Micah Walter

I’m leaving for the airport in a few hours. So, I thought I would write a short article about my travel bags. People are always asking about traveling as a photographer and specifically how to pack all the right gear. There have been hundreds of articles on this subject already. So, for my version, I thought I would take this approach. Whenever I travel, I tend to pack differently. It is ALWAYS based on the trip at hand. I usually make up my packing system a few days before the trip based on what I think I will be doing and what I will need when I get there.

A good friend of mine once told me this easy to remember rule of thumb. Pack in your carry-on bag, EVERYTHING you will need to complete your assignment. Now, this can be as simple as a single camera and your laptop, but don’t forget to include those important items like battery chargers and card readers. Remember, think about where you will be going, how and when you will need to transmit/transport your images, and all the little pieces that are required to make your system work.

For this trip to PhotoPLUS, I really don’t need much. My main ingredient will be my laptop, and I am planning to make some pictures over the course of the trip for a few of the blogs that I write for. I will only be gone for a week and I will be in places that will have Internet access and camera stores. Heck, I will be staying at a hotel just down the street from B&H!

So, I am packing pretty light. I have one carry-on bag and one checked luggage. The checked luggage is just a medium sized bag that will hold my clothes and my various odds and ends that are fairly un-necessary and easily replaceable. My carry-on is a backpack made by LowePro. It is called the LowePro Stealth and it’s the original model that doesn’t quite fit my 15” laptop. The newer version is better sized for a 15” MacBook Pro, though mine just barely fits.

I have been living with this bag for quite some time and it is my standard bag that I use for brief trips. The big plus for this bag is that I can stuff just about anything I want into it. It is basically a bottom less pit. If I want to go a little heavier on the camera gear I can rip out the laptop case and sue the space for cables, cords, or even a large satellite device like the bGan Imarsat.

The downsides to this bag are many, but the main two are that it hardly will protect your gear, and it is pretty awkward on the back. They placed the lens pouches at the top which means it is usually pretty top heavy, and there is no back support built in at all. Maybe the new model is better, but if you have to take this thing on a hike, you will be hating life after a short while.

That said, this bag usually doesn’t go much farther than the house to the car and then the car to the airport. On the upside, it is pretty small and flexible and can fit into any overhead storage bin on just about any airplane. It also can typically fit under the seat in front of me, which is especially handy on small puddle jumpers like the Dash-8s that they use down here in the Caribbean.

In my bag this time, I have the following:

Canon 20D and Battery Grip with two batteries
Canon 10-22 f/3.5-4.5 EF-S
Canon 17-35 f/2.8
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS - This lens just barely fits in the center pouch
Canon 550EX Speedlight
Canon ST-E2 Wireless Transmitter
Canon 220 Speedlight

MacBook Pro and Power Adapter
Battery charger for the 20D
CF Card Reader
CF-Cards

Firelite 80G USB Drive and cable

Passport, Plane Tickets, Wallet, iPod
A few other odds and ends…

This is a pretty decent setup for this trip. I also have packed in my checked luggage a Mini-disc recorder and all the extras for that, and a few other smaller items that I don’t really need. I will probably use this same configuration on the train up from D.C. to New York, or perhaps I will lighten it up even further by using a duffel for my clothing. We shall see!

Well, my plane leaves this afternoon and I will be back in D.C. by midnight. I plan to head up to New York for the show on Wednesday afternoon. Hope to see you all there!

To discuss the LowPro Stealth in the new Forums section click here.

I have just added a new feature to the site. After much debate I have decided to install a forum system called RS Discuss. It is a pretty bare bones forum, and I may change over to something more elaborate in the future, but for now, feel free to post topics and talk about whatever you wish. All I as is that you keep it civil!

Obviously I am still working on the colors and styles, so please bear with me!

To go to the main forums page just click the Forums link in menu up top.

Okay, I just thought this was pretty funny. Enjoy!

I am starting to upload images from my archives to Digital Railroad. So, I decided to begin at the beginning, just weeks before going all digital. This first set you have seen. They are the images from my initial “tour” of Israel in 2002.

I am also creating a new category here called DRR. So, you will be able to easily find a listing of all the latest photo sets I have uploaded.

Click here to view the set - Birthright Israel

Enjoy!

This is sort of an odd Object of Desire. I have, since I can really remember, wanted a Leica. Now that the M8 is out and getting so much praise, I REALLY want one. But, of course, they are pretty expensive. So, I will just have to save my pennies. Maybe by the time I can afford one, they will have an M9 that is full frame!

In the meantime I have been thinking about this camera that popped up on my radar at a pretty good price. It is an M6 Classic (non TTL) with a 35mm f/2.0 Summicron.

“Wait a second, doesn’t that shoot film?” - Well, yes, indeed it does use that film stuff. I haven’t shot any film in years. Truthfully, I really can’t see myself dealing with all of the issues film shooters face. I mean, first of all, you have to buy the film, and then you have to safely transport it to the place where you are planning to shoot. Then, once you have shot it, you have to transport it back or to the nearest lab, and if you can’t find the right kind of lab you may even have to pull out the chemistry set and process it yourself. After that, to make the images visible on the internet you must scan the film, which of course requires a scanner, or another lab and another lab fee. And then even after you have scanned the film, and even after you have made prints, you have to figure out a safe way to store the film so it wont get ruined.

How did we do it back before digital?

I haven’t decided if I will get this camera or not, or maybe another one like it. Part of me says, at least it will hold its value and I will be able to sell it and keep the lens, but the other part of me says I should just wait it out and go digital all the way.

Regardless, I wanted to show off the picture here. It really is pretty isn’t it! Special thanks to its current owner for the pic.

I have been upgrading the website a little today. The people who make SlideShowPro, the engine behind my homepage, never cease to amaze me. They have just released a new version of both the Flash slideshow player and their Ajax web based management tool, Director. Both upgrades are really nice and add lots of long needed features.

So, I have gone ahead and added a Portfolios page. Soon, I will add some more content, but for now you can see a sample of images shot in Israel. I have also revamped the Multimedia page so that it now uses SlideShowPro instead of Brightcove. This means I will be responsible for the content on my own server, and I will have full control of how the player looks and works. And yes, SlideShowPro can play video, which is pretty cool. I will hopefully be adding more and more video content later this month. This will be anything from multimedia story telling to news clips from PhotoPLUS.

The only downside I see so far is that the whole thing relies heavily on Flash, which of course does not play well with iPhone. Hopefully Steve will add Flash support in the next iteration. Until then you will just have to view the site on a real computer.

I have always wanted to do an essay on the subway. No matter where I go I always take note of public transportation. I don’t really know why. I just like it I guess. I know, it is pretty cliche to do a photo essay on a subway system in any city, but still, they are fascinating places.

I heard a while back that the New York City subway system was going to become off limits to professional photographers without a permit. I can’t really imagine that being possible. It is one of the most photographed places in the world. What were they thinking?

As usual, click the picture to see the gallery.

In other news, I have just upgraded this site to Wordpress 2.3. This adds the ability to easily add “tags.” So you should now see clickable tags at the bottom, below the categories…

I have just found out that a long lost friend will be returning to me. At some point a couple of years ago or so I loaned out one of my two nikon F3s to a student who was taking one of my classes. I hardly ever use these cameras anymore, and I think the one I loaned out is the only one out of the two that still works flawlessly (mostly). But more importantly, these two cameras have some sentimental value for me.

They were basically given to me (I paid a small amount for the first one, and was given the second one) by a friend of my family who was a newspaper photographer at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. That photographer had watched me grow up over the years and while I was in college, for a few bucks and in trade for helping him re-roof a house, he gave me two Nikon F3HP bodies with matching motor drives.

I used those cameras for a pretty long time, and really up until the point when I bought my first digital SLR, a Nikon D100. One of them came with me to Israel where I used it to shoot some black and white film, and I do recall using the pair again to cover a 911 hearing on Capital Hill, but for the most part they remained on my shelf collecting dust.

I have had many opportunities to sell them, but I could never bring myself to do so. The friend who handed them down to me died of brain cancer, and I guess the cameras have always been a reminder of who he was in my life.

So, I had loaned one out to one of my students, and she had thought it was stolen when she left it in her car and her car was ripped off. But, by some miracle, her car was recovered and the camera was still inside. So, this month, when I am back in D.C. I will retrieve it! As I recall there is a 24 mm lens strapped to it. It will be really nice to hear her famous “click” once again.