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!
Tags: bag, france, gear, paris, tips, travel, tripod
