With the many different approaches to camera gear it can be quite interesting and insightful to see what gear photographers carry with them into the field as they go about their work. I have picked up a number of good equipment tips and packing techniques over the years from other photographers who have joined me on a workshop or expedition. To this end, InMyBag.net are featuring the equipment I have carried with me to Iceland this winter. InMyBag.net is a new destination website which showcases photographer’s best work, delves into their philosophy, and more interestingly has a nosey in their camera bag!
Arrived in Iceland – Ready for Winter Aurora Workshop Kick Off!
I don’t think it matters how many times you do the same long haul international flight as it never seems to get any easier or less painful. Even though I was able to co-ordinate my flights to avoid any really horrendous layovers in Dubai or London I didn’t get much sleep on the flights over here and as soon as I finish this blog post I am going to crawl into bed and catch some shut eye so I am fresh and rested for day one of my winter workshop. It is fantastic to be back in Iceland in Winter and I am super keen to get underway tomorrow. We have a really fantastic group of twelve participants on this workshop and Daniel and I have some incredible locations lined up for photography over the next ten days. We will be headed North to some lesser known locations initially as we make our way around the top of the Island before we drop down to some of the more well known locations such as the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon in the south. The weather forecast is looking good for the next few days in the north (storms in the South East) and we are hopeful for some Aurora Borealis (Northern lights) during the evenings. It is going to be a blast and if time permits I will post some updates to my blog and Facebook as we travel around the Island. But right now its time for sleep….
Packing for Iceland in Winter and the Deserts of Namibia
Late this evening (my plane leaves at the not so civilised time of 3:30am) I am starting the long trek to Iceland for my annual winter workshop with my good friend Daniel Bergmann and I have found myself struggling over the last couple of days with a real packing quandary. I will be spending a total of nearly a month in Iceland this winter before I fly directly to Namibia (via Frankfurt) to meet with Andy Biggs for our back-to-back Namibia desert workshops. At the completion of my winter workshop in Iceland and before I head to Namibia I will be heading further north with a film crew and spending a week in the extreme remote north of Iceland on a new project on the Arctic Fox. This means I need to pack my Arctic winter gear as well as clothing suitable for the world’s oldest deserts in Namibia – it has been quite the brain buster trying to rationalise my packing (I know.. its a good problem to have). In the end I have decided to simply leave my winter gear in Iceland and collect it when I am back there in July later this year. It makes little sense to haul unnecessary winter gear half way around the world through the deserts of Namibia when all it would be doing is adding weight and bulk. With that intention in mind I still had to figure out how to get myself, over twenty kilograms of camera gear plus my winter gear and summer desert clothing for Namibia over to Iceland. I admit it feels a tad strange to be packing a wide brimmed sunhat and sunshirts with my arctic boots and winter clothing. The issue is somewhat compounded by the fact that Iceland and Namibia require very different approaches in terms of camera gear which adds both weight and complexity. Perhaps doubly so as I am carrying long and heavy telephoto lenses for my project on the Arctic Fox at the completion of my winter workshop. In the end I have packed almost my entire lens line-up and my checked luggage is right on the 30 kilogram limit imposed by the airlines.
Despite my intentions not to upgrade my Macbook Pro I finally crumbled and purchased the new model not long after my return from Antarctica in December last year. There are significant weight savings in the new model (as well as the much improved retina display) and these advantages finally swayed me to part with the cash and purchase the new model (GAS ‘Gear Acquisition Syndrome’ strikes again). It is funny how when you travel as much as I do you can quickly rationalise a new piece of expensive equipment just to save some weight. That said, I have very quickly become quite accustomed and fond of the Retina display. If NEC ever offer their current large wide gamut SpectraView monitors in a retina display I will be sorely tempted to upgrade – especially if they reach the magic 300 DPI number.
The Canon 1DX will remain my primary camera of choice for these trips. I will also carry a couple of spare batteries so that I can cycle them in and out of warm pockets. Experience has shown me that I can pretty much go an entire day without a battery change but I like to have spares on hand just in case. I did long ponder the idea of taking a camera with more mega pixels with me (particularly for Namibia) but I have ultimately decided that the quality of the pixels in the 1DX are more than good enough for my requirements. I have been making really wonderful 20 x 30 and 40 x 60 inch prints from Canon 1DX files and my agent recently sold a 24 x 100 inch print (also from a 1DX file) from Antarctica at his gallery in Aspen in the USA. Suffice to say the quality of the pixels makes a huge difference to the final output and the 1DX has truly fantastic pixels.
Gura Gear Bataflae 32L: (carry on luggage – Believe it or not this does all fit in the one camera bag!)
- Canon EOS 1DX Pro Body Camera
- Canon 17mm F4L TSE Lens
- Canon 24mm F3.5L TSE MKII Lens
- Canon 24-70mm F2.8L MKII Lens (The MKII version of this lens is an amazing piece of glass)
- Canon 70-200mm F2.8L IS MKII Lens
- Canon 600mm F4L IS MKII Lens
- 1 x Spare Battery for the 1DX
- Canon 1.4 TC MKIII Tele-Extender
- Leica Ultra-Vid HD Binoculars
- Cable Release and Bubble Level
- Assorted CF and SD Cards totalling around 100 Gigabytes
- Rocket Blower and Dust Cleaning paraphernalia
- Complete LEE Foundation and Filter Kit with Soft and Hard ND Graduated filters and LEE Polariser – includes new LEE adapter for the Canon 17mm TSE Lens
I am carrying the two TSE lenses specifically for photography at Kolmanskop ghost town in Namibia. This abandoned town is the ideal location for Tilt and Shift lenses and I hope to put them to good use in this area. Although I am primarily carrying the 600m and 200-400mm lenses for the Arctic Foxes in Iceland I do hope to put these lenses to use for wildlife in Namibia at the end of our second workshop when we head into Erindi Wildlife Reserve on a short extension.
Gura Gear Chobe Bag: (carry on luggage)
- 15″ Macbook Pro with Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6 with the Nik Plugin suite
- MacBook Power Adapter
- Canon 200-400mm F4L IS Lens with inbuilt 1.4 TC (Watch the Unboxing Video) This lens ‘just’ fits inside the Chobe!
- 1 x LACIE Thunderbolt External 1TB Hard Drive for in the field Back Up.
- Various Power Adapters / Chargers and Associated Cables
- Canon 1DX / 1DS MK3 Battery Charger
- iPad Mini (e-books and movies for the long flights)
- Sandisk USB CF and SD Card reader
- Passport / iPhone / Wallet
- A lot of these items I store inside Gura Gear Etcetera cases inside the Chobe. (These cases are fabulous for organising accessories)
North Face Thunder Rolling Duffle: (checked luggage)
- Sorrel Caribou Winter Boots
- 66º North Wet and Cold Weather Outer Shells
- Arc’teryx Kappa and Atom LT Jackets
- Devold Expedition Base Layers
- Mid Layers – Trekking Pants and Tops
- Light Weight Long Sleeve Shirts for Namibia
- Gloves and Hat
- Miscellaneous clothes
- Micro Spikes
- Sunhat
- Personal items and toiletries – including Sunscreen
Tripod: (checked luggage)
- Really Right TVC24L Tripod
- Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head
- Really Right Stuff Tripod Spikes (For mossy ground and rock claws for ice and rock)
- Jobo Jnr. Deluxe Gimbal Head with Really Right Stuff Dovetail Base Plate
The astute amongst you may have noticed that there is no back-up camera in the equipment listed above. Thankfully, I have access to a back-up 1DSMK3 in Iceland should I require it. There is a tendency across the internet these days for photographers to tout the virtue of travelling super light when flying internationally (often with micro four thirds systems or even mirror less camera systems). Whilst I admire these photographers for their ability to travel with slim light weight kits I confess that I personally prefer to haul my best quality lenses and cameras irrespective of their weight. After working with a pro video team in the Arctic last August even the above extensive list of gear would be considered light weight in the world of professional video. I thank the gods I am a still photographer. See you in Iceland.
March Photograph of the Month: Aurora over Hellnar in Iceland
Whoops.. I have been busy packing for my annual winter workshop to Iceland and almost let another photo of the month slip through the cracks before I board the plane tomorrow. It seems only fitting to post an image from Iceland in Winter as my photo of the month for March given in a couple of days I will be back in my favourite country for photography. This was a photograph I made in March last year whilst leading my winter workshop with Andy Biggs and Daniel Bergmann of Aurora Borealis over the church at Hellnar. This wonderful little church was just a short walk from our guest house accommodation and proved the ideal subject to include beneath the Northern Lights. I am very much looking forward to abandoning the heat of Australia and photographing more Aurora in just a few days time. My winter workshop to Iceland this year is sold out, but I will shortly be taking bookings for 2015. If you would like to reserve a place please drop me an email to info@jholko.com
Guest Photographer: Antony Watson – Does the Camera Make the Image?
Late last year I started a new segment on my blog for photographers with whom I have travelled before in order to provide an outlet for them to share some of their own writing and photography. The first to do so was wildlife photographer and biologist Chris Gamel who accompanied me to Antarctica last year and wrote about Better Wildlife Photography. This second guest post is by fellow workshop leader Antony Watson and poses that much discussed adage: Does the Camera Make the Image? With all the gear talk online these days and with many photographers continually looking for that next magic silver equipment bullet I felt the post quite timely and relevant.
Does the Camera Make the Image?
When I think about this question I visualise a Shakespearean Actor on stage posing the question in olde English to the audience with questioning hand extended ’Doth the camera maketh the image?’ In all seriousness though, does the camera make the image?
Well that question can be answered from a few different perspectives namely with regards to how one defines the various elements in the posed question.
First and foremost the simplest thing to define is what is an ‘image’? A dictionary definition of what an Image is may shed some light into one interpretation of what constitutes an ‘image’ per se:
An Image, derived from the Latin term imago, can be defined as “an artefact that provides a visual representation or depiction of a likeness of a subject”.
That makes perfect sense to me. But the clincher of the question we’re looking at lies in the question of how one defines “makes“. What ‘makes’ an image?’
If you consider the term ‘makes an image‘ to be loosely interpreted as the manufacture/construction of a physical of visual representation , or alternatively if you define it as makes the image as per the phrase this makes my day i.e. to make it, to succeed, to pull it off, to accomplish, to be successful can make the ultimate difference in how one answers the question posed. I prefer the latter interpretation.
There is absolutely no doubt about it, a camera technically constructs a physical visual representation of a likeness of a subject and stores it in a digital file, but does it ‘make an image’ in the sense of it being a successful and accomplished image and thus an overall well regarded image? So what makes an image successful, accomplished and well regarded is a pretty good question?
There are a million articles out there easily accessible on the web discussing just this. They cover topics such as composition, colour harmony, leading lines, emotion, communication, light amongst numerous other attributes of what constitutes good image design and the key ingredients for a recipe to a successful image. But what 99.99% of these articles will never mention is the camera. Why is that? Why isn’t the camera mentioned in all those articles, let alone specific camera types or specific camera capabilities?
Because the camera is merely one of many tools used in the process to create a successful image along with a number of other tools. Its a very important and necessary tool in the overall production of a successful image, but its not the be all and end all of tools in the chain of image making.
Without human intervention in some way or another a camera has never taken an image. We construct, trigger, program, push, point, direct, aim, place …
But a camera will NOT:
- frame a composition
- find you leading lines
- select colour harmony
- communicate emotion
- provide amazing light
……. and on the list goes on and on. Really a camera doesn’t do that much to create a successful well regarded photograph.
But what it will do is allow you to capture light and thus a representation of your vision into a digital file.
Your own vision and talent ARE the biggest contributors to producing a successful image. PERIOD.
So often these days we are focussed on camera gear. So often I read/hear I need the latest body that has X more megapixels, more dynamic range, better colour depth etc but do we really need these things or are we somehow fuelling our unjustified and completely wrong belief that the newer faster better more awesomely marketed camera will make the image.
It was only just a few years ago, in 2012, that a famous wedding photographer entered a Wedding Album into WPPI. He scored an 85 for the album. A sound result most wedding photographers would be proud of. All the photographs within the album were shot on an iPhone ( I believe it was an iPhone 4) with no Photoshop post processing. A tonne of vision and talent and what most would consider, a camera with a long list of limitations and short falls, outscored a very large majority of photographers albums equipped with the latest and greatest cameras, lenses and computer software.
Without vision and talent, a Stradivarius makes a horrendous noise yet a $100 violin played by an artist with vision and talent makes exquisite music.
As I have stated numerous times to others when posed questions such as to ”Should I upgrade to the latest and greatest?” ”Do I need a MFDB?” ….. unless you have a resounding business justification or limitation you need to overcome to deliver a result, then the answer is a resounding “NO!”
Yes having better gear definitely won’t hold you back, but if you’re looking to produce more successful images, then more often than not, one would be better to invest time and funds in developing ones vision and talent more so than the latest camera body or lens.
Only you can decide whether you’re an artist with commensurate vision and talent that will make use of/is hampered by not having the extra features of the latest, greatest, biggest, sharpest camera offering more megapixels, more dynamic range, more bits of colour depth. But I’d hazard to say that most of us, with a fascination with camera gear, will find some way to justify the purchase to satiate our addiction for new camera gear, myself included, regardless of having a true need *.
* Editors Note: Otherwise referred to as GAS – Or Gear Acquisition Syndrome
When I can afford to, I will be buying a Ferrari 458 Speciale. With its sleek thoroughbred design, 595 horsepower and magnesium wheels that will cost more to replace than my children’s college education when I clip a gutter driving them to high school. I dream of speeding around a racetrack with the the ferver and pace only the skills of the talented Michael Schumacher will allow, a skill set of which I have made zero inroads to develop so far. But I’m still buying that car…. one day. But in the mean time, after now writing this article, I might just go and enrol in a few high performance driving courses to develop some of those skills whilst I save my pennies/quarters. After all I have just quite of few years of saving ahead of me.
