Have you been on a photo shoot travel adventure before? Or have you seen professional photographers in your town or while you're on vacation? They've always got a bulky bag with them which seems easy enough to lug around, isn't it? If you're a professional photographer in the making and you've been wondering what's in that bag or what you should have in your travel photography bag, then wonder no more! Here are the five most important things every photographer needs, in no particular order.
First, you need your camera of course! It would be pretty silly to have all the extra items without the main one, so always check that you've got your camera in your bag and it's well placed and not in any sort of position to get damaged. You need to make sure that your bag is well padded and you've got your travel camera with all its accessories such as the lenses, lens cover, sling strap and a cloth to keep the lenses clean.
Second, here come the batteries and the charger. Have a set of new batteries already in place in your travel digital camera and have an extra set ready, just in case you run out and don't have time to charge your batteries again. It's always handy to have two or more sets of batteries because photo sessions can be quite consuming in means of time and power. If your travel camera has got a specific type of battery that requires that specific charger, then bring it along and charge up those batteries as and when you have time. If your camera uses regular AA batteries, then you can either buy rechargeable ones with a charger with you or you can just buy lots of alkaline batteries and keep them ready at hand.
Third, you need to protect yourself and your travel digital camera from bad weather so have a mini umbrella packed in your bag. This can come in handy when unexpected weather hits, but you still want to take those pictures. Sometimes, rain can help give you great pictures because water is a great effect to add on into your photography if you use the element right, but your travel camera and its parts might spoil when in contact with the rain, so have that umbrella with you.
Fourth, you always will need an extra memory card or two. Sometimes, you may get so caught up in taking pictures that you just don't think about the space available and you might not have the heart to delete old pictures to make room for new ones. So having an extra memory card will save you from having to endure the dilemma of having to pick the ones that have to go with so little time on your hands. You could always bring your laptop with you and upload the pictures as you go, but that would require packing more things and on travels like these, you should pack as light as you can.
Last but not least, tuck in some snack bars into your bag. Photography can be length and energy consuming so it'd be wise to have a few pick-me-ups at arm's length.