Three Questions For Choosing Your Gear
In two days, I pack the truck and head north up Vancouver Island to meet my wolf guide, Tom, before spending two weeks camped on a remote island, waiting for coastal wolves to wander in front of my cameras. 🤞 Maybe some otters, bears, or eagles, too. I can’t wait.
Packing for a trip is always a mix of excitement and indecision. When I go to Kenya, I’m on autopilot; I know the gear and how to pack it. I’ve got packing lists that I follow, and there’s really no thinking required. But a new destination is a bit of a guessing game, so over the years, I’ve reduced it to three big questions that help me make choices: what are my needs, opportunities, and limitations?
What Are My Needs?
Sometimes, those needs are simple. A month in Venice? I need some good boots, one camera, a 24-105mm lens, a couple of batteries, some SD cards, and a laptop. I could probably do it carry-on only. I mean, I wouldn’t, but I could. I need my bigger suitcase so I can bring back wine.
But other times, the needs are more complicated and conflict with my limitations. I need long lenses for safaris, but I also need to watch my weight limits. For a bear trip, I might need rain gear for myself and the cameras. For this wolf trip, I know I’ll need longer lenses, rain gear and, because shooting will start early and go late, my fastest lenses.
What Are My Possibilities?
The possibility for this upcoming trip is wolves, which means long, fast lenses. But what about other options? Remotely triggered cameras? A drone? Even a simple GoPro on a stick might allow photographs I couldn’t get otherwise, though in this case, I’m leaving underwater gear behind. You have to make choices at some point.
What Are My Limitations?
The third question matters to me now more than ever: What are my limitations? I might not be able to hike as far as I need to on a prosthetic leg with my heavier lens, two additional cameras, and a tripod. That’s one reason I packed the 300/2.8; with a 2x on that lens, I’m up to 600/5.6, and it’s VERY light. I could ditch both the larger 600mm and the tripod if I needed to really cover some distance. In Venice or India, I need to be able to walk all day, so one camera and a zoom lens lets me do that.
On other trips, the limitations include luggage allowances on planes or the need to get around Italy on trains and being able to fit everything into one suitcase and a carry-on. Or you might have limits on how easily your batteries can be recharged. Will you need to bring more, or an alternate charging solution? I’m bringing more batteries on this trip than I usually would, plus a larger backup battery by Goal Zero.
Knowing your limits will help you make better choices as you try to juggle your needs and opportunities. Prioritizing them and knowing which ones are non-negotiable will also help.
Now that I’ve written it out, here’s another one: What are my preferences? I really like wider lenses; you might not. So I might bring a 16-35 to India and be happy with only that one lens, while you might bring only a 70-200 because that’s what you like. I would bring my 600/4.0 instead of a 200-600 lens on safari because I prefer the look of the images I can get from the one over the other. One might be more versatile, and in some settings, that will be the most important thing, but if I have my choice, I go with the lens I prefer. No need to explain why; you like the gear you like.
Knowing my needs, possibilities, and limits all inform my gear choices for this upcoming trip, and where everything else is equal, my preferences will cast the deciding vote.
How Many Cameras?
Three. I don’t want to have to change lenses in the rain. I want an extra in case I want to use one remotely. And I’m just too far away from the nearest camera store if one body misbehaves, so I feel better knowing I have a backup. I never do a photography trip without two or three bodies.
Which Camera Bag Do I Bring?
Now we’re getting to the really hard questions! In this case, I need something that is very weather resistant, lets me carry my longest lens on the camera body, access it quickly, and can be comfortably carried on my back. So the Shimoda Action X70 is my working bag for this trip, while the rest of it goes into a large waterproof Pelican-style case that can be left in my tent without worry. But the weight and size of my total gear are not one of my limitations for this trip so I can bring it all.
Anything else? Rain covers for the cameras. Cotton Carrier chest harness. Dry bags for clothing. Knee pads. Always a headlamp.
The gear you bring is not the big challenge; that lies in how you think about those choices, and what you do once you’ve made them. But here’s one more thought, and it’s probably the most important:
Whatever you bring, you’ll make it work somehow. Your limits might include not having access to a longer, faster lens. Or a third body, or whatever. You’ll make it work. Don’t forget that creativity always thrives under constraint.
Work with what you have, and don’t make a big deal out of what you don’t. On every trip, there has always been a moment of “if only I had a…”. If you bring 600mm, you’ll want 1200, and if you had that, you’d want 300mm. Bring 24mm, and at some point, you’ll want 16mm. But your limits and how you work with them define your work. Don’t sweat it; you’ll make something you’re thrilled with, and if you don’t, it’s probably not because of the gear. Gear is good, vision is better (but both make for a powerful combination!).
For the curious, here are the specifics of what I’m bringing on this two-week wildlife trip (excluding the camping and personal gear):
Cameras
Sony A1 x 2
Sony A7R4 x 1
Lenses
600/4.0
300/2.8
100-400/5.6-6.3
24-105/4.0
1.4x and 2x Teleconverters
Other
Gitzo Tripod, RRS Monopod
12 Sony batteries
Polarizing and ND filters (3-stop and 6-stop)
SD Cards (256gb x 10) and 1TB hard drive x 2
MacBook Pro
Goal Zero power bank
ThinkTank rain covers and a dozen lens cloths
Cotton Carrier chest harness
Binoculars, tools, first aid
Bags
Shimoda Action x70
Yeti Panga 100 waterproof duffle bag
Big orange Pelican case
I love talking about this stuff. The right choice of good gear will either make things possible or prevent you from making the photographs you want to make. If you’ve got a question about any of this, I’d love to discuss it, so feel free to leave it in the comments. I’ll answer everything I can before I leave on May 01.
For the Love of the Photograph,
David
