Just In Case

Image generated using "Generative Fill" in Photoshop Beta.

Just in case my camera fails, I always take two cameras with me when I go out to photograph.  The truth is, in 52 years of photographing, I’ve only experienced one camera failure and I was only 5 miles from my home.  If you are wondering which camera failed it was my Olympus E-M1 Mark III.  The shutter failed and locked closed.  Total camera failures today seem to be extremely rare these days.

Just in case I encounter a subject that needs a really long telephoto or really wide angle lens, I always go out carrying all my lenses.  The reality is that almost all of my photos are made between 24mm and 120mm in 35mm terms.  I almost never encounter an unexpected situation where I need a really long or really short focal length.  If I purposely am going out to photograph wildlife or birds, I know I’m going to need a really long lens.  If I’m going out to photograph something where I know I’ll need a really short focal length, I’ll make sure I have it, but I routinely take all my lenses, just in case.

Just in case I find myself in a situation where I might end up making thousands of images, every time I go out to photograph I always carry two extra batteries, battery charger and several extra memory cards.  The reality is that those situations are very rare, almost never unexpectedly happen and are almost always deliberate.  In other words, I know I’m going to shoot birds-in-flight, etc. and know I will need an extra battery and maybe even an extra card.  The truth is that if I am just going out to wander the countryside, those occasions just don't arise.  Also, I can only think of one time that I needed to change a battery before the end of the day.  But still I always take them, just in case. 

Just in case, I always carry a number of filters along with step-up/down rings for each lens. I just might need a polarizing filter or a 3-stop, 6-stop or 10-stop neutral density filter.  The truth is I sometimes use the polarizing filter but I can’t remember the last time I used a neutral density filter.  But still, I take all of it, just in case. 

Just in case, I have always packed a rain cover, a multi-tool, a few Allen (hex) wrenches, a microfiber towel, pen, notebook, several lens cleaning cloths, filter wrenches (if the filters get stuck on the lens), battery charger, battery charger plug, battery charger cord, remote release, L-bracket, small flashlight, a small amount of gaffer’s tape, bulb blower, lens pen with brush, packets of Zeiss lens wipes and a rain cover.  Whew!  The truth is I rarely use any of them except the bulb blower and lens cleaning cloths.  But still, I take it all every time, just in case. 

 There are additional things I pack in the back of my SUV when going out to photograph, just in case, such as two tripods one with a ball head and one with a gimbal head, a monopod, boots, a waterproof tarp, bean bag to fit over my SUV's window frame, hats, binoculars, sunscreen, bug spray, mosquito net to fit over my head, first aid kit, space blankets, tools, emergency stuff, yada, yada, yada and other stuff as well.  Just in case!

Except for the stuff in the back of my SUV, all that gear adds up to almost 20 lbs. (9.1kg) including a Think Tank Photo Backlight 26L backpack.  That is a good sized bag for just daily photography.  I'm not talking about hiking or multi-day trips out into the deserts or forests.  I’m talking about driving, getting out of the vehicle, walking to my composition, photographing it and walking back to the SUV.  Sadly for me, a bag that large is necessitated because of everything that I stuff into it— again, just in case!

Not to drone on.  You get my point.  Evidently, I like to be really prepared for any photographic eventuality.  Preparedness is good, a virtue in some situations, but my over preparedness has to stop.  The good news is I've started to make progress.  Step one for me was to take a smaller, very lightweight bag and, when leaving my SUV to photograph something within walking distance, just place into it only what I need while I'm out of my vehicle and leaving everything else behind.  That seems to work fairly well.  However, I'm still taking the proverbial 'kitchen sink' with me and have to load up the car with all of my photographic stuff.  Additionally, I think about all the gear left in the SUV are potential targets for theft.  So there's that.  Step one is only a partial solution.

Step two, I think, will be to ditch the large Think Tank Backpack, find a small sling bag of some sort and then to load it with only two to three zoom lenses, an extra battery, an extra memory card, a lens cleaning cloth and a polarizing filter.  That's it.  If I think I’ll need my tripod, I’ll grab it and an L-bracket also.  If not, it stays behind.  I'm working on which of my camera systems can accomplish this pared down kit philosophy and which lenses I own or need to own that will also fit this new philosophy.  

There are a couple of things that need thought through, however.  What focal lengths do I want to cover and are there lenses that fit that range that have the same filter thread diameter?  I don’t want to take more than one filter.  For example, is 24mm (in 35mm terms) wide enough and is 200mm (again, in 35mm terms) long enough?  Could I get by with focal lengths from 28mm to 105mm or 120mm?  Can those focal lengths be covered by one, two or (hopefully not) three lenses?

The second half of step two would be to only take additional gear if a) I’m going on a long multi-week road trip and don’t know what I’ll actually need and b), I know that I will be photographing something specific which would require the additional gear then, again, only take what I need.  I'll work on this and let you know in the future how this, or if this, comes together.

The upshot of all of this is that I’m now older, have been passionately making photographs for 52 years and just don’t want to carry a lot of gear but, at the same time, want to ensure that I can photograph most everything I encounter that I find interesting or provokes a strong emotion in me.  I think it is a delicate balance but doable.

I regularly complain about having to carry too heavy, too bulky and too much gear but I’m my own worst enemy.  I’ve always tried to be prepared for any eventuality (that's 36 years of law enforcement talking!) but, the truth is, almost never do those eventualities occur!  You might start to think that I would take the kitchen sink, “just in case!”  With the reliability of today’s gear and the versatility of the incredible number of excellent zoom lenses available, I don’t think it is any longer necessary to carry all of that stuff.

If I were photographing professionally, I could understand having to take everything—backups, duplicates, etc.,—because you have to ‘get the shot.’  Every time.  But I’m retired and now just photograph for myself.  In reality, there is no need to take everything I put into my bag and vehicle.

So my plan is to stop complaining, do some analysis and figure out how and how much I can pare down my everyday carry kit.  Hopefully, the outcome will be truly a small, lightweight, efficient and nimble kit that will cover 90% or more of what I normally with do my photography.  I plan to to not worry about what I may miss.  If I do miss something, I’ll just take a mental image of it instead of a digital image.  After all, and think about this in your own experiences, how much have you missed when you have the camera to your eye instead of just allowing yourself to be present in the moment?  How many events or places have you missed intimately experiencing because your full concentration was focused on getting the photographs on which you set your sights?  I know I have missed a lot over the decades.  

So, if I occasionally miss a photo, that will be okay.  I’ll just add the experience to my memory.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

All content on this blog is © 2013-2023 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.