Understanding how to travel with your camera and photography accessories can save you a lot of aggravation, pain and potentially money. This episode talks about some of the things you need to consider before you decide to hit the road or board an airplane with your photography gear.

Why You Should Always Keep Your Camera and Lenses as Carry-on Items

Before we get into anything else, there's one clear point that I hope sticks with you.

Always keep your camera and lenses with you as carry-on items.

My concern isn't as much about theft – while that is a small possibility – as it is about damaged or missing luggage. Airport baggage handlers have a tough job. They have thousands of heavy bags that are constantly being sorted from one location to another. It's a pretty thankless task, as most passengers never see or interact with these workers.

Considering that the maximum weight for a suitcase with many airlines is 50 pounds, that's a lot of weight to keep picking up from one spot and putting it down in another. Bags are awkward and the workers are under time pressure to keep everything moving.

Sometimes that doesn't leave time for delicacy.

They have no idea if something delicate or valuable is inside your luggage. Honestly, I doubt they care. Your bag is a 50 pound widget that goes from this place to that place. It's going to get tossed, dropped, stacked, lugged and maybe even kicked into place.

Do you really want your precious DSLR or expensive lenses to be inside that bag? I don't.

What Gear Do You Keep as Carry-on and What Can Go in Your Luggage?

There are some pieces of your gear that can safely go into your stowed luggage. I typically put my tripod or monopod inside of my suitcase. It's never been stolen or damaged. The only thing that ever happened is that I found a card inside my suitcase telling me that the TSA opened it to inspect the content.

My guess is that tripod probably looked a bit out of place and they wanted to make sure it wasn't a bad device.

The simple rule for deciding what can go in your suitcase is this:

Anything that you won't be devastated if it gets damaged or your suitcase goes on the wrong plane and isn't available when you land. It's rare, but sometimes suitcases get lost.

The items you keep with you are the precious items that may get damaged or are devastating if you lose them.

Lee mentioned that she's fine putting her memory cards in the suitcase. That's something I would never do. I can't take photos when I arrive without a memory card, and I'd hate to lose all of my photos on the way home if the suitcase gets lost or damaged.

Exceptions to My Rules

Keep in mind that my rules are not binding, but the airlines and regulating bodies like the TSA have some clout. Make sure you check the TSA article about Safely Packing Batteries for Your Trip to understand the rules and recommendations.

While you can keep some batteries in checked luggage, the TSA recommends that you keep them as carry-on items. Also, spare lithium batteries (both lithium metal and lithium ion/polymer) are prohibited in checked baggage.

Another exception to keeping everything as carry-on is when it simply isn't practical. Some commercial photographers travel with special cases and bags to carry a lot of gear for an assignment. They may use everything from hard-sided Pelican cases to ThinkTank Production Manager or Logistics Manager bags – large rolling cases designed to carry lighting gear, stands and more.

It's hard to travel with some extreme telephoto lenses, like 500mm and up. If you're planning on photographing wildlife, sports or some other genres that requires a lot of focal range, you may need to spend some money on a quality case and give the Sk...