Equipment Walking out your front door is an adventure. Getting on a plane and flying off to some distant land is even more so. You never know what you are going to encounter and you never know when you are going to get there again. At least that is how I justify carrying the amount of equipment that I do when I travel. I want to be able to capture every nuance, detail, angle and perspective I can. I want it all. And that is for creative as well as economic reasons. Travel photography is expensive, even more so in today’s climate of skyrocketing oil and food prices. So when I go somewhere I am optimally equipped to maximize my production. I can create telephoto compression, wide angle distortion and everything in between. And it is all preserved on a 16.8 MP, outrageously heavy Canon DSLR. When I am done, the subject matter is covered and I have a complete range of product to offer for license. At least this is how I justify carrying the amount of equipment that I do. When I leave for distant ports I have with me the following equipment (It is all Canon by the way. To avoid having this look like an add for Canon I’m going to omit the word Canon from here on out.): EOS 1 Ds Mark ll DSLR 17 - 35 mm f 2.8 L 28 - 70 mm f 2.8 L (with macro capability) 100 mm f 2 200 mm f 2.8 L 300 mm f 2.8 L 1.4 teleconverter 550 EZ Speedlite with diffusion cube Speedlite Transmitter ST - E2 (for off camera flash work) 2 spare camera batteries (so three in all) battery charger 7 gigs of memory digital cable release, and tripod large enough to hold the weight of the camera and 300 f 2.8. I also carry my laptop with a minimum of 25 gigabytes of free space and external hard drives able to hold data equal to 10 gigabytes per day of travel. Additionally, if I am going anywhere near an ocean I pack a Nikkonos underwater camera system with two lenses. Yup, it always turns into a bit of a circus at the airport. I’ll offer suggestions on dealing with air travel in another section, but for now just let me say that I always get there extra early. The way I should is certainly effected by the amount of equipment I carry. There are no long leisurely strolls on my itinerary. My mobility is very limited and my shoots all have to be planned in advance with much thought given to how the equipment is going to get to the location and how it is going to be secured once there. I can move within a limited area once at a shoot location. But that movement is a challenge. This fits the way I shoot. I aim for one location at dawn and one location at dusk each day. I work that location for all the detail and diversity it has to offer. The rest of the day is divided into searching for locations, which is done without equipment, and resting my aching back and feet. If you like to be more mobile you will have to carry less equipment. Every time I go out to shoot on location I look at the 300 f 2.8 and wonder if it is worth the weight. In the end, the answer is always positive because few other travel photographers carry that much glass and having it gives me a competitive advantage. I have considered hiring an assistant just to carry my equipment, but as a matter of personal preference, I like to work alone.
