First off, thanks so much for all of the great comments on the Norway photos from my post yesterday. I really appreciate it! Next, I saw a few questions about gear, here on the blog as well as on Twitter, social media, etc… so I wanted to cover it here.
Here’s what I took:
Camera Body
• Nikon D800
Lenses
• Nikon 16-35mm lens (for the wide stuff)
• Tamron 24-70 lens
• Nikon 28-300 (for general walking around and some tighter landscape photos)
That’s the wonderful thing about landscape photography. We don’t need a ton of gear and lenses. Honestly, I could probably have gotten away with just the 28-300mm for most of the trip. It is just a bit slow and harder to focus in low light (and I was out in the dark a lot), and while it’s sharp I just feel that the 16-35 and 24-70 perform so well on the wide angle end, that I felt I needed to have them.
Tripod
I’ve become really dependent on my larger Really Right Stuff TVC-33 tripod and BH-55 ballhead. It ain’t light though. And it’s not exactly easy to travel with. But knowing I was going to be outside a lot, up on windy hills and along the water I wanted to make sure I had tack-sharp photos and the only way to do that is with a sturdy tripod. I pack the tripod and ballhead in my checked luggage though, and only pull it out when I’m going out to shoot. I’ve had a lot of people ask if I’m worried about it getting stolen by anyone handling luggage, but I’ve got to figure they come across way better things during the day then a big tripod 🙂
Bags
When I go on a trip like this, I usually travel with the Think Tank Airport Airstream bag and then pack a smaller bag to carry around once I get there. But for this trip, since I packed so light and wanted to cut down on bags, I fit everything into my Vanuard Adaptor backpack and carried that through the airport and around Norway. It was a tight fit, but it’s sure nice to travel light and not roll around a huge camera bag everywhere you go.
Filters
• I brought my trusty Lee Big Stopper 10-stop ND filter
• B&W Circular Polarizer
• Tiffen 3-stop and 6-stop ND
• (no I don’t use split or graduated ND filters)
Miscellaneous Things
• Vello remote cable release
• Hoodman Lens Cleanse
• Lexar 32GB CF Cards
• Microfiber cloths
Matt – thanks for this post; very helpful and timely for me. I’ve been to most of the locations in Norway that you showed; awesome shots! What size/model is your Vanguard Adaptor backpack?? The website shows 4 different sizes? I’m looking for a similar bag for a trip at the end of the summer where I want to travel light for a change 🙂 and to cut down on bags and gear.
Matt-You shoot the Tammy 24-70? I LOVE THAT LENS!!
Lee-SoCal.
Hi Matt, Thanks for the list of gear! I have a Sigma 18-250mm that I use with my Canon 7D and I love it! I have a sigma 24-70mm 2.8, which I use for low light situations. Those are the two lenses I take on my trips. I’m glad to know we have similar gear! That’s awesome! I’m going to check out your tripod … I need something better for traveling. Have a Great 4th of July!!!
Dennis