Carrying & Transporting Equipment
by William Lulow
I don’t think I have written too much about how to carry your equipment, what kinds of camera bags to bring, how many, and what size, but since I am about to head south for a while, I thought I would mention what equipment I will bring with me and how I transport it all.
First, on this trip I wanted to make sure I was prepared for any kind of photographic opportunity that might arise. I often do a number of location portraits when I am away from the studio, so I need a couple of light stands, at least two of my monolights, an umbrella and a couple of sandbags for stability. I also have my small, packable tripod which has now become a regular part of my travel kit because I just don’t need heavy tripods anymore.
Second, the light stands an studio flash units are really too large to fit into my camera bag so they travel separately. For cameras and lenses, etc., I have a kind of minimal kit I like to bring with me. It consists of the following:
- Two camera bodies
- Four lenses (20mm, 60mm, 85mm, 135mm)
- One camera-mountable flash unit plus the monolights
- Batteries (for the portable flash units) plus chargers
- Reflectors
- Filters
- Laptop computer
- Extra Wacom tablet for retouching and editing on the road
The small tripod is also packed in my suitcase.
I was able to find a great bag produced by Lowepro, which holds everything I need except for my lighting, which I usually put in my regular suitcase. The clothes do a nice job of protecting my lights.
This bag holds it all! I won’t take it everywhere I go, but it is designed to get my equipment safely to my destination. I also use a fanny pack that holds one or two lenses with the camera over my shoulder when I’m just walking around. Here’s another view:
This bag takes all my camera equipment wherever I go. When I am just walking around, I don’t always take everything with me. In that case, I have pouches for extra lenses that I wear on my belt and pockets for carrying the filters.
So, in this one bag I was able to transport every piece of equipment I would need for my extended trip.
I always have looked at the equipment I take on any shoot as a kind of “kit.” It is comprised of items I always have with me as well as some specifically designed for travel and location work. As with every type of job I do, I actually look at my vacation travel as a kind of “job” as well, so I want to be sure I have all the gear I need to make the kinds of images I want. This is the fanny pack I use:
It’s just big enough for a couple of lenses and filters with the camera at the ready, around my neck. I use this when I am just walking around touring a new city or place.
The other thing I do is to carry pouches on my belt for extra lenses and wear a photographer’s vest for filters and other small items I may need. I probably would never carry the whole backpack when I’m just walking around a city or even country side. Here are a couple of the pouches:
These small pouches are for extra lenses or other accessories and they fit right on your belt. So you really don’t have to carry the entire backpack and photo kit with you as you tour around. You also will not need any shoulder bag than can be stolen easily, plus you can have both hands free. If I know that I want to make a specific image, I will then carry equipment that I need especially for that photo. Otherwise, I will never carry everything all the time.
So, the big pack is only for getting all my equipment to a particular location. When I am just touring, I will use pouches, pockets on my photo vest or a fanny pack. When I have a specific image I am thinking about making, I will then bring a tripod, extra filters, a portable flash or two, or anything else I might need.
When I am traveling locally by car, I usually bring all my lighting, light stands, umbrellas and everything else I need in just three bags:
In this shot, the bag with the blue zipper has been sold, because I didn’t need those items and now the equipment is down to three bags plus my background stand and the hand truck to wheel everything into where I set up the studio. I usually don’t take the entire case of lights with me for this extended vacation so I don’t need the hand truck or background materials.
The take away for this article is that you don’t need to carry every bit of equipment everywhere you go to make pictures. When you are just walking around a new place, keep it simple. I use my basic 20mm f/2.8 lens with a filter pack and the lens pouches. This usually covers me for any kind of photographic “touring around! If you see an image you wish to make, you might have to go back later to make it if you don’t have every item you need.
