Photophys.com: The Science of Photography

I am a serious amateur photographer, and I do several photo-shoots far from home each year. That means air travel with all its hassles. I start with the requirement that all valuable and sensitive equipment, e.g. cameras and lenses, go with me as carry-ons. So what do I really need and how can I pack it so that it will be allowed as carry-on luggage?

The problem was made clear to me a couple of years ago on an Icelandair flight from Baltimore to Iceland. Before boarding all standard carry-on bags were collected and checked. Passengers were only allowed to keep small backpacks. Fortunately my backpack was small enough.

Now I have larger lenses to carry and planning is more critical. First let me list what I usually carry. There are two cameras, a Canon 40D (Nikon D90 equiv.?) and a Canon Rebel XTi or later (Nikon D60 equiv.?) for backup. Since these are nature-shoots I take a Canon 100-400mm IS lens. I could usually get away with the much smaller Canon 70-300mm IS lens, but it does not give the image quality of the larger lens. I also take a Canon 10-22mm lens for landscape work. That leaves the middle range. At present I take a very good Canon 28-135mm IS lens. That is not an ideal focal length range, but the lens provides some macro capability and no available lenses are clearly much better. I do carry extension tubes in case serious macro work becomes important. I tend to keep the long lens on 40D and a wide angle lens on the Rebel to avoid much changing of lenses. A Canon 580EX Speedlite with Better beamer comes along when appropriate. That means the rain forest but not Galapagos or birding expeditions in the north country.

I also have a Manfrotto monopod/walking stick with a 3232 head and a light weight Slik Sprint Pro travel tripod with Giottos MH 1320 head. These can go in the checked luggage with the battery chargers. We also carry an Acer Aspire One Netbook computer for image downloads and a WD Passport portable drive for backups. My wife puts the computer stuff in her carry on bag.

Now comes the packing. I decided a few years ago that a light weight (no padding) backpack makes a lot of sense. The nylon one I have (made in China) was purchased for bicycling in New Zealand ten years ago and it lies flat but holds a lot. My procedure is to put the case containing the 100-400mm lens in the bottom of the backpack and to load in a Tamrac Superlight 5 bag above it. The bag contains the 10-22mm lens on one side, the Rebel body on the other side, and the 40D with 28-135mm lens attached in the center. The bag also contains batteries, memory cards, cable releases, 58mm and 77mm circular polarizing filters, and one gradient filter with a stiff plastic support. The bags are shown separately and all put together in these photos.

With the bag in place there is room in the backpack for the flash unit and even an umbrella and a light sweater. Finally there are small pockets that can hold battery chargers and pocket items when going through security. Usually the loaded backpack will fit under the seat in front of me. For added safety and convenience I wear a basic Domke photographer's vest that can hold any additional items and can even hold lenses and a camera body if I have trouble carrying on the backpack. I think a camera around my neck and a loaded vest can accommodate the most valuable items if necessary. I forgot to mention that I carry a water proof point-and-shoot camera, now a Pentax Optio W60, in a pocket of the vest

At the destination the backpack makes a satisfactory day pack. If there is danger of water damage from rain or surf I suggest using a 20L Seal Line Storm Sack as a convenient liner for the backpack.