We are excited to share the following tips by viewbug community memberĀ timpryce. Before we get into the tips, here is a bit of backgroundĀ about Tim. I grew up in Perth Western Australia, but my home is in Margaret River, (located in the SW of the state), a beautiful wine growing region with lots of national parks, pristine beaches and natural old growth forests. A very beautiful part of the world and an area I draw much inspiration from.

Currently though Iā€™m living in Samraong Provence, NW Cambodia, where Iā€™m working with an NGO as an English teacher at a school in one of the local villages. I chose Cambodia as a base to work and live due to its friendly people, beautiful landscapes and amazing ancient temples and ruins. Cambodia has a long and interesting history; from the glorious days of the Ancient Khmer Empire, through the horrific years of the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970ā€™s and down to our modern day where the country is experiencing rapid development and growth, along with a thriving tourism industry.

Itā€™s also a great location due to its close proximity with other countries in Indochina,- Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand, which I plan to visit throughout the wet season when the rivers and waterfalls are flowing, the landscape is lush and green and the fields are full of water and rice. (ā€¦and no tourists lol!).

Prior to this I worked in the Mining Industry for 10 years doing FIFO work, which allowed me plenty of opportunity to travel due to the flexible work roster I had. I travelled extensively throughout Indonesia, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Tonga, Samoa, India and Greece during this time, countries rich in culture and history and abundant in natural beauty.

Iā€™ve always loved nature and the outdoors so I gravitated towards landscape photography initially, but in recent years Iā€™ve found itā€™s the locals whom are often the most interesting and beautiful subjects I encounter when travelling to new destinations. I endeavour to capture the spirit and essence of the places I visit, to convey what I was feeling and found interesting at that time, and to share these moments with others whom appreciate the beautiful world around us, - if only weā€™d stop for a moment or two in our busy lives to look around and absorb it!

So, over the past 10 years with my weekly work roster and travel overseas, I average between 80-100 flights per year and nearly always have my camera gear with me. So what tips do I have for others who are planning to travel and what gear do they need to take? Hereā€™s a few things Iā€™ve learned along the wayā€¦ (not listed in order of importance).

7 Travel Photo Tips:

1. ā€œTravel insuranceā€. Camera equipment is something we accumulate over many years and often involves a large capital outlay, so ensure your camera gear is adequately covered in case something gets damaged, stolen or left behind. If you canā€™t afford travel insurance, you canā€™t afford to travel!

2. ā€œCamera bagā€. Buy the best quality camera bag you can afford and always carry it with you. Never allow it to go in the baggage hold on a plane or bus, or you might find more pieces than you started with once you reach your destination. ā€œWearerā€ comfort and weather protection are essential when Iā€™m traveling with my camera gear.

3. ā€œFlash cards, back-up storage and batteriesā€. Iā€™m rather pedantic when it comes to these items and although Iā€™ve never had an SD card or backup drive fail yet, Iā€™m sure itā€™s only a matter of time. I carry an adequate supply of spare batteries and media cards and ensure I backup everything at the end of each shootā€¦twice. Never have enough power adaptors to charge all your devices? I take a small, four-plug power board with me to for all my Australian chargers to plug into, and just the one adaptor to fit the local power socket.

4. ā€œOnly take the camera gear you really needā€. Although I have several prime lenses in my kit, Iā€™ve found taking just a few good quality zooms with me is often all I need. Iā€™m currently travelling with a 16-35mm, 24-120mm and 70-200mm lens; a 2x convertor; a few filters and a sturdy carbon fibre tripod. Iā€™ve been on the road 5 months now and these have covered everything I wanted to shoot and are light enough to carry around the whole day on my back.

5. ā€œDo your own researchā€. Travel guide-books, Trip Advisor, tide and moon charts, weather sites, Google searchā€¦.I use all these tools before heading off somewhere new and exotic to find the best times to visit. Nothing worse than hiking 3 days up a mountain to see an amazing waterfall only to find itā€™s either bone dry, a flooded mud hole or thousands of others have descended upon the area at the same time as you.

6. ā€œDo the opposite of everyone elseā€. It seems many local tour guides recommend visiting an attraction at a certain time of the day, but when you arrive, thousands of others are there to share the moment with you. On one occasion we visited Pura Tanahlot temple in West Bali to photograph the sunset but it was so crowded we couldnā€™t take a single shot. Instead, we went back early next morning and waited for the sunrise with not another person in sight. We captured some beautiful images without the crowds, and enjoyed the peaceful serenity of the moment. Find out when itā€™s the ā€œbest timeā€ to visit and go at a different time instead.

7. ā€œLeave the camera in the bagā€. Sounds ironic, but often we are so focused on taking pictures that we donā€™t stop and actually appreciate the beauty around us. If youā€™re spending a few days in one location, allow at least a half day where you leave your camera in the bag and go for a walk to get a ā€œfeelā€ for the place. This lets you absorb the environment; - the changes in light; the movement and activities of people or animals; the ebb and flow of tides and rivers etc. Yeah, you might miss that ā€œspecial momentā€ by not having your camera with you, (although, who doesnā€™t have a camera phone with them these days?), but sometimes Iā€™ve come back from places Iā€™ve visited and canā€™t remember anything about them?

So, this is where Iā€™m currently at in my life, - doing what I love most. Exploring the world, seeing new things, living and sharing with the locals and capturing plenty of special moments to look back on down the track. FollowĀ timpryce to see more of his photos.