Lots of Random Thoughts

Well today I decided to do something a little different. Instead of having one central topic, I’m going to write about few of smaller ideas I have rattling around in my head.

Non-Camera camera gear. I think most experienced photographers carry more than cameras and lenses in their bags. So I thought I’d share few of the stranger items I carry. I carry a small role of gaffer’s tape. It has saved my butt several times. Gaffer’s tape differs from duck tape in that leaves much less residue and it made with cotton fabric not plastic. Awesome stuff. Sticks to about anything.

I carry a multi-tool. My preference is an old Swiss Army tool. All steel, well made, and rugged. It’s heavy enough to use to lightly hammer stuff and has most of the tools you will need.

Disposable ear plugs. If you’ve ever been to a heavy metal concert and find yourself shooting from right in front of a huge speaker stack, you’d be thankful you brought earplugs. They also work well on a loud factory floor. Plus they are light and take up very little space.

Cash. It’s alway good to have little cash on location. You never know when you need to buy batteries, gas, or lunch.

OK, another thought. When you work in a creative profession, it’s easy to get burned out and can suffer from a lack of inspiration. There’s lots of tricks people use. Earlier this week my intern was helping me clean up the studio after a couple of shoots. I asked her to put away all the lights, even though I was going to be using them later. The reason for this? When I have to set the lights up from scratch I makes me rethink how I want to light a subject. As a result, the lighting scheme is custom to that individual. I’m pretty sure I’ve blogged about that before.

Last thought. I’m going to try to work on a personal project next week, if the weather cooperates. It is going to be a night shoot in the woods and may be quite involved. So I testing some lighting schemes that will involve mixing strobes, incandescent lights, and gelled strobes. It may be a lighting nightmare. We’ll see. Anyway while playing with my newly assembled light fixtures I shot some test images. The one below I kinda liked.

Incandescent Light Bulbs

Well, that it for now. Thanks for reading and I’d interested in hearing from other photographer about what kinds of whacky things they carry in their bags.

For more examples of my personal projects check this out.

– Ken