P#23 Q2F: A Photographer Backpack is a Sound Investment

A Must-Have Tool

Scott Stulberg: A good, durable photographer backpack is essential for a travel photographer. You don't want to leave your gear out of your sight. You need a bag that can accommodate your camera gear while still being easy to carry and durable enough to stand up to your travel abuse.

Make sure the photographer backpack you buy is properly padded. That's really important to me because I don't want any of my items broken.

The student that is coming with me to India had a little backpack and he wanted to put all of his camera gear in there -- some of them wrapped up in towels and stuff.

I said, "Listen. You're going with me in India, you're going to buy a really good camera back."

He said, "No, no, no, my backpack's fine."

I said, "Listen, do you want to learn or do you want to be stubborn?"

We went to the camera store and he ended up buying the same photographer backpack that I have. It's a LowePro. I think it's called the CompuTrekker. It's the small one. You can put a laptop in the back or I bring my diffusers and reflectors that fit in there also if I don't have a laptop with me.

It fits tons of gear, a couple of camera bodies, a bunch of lenses, all my battery chargers. He ended up buying it and he was like, "Oh my gosh, you're right." When you travel with the right system, it really helps.

Just make sure that you're careful and that you don't put it on the plane so that somebody's going to steal it. Always keep an eye on your stuff and keep your memory cards nearby. Carry your memory cards and your backup stuff with you. If your camera gear is stolen, you'll at least have those.

Audri Lanford: This is stuff that people don't necessarily think about -- especially the idea of carrying your memory cards separately from your photographer backpack and camera gear.

In Closing

Photography is one of those fields where the right equipment can make all the difference in the world. The bag you carry your gear in is no exception. According to Scott Stulberg, your photographer backpack should be large enough to accommodate your gear, padded to protect it and light enough to carry comfortably.