I guess I am a traveling Horse Photographer!
I do love to travel and I love to photograph horses on all my adventures. I just returned from my trip to Western Australia. I have recovered from my jet lag and am already planning my next adventure to Maine in Autumn.
Traveling with a pinched nerve
This most recent travel to Western Australia was a bit more challenging then my trips have been in the past. A week before departing I ended up sleeping crooked and pinched a nerve in my neck. I was hoping the issue would resolve itself before my flight, I tried stretching and massage and numerous pillow heights but the pain just wouldn’t go away. I was most concerned about traveling with my camera gear. Naturally my gear goes where I go, not in the checked luggage but as my carry on, on the plane. I have a Lowepro padded back pack camera bag. It has always worked great. My small 13″ Asus Laptop fits in the outside pocket. Then I typically travel with another bag with my snacks, ipod, phone, cords, chargers, wallet, passport, travel documents and my neck pillow.
As it got closer to departure date, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to carry my camera gear in my Lowepro backpack. I could not handle any pressure on my neck! I had to find an alternative and I had no time to research and buy a rolling camera bag. Now that my trip is over, I can ask for recommendations and do some research before the next trip. If you are a camera bag manufacturer or a travel photographer, please share some of your experiences with camera bags.
Sugarloaf Rock in Margaret River
I packed one camera body and one lens in a standard Samsonite rolling weekend bag. I used clothing as extra padding and safely headed off to Australia with my Samsonite. My laptop fit in here as well, actually two laptops and my ipod and of course my snacks. The new dilemma was that with camera gear, two laptops and other sundries- this rolling bag was very heavy for either myself or Christy to lift. We are both 5′ 2″ making it quite difficult to lift above us and fit in the over head compartment. Fortunately, we found several people that were willing to assist.
Traveling Horse Photographer
When you travel around the world and have to navigate around large airports going from domestic terminals to international terminals and go through customs and security lines and you are exhausted from little or no sleep, it quickly becomes annoying to unpack the carry on bags and shoes and jackets and laptops at each security line. There is such pressure to perform this at a rapid pace as the line forms behind you. Once you finally get everything out of the bag and into the provided containers and onto the conveyor, you have to pass through the screener and reassemble all your belongings on the other side. It’s stressful.
Watching this video below is far from the reality of people lining up behind you and pushing on your belongings to move through the line.
I wish there was another way to do this. I have considered not bringing my laptop and depending exclusively on my cell phone. However, with an active online business and needing access to my images at any given moment, I really need to travel with my laptop.
I have decided that the kindle and ipad are not necessary anymore. I thought I would read while I was traveling, but in reality I watched a lot of movies, I binge watched the tv show, Condor about a CIA agent on the run trying to clear his name. There was no time for music and reading, LOL.
Each leg of the flight was completely sold out so stretching out in my economy seat and getting some real rest was not possible. Add to all of that, an injured neck and the sleeping was very disruptive. Each time I awoke, I had expected that hours had passed only to find that it was more like 20 minutes. The stretch from LAX to Melbourne of almost 15 hours was very uncomfortable. Why do they make the economy seat passengers walk through the First Class and Business Class seats. It’s like the airlines are taunting us with comfort.
Comfort not a real factor on the Airbus
To be honest, although I don’t enjoy the long flights and the security lines and the tight seats it was great to travel with Christy! It was great to have 
someone else to help read all the navigation signs and get through the airports with. It was great to have a friendly face 10 hours into travel, 20 hours into travel and 30 hours into traveling. It was also great to know that my sister and her family would be on the other end of this long journey.
Photographing Horses in Australia
Me and my camera equipment arrived safely and I was off to photograph horses around the Perth area. I had several shoots lined up and various locations around the suburbs of Australia. The breeds were the same as I would find here in Arizona and even the terrain was similar. The horse owners were friendly and the horses were fantastic.
Jet-lag on the way home
The jet-lag on the travel home was very challenging. I had very little sleep and was still suffering with my neck pain. I must have slept for 15 hours once we got home and even then was only awake a few more hours before sleeping again. I would say it was truly 5 days before the routine returned and sleeping was back to normal. It was a great trip, with wonderful and memories and wonderful horse photos. My pinched nerve seems to be easing up and I am not in pain anymore, although I still am looking for a rolling camera bag.
Enjoy these shots from the horse photo shoots in Western Australia.
Photographing Horses in Maine
Next on the travel calendar is a trip to Maine for an Autumn photo shoot on the east coast. After a quick one day seminar in Boston with Abraham Hicks we are off to southern Maine. I’m starting to reach out to farms in the southern Maine region. If you know anyone in the Rockland Maine area that owns horses and would like professional photographs taken, please contact me.
If you are looking to book a photo session for your horse this summer in Arizona- please check out my page of services.
Jody L. Miller is a professional photographer specializing in Horse Photography, Equine Photography, and Equestrian photography. Her work can be viewed online here in her gallery section, and she is also featured at these Arizona Galleries: Van Gogh’s Ear Gallery in Prescott, Arizona , The Phippen Art Museum, Hart of AZ Gallery in Old Town Cottonwood and Coops Coffee House at Talking Rock Ranch.