Travel Photography

How a Pro Photographer Packs Camera Gear for a Flight (And What It Taught Me About My Own Kit)
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How a Pro Photographer Packs Camera Gear for a Flight (And What It Taught Me About My Own Kit)

Every time I book a flight for a shoot, I spend about two hours the night before playing Tetris with my gear. Something always gets left behind, something always feels risky in checked luggage, and I never feel confident I’ve made the right calls. For a long time I assumed that was just the tax of traveling light. Then I watched how Nigel Danson approaches it, and I realized I was making the process harder than it needs to be.

How to Shoot Scotland Like a Pro With One Lens and No Camera Bag
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How to Shoot Scotland Like a Pro With One Lens and No Camera Bag

If you shoot landscapes, you’ve probably had this argument with yourself: pack light and move fast, or haul the full kit and get the shot. I’ve landed on the “pack light” side more times than I can count, mostly because I’ve seen what happens when fatigue kills creativity. Carrying three lenses and a full bag up a steep trail means you’re thinking about your back, not the light. That tension is exactly what makes this Nigel Danson tutorial so worth your time.

What a Pro Photographer Would Actually Buy Starting From Zero in 2025 (And What That Means for the Rest of Us)
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What a Pro Photographer Would Actually Buy Starting From Zero in 2025 (And What That Means for the Rest of Us)

There’s a specific kind of gear fatigue that hits when your bag weighs more than your motivation to go shoot. I’ve been there, except in my case it was a backpack full of budget lenses I was testing simultaneously, not Sony GM glass. But the underlying problem is the same: too much stuff, not enough intentionality. That’s what made me stop and pay close attention when Pierre T. Lambert – a working professional travel photographer – sat down in Thailand and asked himself what he’d actually buy if he had to sell everything and start over.

Two Tamron Lenses Worth Gifting (Or Buying Yourself): The 15-30 and 28-300 Breakdown
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Two Tamron Lenses Worth Gifting (Or Buying Yourself): The 15-30 and 28-300 Breakdown

There’s a certain kind of gear recommendation I actually trust: the one that comes from someone who pulled the lens out in the field, not in a studio with controlled lighting and a color chart. When RC Concepcion and Scott Kelby run through holiday lens picks in this KelbyOne segment, the recommendations carry weight because they’re grounded in real shooting situations. RC used the Tamron 15-30mm in Dubai on a workshop trip.

Why a High-Zoom All-in-One Lens Might Be the Smartest Landscape Purchase You Make This Year
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Why a High-Zoom All-in-One Lens Might Be the Smartest Landscape Purchase You Make This Year

I have a spreadsheet with 47 lenses on it. I have bought, borrowed, and stress-tested more budget glass than most photographers will touch in a lifetime. And the question I keep coming back to is never “which lens is sharpest?” It’s always “which lens are you actually going to bring?” That distinction matters more than any MTF chart, and it’s exactly what pushed me to pay close attention when Nigel Danson made his case for adding a 24-200mm all-in-one zoom to his landscape kit.

How to Pack a Travel Photography Bag That Actually Works (Without Overpacking)
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How to Pack a Travel Photography Bag That Actually Works (Without Overpacking)

Every time I prep for a trip, I waste at least an hour second-guessing my gear. Do I need the extra lens? Is this tripod too heavy? Can I get away with just one camera body? I’ve been guilty of showing up to shoot a weekend trip with a bag so heavy my shoulders hated me by noon. That’s the real problem with travel photography gear advice — most of it is written by people who aren’t actually carrying the bag all day.

How Pierre T. Lambert Uses a 70-200mm for Street Photography (And Why It Actually Works)
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How Pierre T. Lambert Uses a 70-200mm for Street Photography (And Why It Actually Works)

Street photography is one of those disciplines where everyone has an opinion about the “right” gear. Prime lenses only. Go wide or go home. You need to be close to make it real. I’ve heard all of it, and honestly, I’ve repeated some of it myself. So when I came across this Pierre T. Lambert tutorial shot entirely on location in Ubud, Bali, using a 70-200mm zoom for street work, it stopped me mid-scroll.

The Vanguard VEO 265CB Is the Travel Tripod I Wish I'd Had Before I Wasted Money on Four Cheap Ones
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The Vanguard VEO 265CB Is the Travel Tripod I Wish I'd Had Before I Wasted Money on Four Cheap Ones

I have a problem that I suspect a lot of photographers share: I never bring a tripod when I travel because my good one is too bulky, and then I end up buying some $25 garbage stick from a drugstore or a tourist shop and wondering why my long exposures look like they were shot during an earthquake. I’ve done this more times than I’d like to admit. I’ve got a spreadsheet tracking every piece of budget gear I’ve tested, and the “emergency travel tripod” category is embarrassingly long, all of them disappointing.

Tropical Photography Isn't Romantic—Here's How to Actually Protect Your Gear
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Tropical Photography Isn't Romantic—Here's How to Actually Protect Your Gear

I’ve seen plenty of Instagram posts of photographers basking in tropical paradise with their cameras slung around their necks like accessories. The reality? It’s messy, it’s brutal on your equipment, and it demands serious preparation. Tropical environments present three genuine threats to your photography setup that most guides gloss over. Understanding these challenges helps you make smart gear choices before you drop cash on a tropical shoot. Heat and Humidity Will Wreck Your Gear This isn’t hype—I’m talking about actual equipment failure.

One Lens, Every Shot: Why the Tamron 18-300mm Might Be the Smartest Buy for APS-C Shooters
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One Lens, Every Shot: Why the Tamron 18-300mm Might Be the Smartest Buy for APS-C Shooters

I’ll be honest: superzoom lenses have a reputation problem. Photographers who’ve spent years chasing prime sharpness tend to dismiss them as a compromise. But when you’re trying to cover a wide-open festival, portrait setups, street scenes, and low-light architecture all in the same afternoon, hauling a bag full of primes is its own kind of compromise. The question worth asking isn’t “is this lens perfect?” It’s “does this lens solve a real problem?

Canon 24-240mm for Mirrorless: A Real-World Field Report (And the One Reason You Might Want to Skip It)
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Canon 24-240mm for Mirrorless: A Real-World Field Report (And the One Reason You Might Want to Skip It)

I have a rule I follow when evaluating any zoom lens: if it makes you stop reaching for your other glass, it’s doing its job. That’s a high bar. Most budget superzooms feel like compromises from the moment you put them on the camera. You keep thinking about the sharper prime sitting in your bag. So when Scott Kelby came back from a 10-day trip to China having barely touched his 16-35mm, I paid attention.

Scott Kelby's Lens Picks Decoded: What Actually Matters for Every Photographer's Bag
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Scott Kelby's Lens Picks Decoded: What Actually Matters for Every Photographer's Bag

I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit building spreadsheets comparing lens specs, price-to-performance ratios, and street prices across Canon, Nikon, and Sony systems. So when a photographer like Scott Kelby sits down and just tells you what’s actually on his camera, not what’s theoretically optimal, I pay attention. In this KelbyOne tutorial, Kelby walks through the lenses he genuinely uses, lenses with worn-off labels and frequent flyer miles, and the reasoning is surprisingly practical for anyone trying to build a lean, functional kit.