Even if you are prone to a staycation, there are still times you will packing the gear and heading out.
Here are a couple of things that always make their way into my traveling camera bag.
Just some additional tools that have made my photographic life easier.

I’ll admit it. My sense of direction could be better. Maybe that can explain the fascination with GeoTagging on your digital photographs.
But GeoTagging tells me where I’ve been.

To get there in the first place, I always carry a GPS unit. My fave is the Magellan Maestro 4250.
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not a lot bigger than a deck of cards….
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….and not much thicker

Small, Thin great screen, ties into AAA, PLUS it can double up if need be as a Bluetooth speaker phone. Great for in the car with an additional hook-up to get me up-to-date detour info, this unit is also handy just on a walking tour. And battery life is great. About 4 hours on a constant.
Excellent support and the kit comes with everything you need to mount it where you want. And a lovely neoprene case to stash it in safely for your camera bag. ( click the first link and Amazon has it for 55% off list. Nice.)
Ever since a Magellan GPS safely guided me from a shoot, at night, somewhere in Mammoth, California, in the dead of winter, safely back home with no stress, I was hooked. And I thank the account guy, Jim Miller, from JWT, who turned me onto it.

Next up is an ultra compact, surge protected Targus PowerStrip
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With 4 grounded outlets (2 on top, 1 on bottom and 1 at the end), reset button, and even a Velcro tie-down. I love this design and when I’m back in the hotel charging everything, and doing some post production on the laptop, this bit of brilliance from Targus, packs small, plays big, as we say. About 6.3 inches long. (w/plug in the end)

And the next item may seem a bit odd, but it is a standard for not only photographers but anyone who is in business.
It is the….wait for it……
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Tide To-Go Stick.

Yeah, I know. Crazy. But if you’ve ever had a meal, drink, snack , and perhaps dropped a little, accidentally of course, on your clothes, before a meeting, the impression you make may be compromised. You don’t want your clients looking at your shirt, instead of your lens.

Check out this commercial for the perfect illustration:

Those are available globally at your local grocery store.

So as you can tell, just unloading and checking goods from the last trip, and always trying on pass on some items you may find useful. A bit of a mix, but handy tools for the road warrior photographer.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 6th, 2008 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Photo News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.