Digging depper...

Last year, for the first time in a long time, I found myself hindered by my gear. Not my photographic gear, but the peripherals around it, like tripods and backpacks.

I am someone that test and plans around equipment before hitting the trail. So, I had 4 tripods at my disposal and 5 different bags. Yet....no matter how I combined them with the camera gear that I needed for certain outings, the results were less than satisfactory.

When I sat to reassess why the setups that have worked for years, now were holding me back, it was clear that my approach to landscape photography had...changed. Since some time ago, I have been digging deeper and deeper into chosen locations.

What does that mean? "Digging deeper". Well, for me has meant to seek farther and more difficult to access locations. And once reached, staying longer. This may sound like I was going for a multiday camping trip. But not quite...I already have a set up for that:

An Ospray 70 bag with a Tamrac Velocity 5x packed in the bottom compartment.








This is OK, but I have found that when I do this...so much of the logistics of setting up camp, take away form the actual purpose of reaching certain location: Photographing.
With this setup, it very easy to end up just documenting the camping trip. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but not what I am after.

What I started to do some time ago, was to stay longer at locations and coming back in the dark. Sometimes, I found myself wanting to spent and impromptu overnight and not having the resources to do it safely.

My regular no-overnight setup, is a Lowe Pro bag rigged and modified to carry a water bladder, food and tripod and does not have any room for such impromptu plans. As it is it can barely hold more food, ropes, or any climbing gear or wet wadding equipment. It is amazing that most photo bags do not have room for a decent water hydration system, some food and an extra layer of clothing.






Bigger bags, such as the Tamrac Expedition 7 which I actually have, does not seem to help any. Such bags assume that you just want to carry more photo gear, not carry things that will help you go farther and further with your photography.


So this year finally I got a bag (F-Stop) that can pack my typical landscape setup, and enough gear to tackle most obstacles, Along with a navigation kit with gps, maps, compass and a solar recharger. An emergency kit, overnight kit, etc.

The next item on the list was to pair this new bag with a light versatile tripod.
Depending on the location, time of the day and length of the hike, I have been carrying a Gitzo Explorer, a Giottos MT-9160, or a Gitzo Traveler. The Explorer is just too heavy, and the Traveler is fine, as long as no long time exposures are needed. The 9160 has the ideal size and spiked feet but is is on the heavy side, and the legs locks have worn out. So I set out to find this size and features in a carbon fiber version.

The old setup, Lowe Pro bag, Gitzo Explorer tripod.

The new setup

New F-Stop bag, with some mods, and a bagged carbon fiber tripod strapped to the back.
This pack not only carries all the gear that I need, but carries like a nice high end backpack with a nice suspension system. So far, my back is happier and I already spend an impromptu overnight in the California desert.