Do you work directly from your pack, or from a ground tarp? [Archive]

Heroique

13-Feb-2013, 12:00

When setting up landscape shots, I’ve just about always pulled needed gear & accessories from my pack and spread them across a poncho on the ground.

Usually, the poncho is spread a little behind my right shoulder – not directly behind me – and far enough away so I don’t step on it as I maneuver around my tripod.

On the poncho goes my meter, filters & filter holder, adaptor rings, shade, level, notebook & pencil, etc. (Usually, I’ll keep film holders in the pack until I need them.) Often, I’ll pull a portion of the poncho back over some of the exposed gear for protection from direct sun, occasional drops & drizzle, and other air-borne debris. (In my region, it’s astonishing how much debris falls from tall trees in the course of 15 or 30 minutes.) If the breeze picks up, a few rocks or limbs keep the poncho in place.

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever worked directly from my pack, start to finish, for all my needs – but if I shot more often in hostile environments, or in very tight places, or had to hurry more often than I like, I just might.

Generally, are you a pack, tarp, or “other” person – and does it depend from shot to shot?

Mark Stahlke

13-Feb-2013, 12:10

I'm a hybrid person. I usually pull out only the things I think I'll need. In the city, I try to keep everything in my pack and hang the pack from the tripod hook.

Bruce Watson

13-Feb-2013, 12:29

When setting up landscape shots, I’ve just about always pulled needed gear & accessories from my pack and spread them across a poncho on the ground.

You and I have exactly the opposite approach. I work directly out of my pack. If there's a nice rock available I may rest the bottom of my pack on the rock. Else, I rest the pack on the raised toe of my boot while I unlash the tripod, then I put the pack back on while I set up the tripod. Then I hang my pack from the tripod hook and work from there.

Everything I need comes out of the pack in order and is assembled on the tripod or hung from the hook with the pack. Everything goes back in, in the reverse order that it came out.

Why do I work like this? Dirt. My goal is to work as cleanly as possible. So I try to never let anything touch the ground.

I'm not saying anyone else should do it like this. But it works for me.

Andrew O'Neill

13-Feb-2013, 12:34

I work directly out of my pack and vest but I do have a large plastic garbage bag that I put my pack on if the ground is wet.

jeroldharter

13-Feb-2013, 12:46

When I work out of my pack, I do it one of two ways:

The pack is resting in my jogging stroller
The pack is placed on a space blanket that I spread on the ground to keep the pack clean and dry

Lachlan 717

13-Feb-2013, 13:08

I work from my pack, generally laid out on the ground. However, I also have a large bum-bag/fanny-pack (the latter being a very funny concept to non-Seppo's!!) that holds all of my filters, meter, spare parts etc, that I hang from my tripod.

I have found this additional bag highly useful, given I shoot 3 different formats. I no longer need to "think" about what I need to grab when I change formats/packs. I just grab this bum-bag, knowing everything's in it.

Brian C. Miller

13-Feb-2013, 13:33

Pack.

If a pack, whatever it may actually be, is even moderately organized, then there's no point in, essentially, making camp. I'm not in one spot for more than ten minutes, I've exposed the film, and I move on. (Actually, ten minutes is stretching it.) I usually don't carry anything but the minimum for the film I'm using. If it's an infrared outing, then the only filters are a B+W 092 and a polarizer. B&W or color, it's just a few filters. I carry two lenses. If I'm using the 8x10, then I'm most likely a few feet away from the vehicle instead of a few miles down a trail. (Yes, camera weight dictates behavior.)
I suppose I got into the minimalist habit because of my Super Graphic. A folding camera, one lens inside, a few holders, an adequate tripod, and time to go.

evan clarke

13-Feb-2013, 13:51

I have all my filtration, my meter, a folding pruner and my timer on a police gear belt in pouches. The filtration includes a pouch with Lee Holder, 5 adapter rings and 9 acrylic filters. Six more small pouches hold 3 circular filters each. I snap the belt on and everything is a fingertip reach..

Vaughn

13-Feb-2013, 13:52

My pack for the 8x10 is a front-panel loader. So it goes on the ground, opened up all the way, and everything right there for use. Part of the pack is a piece of closed cell foam (backpacking pad -- seen above the pack in the second image) that things,including my butt, can be set on if the ground is damp, snow, pointy rocks, etc. Holders (5) are in the detachable daypack/front pocket of the pack -- and occasionally a couple extra inside for all-day hikes.

There are long external side pockets I can use for water and food (tucked out of sight when not in use).

For the 4x5 and 5x7, I have been carrying the cameras on the tripod and a over-the-shoulder bag for everything else...nothing except the tripod feet need to go on the ground. I put the darkcloth over the camera and a waterproof sleeping bag stuff sack over that...this protects the bellows and lens from branches and rain.

Doug Howk

13-Feb-2013, 14:12

Florida is flat (& wet). I carry both of my LF cameras (8X10 & 7X17) in Pelican cases, which are then strapped to top of a modified jogging cart. When I open the case, I have a perfect working area at knee+ height.

Heroique

13-Feb-2013, 14:15

...nothing except the tripod feet need to go on the ground.

That reminds me of this famous image. ;^)

In this case, not even Ansel’s tripod feet touch the ground! I’ve always been curious what AA did when he hiked away from the road & set-up 4x5 or 8x10 shots. Did he work directly out of a single pack? I think a handful of people here did workshops w/ him and could share what they saw.

BTW, I covet your cool front-panel loading pack.

patrickjames

13-Feb-2013, 14:17

I don't place anything on the ground. I keep the camera on the tripod, lenses in a waist pack made by LowePro (holds 5 lenses and filters/meter/dark cloth) and film holders in a sling from Victorinox (holds six holders). I don't believe the LowePro is made any longer. This all works really well, although the camera must be carried on the tripod.

bobwysiwyg

13-Feb-2013, 15:04

Pack on the ground. I carry a folded contractor trash bag to use as buffer between the pack and the ground. Comes in handy for other uses as well.

Lenny Eiger

13-Feb-2013, 16:19

Camera on tripod always. Pack on back. Loupe and Light meter slung over the shoulder. To shoot put tripod down and point the camera somewhere. Take pack off back and pull out a btzs hood, force, grab a holder and use then put back. Put backpack back on and keep going.

Every time I watch someone fold the camera up and pack it away neatly I think of the shots they missed. I also think it makes your seeing a little less spontaneous. The camera makes one think more carefully about a shot, but overdoing it ins't helpful, IMO.

I guess there are all kinds of people, some are extremely organized, and they are needed, just like everyone else.

Lenny

John Kasaian

13-Feb-2013, 16:23

It depends.

Drew Wiley

13-Feb-2013, 17:27

I do whatever the situation dictates. But since I'm often in questionable weather, I keep everything in a large backpack. I mean a real pack, with an external frame, not a camera pack. I can customize it for anything from a dayhike to mult-week
outings in the backcounty.

Vaughn

13-Feb-2013, 18:19

...BTW, I covet your cool front-panel loading pack.

It is a travel pack, but has a reasonably good straps and hip belt. I can hike all day with it (about 45 to 50 pounds, plus the tripod). I usually do a lot of cross-county hiking. All the straps, etc. can be put behind a zipped panel (for air travel...or just in the vehicle). It was not as expensive as 'camera' packs!

When I bicycled in NZ for a half year, I had a top-loading daypack for the 4x5. I always put the 4x5 back in the pack -- after spend that much time earning/saving the money for the trip (5 years), I was not going to risk tripping and breaking the camera or lens, and not being able to photograph (working locally is different). I even had an extra GG in a 4x5 film box, just in case -- and a pinhole on a board in case I broke the lens.)

Everything had to come out of the daypack, as the camera was on the bottom...that is why I appreciate the front-loader! But the daypack had a removable piece of closed cell foam that padded the back, so I would set stuff on it if needed.

Vaughn

Erik Larsen

13-Feb-2013, 19:18

It is a travel pack, but has a reasonably good straps and hip belt. I can hike all day with it (about 45 to 50 pounds, plus the tripod). I usually do a lot of cross-county hiking. All the straps, etc. can be put behind a zipped panel (for air travel...or just in the vehicle). It was not as expensive as 'camera' packs!

Vaughn

I have an MEI pack similar to that Vaughn that I used for my 11x14. It has to be the most comfortable pack I have used. The suspension and straps fit my body like a glove. It is overkill for my 8x10 Ritter kit though and I use an f64 pack for that. Being front loading I work out of the pack without a ground cover also but I am kinda harsh on my gear and don't baby it all that much. In my neck of the woods I rarely have to worry about muddy ground - snow, sand and rocks are what I have to contend with.
Regards
Erik

chassis

13-Feb-2013, 19:32

Pack on the ground usually. Sometimes I wear the pack backwards (kangaroo-style) when setting up, but not often.

Michael_4514

13-Feb-2013, 20:09

Pack on the ground.

Ed Richards

13-Feb-2013, 21:26

I work out of Kinesis belt pouches and pack. kgear.com The ground here is either swampy, dusty, or covered with ants and thorny plants. Camera is on the tripod, over my shoulder.

Bill McMannis

13-Feb-2013, 22:12

I work out of my backpack unless if I am going up or down rugged terrain. If I am going into a difficult area and need to travel lightly, my folded TK45S with 150mm lens and bag bellows folds up into one vest pocket, I will take my 90mm lens in another pocket, Gramatic and sling my tripod over my shoulder. I can get in or out of anywhere this way.

Doremus Scudder

14-Feb-2013, 04:30

4x5 Wista, four lenses, and 12 filters (6 ea in 52mm and 67mm) fit in a large-ish lumbar pack. Dark cloth is strapped on the back of the pack. Meter, viewing filter, lens shades, magnifiers and other accessories are in a short fly-fishing vest. Tripod is in my hand or, when scrambling or in other situations when I need both hands free, strapped underneath the lumbar pack. Six film holders, another small lens and exposure record notebook go in a small pouch slung cross-body over a shoulder. That gives me 90mm, 135mm, 203mm, 240mm and 300mm lens choices (or maybe a 75mm and 180mm switched in for something else) and enough film for 12 exposures and it weighs in at just over 20 pounds.

The lumbar pack has a hip belt and a shoulder strap. When setting up, the tripod goes up first, the film pouch gets hung on the hook under the tripod or on the center-column lock-knob. Then the hip belt is unbuckled and the lumbar pack rest on it's shoulder strap. I swing it around to my right side and work out of it there.

Nothing touches the ground but the tripod feet (I like that). I'm surprised more 4x5ers don't work out of a lumbar pack like this. It is lightweight, convenient and really allows me to do some serious scrambling in rougher terrain when needed.

The above is my "day trip" 4x5 kit. However, when photographing in the city, I usually use a small hybrid backpack/rolling carry-on bag. I can wear this on my back when walking/bicycling (tripod in my hand or strapped on the bike rack). When working, I set the pack down on its wheels underneath the tripod and work out of it there.

I have a larger kit as well that includes the much larger Zone VI 4x5 and lenses up to 450mm. This goes in an internal-frame REI pack, which gets hung on the tripod hook to work from (or, on occasion, it lies on the ground). I don't carry this on extensive or strenuous hikes though... just too much weight. The little Wista kit above is really light which allows me to carry water and a sandwich too. I can't really imagine taking a 50lb pack the places I take the lumbar pack.

Best,

Doremus

Flauvius

14-Feb-2013, 07:43

Please poste pictures of packs you folks are using, as a pictures would be quite helpful to understand how you deal with various types of terrain.

Drew Bedo

14-Feb-2013, 07:46

Like Weston, I don't go very far from the trunk of our car. Not hiking off, so don't need a backpack . . . a large shoulder bag works forthe gear. I work directly from the bag and flip the lid to cover things when the wind blows or if shooting wher other folks are around.

Thinga not being used go back into the bag. When done with a set-up, a quick zip and I can walk off holding the camera/tripod with the bag on my shoulder. Even if something has been forgotten its not lost . . .its already in the bag.

Leigh

14-Feb-2013, 10:56

I always work from the very large backpack (BPX from f.64).
There's so much stuff in there, I would never try to arrange it on the ground.
Leaving it in the pack protects it, and keeps it always in the same place so I can find it.

http://www.atwaterkent.info/Images/BPX_lenses_DSC_0623x2.jpg

The camera is in the front pouch, folded down in the photo.
Compendium lens hood and similar stuff is in the upper section.

I should point out that the pack rides in the van, and I'm never far from the van.
I actually can carry the pack + tripod comfortably, but I seldom choose to do so.

- Leigh

14-Feb-2013, 12:37

It's photography, not surgery. I don't need all my stuff laid out and organized to make a photo. I pull the camera out put it on a tripod, pull some stuff out of the bag for the camera (lens, filter sometimes, film holder, meter) and put it in place and I'm in business. My bag holds my 4x5, film holders, 2 lenses, filters, screw drivers, reading glasses, meter. If the bag gets a little dirt or snow on it, no big deal. It's an outdoor accessory that sits on the floor in my truck, it's not a purse made to sit on a Rolls' lambswool carpeting.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8237/8452551342_d605581745_c.jpg

For 8x10 in the winter, I use a sled. I don't have a convenient portable solution for summer yet.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7227/7316269762_8e1e8e09b5_c.jpg

Drew Wiley

14-Feb-2013, 14:36

Heroique (if you're still tuned in), AA pretty much gave up backpacking per se by the time he was around 32 and used a pack mule. A lot of his mtn travel was obviously associated with those disgusting Sierra Club convoys or invasions, whatever you want to call them, and he'd shoot around or between his official responsibilies for the overall herd. He wasn't much of a mountaineer past his youth. Being far past youth myself, I'm always scheming how to keep up large format backpacking into
my 70's at least. More worried about arthritis in my fingers at this point than anything else, which doesn't get along with the trekking poles good for my knees and feet, but that should improve once I retire from these damn keyboards. I've got a pile
of old-school true US-made Kelty and Camp-Trails frame packs which can handle up to maybe three weeks of travel. It's just
that the packs get a little bit heavier, and me a little slower, each year. Gravity must be similar to sea-level rise, and just
be incrementally increasing over time!

rich815

14-Feb-2013, 21:29

Directly out of my pack.

Heroique

14-Feb-2013, 22:29

Heroique (if you're still tuned in), AA pretty much gave up backpacking per se by the time he was around 32 and used a pack mule...

It would be interesting to hear more about his preferred backpack & working methods before he started w/ the pack mules.

I can’t remember his username, but I know there’s trailblazing LFer here who frequently works directly from a Llama or two.

Nothing touches the ground except tripod feet & Llama hooves.

Heroique

14-Feb-2013, 22:31

For 8x10 in the winter, I use a sled...

If it’s downhill to the shot, I bet you ride it w/ your camera. ;^)

-----
I suffer a little bit from the “out of sight, out of mind” syndrome, which is why I don’t mind having gear and accessories out of my pack when composing shots. For me, it’s a psychological benefit of sorts. The “unpacked” visibility seems to keep me alert to options that might not occur to me otherwise. More so, anyway, than items stored in the pack, seen or unseen, that have a funny, impatient way of asking me, “Well, are you ready to go soon?” You might say I’m like a carpenter who keeps tools out of his tool box, until he’s ready to pack-up and head home. (If only photographers could worry so little about dust!) But the more hostile the scene – the more tight the space – the more fleeting the light – the more I like the packs I’ve seen in this thread. Even if they make one curious whether well-designed packs w/ organized, easy-to-access gear might get in the way of conceiving and getting shots that, well, aren’t born out of ease and efficiency...

Drew Wiley

15-Feb-2013, 10:42

Heroique - I suspect that AA's working methods were relatively unpolished during his earlier backpacking years. And backpacks in this part of the world were basically heavy canvas rucksacks. We've all heard the stories of how he changed out
film inside a sleeping bag - and I sure pity those assistants who had to spot his prints subsequently! His sense of visual poetry was developing, like in that old "Parmelian Prints" portfolio, but I sure wouldn't use him as a role model of backpacking efficiency. Never liked mules myself, though did some trips with them as a kid. And llamas can be skittish.
Nice to be self-contained, though at advanced age I can picture myself and my gear being dropped off at some base camp
location for dayhiking, that is, if general health holds up. I'm old enough to remember heading off into the hills where we'd
have an axe, cast iron skillet, rifle, fishing gear - things the typical REI shopper in this day and age would be pretty shocked
about. Most of the packs they import nowadays would simply fall apart with heavy loads.

BrianShaw

15-Feb-2013, 10:43

Pack

evan clarke

15-Feb-2013, 10:58

I have a sled like this too, It's a wonderful transport and pulls effortlessly!

Vaughn

15-Feb-2013, 13:08

We've all heard the stories of how he changed out film inside a sleeping bag - and I sure pity those assistants who had to spot his prints subsequently!

I have changed 4x5 film holders in a sleeping bag (in the Trinity Alps) -- those next photos had a lot of 'birds' flying in the sky (I don't remember the flying snakes, though).

Drew Wiley

15-Feb-2013, 13:41

sleeping bag have their issues ... (sorry if I told this story before, but...).... A backpacking pal of mine retired early, so they purchased a framed b&w print from me as a retirement present. So he want to see the location for real. It's right at timberline about three days in. He gets up a dawn and wanders off to pee, then crawl back into the sack. In the meantime,
a curious marmot wandered over there and discovered a nice new warm burrow, and had gotten cozy at the bottom of the sack. I saw it crawl in and obviously said nothing. I got pretty comical, with the marmot managing to scurry out first, amble
a few yards away and look back, thinking ... whaaat th heck is that ?

Vaughn

15-Feb-2013, 14:11

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=892&dat=19841005&id=oYxaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2U8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4328,860891

The classic Far Sides maraca player cartoon

brchambe

15-Feb-2013, 21:37

I work out of my pack and will generally lay it anywhere handy. Don't worry to much about dirt on the pack or me as I often lay face down on the ground to get a shot. The pack and the cameras are tools and are treated as such. Well cared for but not babied.

I shoot a lot on the Olympic peninsula and have been known to set a lens down on the gravel beach and then spend five minute looking for it.

Don't even get me started on when I shoot digital with friends and change lenses in the open. They all freak out. They prefer to change lenses in a clean room. I lay mine in the grass. Its just a matter of personal choice.

Kirk Gittings

15-Feb-2013, 22:56

Directly out of my pack on the ground or on a rock or in my baby stroller.

Peter Lewin

18-Feb-2013, 11:01

...a curious marmot wandered over there and discovered a nice new warm burrow, and had gotten cozy at the bottom of the sack. ...with the marmot managing to scurry out first, amble
a few yards away and look back, thinking ... whaaat th heck is that ?
First, so that I stay mostly on topic, I have a photobackpacker modified Kelty (front-loader) with the matching lens and camera cases. I work directly from the pack, almost always with the pack simply lying on the ground open. I've tried working with the pack suspended from my tripod via the hook, but that hasn't worked well, so if I hang the bag on the tripod it is closed and purely to stabilize things with the heavier weight.

But I'm posting because I love Drew's marmot story. Marmots are definitely my favorite mountain creatures. I have a North Face mountain tent which for a long time got heavy use, but was just a tent. Then on a climbing trip to Mt. Rainier (this is, unfortunately a story of youth from long, long ago...), a marmot decided that the tent, and our food, was a great place to be while a friend and I climbed to the summit. When we returned, Mr. Marmot departed, but ever since then, with a piece of red ripstop covering the special Marmot Entry Hole, it is a TENT!

Vaughn

18-Feb-2013, 11:36

My (non-camera) backpack had a similar patch for years until I finally got a better pack (It was a Kelty Tourpack -- one of the first internal frame packs). It was my last two days down in the Grand Canyon and I left my pack at my campsite and hiked down to the Colorado River for the day. While I was gone, ground squirrels chewed into my pack, taking all my food. It was a long hike back up to the Rim the next day without any food!

On one of my next trips into the Canyon, I hung my backpack on my tripod (Gitzo Studex - 300 series) to keep it off the ground -- the weight snapped off the threaded portion of one of the upper legs. The leg was eventually replaced for free, but for the rest of the hike (another 4 days or so) I did not have full extension to work with.

tgtaylor

18-Feb-2013, 11:53

When I'm backpacking (Toyo45CF, Gitzo GT0540, Harrison pup tent), the poncho is wrapped around the air mattress and secured to the pack (Gregory or Granite Gear) on the side. The camera is stored at the top of the pack and the tripod and film holders (F64 case) are on the outside. So I rarely, if ever, take out the poncho but instead look for a rock or dry bed of grass to put the pack down.

In the city I always work out of the pack.

Thomas

ROL

18-Feb-2013, 12:35

Please poste pictures of packs you folks are using, as a pictures would be quite helpful to understand how you deal with various types of terrain.

Post Pictures?!? Are you kidding? I remind you sir, that this is a photography forum...

Well Sonny, last century we worked out of the pack. Harness side unzipped (reverse panel loader) so that the pack may be lain down without dirtying the carry. But then according to at least one poster here in this very thread, we we're only following Adams around, aping his every angle and camera position, because we happened to have similar interests.

Sierra Nevada, ca. 1934?
http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/SupportPics/LFPF/LFLLV1.jpg

Kirk Gittings

18-Feb-2013, 12:46

On terrain where it will work this is my rig and I work right out of it. It holds my Kelty Redwing adapted by Photobackpacker. Otherwise it is a pretty standard early PBP set up used on a rock or right on the ground. The only thing maybe a bit different is I keep a water bladder from a camelback in the outside back pocket for drinking.

tgtaylor

18-Feb-2013, 12:46

I believe that AA always used a mule. His first famous photograph of Bannar Peak from Thousand Island Lake, ca 1923 if I remember correctly, whas taken while someone (Cedric Wright?) was holding the mule. In his autobiography there is a telegram that he sent to his father from Yosemite requesting $20 for the purchase of a mule. I believe that he was either in his teens then or very early twenties. Traveling in the back country with a pack animal to carry it all is the way to go IMO.

Thomas

C. D. Keth

18-Feb-2013, 13:25

Right from the pack.

Around town I use a big f64 and giant studex sticks. Weight isn't an issue so I don't try to be fiddly and clever with my packing.

For longer walks I take a 3 section feisol tripod in the hand and a small daypack on my back. I pack the body bare, one or two lenses wrapped in a jacket that doubles as dark cloth, holders in a gallon ziplock, and smaller bits like meter, loupe, and filters in the various pockets of the pack. I walked 7.5 miles like this saturday and was very comfortable. I could have happily walked double that without feeling poor from the load.

David A. Goldfarb

18-Feb-2013, 15:06

I always work directly from my pack. I wouldn't want everything out and exposed to the elements or anyone who might wander by when I'm under the darkcloth. I organize my bag, so everything is fairly easy to get to, with less-used equipment buried a little deeper and enough flexibility to switch things around as the situation dictates (e.g., I might have my the 90mm stacked on top of the 75mm in my 4x5" kit, but if it's turning out to be kind of a 75mm day, the 90mm can go to the bottom).

Heroique

18-Feb-2013, 15:30

While I was gone, ground squirrels chewed into my pack, taking all my food. It was a long hike back up to the Rim the next day without any food!

On the hike back up, I bet those well-fed squirrels were a tempting snack.

Revenge & hunger appeased in a swallow.

Vaughn

18-Feb-2013, 15:36

After I took the image below (5x7 salt print), I left the camera on the pod, put it over my shoulder and walked down to the Mission. Checked out the back of the Mission (an AA shot was taken from behind) then walked around to the front to take a image from there. Framed up the shot, pulled my head out from under the cloth to grab my light meter -- and there was no pack there! Totally blown away that someone could grab my pack without me knowing!

After 30 seconds or more of pure panic, I realized that I had forgotten to grab my pack after photographing the lions! Shouldered my pod/camera and walked very quickly back up to the lions -- where my pack was patiently waiting for me...

Vaughn

18-Feb-2013, 15:44

On the hike back up, I bet those well-fed squirrels were a tempting snack.

Revenge & hunger appeased in a swallow.

I had hitched-hiked to the Grand Canyon from Northern CA, going through Death Valley on the way (this was in the 1970's). I had bought some local dates in DV and had saved 4 of them for the hike up (sugar for energy and sucking of the pit to keep my mouth moist). I missed them the most! But there was a spring part way up the trail (Hermit Trail) so it was not too bad.

Once back on top of the Canyon, I got a job for the summer pumping gas on the South Rim of the Canyon -- did a lot more hiking, but was a lot more careful with my food!

ROL

18-Feb-2013, 16:08

I believe that AA always used a mule.

Always, :rolleyes:. Did I neglect to mention that I am also a jackass? (then again, hardly worth mentioning the obvious :D)

mikebarger

18-Feb-2013, 16:24

You guys with backpacks; I've added four SAW 200 round ammo packs to the sides of of my pack (2 on each side). They have metal Alice clips that will fit over any straps you have on the side and close with Velcro and a snap. Each pouch will hold 5 holders (4x5) in a baggie, or whatever you'd want in them. I've now added one to one of the front straps to carry light meter, loupe, a and Zone VI viewing filter. They are around six bucks in military surplus stores.

Bill Burk

18-Feb-2013, 16:25

Vaughn

18-Feb-2013, 17:06

Oh, man I like that shot.

Thanks, Bill

Always, . Did I neglect to mention that I am also a jackass? (then again, hardly worth mentioning the obvious )

When one of my boys comes in and says, "I smell an old fart." I just say, "Sorry, I'll take a shower tonight."

36cm2

18-Feb-2013, 19:35

Typically work out of a pack on the ground, but have been trying to learn how to work completely off the ground. I think Doremus Scudder has it right. If you have a good off-the-ground method, then you have a much easier time working in shallow water. I almost gave myself a heart attack earlier this year trying to save gear from an incoming rush of water while shooting tide pools. Nothing lost except my love of putting things on so-called solid ground.

Vaughn

18-Feb-2013, 19:52

...If you have a good off-the-ground method, then you have a much easier time working in shallow water. I almost gave myself a heart attack earlier this year trying to save gear from an incoming rush of water while shooting tide pools...

'Even off-the-ground does not always help...I was photographing with the 8x10 near the base of Bridalveil Fall last winter -- the wind shifted and the waterfall disappeared from the GG. When I pulled my head from under the darkcloth to see what was up, I saw the Fall heading straight down on top of me. I had time to toss the flap over the pack. Happened twice again before I got the image.

I spent lunch time just up the road with all my equipment spread out on a rock wall drying in the sun!

Peter Gomena

19-Feb-2013, 00:29

I work out of a Zone VI camera bag for 4x5 and whole plate cameras, which I put on the ground. If the ground is wet, I will use a garbage bag underneath the camera bag.

I photograph on the beach a lot, so laying all my gear out on a tarp is not an option - we have things called "sneaker waves" that will drown camera gear in no time flat. I need to be able to keep my gear close at hand for quick escapes.

I've recently started wearing a photographer's vest. It has big pockets that will hold my light meter, a couple of film holders and anything else I need while I'm actually working. I can put my dark cloth in the big pocket on the back while I'm walking around looking, camera on tripod. If I'm working a fairly level place with hard surfaces, I'll put my bag on a little collapsible aluminum hand truck from Costco ($19) and trail it around.

David_Senesac

27-Feb-2013, 22:46

Yikes! In the field there are myriad situations each of which requires sensible approaches. Most of the time after I've taken my Wisner out of the daypack, put it atop the big Gitzo, selected a lens, cleaned all the optical paths, and shoved all the rest of the gear back inside, the only think I then need to deal with from one exposure to the next is grabbing the film bag out of the top of the pack. My lightmeter is on my waist belt. Now do I do all the under the dark cloth stuff with my heavy daypack still on my back? Well yes in some circumstances like standing in the middle of a stream or on cliff ledge. However if the immediate area has no issue, just to be less encumbered, I plunk it right down next to me somewhere I won't be tripping on it.