Should You Bring Your Laptop to an Outdoor Photoshoot?

Jun 22, 2023

When heading out for an outdoor session or taking travel photos, the goal is almost always to carry as little as possible. You might be wondering: Should I bring my laptop for an outdoor photoshoot? Or are my camera and its accessories enough?

Read on to learn when a laptop will be useful during an outdoor photoshoot, and in what situations you’ll be better off leaving it behind.

Many creators choose a laptop computer over a desktop for its portability. During a photo shoot, a laptop can serve as a backup device or an appropriately sized display to check photos while on location.

Here are some situations when you’ll benefit from bringing a laptop with you on a shoot.

When You Need Immediate Photo Feedback

Modern digital cameras come with a small screen that provide a general view of the pictures you just took. But when you need more detailed insight into how your photos are looking right as you take them, whether the colors, focus, and composition are as planned, you’ll need a laptop with a color-accurate, bright screen — especially if the shooting is taking place outdoors and not in a studio.

For visual artists, screen quality is paramount, so you want to make sure you get the best. You may want to opt for a bright, high-resolution OLED display ― such as ASUS Lumina OLED, available in ASUS creator laptops.

When you have a high-quality laptop with you during the shoot, you can immediately check parameters like sharpness and image quality and make sure there is no blur by using Adobe® Lightroom or other software.

Having an accurate display is especially useful when trying to achieve specific lighting effects ― such as a dusk shot. When investing time and money in an important shoot, having a way to check to see that you’ve captured what you need is absolutely critical. This is especially true if you only have one opportunity to take the specific shot you need.

When You Have Your Clients with You at the Shoot

When hired for a photo shoot that your clients will be attending, having a laptop with you is key. If you can show your work to your clients right as you take the photos, they can select what they like. This will help you know what direction you should head for the rest of the day. If the client can pick out key shots they like on the spot, it can also save your time otherwise spent choosing from hundreds of photos later on and decrease the email back-and-forth following the shoot.

When You Wish to Edit on Location or While Traveling

With a powerful creator laptop with plenty of processing power, photographers can make edits on the go or on location. It also enables you to be able to make some edits on the spot and show the results to your clients, if they are at the shoot with you. Or, if you’re shooting a live event, you can quickly edit and share photos ― right there and then.

When at Extended Shoots (Over a Couple of Days)

Sometimes, you’ll need to spend a few days away from your usual workstation. In these situations, having a laptop with an SD card reader and plenty of storage space will be crucial ― as it will make it easy to save the work you’ve done each day and neatly organize your files into folders corresponding to shooting days for easier file access.

Sometimes, just your camera and some backup SD cards are enough. Here are some situations when you might be better off leaving the laptop behind, allowing you to travel more compactly.

When Editing Equipment is Available on Location

In some shooting locations, a professional setup with a desktop and displays might be available for use, so your camera is all you need to have with you. Or, you may simply be in charge of capturing imagery … and the editing is left to others.

Even in such cases, however, many photographers prefer to have their own computer with all their settings and preferences in place, and simply plug the laptop to an external monitor. But, the choice is yours.

When You Don’t Need Immediate Feedback

Sometimes you can take your sweet time to review the results back at your studio or home. All you’ll need is a bunch of SD cards to ensure you have enough space, and then you simply download the pics to your computer and check them or make edits after the shoot is completed.

This can also be true for hobbyists and amateurs whose lives don't depend on whether the shots you just took will sell or be accepted by your clients.

When You’re Travel-Shooting

When you’re traveling for extended periods, you may want to bring your laptop with you. But that doesn’t mean that you’ll need to carry it everywhere you go, every day. In many cases, it will be best to simply leave your laptop in the hotel room and download your photos at the end of the day.

When You Will Be In Difficult Conditions

Sometimes, it's better to leave the laptop behind for the sake of its safety. This might be because of the weather conditions like rain (laptops and water don't mix) or when the environment is dusty, extremely humid, or otherwise not recommended for laptop usage.

Sometimes you’ll shoot in difficult conditions, in crowded spaces, or will need to move around a lot. In these cases, it’s probably best to leave your laptop behind.

Not all laptops will be able to handle what you need them for. We recommend a creator laptop with specifications optimized for your needs.

When choosing a laptop for photo editing and outdoor photography, make sure it has some of the following characteristics:

Here’s a guide to choosing the right creator laptop. Just click the button below to learn more!