Eye & Pen: Lifestyle, Travel, Photography and Literature
  • Main
  • Blog
  • Topics
    • Accommodations
    • Bucket List
    • Cheap Travel
    • Culture
    • Essay
    • Destinations
    • Inspiration
    • Interviews
    • Narratives
    • Personal
    • Photography
    • Restaurants
    • Reviews
    • Safe Travel
    • Travel Planning
    • Trip Update
    • Weekly Wanderlust
  • Photo Gallery
    • Photo Gallery – All Places
    • Photo Gallery – Aruba
    • Photo Gallery – England
    • Photo Gallery – Europe
    • Photo Gallery – Iceland
    • Photo Gallery – Ireland
    • Photo Gallery – Italy
    • Photo Gallery – Northern Ireland
    • Photo Gallery – Other
    • Photo Gallery – Scotland
    • Photo Gallery – USA
  • Services
    • Blog Coaching
    • Graphic Design
    • Hire Brandon
    • Advertising
  • About Brandon
  • Contact

A Travel Photographers Best Friend: featuring My Passport by WD

6/19/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
I’ve been blessed to be able to travel the world and capture countless moments of the beauty and intrigue of our natural world for over a decade now. I’ve seen and accomplished more than I could have ever dreamed of. I’ve dealt with highs and lows, and moments more stunning than my dreams. I’ve been robbed thrice, yet found more kindness in humanity than I knew existed. I’ve had weather take out my gear, and I’ve had lenses come crashing down from mountainsides I was climbing. I’ve had hard drives die, and precious images forever lost. But I’ve learned that no matter the photographic result, my heart and mind has been changed for the better, always, with every trip I’ve ever made.

For this feature, I’ve teamed up with WD to assist me in my explorations…
Picture
As a travel photographer, you must lug your gear into a location, typically explore wildly and without a fully-formed plan or path, all in the hopes of capturing that perfect iconic image. Then it’s all up to you to be sure that image makes it back to civilization so you can share it with the greater population. But sometimes, it’s not that easy. Sometimes, things happen. And sometimes, the worst thing happens.

I’ve been robbed three times in my travels, and the worst was in Puerto Rico where while hiking in the rainforest, I had my rental car windows busted and my entire pack stolen. Not only did I lose my hard drives, but my money, passport, toiletries, clothing, and other personal effects were taken. I was stranded without my things, and without my gear, and worst of all, or so it felt to me at the time, without the photos I worked so hard to capture days before. Not only have I learned to be more creative with my hiding spots, but I now carry small, lightweight hard drives on me at all times, and I stuff them full of my latest photos that haven’t been saved in the cloud. Thinking back now, I could have taken the time to seek out internet in one of the small villages prior to my venturing into the rainforest, but at the time, I took my chances and ended up paying for it.

Now, having learned from that experience, as well as a few other experiences of gear breaking or weather intervening, I choose my portable/external drives more carefully. I always carry a lightweight, small hard drive on my person, like WD’s My Passport Go, which is a fast, drop-resistant (up to 2 meters) solid state drive that’s made for the roaming tech traveler. I also carry multiple other hard drives, each mirroring the original. I really like the My Passport Ultra for Mac, which is a tough hard drive with a ton of space. It’s housed in a refined metal cover, giving it a sleek look and a strong shell to help weather the worst the wild world can throw at you. Well, mostly. I tend to also outfit my larger hard drives with padding in waterproof sacks.

Picture
Other things to consider when you’re a travel photographer, who bounces between working in a home office and spending lengths of time on the road and in the sky, is you must balance your must take gear with the burden. I like to feel free when I’m searching for the best shot. I don’t like to have to think about or lug around loads of gear, luggage and packs. So I bring the basics, with a few backups as I mentioned prior, and I hope for the best. There’s nothing worst than being overburdened when you’re trying to explore the wilderness to find wildlife and other beautiful spectacles.

I simplify, and take one rucksack, fill it with 1-2 camera bodies (depending on the goal of the shoot and the terrain), 2 lenses, 3-4 hard drives, 2-3 changes of clothes, some survival gear, and that’s about it. This allows me to be vigilant in my exploring, with the capability of moving quick and free to wander, without burdening myself with too much weight, or too many pieces of luggage. Some photographers take entire crews with them, but I like the marriage between my travel experience and the world around me, as to create more authentic and inspired content.

If you would like to learn more about WD’s digital storage solutions, click here.


(Main photo by rubenv via Flickr)

Disclaimer: Product for this post was provided by WD. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of WD.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Sign up for my VIP email list:

Picture
Picture

Article Topics

All
About Blogging
Accommodations
Bucket List
Cheap Travel
Culture
Destinations
Discussion
Entertainment
Environment
Essay
Fine Art Feature
Gear
General
Giveaway
Green Living
Guest Posts
Inspiration
Interviews
Lifestyle
Luxury
Narratives
Not Recommended
Other
Personal
Photography
Restaurants
Reviews
Safe Travel
Trip Planning
Trip Update
USA Road Trip
Video
Weekly Wanderlust

RSS Feed

Monthly Archive

November 2021
September 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012

*Disclaimer: All blog posts featuring products, reviews, or suggestions for products or services are governed by our Disclosure. Products were received free to review, so to provide authentic opinions and content for our readers. The opinions and ideas in this post are the writer's own and are uninfluenced by any other person or business. We receive no compensation for product reviews. Links within non-product review posts may be sponsored.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.