I'm home to Miami at last, but it ended up being the "long road home" after I missed my connecting flight in St. Maarten on Saturday (delays, massive incompetence on the part of WinAir) and was forced to stay overnight. And after I finished editing the almost 1400 images from the assignment, I thought I might pass the time by watching college football and writing a list for myself of my travel gear, especially considering my recent lapse. For the record, thank god, I didn't even manage to drain my only battery half-way while shooting in St. Barths. (By the way, the battery that was DOA is an official Canon battery, the extra battery that worked perfectly and held a great charge is an off brand I bought at B&H at around the same time as the camera).
TRAVEL GEAR CHECKLIST:
Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW backpack
This thing is a total beast and I hate that its so huge. But if you need to carry a bunch of shit, and want to do it with the least amount of extra baggage possible, then its your bag. That being said, I only ever use this bag if I'm also going to be bringing a laptop with me. If I don't need/want a laptop, then I'll use a smaller (2 SLR sized) bag that has roughly the same stuff in it.
Equipment I put in the backpack...
Canon 1Ds Mark II with the following:
- Canon 20/2.8 lens (w/ lens shade)
- Canon 28/1.8 lens
- Canon 50/1.4 lens
- Canon 100/2 lens
- Canon 580 EX speed light (w/ 12 rechargeable AA batteries)
- Canon ST-E2 remote transmitter (w/ extra battery)
- Canon off camera shoe cord
- Canon NP-E3 batteries (x2)
- CF cards (x4 in hard case, +1 in bag pocket, 18 Gbs total)
- VisibleDust sensor cleaning brush set
- HyperDrive "dump" drive (w/ USB cable, 100 Gbs)
- Micro fiber lens cleaning clothes (x3 - I tend to lose/destroy them)
- Magenta/green flash gels (I never use these)
- Small roll of gaffer tape, media credentials lanyard
- Moleskine notebook, pens/sharpies (x3), printed assignment notes
- Stack of business cards (I have a stack in every bag I own, just in case)
- Travel wallet w/ passport, credit cards, cash, travel papers, extra pen
- Treo cell phone (w/ extra battery & charger)
- Garmin Nüvi 360 GPS (w/ windshield attachment & car charger)
- Apple G4 laptop (in Incase sleeve, w/ keyboard protector & extra battery)
- G4 power brick w/ extender cord
- Apple power converter (this trip I brought the "central europe" adapter)
- SanDisk FW 800 card reader (w/ cord)
- Ethernet cord, DVD-Rs (x2) in jewel case
- Book to read
- Nintendo DS (I've finally broken down and decided to buy one)
- iPod shuffle (w/ headphones)
Extra cameras:
The other thing that is great about the CompuTrekker is that it works for me when I'm shooting multiple formats on a job, or even if I'm just packing an extra camera for myself. And I really try to always bring an additional camera to shoot pics that are just for me. Sometimes I shoot a bunch, while in transit, or when I first wake up in the morning... whatever strikes me. Sometimes I don't even touch the extra camera because there is no time or I don't feel like it. This camera is usually a different format than what my client has asked for... if I'm shooting 35mm digital, then I may bring my Holga, which is what I did on this trip.
Holga 120F
Mamiya 7 II (w/ 80/4 and 50/4.5 lenses)
Konica Hexar RF (w/ 28/2.8 and 50/2 lenses)
- film for each of these... 120/220/35, chrome/neg/bw
Extra bag stuff...
If the assignment requires me to be gone for a few days then I'm obviously going to have to pack an extra bag w/ clothes, toiletries, etc. Depending on the job, like I mentioned before, I may also add a few other items to my clothes bag that are fine to be checked at the airport.
Domke F-3X shoulder bag
This is an extra bag for jobs where I don't want to "work out of" the huge backpack, and want a small bag to navigate crowds or be a little less conspicuous.
Lowepro beltpack bag (no idea which one - I think they stopped making it)
I always bring this bag if I'm going to be running around or doing active shooting at sporting or political events. I've added several other pouches onto the normal bag.
Canon NC-E2 battery charger
Oops.
Extra extra bag stuff...
Finally, when I'm assigned to do a job that requires more lighting I obviously have to bring a whole other big bag, or more, of junk. I know that the lightest, cheapest, and easiest location lighting solution would probably be a combination of hot lights and stands that I could gerry rig into something half-way decent on each gig. But I've chosen to go a different way in terms of my location lighting, and depend on a simple but very capable battery system that is relatively versatile.
Wescott collapsible 6-in-1 52" reflector kit
Whenever possible, and when I have an assistant on the assignment with me as well, I love to use reflectors. They direct/scrim light really well, give a beautiful tone, and are about a million times less hassle to deal with gear wise. I just carry my on the airplane in addition to my camera bag, and its never been any sort of problem.
Portable light kit...
But when reflectors aren't going to do the trick I bring along my battery powered strobes in a big, heavy duty air case made by Versa-Flex. In addition to my air case, I also use a snow board case (a great idea I stole) to check light stands, booms, background stands, and anything else big that I may need on the shoot.
Equipment I put in the Versa-Flex & snow board bag...
- Hensel Porty 1000 w/s power pack (w/ extra battery)
- Porty head (x2, w/ extension cables x2)
- Hensel Porty battery charger
- Hensel wireless transmitter
- Reflectors (x3), barn doors, grids (x3), empty "sand" bags
- Big roll of gaffers tape, clamps (x6), sync cords (6' long, 18' long)
- Light stands (x3), background stand kit (snow board bag)
- Soft boxes (3' rectangular, 7' octobox) (snow board bag)
And last but no where near least, I use a Rock N Roller R-2 Micro cart to haul all of the lighting shit around with -- it folds up pretty small and can also easily be carried on (though people look at you funny).
After all of this shit, its not surprising I'll occasionally forget to pack socks, but I think that my kit keeps things pretty simple. I know a lot of other photographers who shoot similar stuff that bring more. Some probably bring less too. Over time I've just tried to create a toolbox that I feel comfortable with, and know that I can handle most anything I've thrown. There are some things that are impossible with what I have here (serious location lighting, telephoto sports shooting, etc.) but that's also the point. I bring everything that I can't live without, and nothing more.
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