Travel and Photography | Photography Equipment | Have Camera Will Travel

© 2012 Ahmad Shukri | Langtang National Park Nepal | Photograph of Me Taken by Ahmad Shukri

People often ask me, what type of camera and lenses I carry when I travel, actually I’ve answer this question more than I can remember, I like to travel light and currently I just have one camera body with me which is Canon 5D Mark II and two sets of prime lens, 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.4. I’ve to say from my experience, prime lens is not user friendly lens when it come for travel photography, there is so much limitation, it is not practical.

But then, I’m traveling just for the sake of traveling, I’m not on any special assignment, I’m not on National Geographic assignment, I’m just traveling to see the world, I’ve no intention to sell my picture, I’ve no intention to send my picture for any stock photo agency but I will be more than happy if they wanted to buy it from me, what I’m try to tell here is that, I take picture for my personal pleasure when it comes to traveling, my camera equipment is just an instrument to record my journey, nothing more nothing less.

Then, you may say, if it is just an instrument to record my journey, why don’t I just get a compact camera, or why don’t I use my iPhone to record the journey? Yes, you have a valid question there, then it comes to personal satisfaction, you will also notice that a lot of people nowadays have great camera, own a professional DSLR camera, sometimes better than what professional photographers use, and these people have no intention to become a full time professional photographer, despite owning such an expensive camera equipment, photography to them is just a hobby.

Same like me, even though I’m a full-time working photographer for the government of Malaysia, when it comes to photography after my normal working hours, it’s my “hobby” and at the moment the camera equipment that I own is what I can afford. It’s about satisfaction, it’s about desire to own the best that we can afford even though deep inside our heart, we knew it that we don’t really need it.

So to those of you who are still asking what is the best camera and lenses for travel photography, for leisure purpose, not for any type of commercial or paid assignment, not for stocks photography, I will say, any camera and lenses will do just fine, yes some camera and lenses will have its limitation but the most important thing is that, you have a “camera” an instrument for visually record your journey, have you ever heard someone say that “have camera will travel”? They don’t say that “Have Professional DSLR Full Frame Camera with 16-35mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8  L Lens and 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens, plus extra camera body and tripod, will travel”. “Have Camera Will Travel,” thats’s it.

My point is, don’t complicate your life, if traveling is just an escapade, and you already have a camera, just buy a flight ticket and travel. I’ve read a lot of travel related blog, most of this writers, travel a lot and what I notice time and time again is that, these people usually don’t have a professional DSLR, let alone a DSLR, most of this travel writers just use an entry level compact camera, some of them also use iPhone a lot to record their journey.

One of the reason why these people travel a lot is because, they don’t waste their money on expensive camera equipment, instead they use their money wisely for traveling, for transportation, flight tickets, train tickets, and for accommodations.

So you really have to ask yourself, why do you need an expensive camera equipment for traveling, is it for personal satisfaction to get the best of the situation pr just wanted to use it to record your journey.

I’ve travel to Istanbul, Kashmir and Nepal with just one camera body and two set of prime lens, yes I’ve to admit, there are some situation where I wish I’ve a zoom lens, where I wish I’ve 70-200mm lens, and there is also a situation where I wish I just have a compact camera with me. Trekking with DSLR camera for seven to ten hours a day really takes its toll on me.

Back in Langtang I’ve seen a lot of trekkers walking past me with just a compact camera dangling  from their neck and I think they must have taken a lot of photograph compared with me because I put my camera in my backpack, it’s not comfortable for me trekking for hours if my camera is dangling around my neck and I’ve to say that, I miss a lot of great moment because of that.

Actually the type of camera equipment that you have and the one that you should carry when you are traveling is largely depending on your destination, or your itinerary, are you going to move a lot, changing hotel each day or just spend one whole week in just one hotel or city, not carrying your luggage or backpack all the time, not doing any trekking, you have to take this things into consideration.

Actually the more camera equipment or lenses that you carry with you, the less you will ever use it, trust me on this, during my traveling, almost 90% of my photograph were taken with 24mm and I rarely use my 50mm lens.

One of the reason why I like wide angle lens is because I want to take as much environmental photograph as I can, there is no point for me to play “bokeh” here and there when traveling, even if I take a portrait of a strangers, I like to include some background information or photograph that person with his or her background.

Actually when t comes to camera equipment and traveling for leisure purpose, you really have to answer it for yourself. What are you looking for when traveling? If your personal satisfactions is much more important to you than to consider your camera equipment as an instrument to record your journey, then it is really hard for me to answer.

If you already have a camera, be it a compact camera, then just go traveling the world, you don’t really have to take a photograph of a high standard such as what National Geographic Photographers do, it’s about experience a new frontier, make a  new friends, and just use your camera as an instrument to record your journey.

Actually traveling with less expensive camera gear will be much more enjoyable, one thing is that, you really need not to worry so much whether your camera will get stolen or not, and people that you will find along the way will be much more cooperative when you wanted to take a photograph of them, it is less frightening to them when you just point your compact camera to their face compared with taking a photograph of them with a big and bulky Full Frame DSLR attached  with 50mm f/1.2 lens.

Take my words, “Have Camera Will Travel”, happy traveling…