for my electric razor.

Today, my list of travel and photography gear, needing an electrical outlet to work or get charged, seems to go on forever. My travel electrical needs, like so many travelers, is significant.

Just as most every country has its own language, and currency, and definitely its own culture, countries have their own electrical power specifications. Travel photographers, like any traveler, need to be aware of the electrical milieu of the countries they're visiting, so they are prepared for their stay.

Smartphone Apps for Photographers: iBird Explorer Pro

One of my photographic passions is wildlife photography, I've traveled to many locations in the world and the US to see and photograph wildlife. When home, you'll generally find me visiting the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge for a number of hours each week.

An important part of wildlife photography is properly identifying the wildlife you encounter, both flora and fauna. Sometimes, especially if you've not visited a location before, identification isn't easy. I'm often visiting wildlife locations with well studied wildlife enthusiasts, or wildlife experts, and they are very helpful in identifying wildlife, but sometimes I'm out alone and need some help.

I used to carry several books with me when out, bird guides, wildflower guides and butterfly guides, for example. These can get heavy, and sometimes you get so busy thumbing through their pages, you miss seeing and photographing some wildlife, because you're unaware they're in front of you.

Now I use a number of wildlife guides on my iPhone.

Protecting your lenses while traveling

Immediately when purchasing it, most everyone considers protecting their camera for travel and home. Typically, everyone purchases a camera case or bag to haul it around. Some travelers purchase a camera strap with a steel cable in it to prevent slash and grab thefts.

The same travelers rarely think about protecting their SLR or DSLR lenses from being damaged, which when you think about it, makes little sense.

SLR and DSLR users generally own at least two lenses for their camera, and often have more. Looking at many vacationers' stable of lenses, I often see a wide angle zoom, a normal-telephoto zoom, and often a fast prime lens. Sometimes they also own a macro or telephoto lens.

If you add up the cost of the lenses, even when they own just two, they will equal or more likely exceed the value of their camera.

I was in Paris a few years ago. I went to the Eiffel Tower one evening to take night photos. The crowd at the tower was huge. After finishing we walked back to the Metro to return to our hotel along with many who had visited the Tower that evening. The neighborhood is filled with row homes having front steps with metal railings.

Along the way I was accidental pushed into one of those railings by the crowd. The front of my lens hit the railing. Despite the lens cap on the lens, the UV filter atop the lens was smashed.

And we thought the Florida law was bad?

A while back I wrote about a proposed law in Florida which would make it a first-degree felony to photograph a farm without first obtaining written permission from the owner.


Wilton Simpson, a Florida farmer said the bill is needed to protect the property rights of farmers and the "intellectual property" involving farm operations. Simpson, also said the law would prevent people from posing as farmworkers so that they can secretly film agricultural operations.

Of course, Simpson couldn't name a single instance when that happened.

The originally proposed bill was so crazy, it even would have made it a first degree felony to photograph a farm from a public road, where the farmer enjoys no expectation of privacy whatsoever.

Choosing Lenses for Your DSLR Travel Kit, Part II

In Choosing Lenses for Your DSLR Travel Kit, Part I, I discussed travel photography's many challenges including luggage weight limits, number of luggage pieces permitted, locations with unknown restrictions, bad weather when you least expect it, and others.

I discussed the two major factors that influence which lenses you put in your photo travel “kit,” travel weight and volume, and the varying conditions, limitations and circumstances of your destination's photographic opportunities.

This week, in Part II, I will discuss specific lens choices for three particular travel locations and types of travel you might choose to take which you can use as exemplars.

Maryland Judge: Videotaping Cops in Traffic Stop is Allowed

There was some good news recently concerning the civil rights of photographers. It happened in Maryland where a Judge dismissed charges against a photographer who shot a video of police and posted it on YouTube.

The judge stated “Those of us who are public officials and are entrusted with the power of the state are ultimately accountable to the public. When we exercise that power in public fora, we should not expect our actions to be shielded from public observation.”

Thank goodness someone has some commonsense, understands the idea of “expectation of privacy,” and that a free and open society needs to protect those who scrutinize public officials, to ensure they remain accountable to the public.

Choosing Lenses for Your DSLR Travel Kit, Part I

Travel photography has many challenges. Among them are unpredictability, luggage weight limits, number of luggage pieces permitted, locations with unknown restrictions, bad weather when you least expect it, and many others.

When planning for a trip photographically, one of the most important decisions anyone must make is what lenses to include in your travel photography “kit.” Destinations usually have a variety of photo opportunities which may require a variety of lenses to meet their challenges.

There are two major factors which militate the amount and choice of gear you choose for your photo travel “kit.” The first is travel weight and volume restrictions, and the second is the varying conditions, limitations and circumstances of your destination's photographic opportunities.

Florida Photography: A New Law Gone Mad!!!

You're traveling in Hamilton County Florida and see a gorgeous farming landscape with hay bales shiny from the setting sun, and get a great photograph of the scene. Perhaps you come across a great river scene along the Indian River in Florida, with rows of orange trees in the background, and snap a photo of it.

Come this July, you could be charged with 2 counts of first degree felony photography, punishable by serious jail time, if a proposed Florida statute becomes law.

Florida State Senator Jim Norman (R) (Tampa) has proposed to make it a first-degree felony to photograph a farm without first obtaining written permission from the owner. A farm is defined as any land "cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production, the raising and breeding of domestic animals or the storage of a commodity."

Preventing your photos from being lost while traveling

It's happened to me and many photographers I've known over the years since digital took over from film photography. It even happened to me just last year. Has it ever happened to you?

I'm talking about memory card failure while traveling.

Fortunately, I've lost very few photos, but others I know haven't been so lucky. Losing precious images you've carefully crafted while traveling can be especially disagreeable because travelers often never return to many locations, especially when away on one of those “once in a lifetime” trips, the really special journeys.

Whether I'm on a two week jaunt to some exotic locale, a day trip to a local wildlife refuge, or any kind of photo shoot, long or short, I take the same measured precautions to protect the images I've made.