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5 Tips for Your Next Photography Road Trip

  • Icy Li
  • Apr 25, 2017
  • 4 min read

If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I love road trips. When I was younger, my parents would load up the minivan and we would take day trips to all sorts of places. We only had two cassettes for musical entertainment (we weren't much radio listeners). The lyrics from Mickey Mouse's Christmas Soundtrack and the Beatles, Greatest Hits are forever ingrained into my mind.

My favorite road trips so far have been my two cross-country ones in the U.S. (one taking the northern route and other taking the southern route). Another one that has been very memorable was driving along the coast of the Pacific Northwest (highway 101!). There's something special about waking up to adventure and new sights while on the road. I remember pulling out our trusty Rand-Mcnally atlas once in a while to check our route.

Tip 1: Buy extra camera accessories

I cannot tell you how many times I have struggled with almost losing my lens caps. Whether you put them in your pocket, camera bag, or your jacket, they are very prone to falling out. The fear of losing my nice Canon ones has prompted me to purchase a few off brand ones. Off brands can be $5-7 and work just as well as a $30 genuine Canon/ Nikon one.

Another item that always has a place in my camera bag is lens wipes. Your lens get a beating from being handled more often in conditions that it may not regularly experience. Lens wipes keeps your glass or filter performing at its best. I use and recommend these: Zeiss lens wipes.

Tip 2: Plan out your days (realisticlly)

(These type of mountain roads coupled with zig zag turns take WAY longer than you think. We drove through it at night too!)

Everything takes longer than you think. Driving wise, if you don't stop much, you can drive for 400 or so miles. This is if you drive from 9am-5/6pm with breaks for lunch and rest stops. Other times, you'll want to pull over and look at amazing sights every 30 minutes or so and this decreases your miles per day significantly. The type of roads matter greatly too. Mountainous and curvy are much harder to navigate than straight roads and both types of road should be taken into account during the planning process.

Some destinations require tickets, have a line, or enforce a much slower speed limit. For example, Yosemite is great, but the roads inside are all 25-30 mph max and one lane for the most part. I would say you ideally need at least 2-3 days to cover Yosemite's main attractions. Be realistic about how long each place you want to visit takes and what type of activities you want to do. If you plan to take pictures as a priority, think about whether you want to do any hiking or additional excursions to capture more secluded areas off the beaten road.

Looking for cheaper hotel alternatives on your trip? Check for Hotel Coupon booklets at rest areas when stopping for breaks. They are usually in tall, standing green or yellow plastic box. The booklets are updated periodically and offer discounts for travelers from 2-4 people. Make sure you call the hotel beforehand to see if they still have space and if the coupon is eligible for use! You don't want to roll up late in the night to find out that they are already booked up for the night or that they aren't offering the price due to a special event or convention in town.

Tip 3: Bring all your gear, but take what you need on excursions

I'm all for taking all of your gear for the road trip itself. You want to be prepared for every situation and that's valid. However, once you get to a place, you want to evaluate what you need to bring if you need hike or climb a certain amount to get to your final spot to take photos. I usually like to bring a versatile zoom lens so I can be prepared for most situations. However, if I know lighting might be an issue or that it will be dark, I will consider bringing a fast prime lens. Think critically about what you are going to shoot and make decisions based on that. If you bring all your gear, you'll be hauling heavy equipment for most of the journey instead of enjoying what your surroundings has to offer.

Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule, sometimes places that are on your must-visit bucket list deserve all your equipment and you want to make sure you are prepared for anything and everything to achieve fantastic photos. I get it!

Tip 4: Utilize locals' knowledge and visitor offices

(Find yourself a park ranger to talk to if you are visiting a national park. Forgo the power ranger. They won't be as helpful.)

Each place that you go to will likely have a visitor's office. Use these local tour guides or park rangers to your advantage and ask about the most scenic routes or road closures. We found out that one of the roads in Yosemite was actually closed because of snow and ice. You don't want to get somewhere to realize it's closed and be all disappointed. We also would ask the restaurant staff in the various destinations such as our waiters to see if they knew of hidden gems. We'd even talk to other travelers on the road for tips along the way.

Tip 5: Make a list of the destinations you visited

I understand that some cameras have a GPS built in, but for those who don't, this can be very helpful. I can't tell you how many times I took a photo of some place and fast forward a week after returning home, I'm left sitting and scratching my head wondering where a certain photo was taken. This ties into planning your days in tip #2 above. If you document what places or attractions you visited each day on your phone or notepad, it makes it SO MUCH easier to match up the dates on your list to the photos' dates.

Happy road tripping fellow photographers! Please leave a question or comment about your upcoming road trip. I'd love to hear about it!

Cheers,

Icy

 
 
 

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