Not Your Ordinary Camera Bag

When I purchased my Tamrac Cyber Pack probably close to ten years ago now, at the time I thought it was way to large for what I really needed to carry my meager selection of camera gear. The other day I was searching for an adapter and started digging through the Pack when I began to realize just how fully stuffed it was. Today, it actually is a bit too small for my needs as it is filled to capacity. In fact, I don't even have all the ' camera stuff ' I own stuffed inside of it. Much of it sits inside other smaller bags, or on a shelf. I do however realize just how useful and versatile this bag has been for me.

Photo shoots for me tend to be situational where each situation demands specific equipment. As a result I am constantly playing this ' what do I need this time ' game and end up sorting through the gear to determine what I really and/or might need vs what is just extra weight. Over the years I've managed to refine the process into an art form and can pretty well get the selections right for most any situation, but I still tend to carry more gear than I need to. Of all the gear inside the bag, only one piece is carried for every outing...the camera, my Sony A65 which has performed very well for me since I first acquired it some years ago now. Everything else is optional.

Take for instance when I manage to shoot Oklahoma's Tallgrass Prairie. I really do not need to carry five speedlights or a bunch of gels, nor do I need the electronic triggers for those lights, so they tend to be left behind. The slots they use are better filled with a few extra water bottles as I will be hiking across rough terrain on what at times can be very warm days. When hiking across this landscape I will often find myself some distance from my vehicle, so I need to be prepared for just about any kind of weather. Rain gear is a must and so is a rain cover for the camera and bag along with a light weight cotton scarf which is useful for many things. Shooting the Prairie requires multiple approaches, so I will carry my 18mm to 50mm f/2.8 lens along with my 50mm to 500mm zoom lens. This combination gives me a great range of shooting options. I will also make sure I have with me a graduated neutral density filter to help with balancing the exposures between the sky and landscape.

When I am on a location shoot with a model or for a concept photo shoot the contents of the bag changes. Speedlights become essential equipment so I will carry all of them along with triggering devices and mounting attachments. In addition to these, I will carry again the 18 to 50 lens along with the 50 to 500 lens. Although I tend to settle in using one lens, I carry both just so I will have them if I need to switch. This also requires stands for the lights and a softbox or two along with sandbags to anchor the stands against the wind. These of course are carried external of the camera bag, but are essential accessories for these kinds of shoots.

Shooting at night requires a different setup depending on what you are doing. A concept shoot at night uses much the same equipment as I would during a day shoot with more emphasis placed on the lighting equipment. The same applies to a night model shoot. Shooting the night sky requires very little equipment. A tripod and camera, remote release, and a wide angle lens is all you need so I rarely even carry my camera bag when making this kind of shoot. Most of the time I simply transfer the few extras to a smaller hand carried bag and keep it simple.

The camera pack also has a variety of zippered compartments where I carry things like cleaning cloths and solutions, extra batteries, a few bandaid's, writing material for notes, remote releases, and various cables and connectors along with other obscure and rarely used accessories. There is also a place for a laptop, but I rarely ever carry one.

Over the years the Tamrac Cyber Pack bag has become an essential part of my photographic efforts and I have put it to hard use. It's wide shoulder straps allow for cross country treks. A single, well designed handle across the top makes for easy transport from and to a vehicle. The myriad of adjustable pockets and zippered pouches allow for just about anything to be carried inside. The large solidly built zipper has held up well with constant opening and closing. A series of straps allows for things like a tripod to be attached. It's rugged construction has held up to aggressive use for close to a decade now. It has contributed as much to the success of my photography efforts as any piece of equipment I possess. Certainly, it is not your ordinary camera bag.

Taking a Break

Taking a break from Blogging for now...here are the links to a look into the past...please enjoy.

Every year about this time a melancholy cloud begins to hover around my thoughts. It was this same time of year a good many years ago when I made my first exploratory visit to Oklahoma's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. From that first visit a passionate desire to return to that amazing landscape took seed and through the years it has blossomed into a obsession which at times overwhelms my need to return. Circumstances often will circumvent me from making the 700 mile trek west to catch another glimpse, take another photo, to experience again the soul calming qualities of the prairie.

 I'll be taking some time off from my blog posting duties for the next few weeks. In its place I will re-post a series of articles I wrote several years ago about the Tallgrass Prairie. The series is called "On Coneflower Hill", a four part attempt to capture not only in imagery, but in word just how important this rare and almost lost landscape has become to my slice of the world. 

Also, I will be working on a new Adventure Photography Series video about photographing the Tallgrass Prairie. So, please enjoy once again, part three and four of "On Coneflower Hill".

http://beyondthecampfirebykeith.blogspot.com/2012/11/on-coneflower-hillpart-1.html

http://beyondthecampfirebykeith.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-tgp-part-ii-prairies-song.html

http://beyondthecampfirebykeith.blogspot.com/…/tallgrass-pr…

http://beyondthecampfirebykeith.blogspot.com/…/the-tgp-part…

The First Cameras - A Comforting Appeal in Black and White

Somewhere slightly over 50 years ago one summer I took my first photographs using an old Kodak No. 1 Brownie Camera my grandparents used way back well before I was even a thought. Even when I used it, it was ancient and wafted of a stuffy antique aroma off its worn and tattered covering. I found it stuffed in the back of an old drawer covered up by a collection of almost equally ancient women's Sunday hats. Oddly enough you could still buy film for that old camera...I don't remember which kind, something like 117 black and white I suppose.

They bought me a roll of film for maybe 50 cents and I went around taking pictures of this and that being careful not to waste the film as you could only take a dozen or so from that roll. When I was finished they let me run it over to Mr. Judy's Drug store to get them developed for a dollar or two. When they were ready I ran over to Judy's and absorbed the black and white images with a child-like fascination. Some of them were fuzzy and blurred but most were at least in focus. Made no difference, I was hooked.

I was imprinted you might say on those black and white photos and over the years even during the era I was shooting 35mm color slides, black and white always held a comforting appeal. A few years after taking that first roll of film I graduated to using a somewhat newer Kodak Brownie Hawk Eye camera, one of those marvelous art deco designed see down, shoot through late 1950's era cameras.

With that camera I began to explore developing my own black and white pictures. I was maybe 13 or 14 years old and my 2 dollar a week allowance didn't go very far. I did manage to convince my parents to buy me a basic development kit with 3 trays, some chemicals, and a film developing canister. They also allowed me to clean out a small closet in the back utility room and turn it into a darkroom.

I started simply making contact prints using the large negatives but soon wanted to elevate the technology by using an enlarger. My parents drew the line on that one and said no...good grief they cost almost $30.00 for a basic one back then, but that was a lot of money, way more than I or them could muster. So...I did what most enterprising kids would do back then...I made one out of spare parts I found around the house. For the lens I extracted the front objective lens from an old BB gun scope. For the body I used several oatmeal boxes joined together with electricians tape. For a light I used an ordinary light bulb inserted into the back and for a condenser I hollowed out a large light bulb and filled it with water. This condenser sat between the light source and the negative holder and served to spread out the light evenly and to reduce the possibility of overheating the negative. The whole contraption sat horizontally and projected the image onto a homemade easel connected to the wall. Oddly enough it worked like a charm and I was able to create good quality images upwards to 5x7 in size.

Through the years black and white has remained a solid concept for my photographs. I will often shoot with black and white in mind, then convert the images once they are downloaded. (Isn't Photoshop a marvelous invention). Black and white removes the distraction of color and provides instead a format focusing on shape, form, and contrast. Story is critical in black and white because it is told through the use of that shape, form, and contrast. There is also a comfort to revisit those days and every time I create a black and white image there is a nostalgic satisfaction inherent with doing so.

Had I not explored the contents of that old cluttered drawer way back then, odds are I may never have developed a passion for photography. There is a comforting appeal in black and white, one with roots traveling back through time to my earliest days of taking pictures.