What Gear To Take With You On Your Next Outdoor Photography Adventure

Location, location, location & Preparedness

An incredible online resource for finding places to hike is AllTrails.Com (disclaimer: I am a Pro subscriber for $29.95/yr). There are several features that make All Trails worth subscribing, such as the option to download offline maps or GPX files, but even as a free user, you can search thousands of trails, parks, photos and user routes. This makes it is pretty fast to find some beautiful hikes of all levels that are practically in your backyard.Regardless or your hikes intensity always remember to check the weather, dress in layers, have good condition shoes and wear socks; no one likes blisters or stinky shoes and no-one ever plans to get lost, so always be prepared when going into the woods. Pack a few protein powered snacks, plenty of water, bandana that you can always sock in water to stay cool and a GPS if you have one.

Camera, Lenses, Tripod/Monopod and Filters

If you have one camera then the choice is fairly simple. But, if you have more than one camera selecting the right one to take with you is important. Weight on a long hike on a sunny day makes a big differences, so envision the photos you hope to capture and the choose the camera that best fits the style of adventure.I don’t hesitate to take along multiple cameras as well as lenses. Usually, my full-frame Nikon D810 is mounted on my Benro FGP28C tripod and hangs out on my shoulder during the hike. I also pack a 35mm film camera, the Nikon FG, loaded with black and white film.For shorter adventures, or even urban ones, I use Peak Design's Everyday Sling 10L. It has great accessibility to your gear without needing to take it off your body and typically holds everything I need for a quick jaunt to the ocean. This may include a variable ND filter to help create that milky water and sky, a spare battery, field note notebook and pen and extra wide-angle lens. This is one of my most valuable, versatile and most used bags that I own; a smart $149 invested.However, if I am venturing out into the mountains for a good part of the day then I pack up my VANGUARD Sedona 45BL Backpack. This pack is large enough to safely hold my goto lenses: Tamron 24-70mm, Tamron 70-200m, and Tamron 15-24mm. It will also have extra room for snacks and water, including some space for a power-bank like the Lenovo Bizer 1000mAh that can recharge your iPhone up to 3 times. Recently I upgraded to Peak Design's Everyday Backpack 20L which is much more comfortable on the back and shoulders, carries the same load, but is few dollars more than the Vanguard at $259. Like the Sling however, it's worth every dollar invested.

When To Bring a Tripod/Monopod and Wireless Remote

Always. Never leave home without these two pieces of equipment even if you don't think you will use them. Whether you take a full or compact tripod or monopod is up to you, but here are my thoughts. If I am going to the need the stabilize the camera for long exposures using an ND filter for example, the only choice is to take a tripod because it will offer the most stability and sharpest images. However, in order to maximize the most stability out of your tripod you’re going to want to also use a cable trigger-release or wireless remote. 

Adventure on and happy shooting.