Hey Everyone! Hope you've had a great week! Me? Pretty good we've had tropical storm Debbie come through the last couple of days and the Olympics are on so I've been doing a lot of photography stuff. Photography stuff you say? Yea! Thats what this week's blog is all about. Preparing for a photography trip. Usually my big trip of the year is with my photography club where we take a week or so and head somewhere for some good ole fun with photography. But wouldn't you just hate to show up somewhere and not have the gear you need? Whether it's camera gear or clothes. Wouldn't that just suck? Thats where planning comes in. Planning for the trip can almost be as important as the trip itself on having a good fun time. There are lots of things that can ruin your trip. Like I've got my camera but forgot my battery charger or you have a SD card failure and don't have another. What if you're doing a night shoot and you forget your headlamp? I've seen all of these things happen to me or others in the club and it all happened because of poor planning. Now admittedly I am a over planner but I think you must plan for a big trip.
Make a list. I have developed a spreadsheet that I use for every trip. Now it's nothing special it's just a list of gear, clothes, toiletries and stuff that has been geared to me. It doesn't have to be a fancy list like I have it can be just things jotted on a piece of paper. But make a list and check it twice. Just like Santa. I keep this list handy on my computer that I can make changes on the fly. I print it out a day or so before the trip and physically check things off as I put them in my luggage or camera bags. Don't take for granted that you have all of this list in your head you can still forget stuff. I recently took an overnight trip and I had my camera gear dialed in but I forgot something to sleep in. Nothing major but what if that had been extra batteries? Or a headlamp for a night shoot? As my wingman did. Although you do have a cell phone you can use for light what if you drop that and break it just because you forgot a 20 dollar headlamp. That would suck!
Start early. When thinking of your trip start early. As I said earlier I gear my whole year on our big fall trip. So I try to streamline and update my gear well in advance of showing up to one of the great spots we've chosen and can't figure out my gear because it's brand new. So start early fine tuning your gear before you get to those spectacular places. I have been fine tuning mine all year. I've recently switched camera bodies I have it almost programed liked my older one but there are some differences between them. I have my custom settings set so if I come upon some wildlife I just set to custom 3 and that puts all of my sports or settings in. Or if I want to shoot street I put on 1 and I shoot in Black and White and Jpeg +raw. All at the flic of a switch. I also try to dial in my lenses that I'm going to carry on the trip. So I have as few as possible but what I need. Depending on the itinerary I might have a specialty lens thrown in like a 20mm f1.8 for night skies. Or I might take something out of my bag that I might not need.
Don't forget all of the other things besides camera gear and accessories. What about clothes? Take clothes that are versatile and that you can layer if it gets cold. What about hats. Is it going to be very sunny like out west? Maybe a large brimmed hat. Is it going to be cold maybe a stocking cap and gloves. Here is the link to a blog I wrote about things you need to bring. Things you need to bring. Things like chargers , how will you process your photo's backup and such. Here is a blog I wrote about winter dressing layering your clothing and such. Winter Dressing the Part .
I think the big takeaway of this blog is to start planning now and keep planning all year and keep a list that you can modify as your needs and trips vary. Hey and don't forget things you can do right now. Like formatting your SD cards before you go. I just reformatted all the cards in my SD card wallet so it's ready for my trip. Make sure you have enough room on an external drive your taking for backup. What about checking all of your settings on your camera before a trip. Maybe you were doing some long exposure where you used the self timer at 2 seconds and you didn't switch back and when you went to take a photo and nothing happens then two seconds later snap. You could miss a photo because of this. I have. So make sure your camera is set to go every day before you go out.
Now the actual packing part. Remember less is more and you're the one that has to carry the stuff you have packed. Bags with rollers may be helpful. If you're traveling by air maybe you want to check the heaviest bag and keep a change of clothes in your carry on with your camera gear just in case they loose your luggage. I put Air Tags in each of my luggage and my camera bags when I travel. It's nice to see where your luggage is and provides a piece of mind when traveling. Don't forget simple things like ear buds, maybe a snack or granola bar with you for a quick in between meal snack. Sunglasses a must!
Remember make a list and check it twice! Or more! Start early and keep updating your list. Customize to your trip. If you remember all of these things your trip will run smooth and photography is all that you will have to think about. Until Next Week! Get out and Shoot!