Flying for Photos – Photography Travel Tips

LowePro ProTrekker 400AW with Kata InserTrolley

Traveling is definitely one of the biggest downsides of adventure photography for me. I love being in the places that I go, but as for getting there, I could do without that part. As I said in my last post about my past trip to Puerto Rico and the trip I was on to San Diego, travel issues were a special part of both those trips, which spurred me to write this post. I’ve had definitely my share of travel drama and airport pains, and to a small degree, I’ve learned from them. So, I’m going to try and offer up the best in travel tips that I can muster. I think it’s nearly impossible to for traveling to be pain free, but hopefully these will help it be a little more like a mild headache rather than an all out punch in the face.

Tip 1 – Get everything you can onto wheels. With photography, especially the kinds that frequently require additional adventure gear, it’s pretty difficult to travel light. I’m usually quite happy if i can keep it under 100 pounds. And the move I move into the world of video production, the baggage scale is only becoming more and more my nemesis. Heavy bags will wear you out quick, and you don’t want to start out you trip already sore and tired. I have an assortment of wheeled luggage, some photo specific, and some not. There is an Eagle Creek Twist 45L rolling suitcase which is good for clothes and soft things, a SporTube hard-sided ski case which is actually great to use for light stands and other long skinny things, and my favorite: a Kata OC-97 rolling light case, which is a slice of rolling heaven. Not only is this bag beautifully laid out for carrying strobes, stands and other lighting accessories, but it is also has a bombproof construction, which is clutch since it always houses expensive items and is always checked. The only downside to this bag is that all that protection comes at a weight cost, and that definitely makes it a more difficult to make the 50 pound limit. Between the bunch of those, I can always fin a solution that carries everything I need and doesn’t involve strongmanning my luggage around the airport. I’ve found that having most of my items be on wheels has made a huge difference on arriving to an assignment or project feeling energized and ready to go, instead of feeling beat and ready for day off.

Tip 2 – Suck It In. When your MO involves rolling with bags that are flirting with the weight limit and technically too big, it’s important to do what you can to go unnoticed. The bottom line is that a bag that looks like a nice, tight package will seem much smaller than one that is sloppy and cluttered with peripheral items, even if there is very little difference in actual size. The wheels on the Kata light case, which is technically oversized, are a peripheral add-on; and while they don’t really add much to the dimensions of the bag, they definitely make it look much bigger. Every time I’ve traveled with that bag, I’ve removed them before I get to the baggage counter to help the bag look as normal as possible, and I’ve never been called out on it. Knock on wood.

LowePro ProTrekker 400AW loaded with Elinchrom Ranger Quadra pack, 2 Pentax K-5's, Lenses, and HDSLR video accesories.

Tip 3 – Don’t check mission critical items. With the way lost and damaged baggage goes, its imperitive to never let items that are mission critical out of your sight. If you’re just on vacation and a bag goes missing, it’s definitely a major bummer. But more than likely, with a few small purchases you’re trip can go on, even if it’s in limp mode. When you’re on a trip that is specifically for photography, however, and your photo gear goes missing, you’re completely hosed. Game over.

I pack the majority of my photo gear into my favorite new backpack, the LowePro Pro Trekker 400 AW, and never let it leave my personal bubble. Apart from the fact that this photo backpack is just flat out awesome, are a few things I love about it that are specific to traveling. For starters, it’s carry on size, but just barely. Also, it’s really great at comfortably carrying a substantial amount of weight, which makes keeping my checked under the limit a little easier. If I think I’m going to be moving a lot of weight, I’ll just go ahead and stick all the smallest heaviest things in that bag alleviate the check bag of some penalty inducing pounds. Having a bag that can do that without torturing your neck, back and shoulder is almost as important as wheels. Which brings me to my other favorite things about this bag, which I only discovered on this trip to San Diego: the wheels that come out of my Kata bag when I check it can easily slip into the shoulder strap adjustment sleeve (as you can see in the photo at the top!), which makes moving from security to terminal to gate with the Pro Trekker a cake walk. Well, usually it’s a cake run. Next tip.

Good Travel Advice!

Tip 4 – Leave room in you itinerary. Things to go wrong, and this can be particularly awful on the front end of your trip. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve screwed myself good and hard with this one. Something will always pop up that will add to the amount of time it should theoretically take to get from where you are staying to your seat on the plane. Unexpected traffic, forgetting that you need to stop for gas, jockeying weight around between bags, a million people in the security line. Plus, I’m the kind of person that seems to think if a plane leaves at 7:45, then you should be able to roll up to the gate at 7:44 and it’ll all be good. Apparently it doesn’t work that way. The guideline up top is pretty good advice, although some airlines won’t take bags inside of 45 minutes. Just do everything early. Pack early, leave early, get there early, go through security early, get to your gate early. The half hour or so that you “waste” by being early will be nothing compared to the whole day that you WASTE because you miss your flight to Puerto Rico and they only fly there once every 24 hours.

Tip 5 – Bring food or snacks. Traveling is expensive enough as it is. But eating meals at the airport is brutal. I’m pretty much hungry every three hours, so that means every time a plane takes off or lands, I’m hungry. Essentially, for every airport I set foot in, I’m out ten bones. Any food I can bring to snack on while I’m waiting at my gate, killing time during layover, or trying to avoid buying that $9 mid-flight cheeseburger that is really quite small and fairly awful, can really help cut down the hidden costs of traveling. Cliff Bars are my best friend.

Bullseye!

Tip 5 – Try multiple scales. In light of my constant issue with 50+ pound bags, I always try to get my bag on the scale as soon as possible so I can start jockeying stuff around to make weight if I need to. On the way out I had one of my proudest moments of my traveling career. Dropped my bag on the scale and got a perfect score! I did a little dance, and sort of made a scene. But on the way back home, I had another new experience that is potentially very helpful. While the attendant was looking at his computer, I plopped my bag on the scale, which frustratingly read 52.5 lbs. I was just about to pull it off the scale and start messing with it when I decided that since the attendant hadn’t seen that number, I might as well put my bag n the next scale over and see what happens. Much to my satisfaction, it read 49 lbs. So I left it there, and the problem was solved. Now, I don’t know how widespread the inaccuracy of airline package scales is, but seeing as how the very first time I tried it, the scales tipped in my favor, I know I’ll definitely be trying this from now on whenever my bag is close to the limit.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. It’s far from a complete list of travel tips, but it’s everything I’ve got figured out so far, even if I’ve yet to successfully implement some of them. I’m sure I’ll have many more “learning experiences” in my future travels, but in the meantime, I would love to hear some of you travel tips in the comments, whether you’re a photographer or not. Cheerio!