Packing the Right Gear for a Landscape Photography Trip
Whether you’re traveling with your family or planning a quick weekend photography trip, packing efficiency is key. Limiting your photo gear to one carry-on will help you save room for all the kiddo stuff, or save money on not having to check any bags on that budget airline flight to a photo destination.
Start by paring down what you actually need for your travel. There’s an innate impulse in us to want to take all of our gear with us to each location. After all, we spent a lot of money on this gear, we should make sure we’re using it! But ignore that impulse and only pack the items that fit with your plan. Remember, planning a photography trip or vacation is about knowing ahead of time what types of things you’re going to want to take photos of.
Camera
I shoot with a Sony A6500. I’d love to say that I prefer the smaller format sensor and compact design to a full frame camera because of ease of transport, but the truth is just that when I bought my camera, I couldn’t afford a full frame.
At this point, I consider switching to full frame but it’s a big investment to switch both camera and lenses, and I’d prefer to spend that money on plane tickets and hotel rooms. My set-up works for what I need it to do right now.
For you, I’d recommend whatever camera you have (although ideally with interchangeable lenses and at least a basic level of control over aperture and shutter speed). Seriously, I know everyone says it, but the most important aspect to photography is just getting out there and practicing, and you can do that with pretty much any camera.
Lenses
I love prime lenses for shooting at home and pushing me to work within the limitations of a fixed focal length. But for photo travel, I want to make sure I have flexibility. I only pack two lenses with me to keep things compact, so covering a wide range of focal lengths while still capturing a crisp image are crucial. Good zoom lenses are expensive, but honestly, I get so much use out of them that they’re completely worth the investment.
When I travel, I tend to shoot landscapes and wildlife photography, so I use with my Sony A6500 camera:
Sony 16-55mm f2.8. A relatively expensive lens but my absolute favorite. The 16mm focal length on the wider end is wide enough to capture some amazing foreground, and the 55mm max focal length gives me enough zoom where needed to make the most of my pixels. Edit: Since originally posting this I’ve seen that Sigma has released an E-Mount 18mm-50mm f2.8 of comparable optical quality for a fraction of the price ($1,400 vs $550). The Sigma is also just over half the weight of the Sony and significantly smaller as well, making it easier to take on hikes. I find it difficult to recommend the Sony at this point BUT at wide focal lengths, those extra 2mm can make a difference in landscape photography to fit more of your sweeping foregrounds into the shot. As I discuss below, I also appreciate that both of my lenses have the same filter diameter, but that’s hardly a reason to choose one lens over another.
Sony 70-350mm f4.5-6.3. Not the top of line for telephoto lenses, but great value for the price. the 70mm focal length is close enough to my 55mm from the other lens that I’m not missing out on much zoom space, and being able to zoom in to 350mm focal length is awesome for wildlife or what I like to call capturing vignettes.
Keep in mind that the lenses above are for an APS-C camera, meaning that the effective focal length is actually 1.5x what’s listed above. If you’re shooting with a full frame camera, a 24mm lens should be sufficient for most wide-angle shots, although a 16 mm lens for full-frame can get even more in the shot.
I have three other lenses, but leave them almost exclusively at home: a Sony 35mm prime that I originally got for those baby photos I was talking about, a Sigma 16mm f1.4 that I got before my zoom lens, and that I still occasionally use to test out nighttime/star photography (to mixed success), and a Laowa 100mm f2.8 macro lens that I’ve purchased for what I hope to be an upcoming trip to Central America for some wildlife photography.
Tripod
Another area that is worth the investment. There are many cheap tripods out there, but you want a tripod that is lightweight, compact, and sturdy. If you’re hiking above the tree line, exploring the open desert, or taking coastal shots, it gets windy. Having a tripod that can hold up to the wind and not vibrate your camera is essential to getting sharp images. The cheap sturdy tripods also tend to be very heavy, which isn’t great for longer hikes or for packing along with the other family luggage, so invest a little more money in a tripod that’s both lightweight and sturdy. Lastly, tripods have all sorts of extension methods - I find that the twist legs are quick and easy for me while being compact, but whatever you find that can collapse into something small and that you can set up quickly will do. I know it sounds silly, but take the time to practice collapsing and extending your tripod and setting it up. A tripod makes images so much crisper, but if it’s too much work to get it out and set up, you’re never going to want to use it.
Regarding tripod heads, I find a solid 3-axis tilt head to be fine. I have a ball head as well but since it’s unable on its own to shoot portrait, I find myself not using it often. They sell attachments for your camera that allow you to switch your camera from landscape to portrait, but they make your camera slightly bulkier. That said, a 3-axis tripod head takes up a lot of room. It’s definitely the part of my standard photography pack that is least efficient.
Filters
I have a small travel case of filters I bring with me. My two lenses that I bring are both 67mm diameter lenses, which is great for saving money and space because I can share filters. Here’s what I bring:
A spare UV filter in case one of them gets damaged.
A circular polarizer for cutting through haze if needed and looking “through” the water - great for grabbing interesting underwater foregrounds
a multi-step ND filter. It’s a cool little filter that, by rotating, can get you anywhere from 1-3 extra stops.
Travel Bag
I use a Peak Design 20L Everyday Backpack. They have a 20L and a 30L, and I find that the 20L is large enough for my APS-C. If you’re shooting full frame with slightly larger gear you may want to consider the larger bag. I have taken two major falls while wearing the backpack with all of my gear inside, landing on my butt/back both times. All of my equipment was completely unscathed (even if I wasn’t). Gear is insanely easy to access with three access points into the main compartment, it fits everything I’ve described here, and still has room to stuff a puffy jacket, hat, and water bottle.
Miscellaneous
My trips are typically short and always have places to charge my battery, so I only bring two camera batteries (one in-camera, one out) and a charger. I carry a compact lens cleaning kit with me for on-the-go speck removal. I bring a handful of SD Cards (although I’ve yet to really need an extra one, a 64GB SD card was more than enough to last my entire 10 days in Iceland). If I anticipate hiking, I pack several power bars, a compass, and a head lamp, which has come in extra handy for pre-dawn hikes.
Notably absent is any sort of computer or tablet. I know some folks like to do some editing while traveling, but I personally prefer to do all of my editing once I get home, as a way of “extending” the trip. Plus, with no computer or tablet, I don’t have to take anything out of my bag when I go through security at the airports.
