Summer Trip...

Photo by Marissa Grootes on Unsplash

Summer. Hot sun, break from school and family vacations. What a wonderful time of the year!!

For photographers it is a chance to pull out some gear, overpack and try to sneak some photography into that family vacation. I should know, I have been doing it for over twenty years and have learned a few things along the way.

When you have a dedicated photography vacation, you can take everything you like with the only limitation being the weight you can carry. On a family vacation you need to find a balance. And this is where my years of experience comes in.

When I was young...
I would carry a DSLR with the 14-24mm, 24-70mm and the 70-200mm Nikon lenses. These pieces of glass were very expensive and I was proud of them and the quality of images they would take. Lightroom changed that...let me explain how.

Upon returning from a trip a friend taught me that Lightroom can organize your photos based on lens used. When I did this I found that 80% of my images were shot on 24-70mm with another 15% on the 14-24mm leaving a 5% in my 70-200mm range. So much weight for so little use!!! But what if I missed that shot because I did not have the right lens?!? This would be catastrophic!

As I grew older...
I began to understand that I am not a professional photographer. No one is paying me for that shot that I missed. So if I miss a shot, no one will know and I began to care much less. I also began to feel the weight of all those lenses on my shoulders and back. Yes I love the photos I captured over the years, but a good photographer changes the way they shoot based on their years. 

So I went to prime lenses and then I went to the Leica system. The goal was smaller, lighter but good quality glass and cameras. Plenty out there, I chose Leica due to a childhood dream but Fuji can do just as well. 

So now I sit in my office planning yet another trip. This one is just as unique as all the others. We need to travel light (that seems to be a constant), as we will be taking trains, cars and a ship. The goal is Paris, then to the South of France only to take a riverboat up to the middle country, followed by a train back to Paris. So I will go with a Sling camera bag, a 120 Film Camera and probably just my Leica Digital camera. I might through in a Leica film camera as well depending how everything feels.
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But since we will be flying we obviously have to do a few more precautions.

1. An x-ray protection bag for film. Do not go cheap here. There is only one brand I rely on as I have been using them for years. The Domke medium or large bags are perfect. I have seen cheaper ones but the protection they buy you is less. I have had film go through x-ray machines in these bags and come out just fine. But I do not like to do this.

   2.  I put the film in a ziplock bag inside the Domke file bag. This makes it easy for TSA to pull them out and inspect them. 
  3.  Sometimes when you arrive at your destination there is another x-ray machine in place of customs inspection. I have seen this in Colombia, Argentina and Peru. Might be a Latin America thing. Point is that I keep this bag with me and will hand carry it around these x-ray machines. When asked I pull out the ziplock and show the film. Never been an issue so far.

The point is the keep the film with you, not in checked baggage, keep it in a Domke film bag and ask for a hand check.  In many countries this is not allowed. Don't fight it, don't lose your cool.  Just pass it through in the Domke bag and hope for the best. I have not had an issue with this.

In short, I have had more photographs ruined because of bad backing paper than I ever have due to X-ray following the above process. 

What I will carry...
Let's start with the bag that will carry it all. normally I use over the shoulder messenger type bag but frankly it is a pain to change lenses or load film. So for this trip I purchased the PhotoCross 13 bag.

I picked this bag because I wanted a sling bag (to help with the loading of film) and have enough room for a 120 film camera, a digital camera and a 35mm film camera. The fact that I can sling this in front of me and change film we are set.

The Gear...
Key question...no I won't take a tripod. This trip has too many movements to justify carrying it. So I will just take my Rolleiflex 2.8F, Leica M10 and possibly a Leica M6 or M4. The key two cameras is that M10 for daily shooting and the medium format film camera for those really special shots. I will take a Sharpie to take notes on the film once shot and will use my iPhone for light meter readings.

The Preparation...
​I will clean the sensor on the M10 to ensure it is good to shoot. I will format three cards and charge up a couple of batteries. Each battery will have its terminals taped up to avoid surprises.

The lenses will all be cleaned and carefully packed. Beyond this, just a lens cloth or two will be enough. I used to take everything with me to do a proper cleaning but frankly never used it. If there is a spot, there will be a spot.