Camera
Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II – I am absolutely obsessed with this vintage looking mirrorless camera! I did a TON of research when I wanted to upgrade my photography equipment, and I am so happy I landed on this one. See current prices here. If you want to know how and why I chose this camera, read more here.
Read More: 7 Reasons Why Mirrorless Cameras are Perfect for Travelers
Lens
Olympus 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 – The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II (mouthful I know) does not come with a kit lens. I usually hate kit lens anyways, so I would have purchased a nicer one anyways. For a starter lens I was in the market for a zoom lens with a pretty generic range. Based on reviews the 12-50mm is far more superior than any other option and I love it. See current prices here.
Photography Accessories
Manfrotto Compact Tripod – I absolutely love this tripod and seriously take it everywhere I go. It’s lightweight to carry but still sturdy so it won’t get easily blown over. If you’re a solo traveler then this tripod is a must. See current prices here.
Read More: How to Take Amazing Photos of Yourself when Traveling Solo
GorillaPod – This little guy is super helpful if you want to capture a photo of yourself, but don’t have a steady surface to work with. The legs are flexible to work with and because of the rubberized foot grips you can take it anywhere! It’s super fun to wrap the octopus legs around trees, poles, or really any structure available. (PS this works great for GoPro’s, too!) See current prices here.
Camera Remote – Anyone who’s ever traveled solo knows how amazing it is to have a camera remote. I love not having to wait for the self-timer and can take as many photos as I want until I give I deem it “okay”. See current prices here.
Read More: 10 Tips for Taking Great Photos of Yourself (for any occasion)
ONA Camera Bag – While I’m out and about I don’t like to look like a tourist, and this beautiful ONA camera bag is the closest thing I’ve seen that actually looks nice and wear-able. It’s made specifically for mirrorless cameras which is perfect for me, and I am seriously obsessed. See current prices here.
ONA Antique Leather Camera Strap – One of the first things I did after buying my camera was purchasing a new camera strap. I find that the straps the camera comes with are unreliable and easily untie. I’ve even had the camera fall off of my neck because of this. I was adamant about investing in a nice camera strap because a lot of the fake leather ones will fall apart super easily. I love this camera strap because of the beautiful vintage leather but also because it’s super sturdy and I never have to worry about losing my camera. See current prices here.
Fujifilm Instax – Isn’t this Fujifilm Instax camera the cutest?! I am obsessed with polaroids and use them as decoration around my home. This instant camera is so cute and also fun to play around with. See current prices here.
Backup Battery – Because of the nature of mirrorless cameras using more battery to operate the electric viewfinder, it’s always handy to have a spare. I can go a full day without having to stop re-charge, but it’s always good to have a spare just in case. See current prices here.
SD Cards – Totally recommend purchasing a few 64GB SD cards to have as backup.
External Hard Drive – After one too many computer crashes I have learned the hard way how important it is to back up my photos. After traveling to 54+ countries, I have amassed thousands upon thousands of travel photos, and I keep them all safe by moving them over to an external hard drive and then backing them up a second time with BackBlaze (which I mention below). The LaCie external hard drive is my favorite because external hard drives can be fragile, but this one is drop, crush, and shock resistant – woohoo! See current prices here.
BackBlaze – One top of an external hard drive, I also use BackBlaze to back up my entire computer. I used to use Amazon drive, but unfortunately I lost a lot of photos with their services, so I switched to BackBlaze. BackBlaze has been amazing and I absolutely love their service and completely recommend them. They not only back up your entire computer but also backup any drives connected with USB, including your external hard drive! My favorite feature is there is no storage limit – which is truly VERY generous of them. So regardless of how much space you use, the price stays the same. If you want to give it a try, click on my link for a 15-day free trial.
Adventure/Underwater Photography
GoPro Hero 6 – I absolutely love my GoPro! I’ve used it kayaking, paddle boarding, snorkeling, hiking – pretty much everywhere – and I love it so much. If you are looking to buy a brand new GoPro, I definitely recommend going with the GoPro Hero 6. It is the latest model and has 4K video, 30 fps burst, is water resistant up to 10 meters, and has the GPS location capture. Basically it’s awesome. See current prices here.
GoPro 3-Way Grip – The 3-way grip is the best all around GoPro accessory because you can use it as a handler, selfie stick, and tripod – all in one! The only downside is it doesn’t float, so make sure you are extra careful when around water. See current prices here.
GoPro Dome – The GoPro Dome is crucial for split water photography. If you don’t know what that is, it’s those awesome shots that are taken half in the water, half out of the water. The GoPro Dome is the magic ingredient to make this shot a reality. Because trust me, I tried it without the dome and it just doesn’t work. See current prices here.
Water Repellent for the Lens – Have you ever shot GoPro footage underwater (or around water), and then realized you couldn’t use any it because there are water spots all over your photos? Yep been there. Buy the water repellent, you’ll thank me. Note that you will have to reapply every 30 minutes or so for best results. See current prices here.
Extra Battery – GoPro batteries only last between 2 – 2.5 hours, so extra batteries are vital.
Photography Editing
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom – I use Lightroom to edit all of my photos and I truly love this program. It is a powerful editing tool and after you get used to it, it’s really easy to use. I subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud which includes Lightroom as well as Photoshop and other Adobe programs. I love it because unlike when you buy a program outright, with the cloud membership you receive all of the add-ons and updates for free. You can check prices for the Adobe Creative Cloud here.
Travel in her Shoes Presets – For a long time I edited my photos on my own, however I recently purchased the Travel in her Shoes presets and love them so much! If you want to take your photography up a level I highly recommend purchasing her presets to add a little pizzaz!
I personally love and use all of these products however you will find that there are affiliate links in this post. This means I will earn a small commission on any sales made, at no extra cost to you – if interested you can check out my disclosure policy here. I truly appreciate your support as it helps cover the costs of running this site, so thank you in advance!
