Business Travel and the Travelling Photographer: What To Bring?

It has to be said that not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to travel as part of their job description. Be it a few days of training, a meeting with clients, or medium to long term project stints abroad, there’s something almost classy about being able to travel for business.

Mention business travel to any layperson, and one of the many things that come to mind are phrases like ‘business class’, ’sightseeing’, and in Malaysia specifically ‘Wah, so nice… so lucky!’ Trust me, I’ve heard this enough times that I casually let it go in one ear, and out the other (whilst forcing a smile and shrugging).

Here’s the thing about most business travel. Firstly, it’s usually a bit of give and take. Most of the time, business travel involves a tightly packed schedule to optimize the cost of such a trip, especially if it’s funded by an employer. This would include being quickly whisked away from the airport to the office for scheduled meetings/presentations right up till the end of the business day, chaffeured off back to the hotel, where there is a likelihood of ordering room service, having the TV tuned to CNN/BBC and having the work laptop open to check for emails from back in headquarters. That is, assuming you’re not already on a Blackberry. Business trips are very commonly an exercise of getting as much things done in as little time as possible. So much so, how much time is there left to do the photography that you enjoy the most on your travels? The answer: Very minimal unless you are an excellent time manager.

Of course, it’s not always that bad. As a photography enthusiast, being in a new country always presents a host of opportunities. In the extreme case, you’d at least have photographs of the airport, the hotel room, and the view from in and around the hotel. And perhaps if you’re really lucky, you’d be able to have some time off work, perhaps after business hours, or even over a weekend to wander around and capture in the sights and sounds of the local culture and surroundings. And that of course means if you do bring any kind of photographic kit, you’d be presented with an opportunity to do some form of travel photography.

Therein lies the classic conundrum of a photography enthusiast when on business travel.

Do you or do you not bring your DSLR and its many accessories?
And if you do, which lens do you take with you?
Do you carry a tripod?
Do you forsake the opportunity to shoot altogether?
Or do you compromise and bring a pocketable camera for at least some snapshots?

I myself am faced with such questions whenever I need to go anywhere out of town for business. The dilemma always revolves around whether or not it’s worth carrying all the weight of the professional photographic gear during a trip that is clearly not designated to be a ‘leisurely’ or ‘photographically driven’ one. What if you do happen to have time to shoot? Would you regret not bringing that lens with you that you left behind back home?

The lesson I’ve learnt from all of this, is a case of finding the balance (as in all other things in life). Here’s a simple checklist that might help you in deciding.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. How much time will you have to do any form of photography during the trip?
If your answer involves only the time after business hours, and no weekends, you might want to consider only taking a pocket camera with you. If you do have a weekend to yourself, and you have a little day-trip or so in mind, by all means bring as much gear as you feel you will use. The key here is to bring only what you will definitely use.

2. What kind of country is it? And how secure do you feel?
Usually in a less developed country or in a country with a not-so-good reputation of security, you may want to leave the expensive gear behind. The last thing you want is to be a screaming billboard of a target. Having said that, if you take the necessary measures and practice a bit of street wisdom, you may be able to work around this problem and carry that DSLR anyway. Me? I’d stick to the pocket camera for the instances mentioned. Though having said that, my pocket camera is an LX3. =)

3. How much luggage space do you have?
Now, do keep in mind that there is rather limited luggage you can bring on business travel, especially with all the working wear and accessories you already need to carry. To add to that, it also will depend on how generous or spendthrift you are feeling; ie. the space required for souvenirs and shopping as well. The important thing here is to ensure you don’t carry more than you need. The 2 kg Manfrotto tripod can be left behind unless you’re really certain you’re going to use it. Perhaps it’s worth considering something like a little Gorillapod.

4. How long is the overall duration of the trip?
Needless to say, the longer the trip, the higher the decision will sway towards the DSLR equipment. Simple reason being that the opportunities for photography tend to increase proportionally to the duration of the travel stint.

Now, having put all this into consideration, there is one last thing you will need to consider.

Really, seriously, ask yourself if you really feel the passion and drive to want to photograph when you’re on this business trip?

If you have even a niggling sense of doubt, stick to the small camera, or better still, borrow one from a friend if you don’t own one. There’s always the option of making use of the camera phone too, but frankly, I’m no iPhone 3Gs user, so I’m not going down that road. Having said that, there’s nothing wrong with the concept and as such, the latter is very much a personal choice of mine.

As one Chase Jarvis says, the best camera is the one you have with you.

So… what kind of camera gear do you bring on a business trip?