My experience has taught me to take fewer pieces of equipment to save space and weight. Besides the camera, don’t forget the battery charger and extra memory cards. I almost always take a notebook computer to review and backup my photos.

Suggestion: lighten your load; your back will be forever grateful.

After you’ve passed through security, snap a photo at your gate to record your flight and destination. Is there a window overlooking the tarmac? Take a shot of the aircraft that you’ll be flying. Are you traveling with others? You’ll want to capture their faces too. Are you traveling to or through an airport that is new to you? Take a picture of that barnstorm plane hanging from the ceiling or the museum pieces on display in the corridors. Many airports are filled with elegant artwork and designs. Take time to smell the roses as you’re passing through.

Should you have a clear view, set your camera’s shutter speed to 1/250 second or faster to minimize blur. Remember that during takeoff and landing you’re closest to the detail on the ground. These are both good times to capture your flight.

Most likely, you already have a list of the landmarks and attractions that you want to photograph. The tendency is to step back and include everything in your photos. Try stepping forward a little to include less (but closer) detail. Instead of posing people, it’s interesting to catch people in action. To prove that you were there, is there someone who can take your picture too?

What about the local customs and curiosities of your destination that are different from home? The foods, architecture, landscape and transportation may all be unique to this area. Why not record these?

Additionally, I make a backup copy of these digital files to a thumb-drive. Afterwards, I keep the thumb-drive in a place separate from my notebook computer. This gives me two copies of my travel images.

On my return flight home, I had a connection at Newark (New York area). Having grown up in New York, I knew that the Statue of Liberty was sitting in New York Harbor to the south of Manhattan so I was prepared to snap a photo during arrival. Again, having a window seat was the key.