In previous posts, I’ve talked about helpful accessories for your camera and tripod. But, I always seem to forget one item that almost always gets mentioned in the comments:
A garbage bag.
How could a garbage bag possibly help you with photography? Well, primarily the garbage bag is good for protecting your gear in case it starts raining.
Your camera bag may claim to be “waterproof” (note that water “proof” is different from water “resistant”), or maybe it has a built-in rain cover. But, those rain covers aren’t always big enough to cover your tripod too, so the garbage bag comes in handy when you’re carrying a tripod.
If you get a white garbage bag, then you can also use it as a light diffuser to help balance the light on your subject. It’ll diffuse the light more strongly than the shower curtain I’ve talked about before, but it may help you get that light you’re looking for in an image.
What about you? Have you been carrying around a garbage bag in your camera bag, and found another use for it? If so, please tell us about it by leaving a comment below. Thanks 
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About the Author: Steve Berardi is a naturalist, photographer, software engineer, and founder of PhotoNaturalist. You can usually find him hiking in the beautiful mountains and deserts of southern California.
yes, me too!!
i’ve always bring plastic bag in my camera bag. since here, in indonesia is high rainfall.
and the most important too, plastic bag is useful to carrying back any leftovers we made during taking photos. so we can keep the area clean..
And if you have a really large one, you can use it lie down and shoot Macro images where you need the angles
I’ve been carrying a garbage bag in my camera bag for decades. I have found many uses for them. I have also found that the 0.99$ ponchos are handy to have in there as well.
Great! Really think that is a great idea! Although, I do not litter, it would be so handy for all the reasons Steve Berardi just said! Thanks, again, Steve.
Yes, I have carried big black garbage bags in my photo backpack for years … they have lots of uses, but are great to cover things in that sudden downpour! Thanks Steve!
I carry a few garbage bags, despite having a rain-proof cover to put over the camera bag. I have used it to cover my wheeled bag I sometimes use (in the rain), plastic to kneel on the wet sand down the beach, to carry shells and interesting bits & pieces from the beach OR even to do a bit of shopping down the beach-side town (before I catch a bus home).
I also carry a small spray bottle of water, a pair of tweezers, an old square of flannel to clean off a patch of children’s fingerprints on the viewing window at a zoo animal exhibit, sunblock, insect repellent for those horrible mosquitos that love my fair skin and all sorts of bits & pieces, too many to mention.
I also use my black garbage bag to kneel, sit or lay down on the ground for taking close up shots of wildflowers. I have also used it when I wanted a dark, uniform background behind the subject.
My lovely essential plastic bag,
Let me count the ways I use you…………. :C)
Waterproof cover for camera, backpack, equipment, poncho…..
Collection bag for interesting specimens, ground cover for sitting, kneeling……..
Water condenser – emergency dew and condensation collector for extreme situations…
Water transporter, container…
White – reflector, diffuser, lighttent, signaling device,.
Black – solar heat collector, ( warm self, batteries ), snow melter for water…………
And most important for me, …
Before I come in from the cold, Idaho cold, I remove the card and put the camera in the bag, (usually a smaller style), and back in the pack or camera bag to prevent condensation while it warms up.
Roll clean, new bags around lenses for extra padding. You will always have one when needed.
Great lens changing area (inside the bag) when in a dusty area.
Put one over your head if you forget your hat or rain poncho.
Use smaller, clear zip lock type bags to sort used from unused memory cards, to safely store batteries or aggregate filters or small object in your camera case, and to keep instruction manuals dry.
Those bags are like American Express – I never leave home it or rather in the case of the bags without several. I use them for a variety of things: rain cover for my gear and/or for me, ground cover for the camera when I improvise a make-shift tripods, ground cover for me (sitting, kneeling, etc), smaller ziploc bags to protect reference materials (manuals, etc), to group like items together, bagging water containers/snacks for extra camera gear protection. Also, when I’m heading back out of the woods, etc from a day hike I tend to pick up trash I find along the way to carry out with me. I can’t think of anything else right now but plastic bags of various size, color, etc are basically my all purpose tools.
Great tip. Will carry one from now on.
You are so right about a garbage bag. I have needed something like this on so many occasions that it is a must on every outing.
Thanks for the reminder Steve. I used to carry one, but somewhere along the way I must have used it and not replaced it.
Pretty timely. I am just editing a quick tip on the exact same thing.
I’ve always used a garbage bag for a quick solution to protect my camera during wet weather.
But I’ve always carried trash bags to pack out other people’s trash. It amazes me how people want to get out in nature, yet just dump their trash all over the place.
I’ve found that if you go twenty yards off the trail the amount of trash diminishes down to virtually nothing.
I guess the people I meet following the deer trails instead of the beaten path care more about nature and take out whatever they bring in.
Thanks everyone for sharing your great ideas! It’s amazing how much you can do with a garbage bag in nature photography
I always take a garbage bag with me mainly for the reason of not leaving anything behind. My personal motto is: Take nothing but pictures and memories, leave nothing but footprints.
I have small little ziplocks for everything electrical: spare cam batteries, spare flash batteries, remote trigger, plastic cases for the flash cards, etc. And the mandatory garbage bag. But now that I think about it, my flash isn’t in a bag. Hmm.
Never thought of a garbage bag in my photo gear bag before! It’s probably handy useful for my next boat trip as well !
Thanks a lot Steve.
A bag to cover a tripod? If you’re using a tripod that can’t handle getting wet, you need a new one.
I carry cotton bag, for my camera. whenever keeping my camera in camera bag, i keep it in cotton bag & then place it., to avoid scratch on camera body.