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Tip #2:
Be Prepared
By Bob Krist
The Boy Scouts definitely have the right idea. When a camera or a vital piece of equipment goes down in the middle of a trip, it can be an inconvenience or a downright tragedy -- depending on whether or not you have a spare. The best spare is a second body, identical to your mainstay machine, but even if it's just a point and shoot zoom camera, it's better than nothing!
The further you are from home, the more important spares become. For instance, I do 90% of my work with three zoom lenses, a 20-35mm, a 28-70mm, and an 80-200mm, all f/2.8's. Zooms are a great convenience on the road, but if you drop or break one, you lose an entire range of coverage. I bring two lighter, slower, and cheaper zooms -- a 24-50mm and a 70-210mm -- as backups. If that's a little excessive, and a point and shoot zoom isn't enough, consider one of the compact 28-200mm zooms as a one-lens backup system.
How important are backups? I'm writing this article on the plane home from an assignment in Belize, where I dropped a camera in 3 feet of salt water on the first day of the shoot. Fortunately, I had two more bodies and a spare lens to complete the job.
Copyright 2006-2007 Bob Krist. Reproduced with permission. No Internet reproduction or other usage permitted. For more information send an email. Bob's next book will be PhotoSecrets 101 Tips for Travel Photographers
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