CLOSER AND CLOSER!!!!
Random tips AKA overthinking it AKA passing it along
My office is a chaotic mess of camera bags, Nanuk cases, batteries, solar panels, portable projectors, backpacks, HPRC lunch boxes, USB cables, card readers, iPads—the list goes on. Out of this chaos will emerge an organized set of Nanuk cases, HPRC tripod case, and my HPRC ‘lunchbox’. All carefully tetris’d to maximize the stuff I’m bringing to support our adventure!
I’m building out my Lightroom catalog full of inspirational landscape images to prompt discussions each evening, digging into the history of photography on the river (shoutout to E.O. Beaman and John Hiller!), and prepping a bunch of discussion topics, critique ideas, and technical mumbo-jumbo.
RANDOM TRIP TIPS
Here’s a bunch of random, unrelated things that are going through my head as I pack up:
Notebook: Even if you aren’t a writer, grab a small Moleskine so you can jot down a description of the day once we’re settled in camp. It doesn’t have to be poetic, just informative. You’ll appreciate it once you are back in your digital cave, pouring over your images.
Water Bottle + Carabiner: Yeah, I know. This is unnecessarily basic, but forgive me here. I use a bottle with a ‘captive’ cap (Hydroflask if you’re curious) and a big, locking, aluminum carabiner. Easy access on the boat, simple to clip to a raft-strap or safety line. Locking is important—in the unlikely event of a flip (really unlikely on the Green, but safety first - or at least second) you don’t want a carabiner to snag your PFD and clip you into the raft.
Hydration Mix: something to replenish those electrolytes. It’s going to be HOT. Hard to grasp here in PDX with summer weather hovering in the mid-fifties, but good desert self-care is drinking fluids constantly, and making sure to not just drink water (or beer). In the crazy heat, you can still get heat exhaustion if you are just drinking water without replacing those salts. I like SKRATCH LABS. I hate Gatorade. You do you.
Microfiber towel: your gear isn't going to get wet, because you guys are awesome. And the reality is that most modern cameras are pretty well built to withstand a little bit of water, provided you are careful. BUT. Just in case, throw in one of those miracle backpacking towels—the kind that can absorb an absurd amount of water—generally mostly lint-free, and great for a quick wipe down of gear when needed.
Cleaning kit: whether it’s a squeeze bulb, with some single-use Leica lens wipes, or a box of Kimwipes and a bottle of Panchro, have some ability to clean your lenses and filters.
Camera Rain Bag: Get one oversized ziplock bag. Get a few sturdy rubber bands. Cut a hole for the lens to poke out, and secure the lens with the rubber bands. Blammo—a super affordable rain cover if you want to keep shooting when it’s raining out. You can also buy one — quality and prices vary. Do you need this? Probably not. But worth having for the cost of a giant heavy-duty ziplock bag. Just don’t cut a hole in it until you need it. Counter-argument: I’m trying to limit the amount of disposable single-use plastic in my world, so with that view, buying a well-made rain bag from the folks at ThinkTank is a better choice.
Lens range: on one hand, you could pick one lens and just shoot the entire trip with, say, a 50mm. On the other hand, you could stock a set of primes of every flavor, and while it would take a concerted effort, you could easily find opportunities to bust out that 12mm ultra-wide and that 600mm ultra-tele. For a full-frame 35mm camera, I’d say you want to at least cover a 24mm to a 150mm range. Here’s what I’m bringing: Canon ƒ2.8 15-35mm RF, Canon ƒ 2.0 24-70mm RF, Canon ƒ2.8 70-200mm EF with Adaptor, Canon 1.4 Tele-Extender EF, Canon 200-400mm ƒ4 EF.
Power: whatever you are bringing probably relies on USB cables. Bring extra. Cables fail all the time. And test it all out beforehand. For example, I have a few widgets that recharge via USB-C, but I’ve discovered the hard way that if I try to recharge with my RAVPower USB-C PD (Power Delivery) battery with a USB-C to USB-C cable, it does not work. If I use the Type-A port on the same battery with a USB-A to USB-C, I’m in business. To date, none of the companies that make the gadgets have been able to tell me why this doesn’t work. Lastly, while math is supposed to work (capacity of the USB battery / capacity of the camera battery = number of re-charges), it generally fails. My 27,000 mAh battery should give me 12 recharges (27000 / 2130), but I am in reality getting 8.
Fix-It Grab Bag: a little stash bag that has a variety of weird/useful stuff. Here’s my current inventory: zip ties, tiny roll of gorilla tape, tear-aid patches, leatherman multi-tool, length of paracord, sharpie with Gaffers Tape rolled around it. With all of this I can tighten screws, fix straps, patch holes, tape lenses at infinity, swap tripod plates, hang things from trees, etc. etc.
Stash Bags: I like the Eagle Creek pouches, but anything will do. Organized with labels, or individual colors, or whatever system you like. So much easier to dig into your duffel or camera bag and grab the right thing without having to unpack everything to find that one thing that got wrapped in a sock and then put in with your pants.
Bandanas. Useful for so many things. Around your neck after a dip in the river keeps you cool. Over your face as you nap. A napkin. A tiny piece of sand-free real estate to put something on. A unique color/pattern to tie around the handle of your dry bag so you know which one is yours.
Sarong. It’s like a big bandana with 1000 and 1 uses. Maybe less. But supremely useful. Try this link (no affiliate $$ or anything - just tried to find a ‘normal’ sarong).
GUIDE TIP
Not required, but heavily nudged toward: like any gig economy player, a rafting guide works furiously during the busy season and then scrambles for other gigs in the off-season. These fine folks are rowing our boats, setting up and tearing down camp, cooking and cleaning all so we can go be photo nerds in an amazing place. Please consider tipping out your guides at 10-20% of the trip fee. All tips are pooled and split amongst the crew. You can cash-money this, Venmo or PayPal, at the end of the trip.
QUESTIONS:
I am here for you all!!! If you have any questions about anything—from technical camera stuff to recommendations on the best Whiskey to bring along, reach out to me, either as a comment here, or a direct message!