Travel Photography: Geotagging, Part 1

Have you ever wondered what all the geotagging fuss is about, or what it actually is? Have you ever heard the expression, "Find your photos," and wondered what the heck that was all about?

Have you ever returned home from a long vacation, and started scanning through your photos, only to forget which church was which, or exactly where you took that great photo? We all have, at one time or another.

Year's ago I took detailed notes whenever I took photos on trips. More recently, I dictated the information into a digital voice recorder.

Here's the thing though, I can go on a trip for a couple of weeks and easily take several thousand photos, especially if they're wildlife photos. Not that long ago, on a "trip of a lifetime" to the Galapagos, I took more than 5,000 photographs in just a week of hiking, cruising, and snorkeling.

The best solution in the 21st century, I've found to record exactly where each of my photos was taken, is geotagging.

"Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as photographs, video, websites, or RSS feeds and is a form of geospatial metadata. This data usually consists of latitude and longitude coordinates, though it can also include altitude, bearing, accuracy data, and place names."

Geotagging photographs can be done manually or automatically. It can be accomplished via a GPS device, geocoding, geotagging, or Exif editing software. Some Point & Shoot camera manufacturers have added GPS modules directly into their cameras, while other cameras, especially professional quality DSLR's, are GPS capable and can have portable GPS devices plugged directly in to them.

Geotagging my photos has become a crucial step in documenting my journeys. It enables me to be able to precisely inform interested parties where the photograph was taken. By geotagging my photos I can easily use them to create a narrative of my travel experience.

Moreover, when I travel to places few have had the chance to visit, I can use the geotagged photos to help answer the question, "Hey, exactly where is that?" Using online mapping software like Google Maps or Goggle Earth, I can literally "map" my geotagged photos so everyone can can see the photo coupled with both topographical and geographical data displayed on the map.

My Nikon DSLR is GPS capable. It keeps GPS information in each photo's Exif data. I could enter the data manually, collected with one of those handheld GPS units, but that's just too much work, so I bought a GPS receiver for my DSLR. It's definitely the best travel photography accessory I bought last year!

I purchased the Solmeta DP-GPS N2 unit (from Nikonians) which plugs directly into my Nikon DSLR. Every time I take a photograph the camera pulls the GPS information from the Solmeta unit and stores it with the photo.

I use RoboGEO software which can read the GPS data (longitude, latitude, elevation) from each of my photos directly. I can then create a Google map which shows each of the chosen photo locations, or create a KML or KMZ file to import directly into Google Earth. Many photo display websites such as Google's Picasa, Yahoo's Flickr, or SmugMug can take your photos and map them for you in your photo area of their site, if the photos contain GPS data.

I highly recommend any traveler geotag their photos to enhance their memories of their sojourns.

By Request: My Firefox Recommendations

While it's not strictly about Travel Photography, or even photography more or less, I've been getting lots of email requests here and at Tripso.com where I write a weekly travel column, to talk about the add-ins I use with Firefox.

Firefox is my primary web browser. I continue to like it more than my secondary browser Microsoft Internet Explorer, and other browsers such as Google Chrome and Opera. For me the main reason which keeps me using Firefox is how much you can customize it to meet your specific needs. I currently use 44 add-ins with Firefox 3.x to customize it to work well for me.

So by demand, here are my add-ons for Firefox 3.x (Photographic related add-ons are denoted in copper.)

1. Adblock Plus - Blocks ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page. This add-on is amazingly powerful.
   
2. Advanced URL Builder - Append selected text to the URL of your favorite site enabling you to submit a query to any website. For example - highlight a placename/postcode and open it using Google maps.
3. All-in-One Sidebar - All-in-One Sidebar lets you quickly switch between sidebar panels, view dialog windows such as downloads, extensions, and more in the sidebar, or view source or websites in the sidebar. This is one of the most useful Firefox add-ins ever.
   
4. Better YouTube - A compilation of some of the best Greasemonkey user scripts for YouTube in one interface.
5. Check All - Makes it possible to check/uncheck several checkboxes at the same time. Just select them, right-click and chose action.
6. Clipboard-Save-As - Simulates right-click -> "save as" with an URL in the clipboard.
7. Clipmarks - Instead of copying and pasting links, Clipmarks is like adding a pair of scissors to your browser, letting you capture exactly what you want others to see (text, images or video). Your clips are saved on clipmarks.com and can easily be syndicated to FriendFeed, Twitter, Facebook or other sites. You can also post anything you clip directly to your blog (supports Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad and more) or send it directly to friends or co-workers via email.
8. Color Management - Provides a GUI front end for enabling color management in Firefox and Songbird. If you want Firefox to poperly display your photographic work try this add-in out.
   
9. Configuration Mania - Configuration Mania allows you easily to configure various hidden Firefox preferences.
10. Controle de Scripts - Controle de Scripts is an extension that allows you to control what JavaScripts do on your browser.
11. Cooliris - Full-Screen, 3D -- Cooliris transforms your browser into a visually stunning, lightning fast way to search and enjoy online photos, videos and more. Just launch Cooliris from the browser toolbar, and our unique "3D Wall" lets you zoom your way around thousands items on a single, ever-expansive wall.
12. Ctrl-Tab - Ctrl+Tab navigation and "All Tabs" panel
13. CustomizeGoogle - CustomizeGoogle is a Firefox extension that enhance Google search results by adding extra information (like links to Yahoo, Ask.com, MSN etc) and removing unwanted information (like ads and spam). All features are optional and easily configured.
14. Dictionary Tooltip - Press ctrl+shift+D (or) double-click (or) right-click after selecting a word to see its meaning. This extension is ideal for those who doesn't like to switch their window to see the meaning of a word. There is a small fee for this add-in but it's worth every penny.
    
15. DictionarySearch - Looks up a user selected word in an online. Some web sites prevent Dictionary Tooltip from working, so this is my backup method of accessing the dictionary on the fly.
    
16. (Video) DownloadHelper - The easy way to download and convert Web videos from hundreds of YouTube-like sites.
17. Down ThemAll! - The first and only download manager/accelerator built inside Firefox.
18. Edit Middle - Show AwesomeBar results when editing in the middle (not just at the end)
19. Extended Copy Menu - It adds a "Copy As Html" and "Copy As Plain Text" to the context (right-click) menu. It is useful if you want to copy the text or underlying html from a web page into documents, posts or other applications. This is invaluable for using quotes from web pages which must be pasted without formatting.
    
20. Favicon Picker 3 - Change your bookmark icons! Right-click any bookmark, and select "Properties", then "Browse" for a new image or paste in a url. Works with Firefox 3.
21. FireFTP - FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.
22. Forecastfox - Get international weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com, and display it in any toolbar or statusbar with this highly customizable and unobtrusive.
23. Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer - If you use Firefox on more than one computer, you'll want Foxmarks. Install Foxmarks on each computer, and it works silently in the background to keep your bookmarks and (optionally) passwords synchronized.
24. Go Parent Folder - Add "Go Parent Folder" menu to context menu in The Library list view and Search result in Bookmarks Sidebar.
25. Greasemonkey - Allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript.
26. Groowe Search Toolbar - Groowe Search Toolbar bundles toolbar functions for many search engines, shopping sites, download sites, including Google toolbar, Yahoo, Amazon, EBay, Ask, Msn, Download.com, Wikipedia, Digg, del.icio.us and others.
27. Hebrew Calendar - Show the Hebrew date in your browser's status.
28. IE Tab - This enables embedding Internet Explorer in tabs of Mozilla/Firefox. It's really amazing.
    
29. IE View - Lets you load pages in IE with a single right-click, or mark certain sites to *always* load in IE.
30. Image Toolbar - Single-click access to common actions for images (e.g. saving, copying, printing). This extension is intended to provide a replacement for the equivalent toolbar in Internet Explorer.
31. Java Quick Starter - Part of the Java 6 Update
32. Opanda IExif - Opanda IExif is a professional EXIF viewer in Windows / IE / Firefox, It is the best choice to view EXIF / GPS / IPTC for photographer, shutterbug, photo editor and so on.
33. OpenBook - This extension allows for customization of the Add Bookmark dialog. The bookmarks tree can be automatically opened and elements can be revealed or hidden. Also, the dialog can be resized.
34. PDF Download - Use PDF Download to do whatever you like with PDF files on the Web. Regain control of them and eliminate browser problems, view PDFs directly in Firefox as HTML, and use the all-new Web-to-PDF toolbar to save and share Web pages as high-quality PDF files.
35. Print Preview - Creates a Print Preview toolbar button and context menu item.
36. Right-Click-Link - Opens selected text in a new tab.
37. Screen grab! - Screengrab saves entire webpages as images. It will save what you can see in the window, the entire page, just a selection, a particular frame. Basically it saves webpages as images.
38. Show Parent Folder - Show Parent Folder in list view of Library.
39. Skype extension for Firefox - Installed as part of Skype communication software.
40. StumbleUpon - StumbleUpon discovers web sites based on your interests, learns what you like and brings you more.
41. Tab Mix Plus - Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox's tab browsing capabilities. It includes such features as duplicating tabs, controlling tab focus, tab clicking options, undo closed tabs and windows, plus much more. It also includes a full-featured session manager. This invaluable add-in is my most important one. It enables me to have full control of the tabs in Firefox, and its session manager is far superior to the one built into Firefox.
    
42. United States English Dictionary - English United States (en-US) spellchecking dictionary.
43. Who is This Person - Highlight any name on a web page and see matching information from Wink, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Facebook, Google News, Technorati, Yahoo Person Search, Spock, WikiYou, ZoomInfo, IMDB, MySpace and more.
44. Window Resizer - Resize your browser to various standard resolution sizes.

Air Travel — Tripods and Monopods — Carry-on or Checked-in

It's extremely rare for me to travel without either my monopod and/or tripod. With today's air travel carry-on rules, and their inconsistent interpretation and enforcement, it's hard to know where to pack one's monopod or tripod.

At this point, TSA and other countries' security agencies are not permitting monopods in carry-on bags. TSA has told me that it's a stick or weapon to them. My advice, if you want to bring your monopod when you fly, is to pack it in your checked-in luggage.

Tripods, on the other hand, usually may be taken into the cabin in your carry-on, or packed in your checked-in luggage.

The choice of where to pack my tripod, has more to do with how long I'm going to be traveling, and what I need to pack in my carry-on bags, than convenience or any other factor.

When packing one's belongings, air travelers must understand airlines' rules and liability limits. In the words of US Airways, as an example,

"US Airways assumes no liability for valuable/commercial items including but not limited to: money, negotiable papers, securities, irreplaceable business documents, books, manuscripts, publications, photographic or electronic equipment, musical instruments, jewelry, silverware, precious metals, furs, antiques, artifacts, paintings and other works of art, lifesaving medication, and samples."

and in addition,

"Total liability for provable direct or consequential damages resulting from the loss, delay, or damage to baggage in US Airways’ custody is limited as follows:
A. for travel wholly between U.S. points, to $3300 per customer
B. for most international travel (including domestic portions of international journeys), to $9.07 per pound ($20 per kilo) for checked baggage and $400 per customer for unchecked baggage in the custody/control of the carrier." (If your one checked-in bag weighs the maximum of 50 lbs, the maximum liability coverage offered is $453.50.)

The airlines are telling us all, don't pack anything of value, or what you can't afford to loose, in your checked-in luggage.

In the US and most of the world, you're allowed a single carry-on bag, plus a personal bag. I carry a roller bag which meets the maximum size general standard of 22"x14"x9" (56cm x 36cm x 23cm). This standard does vary to an extent, but I've flown all over the world with my carry-on roller bag and it's been allowed everywhere.

My personal bag is a backpack, in particular the Lowepro CompuTrekker AW Plus, in which I take my electronics, my camera gear, and my laptop.

In my roller bag, I pack, at a minimum, any other valuables I have, my medications, toilet articles, and a complete change of clothes, including shoes or sneaks.

If I'm going to be away for a weekend, I usually only use carry-on, and can attach my tripod to the bag, or pack it inside it. It's usually attached to the outside of the bag. If I'm going away for a longer time, I take a single checked-in bag and pack my tripod in the checked-in bag. When I pack the tripod in the checked-in luggage, I remove its ball head which I pack in my back-pack.

While I haven't had the problem myself, I have heard from other photographers who travel with their tripods that every once in a while, they have been forced to check-in their tripod when they tried to carry it on the plane. It becomes a target for theft at that point, and if not in a padded bag may be seriously damaged. Ask to "gate check" the tripod at that point, as it will be less likely to be stolen that way.

So, to enjoy taking those nighttime or sunrise/sunset photos, and others, with your tripod or monopod, I suggest, if at all possible, to put it in your checked-in luggage.

Brrrr! 8 secrets for mastering travel photography in cold weather

According to Frostbite Falls denizens, Rocky and Bullwinkle, cold weather vacations are the best. The mountains are more majestic, the snowy plains look new and fresh, and the icy waterfalls are studies of frozen motion.

There are tremendous photographic opportunities while traveling in cold-weather destinations. But there are also challenges you must overcome to bring home photographic travel memories from places like Montreal and Reykjavik.

Take holiday travel photos like a pro: 3 insider tips

Holiday travel for family gatherings and vacations often offer unique photographic opportunities. I’ve got some help for you to conquer three holiday travel photographic challenges; fireworks, photographing elderly family members at family gatherings, holiday lights.

Whether it’s a family outing to Disney World, New Year’s Eve in Times Square, or great family holidays at Grandma’s, you don’t want to miss saving any special memories with your camera.

Wherever you’re traveling, there will probably be fireworks to bring in the new year.

Whether you’re using a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera) or a Digital Point and Shoot Camera (DPS), or even a film camera, to get great fireworks photos you need a tripod. Get one which fully supports the weight of your camera and lens. As a pro photog, I have an expensive carbon fiber tripod for my heavy DSLR, with attached long telephoto lenses weighing several pounds. If you have a light weight DSLR, or a DPS camera, you can purchase a very workable tripod for $70-$130.

If you’re using a DSLR, get a cable release, and use it to release the shutter. Whatever camera you’re using, turn off the flash.

You’ll need to go to manual focus, and set your distance to infinity. I suggest you use a normal to wide angle lens, or setting on your camera. Set your ISO (sensor sensitivity to light) to 100, or the lowest available setting above that. Set your camera mode to manual. You might think the lens aperture should be wide open, as it’s dark at midnight, but you’re taking photos of fireworks, which are very bright lights, so set your lens between f/8 and f/16. Start by taking your photo with the shutter open for a second or two. Look at the photos in your camera, and then adjust how long you keep your shutter open accordingly. You can do this by setting the shutter to bulb on most cameras. Consult your manual about this.

Many will be traveling to spend time during the holidays with parents and grandparents. Photographs of the elderly can be difficult, but special consideration of them can make a difference.

When indoors, try using the available light in rooms instead of the harsh light of a flash. Straight on light from a flash can make an elderly person’s skin look outer-worldly, and bounced flashes can produce unwelcome shadow and skin detail. If you need more light when inside, try to move your subject near a window. If you’ve got a Point and Shoot camera, and you’ve got to use a flash, go ahead. It’s better than missing a great shot. If you have a DSLR with a separate flash, put a diffuser over it if possible.

To get wonderful photos of grandparents, engage them to reminisce about their lives. You’ll be able to capture their spirit as they smile, laugh, or even shed a happy tear about their life experience. Consider focusing in on their smile, eyes, hands, and profile. Capture them interacting with family members.

Take photos of them where they are most comfortable. For my grandmothers, that would have been in the kitchen or at the dining room table. For my dad, that’s in the den, or out on the golf course. Taking a walk with them, if they’re able, can produce great photo opportunities.

Many of us enjoy looking at and photographing holiday lights on buildings. At some travel destinations the lights can be spectacular. At Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Cinderella’s Castle at the holidays is bathed in more than 200,000 tiny white lights, making its exterior shimmer, as if it’s made out of ice.

Rule one, to get good pictures of holiday lights — Turn off your flash! I repeat — for most pictures of holiday lights, turn off your flash!

I said most, but for some situations you’ll want to use a flash. If you want to get an indoor shot of the family Christmas tree, you’ll probably need a flash to see the ornaments in your photo. If all the family’s children are posing under the tree, you might use your flash, but you might find the Christmas-tree lights are sufficient, and give a beautiful luminescence to their faces in the evening. In the morning, you might find the glow from the sun through the window perfect for a photo.

Outdoors on houses, stores, and streets, to capture the lights, don’t use a flash. Try shooting at twilight. You’ll capture some color in the sky, and detail in buildings, rather than the pitch-black tone which comes later in the evening.

Set your ISO at 100 for holiday lights photos. It eliminates the noise in the shots to get pleasing photos. When you use a low ISO for outdoor holiday lighting, that generally means your exposure will be long enough that the photos will require you to use a tripod, or at least find a way to strongly brace the camera in your hands. I suggest you use a tripod, if possible.

Enjoy the holidays!

TSA “approved” bags are nice, but here’s why I’m sticking with my old carry-on

TSA-approved security checkpoint bags are finally shipping. This is a little off the beaten path concerning Travel Photography, but many of us carry our laptops for travel storage, viewing and editing of our photos while away from home and office, so I thought I'd talk about the new security checkpoint bags. I wouldn't be surprised that soon there will be some photo gear bags which can hopefully breeze through security. I hope they are better than these bags.

I’ve had a chance to check out two of them; the Targus Zip-Thru Corporate bag, and the Skooba Checkthrough bag. Briefly, I like the Targus bag a bit better than the Skooba bag, but neither would move me to stop using my Skooba MegaMedia Bag.

CNet.com says the Skooba Checkthrough bag has “plenty of organizer pockets; … sturdily constructed; well-thought-out design …” but it’s “expensive; bulky; when fully loaded, may be too heavy to carry on one shoulder or briefcase-style.”

As someone who carries the larger MegaMedia bag on my shoulder, I have no problem with the bulk or weight of the loaded Checkthrough bag. One of the bag’s problems, in my opinion, is that there isn’t quite enough room in the bag to take my laptop and accessories, plus a small point-and-shoot camera and accessories, plus papers and other materials for my business meetings.

I don’t like the interior storage area for my business papers. The area is pretty tight, and has no divider. I like an exterior storage area because it’s easier to stuff extra items in it, as you can bulge out the side, and you don’t have to disturb your equipment to get to your papers.

CNet.com says the Targus Zip-Thru, has a “well-padded laptop compartment; may speed your way through airport-security checkpoints,” but “the TSA agent may force you to take your laptop out anyway … [it's] less roomy than it looks.”

I found the corporate version of the bag roughly equivalent to the size of the Skooba Checkthrough. Like the Skooba, there isn’t enough storage for me. The area for business papers is larger in this bag, and has a divider, which is good, but like the Skooba bag, it still isn’t on the exterior of the bag, where I prefer it.

Unlike the Skooba bag, which reveals the laptop behind a clear panel, the Targus bag doesn’t, but TSA’s idea behind these bags is that the laptop is alone in a compartment, with nothing below or above it, while it goes through X-ray. The Targus bag accomplishes that task.

There is a problem with both bags, however, which could require secondary screening when used. On the Targus site, they warn you to avoid stacking electronic items in your bag, and keep your bag as uncluttered as possible.

In my opinion, the design of the pockets and compartments in both bags literally force electronics stacking and clutter, unless you really pack light. I’ve been caught for that a few times, and had my bag hand searched.

When your accessories are stacked in layers, when X-rayed, agents can’t view individual gear items. My MegaMedia bag normally has enough room and an organization which permits me to spread my accessories out better than these bags, and I don’t mind removing my laptop from the bag for inspection, so I’m sticking with it.

Are travel photos on your online photo site safe?

Are your travel photos on your online photo site safe? Maybe not.

They weren’t for members of Digital Railroad, who learned on Oct. 29th that the site was going out of business and their photos would be lost forever if they didn’t act immediately.

Anyone who logged in to the photo site was greeted with the following message: “We deeply regret to inform you that Digital Railroad (DRR) has shut down.” The company had sought new financing, but their efforts failed. It turned out that Digital Railroad was able to maintain access to photos through midnight of October 31st, but after that, the site was closed and transfer of the photos to other locations impossible.

The vast majority of traveler and amateur photographers now take digital photographs. Even countless professional photographers, especially ones involved in newspaper and magazine photography (except fashion photographers) have made the jump to digital photography. About four years ago, I completely moved from film to digital photography.

I have a substantial photo site hosted by Smugmug. I have about 1,300 photos online, and I’m about to upload another few hundred soon. For me, my Smugmug hosted site is essential to my photography business. Through the site’s display of my work, I’ve sold many photos to a variety of clients either directly from the site, or from my library of photos, when clients became interested in my photography via the sites.

On Tripso.com forums on TalkingTravelers, members have pointed me to their online sites containing countless wonderful photographs of their travels. Showing your travel photographs online to friends and family is one of the top uses of Internet photo websites. Many travelers use Internet photo sites as their main repository for their precious photos, and have no copies elsewhere. After a while, for the average amateur photographer, the aggregate file storage size of their photographs exceeds the available capacity of their computer’s hard drive.

So what can anyone do to ensure they don’t loose their precious photographs preserving wonderful memories of great sojourns around the world?

Don’t depend on photography websites as your primary storage for photographs. The sites are not under your control, so you can’t depend that your photographs will be there forever. There are steps you can take, even if your computer’s hard drive doesn’t have enough capacity to store all your photographs:

1. You can print each photograph. The problem with this solution is that it doesn’t make it easy to make high quality duplicate prints, or computer displayed photographs later, if the original digital photographic files are lost or deleted.
2. You can put all your photographs on a CD or DVD for long-term storage. Archival quality CD blanks are readily available. However, there are still questions about the longevity of archival DVDs. The real problem with this solution is that according to how many photographs you take, the number of CDs and DVDs in your photographic library may become unwieldy.
3. You can put your photographs on external hard drives. Currently, this is the solution I follow. While I use my Internet photo site for display of some of my photographs, to show them off to clients, as well as friends, family, and fellow travelers, all my photographs are on external hard drives connected to my computer. I use Seagate FreeAgent Pro units, soon to be superseded by Seagate FreeAgent XTreme external hard drives which have a triple interface, including USB and Firewire connections. I connect these hard drives to my computer via Firewire due to its high transfer speed. I use duplicate external hard drives to have a backup of my photos, as I can’t afford to loose my work. (Seagate 750 GB FreeAgent Pro Triple Interface External Hard Drives can be purchased today for as little as $135.)
4. Skip media that’s impractical. I don’t consider long term digital photograph storage on other media such as memory cards, or removable cartridge drives to be feasible, as they don’t have long term viability.

If you currently use Internet photographic sites as your primary digital photographic storage location, I strongly suggest you consider and take advantage of other alternatives.

10 travel photography to-do’s before you depart

After your plane has landed on Baltra Island, while waiting for the zodiac to take you to your boat, you see sea lions lounging on the dock. You pull out your camera, press the “on” button, and nothing happens. You forgot to charge the battery.

Aboard the boat, while your battery charges, you miss great shots of whales while traveling to North Seymour. Five days later, all your memory chips are filled, but you have two more days left on the cruise, and you haven’t even been to see those Giant Galapagos Tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island yet.

I can’t tell you how often these and other lapses in trip preparation plague travelers.

Whether you use a Digital Point and Shoot (DPS) camera in “automatic,” or an advanced Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, you still need to plan and prepare to take photographs while traveling. Travel photographs become keepsakes and can refresh extraordinary memories, so don’t let a lack of a little preparation stop you from saving those memories. Here are ten preparation tips for anyone who takes photographs while traveling:

1. Determine your photo storage requirements. You definitely need enough memory cards to store each day’s photos, so you can keep shooting without worrying about running out of space. If you have a portable hard drive which can directly upload memory card images, such as a Hyperdrive Colorspace, or a laptop computer, you can upload your photos each evening and reuse your memory cards after formatting them. If not, since memory cards can be expensive, and difficult or impossible to find while traveling, I recommend bringing enough cards with you to store all your photos for your entire trip. Some locations have “photo kiosks” you can use to write your photos to CDs, or you may be able to upload your photos at an Internet café to a photo sharing website while traveling, but you can’t depend on their availability, hence my recommendation.
2. If you don’t have one, purchase a spare battery for your camera. It can take several hours to charge a digital camera battery. You don’t want to loose a single “perfect photo” opportunity while your battery charges. Charge both batteries just before you leave on your trip, and don’t forget to bring your battery charger with you.
3. Make sure your charger will work wherever you’re traveling. Most digital camera battery chargers can handle voltages from 100-240V, so they will work the world over. Unfortunately, the electrical outlets where you’re traveling may be different from those at home. You can determine if you need to purchase an adapter for your charger’s plug, online, at sites such as Magellan’s Travel Supplies, where you can also purchase the adapters.
4. Know your gear. I can’t emphasize this one enough. Digital cameras today are packed with great features, and even if you use your DPS in “automatic” there are some camera functions you should know how to control. For example, many museums permit photography, but not with a flash. You need to know how to turn your flash on and off, and for portraits you should know how to turn on the “red eye” setting. You need to know how to format memory cards in your camera after you’ve uploaded your photos, to clear the cards and refresh them. You need to be able to set your focus mode or turn on image stabilization, if your DPS has these features. DSLR cameras have even more to learn. You should familiarize yourself with all your camera’s features to get the most out of it possible.
5. Well before you leave, test your camera. Last week, a good friend left on a 10-day pilgrimage to see the Apparitions of Lourdes, La Salette, and Laus in France. Just before he was to leave, he pulled out his camera, which he hadn’t used in months, and found it was broken. He borrowed a replacement. You may not have a “loaner” available to you, so test your camera far enough ahead of time that you could replace or repair it in time for your trip.
6. Before you leave, make sure you have a well-padded camera bag that is sized right for your camera and accessories. Your equipment should fit snugly, and be easy to organize and access. You need this to protect your equipment from vibration and shock which can occur while traveling. Last fall while in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower, I was accidentally pushed into a railing. My bag protected my lenses beautifully, so I could keep using them on the trip.
7. Pack your camera (and all your valuables for that matter) in your carry-on, not in your checked-in luggage. You don’t want to arrive at your destination, only to open your luggage to find your camera stolen or broken, plus airlines exempt themselves from liability due to theft or damage of valuables, including cameras, in your checked-in luggage. And did you ever watch baggage handlers in action?
8. Once you set your itinerary, consider doing some photographic planning. Look for specific photographic opportunities among your destinations. Photographers talk about the “golden hours” with good reason. The light quality around dawn and dusk is warm, golden, and casts great shadows. Research your itinerary, and if you have to, get out of bed early or eat dinner late to catch the golden hours. Don’t forget those incredible sunset photos everyone loves. Here’s a good site to help you determine the time of sunrise and sunset.
9. Before you travel, study your destinations and the customs of its peoples. You don’t want to offend anyone or run afoul of laws. Many people do not like being photographed, and in some Islamic countries, photographing women is forbidden.
10. Be prepared for bad weather on your trip. Moisture can be deadly for digital cameras. It isn’t worth it to take chances while you travel. The simple precaution of carrying a polythene bag to protect your gear, if necessary, can save your camera and those precious memories you’re trying to keep. Some camera bags come with their own rain covers. I have an inexpensive, but highly effective, commercial rain cover for my camera, which allows me to shoot in the rain. If you’re near the sea, or on a cruise, take care to protect your gear from salt spray and the salt air.

Enjoy your trip!

What do penguins and four-year-olds have in common? (Hint: get some measuring tape)

You’ve arrived at SeaWorld, camera in hand, and youngsters in tow. In the back of your mind is your spouse’s complaint that on the last family vacation, many of your kids’ photos showed little more than the tops of their heads.

So my question to you is, “What do penguins and four year olds have in common?”

Don’t tell me it’s their waddle.

I know. You think I’ve asked you a totally crazy question, but humor me. If you’re on a family vacation with young children, the answer will definitely help you get great family vacation photos with the kids.

Have you figured it out yet? Give up?

Alright, the answer is, they’re both short! You need to understand that their height, compared to your adult height, makes a significant difference in how you photograph children.

Recently, a neighbor of mine was really upset when she got her prints back from Costco. Most every Disney World photo of her kids featured their great heads of hair. Parents know what their children look like. It’s in their minds’ eyes, but the camera only captures what it’s actually pointed at.

In wildlife photography, I often kneel or lie on the ground to take a photograph of a bird nesting in the sand, or a small animal resting or feeding. To facilitate those shots I often use a right angle viewfinder on my DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera) so I can just bend over or kneel, and look down into my camera while it’s low to the ground. The important point is I put my camera’s lens down to the level of the animal I’m photographing, thereby allowing me to capture their body, head, and eyes well.

While you’re on vacation, regardless of what camera you own, the problem of taking anyone’s photo from above their eye level, especially children, is that it most often gives a domineering impression. This can be used effectively if you’re a news photographer and you want to show how small and helpless a child is, but for a family photo, it’s unflattering to say the least.

So, whether you need to bend, kneel, sit or lie down, get the camera at approximately your children’s eye level when taking their photo. If your family vacation includes grandparents, try to set up your photo with the grandparents sitting, to even their height with your youngsters.

Here are some more tips for getting great shots of your children on a family vacation:

• Kids move fast and have short attention spans, so use a fast shutter speed to freeze their motion. Have some of the kids belongings around to use as props. A great environment for taking their photos is when they are busy and concentrating, such as when they’re building castles on the beach.
• Don’t be afraid to take close-in head shots. You might even consider filling the frame with their full faces, but get some full body shots too.
• To get down to the kid’s level, you might even roll around on the ground with them. Try shooting them from below their eye level to give your shots a different perspective, showing the world from your children’s point of view.
• If you’re at a location like Disney World, use their mascots as props to engage your children and add extra life to the photo.
• Let the kids make faces if they want to. That can make some wonderful photos.
• If you’re using a digital camera, extra shots cost nothing if you cull out the bad ones before having them printed, so use the camera’s ability and its memory card’s capacity to continuously take photos of your children at a particular spot, instead of just one or two. Getting that perfect shot is a matter of chance to a large extent, which is why professionals take so many shots when shooting children.
• If the lighting for your photo requires a flash, remember to stand close enough to your children that your camera is within its flash’s effective range. For most point-and-shoot cameras, that means you have to be within 10 to 15 feet of the kids. I always get a big kick out of all those people at arenas and stadiums who think their flashes are helping their photos.
• Since you’re taking these photos at eye level, if you’re using a point-and-shoot camera with the flash, consider turning on the “red eye” prevention setting to eliminate or reduce that awful look. If you’re using a DSLR, get a separate flash unit, and mount it on a bracket about 6 to 8 inches or more above your lens to eliminate “red eye.”
• Take some practice shots with your digital camera to make sure the settings you’ve chosen for your camera are right, before you get going with your photos. You don’t want to take great photographs, only to have them be under or over exposed.
• Kids generally hate to pose for your photos, so most posed photos don’t often end up as keepers. Don’t be afraid of just snapping away for candid shots. You’ll be happy with the results.

Good luck. I think you’ll find these tips can help you get some wonderful family vacation keepsake photographs.