NOTE: To make sure the tips were focused and helpful, Shagzil Khan our resident photographer and also the writer of this article has worked under the assumption that those who are reading these tips are invested photographers. That is to say they’re familiar with the art of photography, equipment and techniques already.

Every Photographer has their own personal preferences as far as equipment is concerned depending on the subject they’re most interested in shooting. To that end recommending what lens one must carry or what type of camera they should use is irrelevant in this case. However, bearing in mind my experience leading Photography Tours I do have certain recommendations that might make just your Travel Photography adventures better and easier:

• DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF A HIGH QUALITY CELL PHONE: Carrying a quality phone that has a high-end camera is crucial in my opinion. This gives one the opportunity to enter temples and other places of worship as well someone’s personal space when invited without carrying a heavy duty SLR or other serious looking cameras which can be a bit intimidating. At such occasions an innocent looking I-phone or an Android phone of your choice can do the job for you and can give you some excellent results. This is especially handy when heading to places like the Madurai Temple which allows no cameras but allows the use of cell phones.

• CARRY ADEQUATE MEMORY AND REMEMBER TO BACK UP: Every photographer these days is well aware that carrying enough memory is crucial.  While memory cards are available easily, a high speed card – especially essential for videos – may not be available at a moment’s notice. Therefore backing up all files and keeping enough memory space for the next day’s work is highly recommended.

• FIRE UP THE BATTERY:  Not everyone uses Five Star properties all the time on their travels. There will be times when one might end up in a room that doesn’t good plug points and where your charging unit just won’t fit well enough. At other times we might be sharing rooms and there won’t be enough plug points for everyone especially when there are is a lot of equipment to charge.To avoid these situations I highly recommend carrying a Surge Protector Multiple Socket Extension Strip that has a minimum of three plug sockets. This not only gives you the luxury of charging all your gadgets at once but also protects your equipment from voltage fluctuations.

• KEEP YOUR PROMISES – As photographers we have the privilege of capturing special moments all the time. Sometimes while chasing our perfect photo we end up capturing several wonderful photos of other individuals – strangers or people in our group. These people might come up to us and request that we send those photos in to them. Take those requests seriously and be kind. Keep a small note book to write email addresses down of those who you promise to send photos to.

• DON’T LOSE THE STUBS: Keep the photography tickets you have from all your monument and temple jaunts. Should there be legal copyright concerns these tickets are the evidence of your right to own the photographs and to use it according to your wishes.