Amazing Travel Photography Gear For Female Travelers

The most often question I get asked is “What camera do you use?” In this post, I go through my travel photography gear that’s portable and perfect for female travelers!

Amazing Travel Photography Gear for Female Travelers

A quick background about my photography experience: I’m a photographer and have been shooting for 11 years so the gear I use isn’t for beginners. That said, portability is important, so the gear I have isn’t professional-level either! Over the years, I’ve found a balance between quality and portability by heavily researching my gear before buying it. And don’t worry, as we go over them, I won’t be using confusing photography jargon since some of you are still new to this. Let’s get started!

Camera

Most cameras we know come with lenses. The camera I use doesn’t. This is what we call “camera body.” The reason for this is because sometimes the photos we want to shoot can’t be achieved by the lenses that come with a beginner’s point-and-shoot or cellphone camera. Whether it’s zooming in to see an exotic animal from afar or having a blurry enough ocean background to make your cup of coffee stand out, it would be difficult to achieve those images with a point-and-shoot and cellphone camera.

Panasonic Lumix GH4 (Camera body)

Amazing Travel Photography Gear for Female Travelers | Panasonic Lumic GH4

What I love about the Panasonic Lumix GH4 is that it’s mirrorless. Which means it’s much lighter than a professional SLR camera while still shooting high-quality images like an SLR camera! While it has your essential advanced functions to control the blurriness of the background/foreground (Aperture Priority), stillness of your images (Shutter Priority), and both at the same time (Manual), it has a couple other abilities that’s amazing; timelapse & video. Timelapse is what you can use to take photos of yourself while traveling solo (better than self-timer!) and video is what you can use for– well, video. The flippable screen is also a perk so it’s easier to film yourself!

Loboc River Cruise | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com
Shot with the Panasonic Lumix GH4 camera at the Loboc River Cruise in Bohol, Philippines

Lenses

Lenses can come in all ranges– before you consider purchasing a lens, think about the kind of photography you want to shoot and then choose a lens that aligns with that. I shoot travel & lifestyle images, cinematic storytelling, and vlogs so that means I want to have wide & extra wide shots– to shoot landscapes and vlogs, medium shots– to shoot people from the knees up, close up shots– to shoot an object up close in front of me, and blurry foregrounds/backgrounds–to bring attention to the object in focus. Here are the two lenses that help me achieve that!

Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens

Olympus 14-42mm Lens | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com

For extra wide, wide, medium shots, and vlogs. This works perfectly if you’re in a tight space and want to fit the entire environment in as much as possible. It’s also perfect for vlogs! If you’re filming yourself while holding the camera, the lens is wide enough to fit your head and shoulders in the frame and more!

Guam Cliff | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com
Hanging by the cliffs of Tumon Bay, Guam. Shot with the Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
Tricycle Ride | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com
Screencap of an upcoming Bohol vlog shot with the Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 lens

Olympus 17mm Lens | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com

For wide, medium, close up shots, with blurry foregrounds/backgrounds. Nothing makes an image more professional than a lens that doesn’t zoom– a prime lens. Prime lenses are much higher in quality than zoom lenses which mean they work amazingly in low-light situations, shoot sharper images, have amazing depth-of-field (this is what you call the blurriness of backgrounds/foregrounds), and are much smaller and lighter to pack (zoom lenses are usually heavier and bigger but with mirrorless cameras, lenses don’t go too big anyway). A prime lens like this is the best investment you can make towards your photography.

Guam | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com
Perusing bougainvillea flowers in Guam. Shot with the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 Lens

For self-portrait photography

Mefoto backpacker Tripod

Mefoto Backpacker Tripod | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com

Another popular question I get asked is “Who shoots your photos?” Half the time it’s someone I’m with, the other half is me! Using a tripod is the secret! If you want to take your self-portrait/selfie skills to the next level, use a tripod. You can’t be limited by setting your camera on the ground or a nearby bench. Yes, you can still shoot amazing photos with that but it would be hard to do it if you’re on a mountain or in thigh-high water.

This tripod is amazing because it can extend up to 4 feet and collapse down into 12 inches! It’s made of aluminum so it’s lightweight but still has enough heft that it won’t tip over under strong winds. It comes with a carrying case which you can sling around your arm and it fits perfectly in carry-on luggages!

Bellevue Resort Bohol | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com
A self-portrait shot using the Mefoto Backpacker tripod at the Bellevue Resort in Bohol, Philippines

no need for a Remote!

I don’t actually use a remote (well, technically I use this one but solely for filming at home) because I use the time-lapse setting in my camera, which means your camera can take a shot every second while you move around and pose in front of the camera. No more running back and forth between each shot!

For adventure and underwater photography

Proshot case

Proshot Case | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com

I had been wanting to invest in a GoPro but decided to go for the Proshot case because then I wouldn’t have to pack extra GoPro gear which would only take up more space in my bag. The Proshot case is an underwater case for iPhones! It comes with a wide angle lens and can go up to 100ft deep or 6ft if you use the special touchscreen lid!

Underwater Swimming at Coron | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com
Diving at Twin Lagoons in Coron, Philippines with the Proshot case and Luxebell Telescopic Selfie Stick

Luxebell telescopic Selfie Stick

Luxebell Telescopic Selfie Stick | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com

There are plenty of selfie sticks to use with your adventure camera but this little guy can fit in your pocket! If you want yours to be compact (6″) while extending just enough (18″) to capture yourself and the surroundings, this one’s for you!

Ziplining at Loboc River, Bohol | Amazing Travel Photography Gear | TravelingPetiteGirl.com
Ziplining over the Loboc River in Bohol, Philippines with the Luxebell Telescopic Selfie Stick and Proshot case

Thank you very much for reading! I hope you this post was informative to you and gave you some insight on travel photography gear for you female travelers! What camera gear do you want to travel with? Comment below because I’d love to know! I’m always on the lookout for photography gear!

Stayed tuned for an upcoming post I’m creating, “The Best Beginner Cameras to Travel With | 2017!” If you have any questions about this post or any of the products I mentioned, feel free to comment below or email me here. I reply to everyone and I love hearing from you!

Talk to you soon! ?
-Jojo

Check out these posts shot with the gear I mentioned above:

15 Comments on Amazing Travel Photography Gear For Female Travelers

  1. Such a neat kit you’ve got! I just got the mirrorless sony a6000 last month and completely head over heels for it! Love the underwater case too, been wanting to invest in one for a while now!

    • Thanks Frances! The Sony a6000 is an amazing camera! I remember trying it out and it felt perfect in my hands lol I’m glad you have an amazing camera! And the ProShot case is great! I use this whenever I swim ?

  2. Great article! I’m a Nikon gal and while my SLR is pretty heavy I am so in love with it! It’s my baby but I agree with prime lenses being so much better my 35mm never leaves my camera! Going to invest in one of those tripods though so my boyfriend and I can get more photos together and when I travelling solo ??? Thanks

    • Thank you so much Emily! I used to be a Nikon gal too! I’m glad you’re okay with the heavy SLR! I used to use an SLR but couldn’t deal with long term weight on my shoulders! And also I’m also glad you like the tripod idea! I also use it to take photos of me and my boyfriend, or just me and I always come out with amazing shots that I wouldn’t otherwise get by setting my camera on a nearby rock!

  3. Yes! Super excited to read you’re reviews for cameras cause I’ve recently been look at them. However I’m not sure which one would be best to buy.

    • I’m so happy you’re excited to read it! I’m currently researching and writing the topic right now! Stay tuned!

  4. Hii,

    First of all I want to say that I love your blog and especially your photography!
    I’m an amateur photographer and after a few years of practice I think I’m starting to get it 🙂 Unfortunately I’m still equipped with my first professional camera (a Nikon) and I was always happy with it. Now I’ve used it for around 5 years, so it is time to get a knew one. I’m very happy to come across this blogpost, thank you for the tips!

    • Yay! You’re welcome Inne! I’m glad you found this post helpful and I’m sure that you’ll be happy with any camera you get since you’ve been using yours for 5 years. You’re right, it’s time for a new one. I made another post specifically about cameras if you’re interested, it’s called “THE BEST TRAVEL CAMERAS FOR BEGINNERS | 2017”. I hope you find the perfect camera for you!

  5. Hi! That tripod is stellar! I finally got the HERO gopro5 black and it is amazing! So small and waterproof loving taking pics and vids with it. I like how go pro has a 3 way selfie stick that triples as a selfie, tripod and hand grip. Definitely worth it!

    • That’s awesome! I just got myself a GoPro HERO 5 and I’m so excited to bring it to the water! Thanks for telling me about the 3 way selfie stick, I love multi-tasking items like that!

  6. hey jojo, i was just having a look around on your website, to see if you had any new content.. and I saw this post and see that you once traveled to bohol! i went to bohol on my trip to the philippines. it’s a wonderful island, that doesn’t have many tourist (especially when you go further east and get away from panglao)- in contrary to el nido, palawan and boracay. i also went to camiguin ( oh wow beautiful ).. i had the best time and from all the countries i have seen in the past eight years, the philippines is definitely up there in the top three!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *