Photography Tips: Checklist for Overnight at a Festival

Packing up the camera gear for overnight at a festival is not something I do very often but when I do it's serious business.  This photo is a shot taken just before unpacking from my last excursion.

In no particular order here is what I'm preparing to stuff in the trunk of the car for this week's festival shoot:

CAMERAS: All I can muster, clean  lenses, batteries fully charged with SD cards formatted.

CLEANING KIT: Lens solvent, brush, air bulb, lens cloth and lens tissues.

SPARE BATTERIES AND CHARGERS FOR EACH CAMERA.

LENSES: Every lens available. The lens you leave behind will be the one you wish you had.

TRIPODS:  Sometimes it's nice to be able to set up and use more than one tripod.  Make sure the quick releases are with you before packing away the tripods.

SHUTTER RELEASE CABLES: A camera's timer is pretty much useless for festival shooting.

SD  CARDS: As many as you can get your hands on.  Again, make sure they are formatted.

EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE: Download cameras so you're ready for day two.

LAPTOP WITH EDITING PROGRAM: This gives you a chance to review photos off camera.

EXTENSION CORD, ELECTRICAL OUTLET ADAPTORS, MULTIPORT SURGE PROTECTOR: Use to power laptop, hard drive and recharge batteries.

BACKPACK, CAMERA HOLSTERS, LENS CASES, AND COVERS.

COMFORTABLE HIKING SHOES AND A TOWEL WIPE YOUR BROW.


A change of clothes, health and comfort items, food and drink, prayer beads, insect repellent, sunscreen and all that jazz is up to you. This is just my photography tips for an overnight festival in Okinawa, Japan, not a packing list for THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY.

Photography Tips: Travelers Be Aware!

To me there’s nothing more annoying than having a camera that won’t shoot. Well, maybe eating live chickens. But, here are a few tips for travelling photographers......

Often, travelers ask me which type camera or lens they should buy and I always answer them with a question or two. What is your level of experience and what type of photography are you interested in?

The truth is a disposable film camera can capture an award winning photo for under $20 and the top of the line DSLR equipped with a lens that cost more than my first house can take horrible pictures.

After I find out what type shooting someone wants to do, I always guide them to websites where they can read reviews by both camera professionals and consumers.

A pro may be influenced by his favorite brand (or sponsor) but, a consumer will tell you exactly what they think of the model they bought.

A traveler has to make decisions about purchasing camera equipment based upon the type of travel they do and how much they can pack away in suitcases, carry on bags or backpacks.

A pro might take a camera body and one or two lenses and rent the equipment needed for the shoot in another country.

Regardless which type of camera you’re leaning towards buying, one important thing many people forget is power supply. Modern lithium batteries are great, but require charging. Make sure your charger will adapt to the power source of the country you are heading to.

In some remote countries you may be better off having a camera that uses alkaline batteries; they’re available almost everywhere.

Ask your travel agent about your destination country’s power supply, the availability of batteries and avoid spending your vacation buying disposable cameras.

There are too many websites, I use, for researching camera gear to list here but, one of these days I’ll put together a Photography Tip and list my Top Five or Ten. Meanwhile, if you’re just itching to buy a camera and leave the country you’re living in, have a peek at Matador Travel where you’ll find lots of discussions and links provided by some serious travel photographers.

Wildlife Photography: Tip #2

Tip #2. Be Aware of Lighting Conditions.

Probably every photographer with a digital camera, who’s been around awhile, has made the mistake of forgetting to check the ISO setting on their camera at least once. After doing a low light or night shoot, we’ve all been caught the next morning wondering why we have shutter speeds in the thousands when the light isn’t so bright outside. Then a little light comes on in our heads. We want to shoot at ISO 100 but, the night before, had set the camera to ISO 800, or higher!

Before I leave home, I check ISO settings, batteries, SD cards and lenses. I look at the sky, wherever I am and can tell you if it’s an ISO 100, 200, 400 or worse day out there, wherever I am. I also, make it a point to preset my aperture and shutter speed before stepping out the door. With wildlife, you want to be able to quick-draw your camera and shoot in a split second. Wildlife won’t pose for you; you have to be ready for them, always. A lot of my favorite wildlife shots were taken before I got to my shooting destination or after leaving it to head home.


This spider was at the edge of the jungle in the path I was taking to do some bird shooting at a beach. Photo taken with Panasonic DMC-FZ50 29AUG2007 9:23AM f/10 1/1000 ISO 100 Focal Length 89mm.