Travel journalist and photographer Stephanie Vermillion shares her insights and experience covering remote areas around the world—from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to the jungles of Panamá.
It was the moment I’d long dreamed about: me, on a quiet beach, watching a refrigerator-sized leatherback sea turtle nest just steps away. The reptile was busy at work laying eggs, then flipping sand to cover them with deep, heavy grunts from the hard work. I had my camera at the ready and while the conditions weren’t ideal—sand, low light, and thousands of invisible flies nipping my heels—I snapped with an ear-to-ear smile on my face.
You don’t just stumble on these kinds of transcendent natural sights. They require months of planning, research, and a good team. Take this night with the nesting mother turtle in Panamá: Getting to this far-flung shore required three hours by tiny speedboat, a hike while our vessel got hand-tugged along a canal, and an evening zip across the water to visit the nesting site with the Indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé community who protects its endangered reptilian inhabitants.
Yet off-the-grid adventures are worth every second of planning. In fact, they’ve become the backbone of my career as an adventure journalist. Through this experience, from photographing a snow-storm camping trip on the Greenland ice sheet to climbing up Mount Kilimanjaro, I’ve learned a thing or two about photography in remote locations. Here’s how I capture content in these communities—from what I pack to how I prepare.
Heavily Research Your Location
In the months leading up to a remote reporting trip, I pore over articles, photos, and videos about the destination. It helps me visualize the experience, the potential images I hope to create, what to wear and pack, and the conditions I’ll face.
Research also answers important gear questions:
- Do I need my full lens arsenal, or just a few key ones?
- Will the Peak Design Capture Clip suffice to keep my camera handy? Do I need a front camera pack in addition to my backpacking pack?
- What are the transit weight restrictions for luggage?
Strategize Your Gear
I almost always travel with two camera bodies because I prefer prime lenses. I select the lenses based on destination research. In Greenland, for example, I know I need two wide-angle lenses for astrophotography. Yet, up there, I’m often backpacking and carrying my life on my shoulders—camera equipment, hiking gear, food, and the like. That means I have to make some hard decisions. While I’d love to pack two full travel tripods for night-sky timelapses, I usually bring one larger tripod, like the MeFoto RoadTrip Travel Tripod, and a smaller Joby GorillaPod for my backup camera.
Alternatively, in Panamá, we hopped from place to place via raft, canoe, ferry, and bush plane. Knowing that, I packed ultra-light. I left the tripods at home and went heavy on the dry bags. During water adventures, I keep my equipment safely tucked in the dry bags while boarding each boat. Only after I get a feel for the ride will I take out my cameras (a boat ride means very different things from one place to another.) During the most harrowing boat rides, I rely on my iPhone or GoPro.
Get Gear Insurance
If you take just one thing away from this article, let it be this: Do not depart for your remote adventure without investing in gear insurance. The peace of mind is worth the investment. What’s covered varies by your plan but it typically includes fire, theft, and accidental damage. Water damage isn’t always included so do your research, read the fine print, and find a plan that encompasses as many aspects of your adventure as possible.
Bring Solar and Portable Chargers
Electricity is a rarity during truly off-the-grid adventures. That’s why I bring reliable portable chargers on every trip. During week-long trips, such as my climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, I also rely on portable solar power chargers. You can attach the panel to your backpack and let it soak up the sun while hiking. Then, at camp, you can charge the devices and set out the panel for more charge again.
An important tip: Make sure each device is fully charged before you leave home. Nothing is worse than plugging in to find a dead charger.
Pack Back-Up Accessories
Prepare for the unexpected in the wilderness, whether that’s a surprise rainstorm or failing gear. I’ve had one too many pieces of gear malfunction at the worst moments. More often than not, it’s something small but essential—like a battery that goes from full to dying in the middle of the desert, or that off-brand iPhone charger deciding the remote rainforest is the perfect place to give up. Since they’re small, I now pack extra charging cords, memory cards, camera batteries, and chargers for all reporting trips.
Hire a Guide
To reach remote locations, such as the jungles of Panamá or the soaring mountains of Patagonia, it’s best to hire a local guide. This isn’t solely for your safety—though it does help. Hiring a local guide will give back to the community you’re visiting. It also helps you take your storytelling to deeper levels.
For example, in Patagonia, I hired local puma-tracking guide and photographer Miguel Fuentealba for the chance to photograph the elusive cats. What I thought would be a typical photo-centered wildlife safari turned into a full day learning about his work training younger generations of puma trackers to treat the animals with respect—giving them safe distances, watching from afar when necessary, and confronting other guides or tourists who get too close. This kind of background turns pretty photos into compelling stories. It leaves you with photo essays that magazines and digital publications may want to buy.
Ask Before Photographing
Another reason to travel with a guide? Ethical travel photography. It’s important to ask permission before taking photos of people, homes, and pets. A local guide can introduce you to the local people so you can get to know them before that first snap, even if you don’t speak the local language.
Human connection is integral to creating deep, moving imagery. It’s also an important part of the remote travel experience. I love a good sunset or night beneath the stars, but conversation with the local community is always what I remember most.
Pack Clothes with Pockets
Reporting in remote locations can get hectic with small supplies like lens caps, memory cards, filters, and your phone. Having pants with pockets is a non-negotiable for me on these trips. I try to put the same things in the same pockets each time to avoid the inevitable freakout when I can’t find an item.
After losing one too many lens caps in the woods, I’m also a big fan of lens cap keepers. I still remove them in certain situations, such as night sky photography, but it’s nice to have a backup for my scrambled brain.
Bring Gear-Cleaning Tools
As any mirrorless camera photographer knows, a tiny speck of sensor dust can ruin a whole image or video series. While editing software can mend this, I like to avoid dust spots in the first place by keeping a sensor cleaner with me. Thankfully, I don’t change lenses too often in the field because I have two camera bodies. When I do, I always take a beat to blow the sensor to remove sneaky debris. A lens-cleaning pen is another must-have for any kind of travel photography.
Take Handwritten Notes
As a journalist, note-taking is critical. I typically type out notes on my phone, but during far-flung excursions, every second of battery is important. That’s why I take notes by hand in adventure-ready waterproof notebooks. I have peace of mind knowing random rainstorm won’t wash away my text.
Buy a Camera Backpack with Back Support
Cameras and lenses are important, but another key piece of gear to invest in is your backpack. Lugging equipment puts a toll on your body—it’s largely why I prioritize strength workouts in between trips—but you can also ease a bit of the burden with a proper backpack. Look for packs with shoulder support and a waist belt, such as the Vanguard VEO Active or the Lowepro Pro Trekker BP 650 AW II. Of course, if you’re embarking on a full, multi-day trek, you’ll need a larger adventure-photographer bag like the Lowepro PhotoSport PRO BP 55L.
Put Down the Camera
This may be the hardest, but most important, piece of advice on this list. Learn when to stop. Awe-striking, remote locations are what photographic dreams are made of—take my epic night watching that colossal reptile nest beneath the moonlight. Yet I don’t want to solely see the world’s beauty through my camera. That’s why, through years of practice and knowing my craft, I’ve learned when it’s time to put down the gear.
For me, that comes from knowing the types of shots I need to sell my work. More often than not, another shot of a gliding dolphin beside the boat isn’t necessary when I already have dozens. So, I do a quick gut check: How will I use this image, and do I really (really) need it?
I know in my heart what the answer is, and force myself to put the camera down when the answer is “no.” Never once have I regretted seeing the world with my own two eyes—and I have a feeling you won’t regret it either.
