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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Seventy Four: Lightchasers -- nature and landscape photographers at work > Carrying the gear, Sedona, Arizona, 2009
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15-NOV-2009

Carrying the gear, Sedona, Arizona, 2009

A heavy backpack full of bodies and lenses, and a cumbersome tripod are child’s play for this sturdy soul. She is walking along a cliff above Wilson Canyon, on her way to another vantage point. (Many nature photographers routinely use tripods, fill flash, and various filters to enhance their work. I prefer to keep things as simple as I can, travel lightly, and avoid subjects and situations that mandate the use of such tools.)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/125s f/4.0 at 45.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis04-Mar-2014 20:19
Thanks, Hernan, for your note. I've always tried to simplify my approach to photography, allowing me to concentrate fully on the story I am trying tell, rather than fussing with a lot of equipment and accessories. As I get older, each pound of gear I can avoid carrying adds an hour to my shooting time before exhaustion sets in. Here are some of my simplification and weight control suggestions: I always shoot on program mode, using auto ISO and auto white balance settings. Now and then I will use shutter priority or aperture priority modes in certain situations. I will also control exposure with my exposure compensation control, if needed. I never carry tripods -- in low light shooting I prefer to increase ISO, or brace the camera on a handy table or ledge. I never use a flash, either. I use as few lenses as possible, avoiding single focal length optics, to save even more weight on my back and shoulder. A 24mm-85mm zoom, and an 85-300mm zoom are generally all I need to cover most shooting situations. I do have a spare body in case of camera failure, but don't carry it along with me when I am actually shooting. (I also carry an iPhone on my belt, which means I always will have some kind of camera with me in any case.) I do not carry a camera bag -- my second lens is in a pouch on my belt. I never shoot RAW, allowing me to store a full days worth of shots on a single SD card, minimizing the chances of card loss. I clear my card each evening, downloading the day's images to both a laptop and a portable hard drive. And finally, I even avoid kneeling when shooting, but still can get a low vantage point because of my flip out LCD viewfinder. Small things add up -- and such simplicity can eliminate distraction and weight as well.
Hernan E. Enriquez04-Mar-2014 08:06
I am with you Phil!
Phil Douglis23-Nov-2009 21:55
Thanks Ann. To each his own. I think a lot depends on the end use of an image. For those who will be making huge display prints of their work, or selling images commercially, or enjoy night photography, I can understand why they would want to carry a heavy tripod. But for photographers like myself, who use their images primarily on the web, where every photo is automatically reduced to only 72 pixels per inch of resolution, I don't see the benefit of shlepping a tripod to obtain maximum sharpness and detail. There are no mandates in photography. The equipment we choose to use comes down to a matter of personal choice. Thanks having your feet in my camp here!
Ann...23-Nov-2009 20:49
I think that I have both of my feet firmly in your camp on this subject!
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