Paris Wrap-Up Part 1 - The Gear
Ah, if I had to do it all over again…
Now that I’ve processed all 6500+ images from our wonderful trip to Paris, I’m left contemplating what I would have done differently. Of course, seeing all of Paris in one week is a tough assignment but I think we did pretty well, overall. Even still, if I had to do it again, what would I do differently?
The gear
Below is a list of the gear I brought with me:
- Canon EOS 5D
- Canon EF 24-70mm, f/2.8L lens
- Canon EF 70-200mm, f/2.8L IS lens
- Canon Speedlite 580EX II
- Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter
- Quantaray tripod
- Lowepro Toploader 75AW camera bag
- 2 camera batteries
- 1 8GB Compact Flash card
- (My girlfriend’s) Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Overall, I certainly don’t think I overpacked equipment. However, the equipment I used the least was the Speedlite, Speedlite transmitter and, believe it or not, the tripod. If I had to do this all over again, I would still bring the flash and the tripod… they helped me get some of my favorite shots, but I probably could have lived without them.
The gear I wish I had brought
There aren’t too many things that I wish I would have had with me. That being said, there are a few things that would have made somewhat of a difference:
- A Gorillapod - Some places may allow photography but do not allow tripods. The Notre Dame Cathedral is one such place. I managed to get some decent shots here but it is very dark inside and I ended up using an ISO of between 1600 and 3200 for almost all of my inside shots. Needless to say, any attempt I made at creating an HDR from inside the cathedral was useless. Even if you’re somewhere that allows tripods, carrying one with you all day is no picnic. The Gorillapod would have really helped. According to the manufacturer, it will support up to 6.6 pounds. My camera, with my 24-70mm lens weighs a bit more than that. Even so, I would have liked to try it out. It may have given me the extra stability in a small package that I was looking for.
- A flashlight - This is something I am planning on putting in camera bag for good. I can think of a few occasions where it would have been nice to have a little extra light on me. This would have come in particularly handy for some of the shots my girlfriend and I did together in the dark by the river. It was too dark for me to tell if I had here in focus when we were setting up the shot. As a result, we ended up having to take a few practice shots and hope that we got it. For example, I would have loved to have a flashlight while setting up the shot below:
- More storage - Do I need to explain this one? While the single 8GB CF card appeared to be enough for my shots day-to-day, another CF card would have come in handy. The storage I’m really talking about, however, would have been in the form of a portable external hard drive. My Mac Powerbook had about 70+GB free when I took it. By the last day, I had to keep 8GB of images on my CF card because the laptop had run out of space. One other thing… While I love Apple’s Aperture for image organization, I wouldn’t use it again while I’m trying to conserve space. It generates previews and thumbnails after you import images that end up taking up a lot of space in, and of, themselves. Next time, I’m just copying them to the drive and only using Aperture to edit/crop/resize one or two images at a time (for blogging, emailing home, etc).
- A different bag - I currently have two camera bags. One is a Quantaray Pro backpack and the other is the Lowepro 75AW Toploader. I love both of these bags but I’m not sure either would have been ideal for this trip. The backpack is great for carrying a lot of equipment and the Lowepro Toploader is great for generic photowalking. I need something in between. Preferably, a shoulder bag that carries a fair amount of equipment that I can access easily, without having to take it off, unzip, etc., etc. As a result, I’ve recently purchased the Lowepro Stealth Reporter D550 at a local camera store. So far, I like it a lot. A lot of room and easy access to my equipment. I’ll let you know how it works out in India when I leave next weekend.
That’s about it in terms of the gear I wish I had brought. Do you have anything that you always take in your “travel” photography bag? Let me know in the comments…
Also, stay tuned for the second part of the Paris wrap-up where I’ll talk about some of my favorite photography locations as well as a list of the places and things I wish I had been able to shoot.
Cheers!
I love my lacie portable hard drive. Storing my images on my laptop really slows it down. I’ve never used Aperture, but Lightroom access all the files from the portable, and stores all my changes their too…just something to think about.
Also, I know a lot of photographers who won’t use just one memory card b/c they are afraid of it malfunctioning. They will use multiple 2GB cards to play it safe. Keeping it on the 2GB is a good backup too until you can back up your hard drive.
The photos look great, I’m glad you had a good time!
How about some stats showing how many photos you took with each lens, and what focal lengths were most frequently used? That sort of info can provide a very good indication if you took the correct lenses. I recently wrote about that after an overseas holiday.
Did you have any situation where you wanted something wider than 24mm?
@Meaghan: I think I will definitely be buying a portable drive. The LaCie drive you mentioned looks great! Thanks for the tip! As for the CF cards, I totally agree. More, smaller cards are better than less, bigger ones. I did just pick up another 8GB CF card, though. Maybe I’ll add on a few 2GB ones as well. Thanks!
@Marty: That’s a really cool idea! Based on a quick smart search in Aperture, of the 2114 images I am keeping, 1984 are with the 24-70mm lens and 129 were from the 70-200mm lens. Of course, this isn’t exact… HDRs, for example, have no EXIF data so it’s impossible to automatically categorize those. Plus, the two smart searches were based on less than or equal to, or greater than or equal to 70mm. So, of course, there is some crossover for the two lenses… some 70mm images I took with the 70-200mm ended up in the 24-70mm category and vice versa. But, those numbers sound about right based on how often I know I used each.
As for wanting wider than 24mm. Hmm… Well, yes. BUT, I have a 5D which is full-frame. So 24mm got a little wider for me than it does on many other cameras. That being said, I am a big fan of wide-angle lenses. When I had my XTi, my favorite lens was the EF-S 10-22mm lens. That thing was awesome! So I’d always use wider if I had it… Especially for shooting a city while walking around. The next lens on my wish list is the EF 16-35mm which should give me all I need.
Thanks again!
I always bring my 35mm F 2.0. It’s tiny, it’s very light and very useful because it’s a 50mm equivalent on my Rebel XTi. I use it when I want something light and compact. It’s amazing what you can do with it. And since it’s the closest thing to your eye, if I think it looks good with my eye, then when I look in the camera it’s very similar.
In those situations, I put the camera with the lens in my Crumpler 5 Million Dollar bag, and can add my personal items, and since it looks like purse, it doesn’t look like I’m carrying a lot of equipment.
Just as a quick comment… I used to get by with Toploader 75AW, Toploader Zoom 2 and Stealth Reporter 200, but nowdays I am mostly using LowePro Primus AW backpack. In my opinion it combines best features from Lowepro Slingshots and backpack (you can get camera out of the bag while the bag is firmly against your back).
What comes to GorillaPod, I would probably take beanbag (or table tripod) instead of GorillaPod, if you want additional camera support. However Gorillapod could be extremely useful, if you want to use off-camera flash (since you already had ST-E2 in your bag).
As far as storage is concerned, I would never go to trip with only one card… What if something happens to it? Also if you have two cards for daily shots, when one card gets full, you kind of get friendly reminder about how many hours you still have and how many shots you can take within that time before you run out of storage space.
When it comes to lenses, 24mm on full frame is already pretty wide and as such, I think you had all the focal ranges that one can think of on vacation trips (and more). Equipment for 300+mm focal length starts to be bit too heavy and I would rather take wildlife shots on my own “backyard”. Only thing that I might miss on your lens collection are fast primes (35/1.4L, 85/1.2L and/or 135/2L), but then again all your zooms are f/2.8 and its also question about everyones personal shooting style.
Personally, I like zooms on wideangle but with anything longer than 50mm (on 1.6x crop body), I prefer primes, which is why I almost always take 100/2.8 USM Macro as my only tele lens to vacations (and use Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS in my “backyard”).
Shawn - how did manage with only one 8GB card. Didn’t you say you had over 6000 photos? What resolution are your photos?
I’ll be in Europe for 3 weeks and am worried about not having enough space on my computer for all the photos I plan to take.
At home I shoot in RAW at the highest resolution possible and only get 128 shots on a 4GB card. Maybe this won’t be practical when travelling. Any thoughts?
@Dominique: I do have a 50mm, f/1.8 lens and I could have brought it since it’s pretty small. But, to be honest, I hardly ever use it, so I didn’t bother. Thanks!
@Juha: I thought about getting a backpack/slingshot type bag but, for some reason I prefer the shoulder bags. Good call on the bean bag/table tripod. I might look into those. I totally agree on the one card issue. I knew that if something happened to it, I’d be stopping at a French camera store to buy a new one. I’ve already picked up a second 8GB card and I am planning on getting a couple more. As for a fast prime, I have the 50mm, f/1.8 but I never use it so I ended up not bringing it. For photowalking around a city, I like the versatility of a zoom and since my lens are pretty fast to begin with, I don’t feel like I need the 50mm.
@Barrie: All of my photos are at the highest resolution possible. As for managing with the one card, I shot on JPG every day and simply emptied the card on to my laptop at night. I never ran into an instance where I ran out of space during the day. There were a few times that I shot RAW (for some of the night shots, for example) but even had I had more cards I doubt I would have shot RAW the whole time. Too much space per photo on a trip where I knew I’d be taking thousands. In cases where I thought RAW would help me, I would shoot RAW. If you’re going to be in Europe for three weeks, space will definitely be a concern. If I were you, I’d shoot JPG except in cases where RAW may help in the post-processing. I would also look into getting a portable external drive, too. Higher up in the comments, Meaghan recommended the LaCie external drives. I may pick one up myself. Hard drives are so cheap nowadays that it would definitely be worth the money. I think that may be your best bet for a three week trip. I’d be interested to hear what you do so keep us posted!
Thanks for the comments all!
I’m no pro, and don’t have the gear you do, but I can’t believe you only took a single CF with you. When we went to Europe last Summer, I had 3 cards (less total than yours, but for my P&S it was fine) and I *still* ended up buying another large card when I was there.
For mini-tri, you might look at the UltraPod II. Again, for me P&S needs it’s fine, but may be unbalanced with a big lens hanging off the end. http://www.pedcopods.com/products.htm
The other thing you might try, which has worked very well for me in the past (though I need to find a sturdier one) is a monopod. I’ve used a telescoping version with a good hand grip so that it can double as a walking stick. It can be very handy for steadying things.
Another alternative altogether is the string+washer. You tie a heavy washer to the end of a piece of string, and a bolt to the other end to screw into your camera, and then you step on the bolt and pull the string taut. It supposedly helps stead things as much as a monopod, but without the bulk.
Last, I’ve also read about people using neck slings, with or without a prop that rests on the chest, to steady the camera. I’ve never tried this, or the string monopod approach, but you might find them worthwhile.
An external hdd running TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/) might be very worthwhile. Then all your pics are on an external, encrypted volume. fwiw, I’ve often found it cheaper to be an enclosure separate from an OEM drive than to buy the whole kit together. Check out NewEgg.com for good deals on enclosures, and leverage PriceGrabber.com or go to Microcenter for cheap OEM drives. That’s what I’m using for all my Mac TimeMachine drives and other backups.
Thanks Ben! If I had to do it over again, I would definitely bring another CF card. It’s just not something I thought about. The single 8GB worked out fine though and didn’t limit me. I did, however, already pick up a second one for my next two trips and I’ll probably buy one or two more.
I’m definitely going to explore my options with the mini-tripod. I like the string/washer idea. I’ll have to try that out…
I’ll also definitely look into TrueCrypt… I’ll see how much more (if any) it will cost to encrypt the photos. It would be a nice feature, though certainly not essential.
Thanks!
One CF card and one laptop could lead to disaster. External HD helps, but you should burn a DVD each day with all of the day’s images and give it to your girlfriend to hold and pack in her luggage.
If your laptop gets stolen it won’t ruin all of your trip.
BTW - great photos. Good luck in India.
I like the idea of burning each day’s photos to DVD. As a matter of fact, I just got back from the store where I had bought a 50 pack of DVD-Rs anyway so I will be bringing some to India with me.
Thanks!
Hi Shawn,
First of all, GREAT work on the site and how you planning your career man! I am few “years” behind you and I just dream to come to the point you are today. Just keep on going man!
Coming back to Paris, I have a basic question: 6,500 photos in 7 days. Do you feel like you spent more time shooting than enjoying the trip? I ask this because I get a hard time from friends and family because of how many pictures I take on my trips - and it is not half as much as yours! My girlfriend loves photography but she also gives me a hard time during a sunset and things like that…
So sometimes I worry I am turning my hobby into obsession. It seems like your girlfriend is also a photographer, so I am not sure you can relate to where I am trying to say here.
I guess it should be okay for me to shoot anything I’d like to as long as I am happy doing it.
best regards,
BB
Hi BB, thank you for your compliments!
You also asked a very good question… it’s one that I contemplated somewhat while I was there. Short answer: No, I don’t feel like I compromised enjoying the vacation by taking so many photos. Long answer: With only seven days, we would have been rushing around a lot anyway, even without the camera. The camera may have actually made me stop and see things a little bit more than I may have otherwise. Having said that, on Friday, I didn’t take any photos at all. This wasn’t really because I thought I wasn’t enjoying myself but mainly because I was tired of carrying around all the gear and we weren’t planning on going anywhere “new” anyway.
Do I wish we had more time to just hang out and enjoy being there? Sure. But I think that is more a symptom of trying to see all of Paris in a week rather than having the camera.
I hear what you’re saying, though. I don’t want to give relationship advice, but I guess it’s all a matter of understanding each other’s limits. My girlfriend has been great with regard to my photography. It does help that she is into it, too, but she isn’t into as much as I am. I try and make sure I balance it as much as I can. And, so far, it’s worked out well.
Excellent question! Thanks for commenting!
Enjoyed reading your blog after searching for blog posts relating to the Lowe Pro Stealth Reporter bag which I’ve just bought - for a trip to Paris where we’ll be filming some content and hopefully getting some time to do some photography too. Can you give any advice on carrying the tripod with the bag? I use the smallish Marantz tripod as it’s very portable, but is versatile and steady enough for my needs. I haven’t quite worked out yet where it will fit in the bag!
Well, I didn’t have my LowePro Stealth Reporter bag in Paris with me. That being said, what I usually do if I need to carry my tripod with me is I hook one of the handles on to the strap of the bag and let it hang like that. I just have a cheap little Quantaray tripod for now and this method seems to work fine. Another thing you could do is tie a rope or something on it so you can strap it on to your back.
Hope that helps… Thanks for the comment!