Just A Week Out...

So, for Sturgis, I want to make sure I'm ready for whatever shooting scenario I find myself in.

The primary rig I'll be using for photographing around downtown Sturgis and the madness there will be the Canon 5D MKIV and the Tamron 24-70mm f/28 VC. I bought the Tamron lens after my Canon version died. I was looking at a repair bill of around a grand for the Canon, and it just didn't make sense to me to send it in.

I recently shot the Mecum Summer Special with this lens, and I'm impressed. The vibration control is, according to Tamron, good for five stops. I thought that was a bit enthusiastic of a claim but, man, I gotta' tell you, I was shooting at 1/30 of a second and getting razor sharp images. So, yeah, call me a convert.

So, I'll have that wonderful "downtown rig", but I don't plan on staying in downtown Sturgis for the entire 12 days. There's a lot to see and do. Badlands National Park is just over an hour away. Devil's Tower, in Wyoming, is 90 minutes away. I've been to both of those already, but I wouldn't mind going back So, for that reason, I'm packing up the ol' Pelican case (which has been empty for far too long):

 

The gear...

 

In addition to the aforementioned rig, I'll also have my Canon 6D, my 100-400mm, the 70-200mm f/2.8 and the 17-40mm. I'm hoping to be able to convince some people to let me shoot their portrait. For this, I'll be bringing the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 ART lens. I was on the fence but, since space isn't an issue, I figured I'd bring it along.It can be a tricky lens to use, but the results are stellar. This is a photograph I took of my friend with the Sigma lens:

 

The image quality produced by this lens is... it's just different. It's not necessarily "better", per se, but there's something about it which makes me want to use this lens more. I'm just hoping I can get some willing participants!

And, as if all of that wasn't enough, I'm also bringing my Fuji X100F. It'll be great for shooting in the camper and during those pit stops we'll make along the way:

 

So, now that the gear is all inventoried and packed, it's time to start in on the more mundane things; laundry, packing, yadayadada. The reality is that the next week is going to fly by and I don't want to get caught short.

I likely won't make another entry until, the earliest, a day or two before we depart. Thankfully the camper has wi-fi, so I'll be able to do updates from the road here on the blog, Instagram, Facebook, etc. during the trip, and I'll definitely be checking in from Sturgis after we arrive...