Ireland: What To Bring...?

As a photographer,I'm always thinking about what equipment I'll want on hand for whatever shoot is coming up next. You see, a concert shoot requires different lenses than a real estate shoot which, in turn, requires different lenses than a portrait shoot. The trick here is going to be choosing what to bring so I'm prepared for the majority of the photos I'll have the opportunity to take while we're in Ireland.

Camera body? That's a no brainer. I'll be taking the Canon 6D MKII. I could take the 6D, as well, but I'm not convinced I'll need a back-up. The 6D MKII has proven to be a pretty robust unit, so I don't suspect I'll have any problems. Besides, that extra camera body is a lot of extra weight and it takes up room I can use for something else. With this type of traveling, space and weight considerations are important, regardless how insignificant they may seem.

So, the 6D MKII will get the nod for this trip. The nice thing about this over the 6D is the articulating LCD screen. I didn't think I'd fine much use for it, but it actually comes in handy from time to time, especially when shooting in tight quarters.

The Canon 6D MKII in all of its 26.2 megapixel glory...

The Canon 6D MKII with the articulating LCD pulled out...

I've been looking at a lot of photos these past couple weeks, taken all over Ireland, and many of the photos I seem to like the most are night time shots. Of course, the only way to get a night time shot, in Ireland or anywhere else, is to use a tripod. This presents a bit of a problem, considering I don't want to lug my big, honkin' Manfrotto across the pond with me.

Enter the Slik Mini Pro.

The Slik Mini Pro is a very compact tripod which, with legs and center column full extended, measures only about nine inches. Of course, the most common issue with small "travel" tripods is that they're seldom sturdy enough to hold anything but the smallest of point and shoot cameras. Not so with the Mini Pro. It's a strong and sturdy option that comes in under thirty bucks, and it handles the 6D MKII with a lens perfectly:

This is the set-up I'll probably using the most for night time shots in Ireland.This is the 6D MKII with the Canon 17-40mm f/4L attached; 2.61 pounds...

Of course, I can't imagine making a trip like this with only one lens, so I'm not even going to attempt that. The 17-40mm will probably be the workhorse for this trip. But I know there are some places, such as the Cliffs of Moher, where I'll want a longer lens to get a bit more compression. I'm also going to want to have a nice portrait lens. Let's face it, we're probably never coming back here, so why not have nice pictures of us taken of us here?

So, I think I've settled on a four lens line-up which will get me through a week in Ireland. With the exception of the 17-40mm, I'm going to be bringing only prime (non-zoom) lenses. In addition to the 17-40mm f/4L, I'll have the 100mm f/2.8 Macro (for photos where I need a bit more reach), the 85mm f/1.8 (a superior portrait lens in my opinion) and the 50mm f/1.4 (which is a solid, all-around good, low light lens):

The 17-40mm (mounted on the camera), then the 100mm, the 50mm (in the middle) and the 85mm...

What's pictured above will constitute the majority of the photo gear I'll be carrying with me to Ireland. Additionally, I'll have a remote release batteries, chargers, memory cards (216gb worth), etc; basically those necessary little accessories I'll want along the way. I haven't decided if I'm going to bring a flash but, if I do, it'll be the Canon 580 EXII. If I bring that, though, I also have to bring batteries for that, as well as the chargers for those batteries. At present, I'm leaning towards leaving it at home.

All of this will be neatly packed into my Tamrac CyberPro Express, which is what I'll be using as my carry-on. It will also have my laptop, chargers (camera batteries, phone), power cords and whatever else I feel I won't be able to live without or don't want to check. I did a lot of traveling when I worked for Taylor Guitars, and this bag became my go-to carry-on for every single trip I made after getting it:

The Tamrac CyberPro Express...(photo courtesy of Tamrac)

So, the questions of what gear I'm bringing to Ireland have been answered. I think the equipment I'm bringing will allow me to be as prepared as reasonably possible to capture the vast majority of what I want to. The hard reality is that I simply can't bring everything, so I think I've got this rig dialed in nicely...