My Minimalist Travel Photography Gear
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Are you a victim of GAS? Gear Acquisition Syndrome?!! I have been in your shoes in the past.
It is easy to go on YouTube and watch all the reviews and feel like we need everything!
But trust me you don’t! Especially if you are just starting. All you need is a camera, a good lens, an editing software like Adobe Lightroom and you are good to go.
All that matters in the beginning is practice! Practice! Practice!
But as I often receive this question in my DMs “ What gear do you use” I decided to write this blog post to share with you exactly what I have.
I take photos with my mirrorless camera and with my phones.
Lately, I shoot 80% of my photos with my phones as I always have them with me. Or I use my point-and-shoot Sony RX 100 iii from time to time. But mostly to capture videos on the go.
I broke down this article into 3 parts:
My mirrorless camera gear
My mobile photography gear
My editing tools
Mirrorless Camera Gear
Sony A6300
I started shooting with a Sony a5000 and upgraded to a Sony a6300 in 2017. This camera is ideal for my usage. Small and compact, shoot photos in 24.2MP and videos in 4K 60fps and 1080p 120fps!
Sony Emount 50mm 1.8
This lens is cheap and does the job. If you are looking for a portrait or lifestyle lens with a nice bokeh or blurry background, you won’t regret using it. I love using it for portrait photos.
Sony Emount 18-105mm f.4
This is my go-to lens for traveling and for shooting videos. The aperture is not the greatest, but the zoom lens at a fixed aperture of f.4 allows to have some great results whether I am close or far away from my subject. If I’d recommend one lens with for the Sony a6000 series, that would be it.
Tripod
I took this tripod with me throughout all my travels around the world and it never disappointed. It is small, fits in a carry on bag on, it is sturdy and light. It can also transforms into a mono pod which I often use when shooting videos during weddings. Great buy.
Sigma 19mm 2.8
This is my latest acquisition as I needed a lens to shoot wedding videos in low light conditions. The quality is great! The image is sharp, it got a fast auto-focus. Does the job perfectly. For Photos it offers a field of view equivalent to a 30mm full frame which is great for street photography and portraits.
Sony RX 100 iii
I use this point and shoot when I do not want to carry the a6300 with me. It fits in my pocket and the image quality is amazing. The focal range goes from 24-70mm with an aperture of 1.8-2.8. This is perfect for lifestyle photos with a nice blurry background. (i.e. food or product photography)
Here are some sample photos taken with the Sony a6300 during my trip in Singapore and in Dublin.
Mobile Photography
Mobile photography is something I have enjoyed more and more for the past few years. Our mobile phones are always with us and they are all capable of creating great photography results. All you need is to know how to use a few photography techniques and the features of your camera and you are good to go!
If you are interested in learning how to step up your mobile photography game, I created a PDF guide that breaks down my exact approach to mobile photography.
Just enter your details below to get your free copy.
Here is the list of items I use to shoot mobile photos.
Phone holder
Manfrotto Mini Tripod
This mini tripod is the most sturdy I have owned. I also use it for my mirrorless camera. I have tried gorilla pod in the past but the legs would either get loose or break. This might be a bit pricier but it is worthy. It is an accessory you will need if you want to shoot some advanced selfies or long exposure shots.
This one is self explanatory. It is a phone holder. The good thing with this one is that you can rotate the mount from a landscape to a vertical position quite easily.
Huawei P40 Pro
iPhone SE 2020
I shoot, edit and manage everything with this phone. I just love it! It took me a few years to make the step to get an iPhone because of the cost. But it is an investment. You don’t only buy the device, you also get the whole Apple ecosystem. The user interface is very user-friendly and the applications available are well thought out for creatives. For the type of photography I do, it is perfect.
This phone camera is RI-DI-CU-LOUS! It makes the whole mobile photography process an easy process for anyone. Either you are a beginner or an advanced user. I shared a full review of it on my Instagram page in my story highlights. Go have a look.
You can see a sample of the photos shot on mobile in the gallery below. Those were taken with both phones. The results are really great and it can even be hard to tell the difference between a DSLR/mirrorless camera or a smartphone camera.
My Editing Tools
Adobe Creative Cloud for Lightroom CC and Classic to edit and manage my photos
I use Adobe Creative Cloud to manage and edit my photos. I already wrote a blog article reviewing the reasons why I use it and why I recommend anyone to use it too. You can read the article here.
The main reason why I love it is because I can sync my photos in the cloud and juggle my edit between the desktop and mobile version of Lightroom. Nowadays, I edit 80% of my photos on the go using Lightroom Mobile. And being able to start editing on one device and continue on another is saving me hours of edit!
WD Passport 2To
It does the job to store all my photos but I would not recommend it nowadays. I’d rather encourage you to get an SSD hard drive. They are faster to edit on and the transfer time is also shorter on them. This one is great and does the job but also is outdated.
Mcbook Pro 2013
This laptop is my favourite Macbook. I got all the external ports, no need for a dongle and is powerful enough to handle my photography editing and some video editing too.
However, my workflow is now changing as my lifestyle has changed too. I am not traveling as often as I used to. So I am thinking to update my workflow using an iPad Pro and an iMac in the coming months. I will share with you in a future post the main reason why I will not upgrade for the latest Macbook pro.
There you have it, these are all the gear I use for photography. Obviously, I have acquired them over time. It’s been a 5 years process and it is still work in progress. Ideally I’d like to keep it as minimal as possible. I have acquired a lot of gear in the past that I ended barely using and that is not the purpose of photography for me. I just want the gear I need to make the process of shooting and editing as simple and fast as possible.
This is my goal for 2020, to keep it as minimal as possible. That is also another reason why I love mobile photography so much.
What about you? What gear do you use? Do you keep it minimal also? Let me know in the comments.
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