Preparing Gear For Travel – Photo Equipment Packing List
Today I will write about what gear I bring for media production in the field. I was getting ready to pack up my gear after I finished up in the high desert. I’m trying to get my equipment prepared. I’m going to try to break the gear I use down as I travel.
I will put up this packing list on my website this week.
I bring two camera bodies when I’m going on a multi-day trip. The two SLR camera bodies will be digital. The digital camera is what I rely on as my workhorse. It is my primary production tool while I am out on a photo job. The second camera is there as a backup if something happens with the first one.
Suppose I use two camera bodies, the 5D Mark iii and an inexpensive canon film body. It allows me to use my higher-end wide-angle Canon zooms, like the 17 to 40 and the 24 to 70. I can switch over to film if I have a problem with the photos I’m trying to put together while I’m out traveling or making a multi-day trip. I can use a film camera body with a roll of film to alter what I’m shooting.
The photography sketch process is essential.
I can work out the layout of the composition of the photograph. I can do this during the mid-day while the light is not perfect. Once I figure outlook of the photo, I try to come back with a camera at the time of the right light to capture the final image. Preparing Gear For Travel – Photo Equipment Packing List
I have been bringing around a lot of 50mm f1.8 lenses on my camera. I try to get 70 to 200-millimeter zoom lenses for a lot of time when I bring a zoom lens. I rent it. I can get a specific lens for each trip.
I’m trying to schedule a rental of higher-end 300-millimeter cannon wildlife. There are only several times when I’m trying to get photographs with this particular type of lens. I’m trying to photograph either at a tilt-shift or a wide-angle fisheye or a high compression zoom lens 300 or 400-millimeter zoom. I can take it out into the backcountry, then get out to get me somewhere shots with it, then I don’t have to buy it.
I bring many SD cards, compact flash cards specific to the Canon 5D Mark iii. It is a big problem to run out of media while on a shoot. So I load up a pouch that goes into my camera bag. It has a lot of SD cards compact flashcards in it.
I keep my laptop with me when I’m out. There is a bag in the truck. After every significant chunk of the project, I do a daily edit. I’m able to take the camera back to the computer, plug in the external hard drive, then offload the photos on the card, offload the images and video into the Lightroom catalog.
I will back up all the photos in a few spots before I get back home. Then, I will copy the data from that card into the catalog on my laptop. I backup to an external drive. I can’t fit everything on the laptop if I’m dealing with larger files. So the external drive is where it goes.
I try to leave the raw photo files on the card until I get back home.
As a nature photographer, I want to stay focused on what I’m doing outside and out in the woods taking pictures of nature. I don’t want to use social media while I’m out in the woods. I don’t want to upload stories or record videos outside of the production I put together.
I want to use that time as efficiently as possible to do something outside. The amount of time that it burns trying to render something or uploading or transfer something is a waste when I’ve done so much work to get out into the backcountry.
I spent a lot of time rendering and processing a video while on the road in Utah. I definitely shouldn’t have done that. I should have spent the time there trying to get myself out further into the field into spending more time getting photographs in the place.
I bring microfiber lens cloths when I go through the wet weather. I attempt to wipe the front of the lens down. That misty rain spits at the top. It is not heavy rain. It’s enough for you to wear a rain jacket. When I am out for 10 minutes, I get a light accumulation of tiny rain droplets. They get all of the cameras wet.
I work with a low-pro-Magnum 200 bag. It is an old photojournalist bag that I think lowe pro has been making since the 60s. I like the bag a lot. It’s got a hard-cased bottom, more durable nylon, and it keeps your cameras safe on the inside. But, on the other hand, it is a heavy bag to carry around.
A packing list will be available on my website to use and modify for your own media production in the field. Preparing gear in your camera bag is a crucial step in a process-oriented photography workflow. Thank you for reading about the gear I use down as I travel.
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