by Julia Catherine Lee

Created on: November 03, 2009   Last Updated: November 06, 2009

Have a vacation coming up? Wondering what camera gears you should bring with you so you never miss that precious photo opportunity again? A little planning ahead of the trip is a must here so you will have plenty of time to shop around for best deals

Below are five top travel photo essentials you want to have in your camera bag.

1. The obvious, you will need your camera, one with a neck strap or wrist strap. Your camera can be a point and shoot or a digital single lens reflex (DSLR). Always wear it around your neck or wrist. This good habit will prevent you from dropping your camera accidentally, chipping it or, worse, breaking it, sending it out of commission completely for the rest of your trip.

Your camera should be equipped with a medium telephoto travel lens covering 28mm to the far end of 105mm or longer. Frequently when you are sightseeing, it is not possible to get close to your subject and the telephoto lens lets you zoom in from a distance. You are also less intrusive and thus able to capture candid shots from further away. Do not leave the camera manual at home, pack it in your bag. You will be glad to have it and will find yourself picking it up to read while on a train or in a hotel room at night. If you can find a how to book on photography techniques, bring it along for pointers and inspiration.

2. Secondly, a lens filter. Lens filters come in different lens thread sizes, the most common are 52mm and 58mm. UV, or haze lens, filters reduce haze giving you an improved image. Lens filters also dubs as a lens protector, shielding front lens element from dust and dirt. It protects lens surface against abrasion if the camera is dropped and lands on a hard surface. What about the other types of lens filters?

Digital cameras today allow a photographer the ability to set white balance according to different shooting environments: sunny, open shade, indoor, etc. If you are new to photography, simply set the camera to auto white balance (AWB) and the camera will do the rest and you don't have to worry about picking the right white balance.

If you must buy a second filter, get a polarizing filter. Shooting through a polarizing filter will give you a more vivid and saturated look. You can also achieve similar results by setting your camera's image capture setting to vivid or bringing up the saturation level. A very useful feature of the polarizing filter is that it can be used to remove unwanted reflections from shiny surfaces and glass. For example, if you

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