Friday, November 14, 2014

Whats in the camera bag besides cameras?

I've been asked a few times about what else do I have in my camera bag (as well as the camera kit) well the answers a bit complicated, it varies a lot  If I'm off up the mountains I'll tend to Carry more survival based goodies, but then say a wedding would require different bits and pieces.
All of these bits have been carried at some point, and some live in the bag all the time.

A microfiber towel.  This is a small camping towel, and weighs nothing, it soaks up a colossal amount of water, at one time it went over the camera in the rain, by soaking up the water it stops it running into the camera working, obviously this only works for so long before the towel gets soaked through.
The towel also has other uses, you can dry your gear if it gets wet, you can also dry yourself off, and when it's dry stuffed down your shirt it'll help keep you warm.  It also dries very quickly.

A jewelers screwdriver set, I've got a decent one, had it for years, it's rolled up in a bit of thick plastic with a rubber band around, takes up little space and doesn't weigh much, handy for tightening loose camera screws or more often fixing my glasses.

Gorilla tape. I used to carry duct or gaffer tape, but I found a small roll of gorilla tape, it's super strong and tough, handy for repairing things, I've even fixed a broken hem on a wedding dress with duct tape.... and my trousers....

USB cable.  This is to connect your camera to a computer, handy if you need to download photos while your out and about and the card reader dies.

Knife.  I've got a tiny sort of Stanley knife thing, a small razor sharp blade and spare blades, handy for all sorts of things.  I usually carry a multi tool as well on jobs, a Gerber, great quality but not cheap.

Paracord, this is the stuff that fastens a parachute to the harness, I try and carry about 20 foot of the stuff, again handy for repairing or making a strap for something, or more often used for lowering the camera bag down tricky climbs.  The stuff has a breaking strain of 550 lbs (static load) so it's pretty strong stuff.

First aid kit. This is just the basics, a few plasters and some antiseptic wipes, and a pair of disposable gloves.  I usually have a pair of earplugs too, bloody handy if your somewhere noisy. I carry a proper first aid kit in the car as well, and if I'm off in the mountains then theres a serious kit with airways etc.

A Bin bag. or rubbish sack, usually black, buy the biggest strongest you can find. Handy to sit on or keep your kit off wet ground, you can make a sort of poncho to keep the worst of the rain off you, you can bung your camera bag in if it's really hammering down with rain, and as a last resort you can blow it up and use it as a buoyancy aid when the flood comes.

Filters.  I have a 9 piece set of neutral density filters for cutting down the light, my set has 5 full filters and 4 gradient ones, this was a cheap ebay set as I don't use them too often, actually they are very very good..

Flash filter set. this is a holder and a set of gel colour filters for my flash gun, used for changing the colour of the flash.

Camera Rain cape. This is a plastic sleeve thing that goes over your camera and keeps the worst of the rain off, cheap and light.

Safety pins. A few large-ish ones will do, great for repairs to clothes.  And you can make fish hooks out of them too if Armageddon comes. Although I suspect you'll be using them to fix your trousers or dress to be honest, I've repaired my trousers a few times!.

Penlight torch. A very small penlight torch is handy especially if your out shooting after dark, it's handy to see what your setting on the camera, and also as an aid to focusing.  I carry a proper torch anyway so this tends to get left out, mine is a nurses penlight.

A Small Market clamp. This works for taking in the slack in someones clothes if your doing a fashion type shoot, it'll also help fasten things out of the way.

An Umbrella flash holder.  This is a a small bracket to go on a tripod or lighting stand with a cold shoe on the top for your flash and a hole thing for the flash umbrella, this gives you a mini studio if your out and about. As I have off camera flash built into my camera and a separate off camera flash system it makes life easier if I want soft lighting.

Plastic knife fork and spoon. Now the ones I have and bloody good strong ones, I haven't the faintest idea where they came from but I've had them for years.  These may sound an odd thing to carry, and indeed they aren't always in the bag, but if you've ever gone somewhere and got food and you haven't got a spoon to stir your tea, or worse you've been given one of those hopeless flimsy spoony-forky things to eat your jacket potato you be glad you brought your own.  I also usually have a few salt and pepper sachets stashed as well. The salts handy if your sweating a lot in the hot weather as well.

Paper and Pencil. Just for leaving notes or taking addresses or phone numbers, pencils don't leak and work in the rain, and you can sharpen it with your knife! (they also work in space but don't tell the Americans, they spent a ton of money developing the "space pen")

Now thats all I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure theres more bits and bobs I've forgotten.






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