Travel Tip: How to Take Photos Remotely
You guys... I never want to come home. Okay, that's an aggressive statement, but the past two weeks have been incredible and the travel bug has been permanently implanted. Currently sitting in Rome trying to figure out how to accidentally miss my flight tomorrow... I kid, I kid. There's so much I plan to share from must-have travel apps and outfits (obvi) to ALL THINGS about Croatia and my two Italy stops. Oh and that time I shattered my iPhone into itsy bitsy pieces. Yeah, that happened.
Before I left, one of my biggest concerns was how exactly I was going to capture content. I a) didn't want to bring my huge DSRL and b) didn't want to depend on passers by or friends to take my pictures. Can you imagine? "Hey stranger, do you mind doing a 20 minute photoshoot?!" On top of that, not really keen on the idea of handing a stranger an expensive camera. So, Andy and I went to Sammy's Camera and talked through all the options. I explained that I already had a nice DSLR with interchangeable lenses which works perfectly fine but wanted something way smaller - small enough to fit in this bag plus it needed to have remote shooting capabilities. We ended up walking out with these two essentials: Canon power Shot G5x + Migo Splat Flexible Mini Tripod.
Below are pics from my first remote shoot (didn't do any test shoots). Read through to learn more about shooting remotely / my thoughts on the camera!
Before I left, one of my biggest concerns was how exactly I was going to capture content. I a) didn't want to bring my huge DSRL and b) didn't want to depend on passers by or friends to take my pictures. Can you imagine? "Hey stranger, do you mind doing a 20 minute photoshoot?!" On top of that, not really keen on the idea of handing a stranger an expensive camera. So, Andy and I went to Sammy's Camera and talked through all the options. I explained that I already had a nice DSLR with interchangeable lenses which works perfectly fine but wanted something way smaller - small enough to fit in this bag plus it needed to have remote shooting capabilities. We ended up walking out with these two essentials: Canon power Shot G5x + Migo Splat Flexible Mini Tripod.
Below are pics from my first remote shoot (didn't do any test shoots). Read through to learn more about shooting remotely / my thoughts on the camera!
{shop this look}
{shop my seaside Italy look}
I basically lived in bodysuits and skirts for this trip. More about packing for this 14 day adventure later but let's get to the good stuff: remote shooting. A few reasons why I went with the Canon Powershot G5x:
1. the size: most smaller bodied DSLR cameras end up "growing" when you start dealing with lenses. This powershot is very compact and the lense is retractable. Additionally, the man who helped us advised that I don't get a DSLR/interchangeable lense camera because I already have a perfectly fine one at home.
2. built in wifi: the KEY to remote shooting. Almost ALL new cameras have this capability and it's magical. Canon's cameras all connect to the Canon Camera Connect App which can be installed on almost any device. Via the app I can shoot (ie using the phone as a "remote), view all images and automatically sync them to my phone. No actual wifi or cords needed. The camera emits its own wifi that is picked up by the phone and ta-da!
3. the capabilities: I haven't even had a moment to dive in to everything it can do, but it shoots great quality images and allows me to get that blurred background so many of us love by setting different f-stops/ lense length.
All in all I am SUPER impressed with the camera. I really want to deep dive in to the remote capabilities a little more because most of the shots I've been taking are just on auto. All the remote capabilities mirror the actual camera capabilities but the buttons are different on the phone/app which takes some getting used to. One thing to remember is that shooting remotely requires the phone to be in your hand (duh!) which means a lot of fun new poses. You'll notice my right hand is strategically placed in every one of the above pics!
The size is absolutely perfect; I honestly can't imagine having to lug my bigger DSLR around for trips in the future. The other must have is this Migo Splat Flexible Mini Tripod. Can you say GAME CHANGER? The legs are flexible and wrap around almost anything ie: a tree branch or balcony railing. They can also stand straight up creating a mini tripod which works perfectly for walls and such. This is a great set-up for normal travelers too, not just bloggers. Selfie sticks can only go so far and gone are the days of always missing 1 person from the group (because they're taking the pic).
Ironically I had to take this poor quality shot with my iPad (my phone no longer exists) but I wanted to give you guys a visual for what the camera and mini-tripod look like. Definitely going to re-shoot this when I get home haha! Let me know if you have any Qs about the process or products - happy to answer! Lots more travel posts soon!!
