Ready to Go!

It's been a year of travel for me, which is a wonderful thing to be able to do when retired.  As a photographer, I have enjoyed seeing new vistas and subjects for my passion.  While digital took a back seat on my previous trips, I am packing my Nikon D300  this time.  I'm going to be gone for 2 weeks, and with a week in Colorado, 2 days in New Mexico, and the rest in Tuscon, AZ, I need to be lighter on the gear, as we are flying to Denver, and flying back from Phoenix.  We'll be renting a car for everything in between.  So, I am packing my camera backpack with the D300, 35mm f/1.8, 11-16mm Tokina lens, 18-70 Nikkor, 90mm Tamron Macro, and 70-300 Nikon AF lens.  That's it for the digi, (well, along with the iPhone).  For the film side, I'm packing my Yashica A TLR, and my Leica M2 with the 35mm f/1.4 lens.  All of my film also goes into the backpack, which is a carry-on. At the last minute, I decided to throw in a toy camera, the Debonair.  It doesn't add much to the weight, and will be fun to find the right subjects with it.   My Manfrotto tripod goes in my checked suitcase.

The last time I visited NM and CO was in 2003, and that was a fun family vacation. We drove the entire trip, and between my daughter Jorie and I we had probably a dozen cameras in the van.  We shot a LOT of film.I learned on that trip that one can have way too many cameras on a trip, and to not duplicate functionality.  So, while the DSLR will be used for a lot of the scenery and wildlife, the Yashica TLR and the Leica M2 will have their place, shooting b&w, and giving me that analog satisfaction.  Because I am shooting a lot of digital on the trip, I need to make sure that I can backup my files and do some sharing on social media (including this blog).  I bought an 11" Chromebook just for that purpose, and it will take up a lot less space than my laptop, and give me more functionality than my iPad.

One of these days I'll make a trip with just one camera, but I don't see it happening anytime soon!