santa came to town!

http://www.ltfphoto.com/p598893360

oooh lookey lookey! new web page is being built and populated as we speak!

ltfphoto.com

ooh, new design ideas, try jbutlerphoto.blogspot.com ... lemme know if anyone reads this and likes that....

new bag

     This year has seen some travel and photography.  From traveling to jobs, to just, well, traveling!  Trying to keep the kit small, useable and efficient is always the task... as well as other photographer constants, like looking for the ultimate bag, and creating the perfect organizational system (backups, file naming, tagging... ugh... etc).  Last trip to San Diego and Baja I learned a lot of what I do and don't want to take.  Now that the season is changing and clothing becomes a packing factor, the kit evolves yet again.  Tomorrow starts a trip to Delaware and then New York for the rest of the week.  I hope the kit will be all I need and not any more!
     The bag has changed yet again.  My primary carry bag and 'man purse' is now the Triple Aught Design Fastpack litespeed.  #tripleaughtdesign This pack rocks in so very many different ways.  Its like the F-stop bags that could go to war also....#tadfastpack #fastpacklitespeed

lets see how it does in the car, walking and NYC!!

Anyone else using this as a camera bag?  If so, how are you packing?  I use small and med cases inside to hold equipment organized.  I think an F-stop ICU small or medium is in my future:

I'll try to put together what works and what didn't after this next trip!

new

the kit has gotten even smaller... and cooler... hopefully some shots of the kit soon!

Ok, update on the bag.  While at Harris Hill airfield (soaring museum) the SonyA 7II fell.  Twice.  The sensor actually moved in the camera.  I believe the circuit board that holds the sensor lost its mounts. The second hit was directly on the viewfinder top.  Ouch!
     After a little banging around, the camera worked fine! wow, a real testament to that titanium alloy casing!  Unfortunately, 2 shoots later, I was photographing artwork and the camera just up and quit, some error messages were displayed.  Yuck.  I have called Sony and am sending it to them for repairs.  If it can be fixed in time for june weddings or not.. I will still probably rent another camera from Borrowlenses.com .  I have worked with them before and they are awesome!  Now lets see Sony turnaround time......

Bag Dump

So I said I was going to do a bag dump, with a little explanation.

Here goes....

I have several different kinds of 'kits', or variations on such, depending on the situation or the job.

I used to carry about 3-400 pounds of equipment that took 5+ trips to the truck to bring in and cart around. YUCK! The past few years have seen BIG changes in technology and cameras. I used to carry the Nikon pro cameras, with their lenses, and all the trimmings. Although I still love the Nikons, I have switched my pro use cameras to the Sony Alpha series. Presently I use the Sony A7II and the Sony A6000. INCREDIBLE cameras, but more of a review later...

 Presenting; The common kit for almost any shoot......

ok, so heres the breakdown:

1 Wescott foldable mottled gray background and a 5in1 reflector

2 Heres an old bag that I keep 2 wescott light stands, 2 umbrellas, and one boom arm with swivel.

3 Manfrotto carbon fiber grottos tripod with manfrotto 3030 head

4 Camelback BFM (a little large but very versatile)

5 Ammo box, plastic is sooo much lighter and its all waterproof

6 Kitbest folding tablet stand... awesome for the ipad!

7 Toiletries. Ok, so heres the complete overnight kit(shave, deod, clippers... you dont really need to know it all...)

8 Nalgene water bottle... hydrate or die

9 Altura photo neutral density filter set for 67mm (3)

10 wall charger for sony batteries

11 Nitecore MT25 with lanyard and hairties. This is more powerful than some car headlights.

12 First aid kit. Random military surplus case, but a great basic need kit I put together.

13 Extra batteries for the flashes (LiOn)

14 Cool lens cleaning cloth

15 Charger for Flash batteries

16 Cliff bars (essential snack)

17 Petzel Tikka plus 2 headlamp. 2AAA batteries that last forever.

18 Boots... duh... I like the military waterproof steel toe. I hiked tuckermans in these and I can wear them anywhere.

19 Rouge snoot flash color filters

20 UST waterproof pill bottle with extra cash and Ibuprofen to kill the aches.

21 Money clip with drivers license, bank card in RFID blocker. Cash usually is in here too...

22 Fingernail clippers... always handy anywhere!

23 (2) Neewer TT850 flashes with godox reciever

24 Wacom Bamboo fine tip stylus... awesome on ipad

25 Zippo lighter... smoker or not, Indiana Jones carried one...

26 Metal globe map cigarette case with built in lighter ( ok just cool)

27 Stanley flip top flask... light and sturdy. (whiskey)

28 G-tech 1tb Gdrive EV atc... go anywhere waterproof superfast backups.

29 Gopro extended back and extended battery(for long time lapses and such)

30 AA batteries for godox wireless remote

31 Gopro hero 3 Black

32 Ipad mini 3 with Lifeproof Fre cover

33 Macbook air charger

34 Iphone6s and Hitcase bombproof waterproof case with lenses (supercool)

35 Casio Commando android backup phone (super ultra mega rugged)

36 Dive watch (cheap replacement for my broken luminox)

37 Paracord bracelet... Dad wears its match

38 Stands for flashes (ok, theres an old nikon one there too...)

39 Godox FT16s flash trigger

40 Sony 55-210 4.5-6.3. not a rocking fast lens but it does the trick well.

41 flip flops. Because.

42 Macbook Air with Speck case

43 Sony A7II with 27-70 f4 lens

44 Rogue Photographic Roguegrid2 3in1 snoot (love this thing)

45 (underneath) Neewer pro collapsable softbox to fit speedlight (love!)

45 Triple Aught Design OP-1 pouch with:

• 2 flash drives
• chromecast (for watching movies in hotels or casting a presentation)
• CR123a batteries
• AAA batteries
• AA batteries
• regular usb cable
• micro usb cable
• iphon and ipad cable
• usb wall charger
• microfiber cloth
• apple earbuds
• electrical tape
• earphone splitter
• passport storage
• spare lighter
• half dozen zip ties

47 wet ones... necessity for a buffalo wing fan

48 Sony a6000 with 16-50 3.5-5.6 again, not a fast lens but works good

49 ditty bag with 5 batteries for both Sony cameras.

50 Rogue snoot grids to go with #44... and Rogue Flashbenders small speedlight reflector (love this too!)

51 juicebar 12000mAh usb charger. Yeah, 12000, this rocks

52 Promaster memory card holder box..

53 Wire cutters and wire strippers. You would be amazed at the uses...

54 Old foldable mini tripod.. Dad got this in Saigon in 1970... it rocks

55 Patagonia Mens Tiolet Jacket. This thing is incredible year round.

56 Xrite color checker passport. Recently fell in love with this tool.

57 A cheap tablet keyboard with the top fold cut off

58 Business card holder with cards

59 Moleskin notebook

60 Rite in the Rain pens and sharpies

61 Baofeng ham radio... yeah, I'ma licensed ham

62 Passport... you never know where you will end up!

Also not in the list is the obviouse PANTS and SHIRTS and hat and such..., but I always wear a military 'riggers belt' and carry the leatherman Charge TI. This leatherman is a bit expensive but I've been through them all and this one can really take it and get the job done! With this kit I can do just about any kind of shoot, travel, stay comfortable and live nicely out of the car, hotels, tents, etc.