If you ever wondered what gear we use when taking the photos on our website, here’s our list of items. We bring almost every one of these items during any trip. Honestly we don’t think about our shots ahead of time, so half of the items might not even be used. But it is a lot better to have something than to be like “aww I don’t have ____ so I can’t take this shot.”
Sadly that happened to us in the Philippines when my drone got capsized 😭 and that’s when I learned it’s better to have more than less.
Just to note, as an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases so feel free to help support us!
Contents
Cameras
iPhone (the latest one)
We are both iPhone users. One of us gets the newest one and it’s always the pro version because the pro version has the better cameras from the rest of the line up.
We use our phones to capture pictures more than half the time. You always have your phone on you compared to an expensive camera. It’s light weight and has a powerful camera, so why not use it?
Tip: Our photo and video skills got upgraded from TikTok. If you haven’t been on TikTok, watch peoples’ tutorial videos on there. Your shots will level up easily. So if you don’t know how to do anything whether it’s posing, taking a photo or video, they have easy tips and tricks to show you how to get amazing easy shots.
iPhone 11 Pro vs Mavic Mini 
iPhone 12 Pro
Sony A7RIII
Our one and only professional camera. When we got serious about taking good photos, I instantly thought I should buy the most expensive camera. If you are a total beginner, this could be seriously overwhelming when you purchase a $2,500 camera body. It took me years to understand the camera better, but watch tons of YouTube videos on the best settings so you can get familiar with it. Don’t forget TikTok 😉
Sony ZV-1
I have had many GoPros and other “easy” video cameras. I barely can say we got photography down to us being “good photographers” but videography is something that is still super new to us. So I got this camera because I wanted something that I can easily vlog with and I am a little biased, I really like Sony. I do like Canon cameras too but Sony’s mirrorless system is light, compact, and easy to carry around. Almost like your phone so it makes me more inclined to use it than my A7RIII.
It’s also super easy to use. Background defocus +++ makes it look professional with the least amount of effort. Life is already complicated and I can’t make my life more complicated on something I don’t know too much about. This camera got ‘easy’ down with the professional looking footage to boot.
Sony RX-100M5
This has been my camera to use for all the underwater photography photos. When I knew I wanted to get professional-like photos underwater but didn’t want to risk my Sony A7RIII and spend A LOT of money, I realized I should get another camera specifically for underwater photography.
Again, I love easy. This camera is an easy point-and-shoot and was the best when I first got it. When I realized I wanted these photos, do you think I did my homework on how to take these photos? Sadly, I didn’t. Trust! You should really watch YouTube videos on what is the best camera settings for underwater photography. That way you can take the guess work out of it.
Underwater photography is a whole other realm. It’s like night photography versus outdoor photography versus indoor photography. They all have their own best settings. If you have the wrong settings, you can get photos that look too blue and have no differentiation in color. Editing will be hard.
Anyway, even though I didn’t look up any settings, it was super easy to use this camera right away with little training and I got mostly good photos from our trips.
Our photos are mostly of people underwater. We do not take micro underwater photos so we will not be able to recommend items regarding that.
Sony A6500
I got this camera to replace my Sony RX-100M5. Technology is always updating and technically this camera is just as old as the RX-100M5, but the technology in the camera is a lot better. It has a bigger sensor and takes better quality photos.
Older or used cameras are really great deals if you aren’t looking to cough up over $1000 for a camera. Make sure you really review the camera, the lens, and the shutter count before buying a used camera.
I have yet to use it, but since it is replacing the RX-100M5, it will only be an underwater camera. I had to buy another underwater case specifically for the upgrade as well. More on underwater housing later in this post.
GoPro 9 Black (newest model)
I’ve had a GoPro since GoPro 5 Black. It was one of my first cameras I used for vlogging. It is super user-friendly. It’s seriously press record and you can’t go wrong, except framing the shot.
Everyone seriously needs a GoPro. If you do any traveling or any outdoor activity, you need a GoPro. It is the most rugged camera. You will never feel scared to take it anywhere with you unlike my Sony A7RIII. Dropping a GoPro is dropping $400 and it’ll probably still work well. You can take it underwater as well, now without an underwater case when you get to the newer models.
I have upgraded GoPros like I’ve upgraded an iPhone; every 2 years. Currently, we have the GoPro Hero 9.
Drone
If you ever wanted to get aerial shots but were too scared to get a drone, don’t be! DJI is the best drone manufacturer. They have made it super dumb proof. The drones these days have sensors! On almost all sides of it. The front, back, bottom, sides lol.
My favorite drone so far is the Mavic 2 Pro. Photo and video quality is a massive upgrade from the Mavic 1 Pro and it is pretty portable compared to older drones like the Phantom series from DJI.
We also got another drone in case anything ever happens to the Pro / vice versa – the Mavic Mini. It is a cheap alternative and super small. I needed a backup drone so what made us get this one over say the Mavic 2 Air is the price point.
But if you never had a drone and are going to buy your first drone, the Mavic 2 Air would be my recommendation. It’s value packed compared to the 2 Pro. Why I don’t have it is because I already had the 2 Pro before 2 Air came out. If anything I’m waiting for the Mavic 3 Pro 😳
Accessories
Do not trust that if you have the best camera that you will take the best photos without these accessories:
Lenses
If you could invest more in a lens or more in a camera, do the lens! Ideally you should be aiming to have 3 types of lenses: a wide angle (less than 32mm), all around lens (24-100mm range), and your telephoto lens (70mm-200 or more).
I like to carry only 3 lenses with us at any time because you really don’t need that many and it’ll be too much to carry around. I have the Zeiss Batis 18mm 2.8F for my wide angle. My all around lens is the Sony 24-240mm lens. My portrait prime lens is the Canon 50mm 1.2F with a metabones adapter.
Why do I have a Canon lens? I first had a Canon DSLR and then switched to Sony and I bought the Canon prior and still am in totally in love with it. I love the way it photographs me lol the bokeh is really great.
Eventually I do have long term plans to get Sony G master lenses. But those are hefty purchases.
ND / Polarizing Filters
Drone videography requires you to have ND filters. Without neutral density (ND) filters, your sky will lose depth. You can’t shoot cinematically which is usually double your frame rate.
Editing Software
We use Lightroom. We pay for the monthly subscription of $10 a month for a 2 TB cloud space. They also have a $10 a month subscription with Lightroom and Photoshop but with a small amount of space.
Tripod / Gimbal
If you buy a camera or any other expensive stuff on Adorama, you can get a free tripod. I’ve gotten 2 Joby tripods and a Manfrotto from there for free. Joby tripods are what a lot of bloggers use. But I don’t use them honestly.
For my Zv1 I use the Sony blogger selfie stick/tripod.
Selfie Stick
For the GoPro, I always use their 3 way selfie stick. It’s been with my through every trip I’ve ever taken. Through the glaciers of Iceland to the jungles of Belize to the tropical islands of Thailand to the depths of Moorea. I love this accessory. It’s really worth the money.
Microphone
I never really cared about the audio until I realized my videos were missing bomb sound effects/quality to take it to another level.
I wanted a microphone that would last me forever. Something I didn’t have to think of buying later to upgrade. We ended up buying the Rode Video NTG microphone. It’s not too big to seem complicated nor too small to not provide quality audio.
Being concerned about audio has a learning curve all on its own. But it has been easy with this microphone. I don’t have any complaints. It uses the power from your camera to power itself and it’ll auto turn off when the camera closes. That was the best feature that I could find compared to other microphones.
Lighting
Lighting is something I don’t do often at all but it doesn’t mean I’m not prepared! I’ve bought Lume cubes… but haven’t used them at all for photography. Or at all is the correct statement.
What I have used is a headlamp that I have for camping purposes. That was very helpful. It’s on your head, lightweight and bright enough to provide adequate lighting for night shots.
Underwater Housing
Super important when doing photography/videography in the water. GoPro level is good but if you want really great shots, you need to put a land camera inside an underwater housing to take those cool shots.
It’s the same thought on land: DLSR/mirror lens cameras are going to be a lot better than your iPhone or GoPro in terms of picture quality. User ability is not great if you are a beginner.
I would suggest to work yourself up from a GoPro > compact camera > mirror less camera > DLSR. That way you don’t over invest and find that you are struggling too much to get any good shots. It can be really frustrating but it will be worth it.
We used the Fantasea underwater housing for the RX100V for awhile until we got a new underwater housing for the Sony A6500.
Bag
Honestly this is the most important thing. You need something to safely and efficiently carry your stuff. I’ve spent so many years holding stuff in my pockets but we have way too many things to carry all the time when traveling.
Finally we found a backpack that can carry a multitude of items safely. It’s the 20L Everyday Backpack from Peak Design.
It has removable shelving to customize the bag to fit anything you want. It also feels super sturdy. If you need bigger bags, they have that as well
