Crafting a minimalistic photography gear kit hasn’t been easy, but eventually, I gave in and told myself I simply have to do it. Because there is something about traveling with almost 10 kilos of photo equipment that just doesn’t do it.
Every piece of my kit is carefully selected and hand-picked by the owner, me. And I would never carry around the world something that I don’t use, as well as some valuable lenses or pieces like my analog camera, just stay at home.
See more: Alenka’s Analog Photography
Soon, after I started traveling I first read a book called Landscape Photography on Vacation. I think it’s fascinating where that took me, in terms of improving my creative eye. Another book that really helped me understand the night time photography is called Dusk To Dawn.
In this article/blog post, I will go through my photography gear checklist or I guess just gear list since it’s not that long and I always bring most of it with me.
I can be pretty sentimental sometimes, all though when it comes to my belongings, I love being minimalistic. Sometimes I would live out a suitcase for over half a year and I don’t mind.
Photography for me, went from a curious-minded activity to a hobby, to my personal craft, to my job. I don’t remember when it was the first time I picked up a camera, but it had to be pretty early. It was mostly for capturing moments of our little family expeditions around the world, climbing culture and mountain life. We grew up in nature, so naturally, there were always plenty of opportunities for me to shoot something or someone.
See more: Photography Tips and Tutorials, Travel Photography Gear
How I make money as a photographer?
I want to do a separate post on that, but here are my main ways I make money as a traveling sports photographer:
I sell my photos on Shutterstock ~ it is easy to upload, generate keywords and let the passive income flow! The best part is, that it is completely free.
Sign up with Shutterstock today!
I create online courses and teach students across the globe! ~ the best part about this again is the idea of passive income. Once my course is done and published, I simply sit back and relax. Let the passive income roll in. I use two platforms to sell my courses, and I work with both platforms as an ambassador. These are both trustworthy places to learn and teach. With Udemy, you get paid by selling each course individually and with Skillshare, you get a portion of monthly royalties, depending on how many students have attended your classes.
Sign up with Udemy
Start sharing with Skillshare
I sell prints and presets! I have been lucky enough to pick on many ways to share my art and two of them are printing my photos and sharing my lightroom presets. The thing about presets is, that I am sharing knowledge amongst other beginner photographers. When I started editing for real, other people’s presets really helped me. Which is why I created a preset pack myself, to help others start somewhere!
And make sure to check out my prints too.
There hasn’t been a day for me, when I wasn’t thinking of something creative, planning a new project or playing with colors and styles on Photoshop. I can be lucky to call myself one of those young business gals where I can make a good income, doing what I love.
I get asked quite often about how and when I learned how to use my camera, the Adobe office, managing and running my own business and finances and many more. Well, luckily there is a great place to learn new skills like these. It is Skillshare!
One of the sponsors of this blog is offering my readers and subscribers a cool deal, where you can sign up and get 2 full months of free premium membership. Click here to sign up with Skillshare and start taking classes.
MY MAIN 5
My main 5 pieces of equipment are the items that run my biz, my passion and I basically treat as my puppies. My kids, whatever you want to call ’em, they’re my babies. I take them everywhere I go, every shoot, travel, business or personal trip!
My baby, my trusty camera is the number one thing that I use. It is a great full-frame Canon product camera. I use my analog camera often too, not as often as this MK iii, but I like the style of film photography.
Visit my portfolio site to see my photography style!
My favorite lens: the 50 mm 1.2 (nifty fifty)
My laptop: MAC BOOK PRO Retina Display
Love my MacBook pro! I could not do my work on any other computer. Of course, everyone likes to use different tools for their craft. I like Apple products, since editing big files of photos and film photos requires lots of space and a good processor!
Of course, I
I take my drone everywhere! Mostly because is super small and easily foldable, that just basically fits in every suitcase or a bag that I bring with. Check out this videos I’ve shot with my drone:
Drone Footage from Bali, Indonesia
If you want to see more videos: Visit the motion reel on my site
A CAMERA BAG FOR TRAVELING
Well, this one is very simple. I use my Burton backpack for everything, everywhere I go. I always make sure my camera gear stays protected from humidity, rain, and cold!
A girl from Not A Nomad Blog wrote a great article on camera bags
Other Camera accessories
With a minimal bag, one has to be critical of every piece that weasels its way in! Chances are, you’re going to be carrying that around all day, and like an ultra-lightweight hiker who buys carbon-fiber nail clippers, we have to think about every place we can trim the extra weight.
These are the accessories I think are absolutely necessary, which also won’t weigh you down!
POLAR PRO CINEMA SERIES FOR MY DRONE
These filters for my Mavic Air have been a life-changer for me. The video is amazing with these polarizers attached.
No matter what, I always bring lots of extra batteries and SD cards with me. If I don’t need them for my camera, my GoPro or my drone, somebody else
Even though my kit is constantly accepting new members and saying goodbye to the old ones, these are the items that I use and bring everywhere. What do you use? Let me know in the comments bellow!
Follow me on Instagram @alenkaamali for daily adventures around the world.
Speaking about traveling the world, have you heard of Airbnb yet? Probably. But have you taken advantage of my 62$$ OFF discount for all the new travelers?
Hope right on! – Airbnb and Alenka’s 62 $ OFF
More about Alenka
My name is Alenka and I’m a Squamish based photographer. I love shooting nature, sports, sports in nature… underwater shots, adventures in the mountains and days on snow! I’m stoked. Very simply put, I am a stoked girl, ready to get up at 2 in the morning and hike for sunrise, ready to go to the airport and take a random flight… I’m stoked on living and I love what I do for work.
Photography, web design and digital marketing have been things I’m proud to call my job! Very flexible, lots of traveling and even more adventures than when I was a kid. Here, on my website I share tips on photography, spreading awareness about the zero-waste lifestyle and sustainability and crazy stories from my travels. Welcome.
Editing photos
Photography (free mini-course)
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4 Comments
Miss N
Wow! I’m drooling over your gear 🙂 I’m still stuck with my Canon 650D, which I’ve been using for 10 years now and the only lenses I got are the kit lens and the nifty-fifty 1.8. They’re still serving me well, anyway. Cameras such as the MkIII cost a limb in my country 🙁
Alenka Mali
Yeah I know what you mean, it’s definitely an investment. But then again, the equipment is not everything that makes a good photographer, right?