Edit as you go? Post-Processing while traveling

So I'm preparing for a wildlife photo trip into Costa Rica in several weeks. One of the things I keep seeing while looking for photography tips both here and on other places on the web is to bring your laptop along and edit your photos while on location. This seems like a great idea, but I wondering if there is any real advantage to doing so?

I suppose the one benefit is that you can look at your photos the same day and see if there is anything you can improve on, shutter speed, focus, etc, and then work on that the next day while you still have the opportunity to do so.

The only drawback I can see is having to carry laptop, charger, portable hard drive for photo storage and the card reader. Altogether that should be less than 5 lbs of added weight, but flying with luggage restrictions I want to leave a little room to spare.

Any thoughts?

I took my laptop to Costa Rica and it everywhere I travel for more than a few days. Could not live without it. It is just a MacBook Air but is nice and light and fits into the laptop pouch of one of my camera bags. Screen is a little small but it is 3 times faster that my 5 year old iMac.

I always bring my laptop when traveling....mostly because the anticipation of seeing how my shots turned out on a bigger screen and fully processed....but also, the peace of mind that comes with importing your photos at the end of the day so you don't lose them while out enjoying your vacation!

Just get a good bag that accommodates both your laptop and your camera while on the plane and what not.

I also bring a 1 terabyte drive to back them up and for Time Machine.

Also I need the internet so I can show pictures of my cats and argue with people I don't know

My laptop comes with me in order to have duplicates of photos (on separate USB harddrive/SSD), and to be able to read emails and forums to pass the time. The laptop does not come with me for RAW conversion nor photo editing, simply because I know the foibles of most laptop monitors.

I use my iPad Pro 512GB to import images and cull them in the field. When I get home, I can use Image Capture or other tools to move the images to the desktop. Much cheaper, smaller. and lighter than a 15" MacBook Pro.

How do you guys edit on a laptop? I'm always concerned that if I have the angle of the screen wrong, all my pictures will be processed to look too light (or dark). A few degrees one way or the other and the look totally changes.

I bring a laptop to download, view, and process a few for posting. I also copy the cards to a portable hard drive. When I return, I take the cards and transfer into Lightroom and my hard drive, to start fresh. I don't try to move edit information to the home PC.

medd63 wrote in post #18481204
How do you guys edit on a laptop? I'm always concerned that if I have the angle of the screen wrong, all my pictures will be processed to look too light (or dark). A few degrees one way or the other and the look totally changes.

I had the same issue while traveling. As I was waiting in the airport toady I found this which you can probably make yourself. There is a video on it.

https://www.acratech.n​et …itor-viewing-angle-gauge/

There is probably more stuff out there bit this does tell you what angle you should be be viewing at.

Mr_ipsum wrote in post #18480650
So I'm preparing for a wildlife photo trip into Costa Rica in several weeks. One of the things I keep seeing while looking for photography tips both here and on other places on the web is to bring your laptop along and edit your photos while on location. This seems like a great idea, but I wondering if there is any real advantage to doing so?

I suppose the one benefit is that you can look at your photos the same day and see if there is anything you can improve on, shutter speed, focus, etc, and then work on that the next day while you still have the opportunity to do so.

The only drawback I can see is having to carry laptop, charger, portable hard drive for photo storage and the card reader. Altogether that should be less than 5 lbs of added weight, but flying with luggage restrictions I want to leave a little room to spare.

Any thoughts?

Depends on your needs.

Some people need to edit and share quickly, to keep their media stream active often, like on instagram.

If you're not looking to update quickly to a feed, then enjoy your trip, don't worry about editing.

A tablet or chromebook or something small and simple with an IPS panel display is a nice, light way, to simply review photos to see what you have before moving on for example. That can be useful if you have specific goals on your trip. I know a lot use ipad minis for this (LR app?).

I take a chromebook because I am a clunky tech user and don't care for touch-tablets. And I shoot RAW+JPG. I can review the JPG's quickly just to see what I have (better than the camera LCD). But I don't try to edit on location. I have no need to update a feed or media site on a daily basis.

Very best,

medd63 wrote in post #18481204
How do you guys edit on a laptop? I'm always concerned that if I have the angle of the screen wrong, all my pictures will be processed to look too light (or dark). A few degrees one way or the other and the look totally changes.

Not as much on an issue with modern laptop displays.

medd63 wrote in post #18481204
How do you guys edit on a laptop? I'm always concerned that if I have the angle of the screen wrong, all my pictures will be processed to look too light (or dark). A few degrees one way or the other and the look totally changes.

I have this at the bottom of the screen to check the angle while I'm editing on the laptop: https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=8521320&p​ostcount=7

mystik610 wrote in post #18481368
Not as much on an issue with modern laptop displays.

Yes. I strolled around the Airport yesterday and stoped at the Apple store. They had them on display. I tried the Air and the screen changed. I tried a Mackbook pro and it didn't. Depends on the display as well. I read Air is known for this.

digital paradise wrote in post #18481453
Yes. I strolled around the Airport yesterday and stoped at the Apple store. They had them on display. I tried the Air and the screen changed. I tried a Mackbook pro and it didn't. Depends on the display as well. I read Air is known for this.

Yeah the retina displays use IPS panels, so the colors and brightness are very uniform even when viewing off axis. The newer macbook airs should have IPS displays, but I'm not sure about the older ones.