That’s right folks, it’s time for this year’s ultimate holiday guide to the nothing but the coolest photography and Photoshop gear for the photo freak on your holiday list.
The online version of my Gonzo Holiday Gear Guide is now available over at LayersMagazine.com. Happy Shopping!
…and a couple of bug fixes, too! Here’s a list (from Nikon’s support site) of what’s included in this free downloadable update, which was released on Friday:
You can download the free update directly from Nikon:
Mac (Nikon USA) click here.
Windows (Nikon USA) click here
Mac (Nikon Canada) click here.
Windows (Nikon Canada) click here
Mac (Nikon Europe) click here.
Windows (Nikon Europe) click here
I started writing this post earlier in the week—-right after my Chicago Bears vs. Philly sideline shoot, and I hadn’t had a chance to finish it, but last night I shot the USF #10 ranked Bulls vs. Pitt from the sidelines, so I thought I’d go ahead and finish off the week with it (the top shot above is of Pitt Running Back LeSean McCoy just after scoring a touchdown during last night’s game).
So here’s where my problems started: I need to take five bags with me on my flight to Chicago to shoot the Bears vs. Eagles. They are:
Of course, we’re only allowed two carry-ons on the plane. The easy choice was to check my overnight luggage bag (which I did), and since I was only going away for one night, and didn’t have to pack much, I took apart my Think Tank belt, and put it in my overnight luggage as well.
That still left with me three carry-ons (one over the limit):
…so something had to get checked or left behind. My first thought was to use a backpack camera bag that would hold my camera gear and my laptop, but on the sidelines of a game, you don’t really have any place to store your gear—your stuff has to stay with you (which is why I wanted to try out my new Think Tank modular gear belt).
So, here’s what I tried: Pelican makes a case called the “Pelican Case Cruzer” (see the photo below from Pelican’s website) and in the main compartment you store your camera gear, and up in the lid is a panel, and inside that panel is a cutout sized for an Apple 15″ MacBook Pro and an Apple Power Adapter. Plus (and this is a big plus)….it rolls!
I loaded mine with two camera bodies, a 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikon lens, a 10.5 Nikon fisheye lens, a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens, an SB-900 flash (hey, ya never know), an Epson P-5000 photo viewer/backup, and an assortment of back batteries, cables, and other stuff that rolls around in your case.
Pros: This actually solved my main carry-on problem, because now my camera gear and computer were both in one crazy-rugged, rolling carry-on. It’s small size is really great, because it’ll fit in the most any overhead, or under your seat if need be. The inside dividers are completely configurable, so you can set it up exactly like you need it. Plus, it looks cool (and looks count).
Cons: Every camera bag I’ve ever owned had a zipper pouch area, or a zippered pocket, etc. where you could store extra batteries, cables, and all that extra little stuff, but with the Case Cruzer you don’t—it’s just configurable dividers and that’s it. I really miss that little zippered pouch (even more than I imagined). Also, it’s just a little too shallow, so you can’t fit a Nikon D3 without laying it down flat, which takes up a lot more room (notice in the photo above, how they have the Canon body lying flat), and the same with Nikon’s new SB-900s. The other downside is that while it’s designed to hold your Apple power adapter, it’s not really designed to accommodate the cord (especially the longer white power cord), so I had remove that part of my adapter and toss that in with my camera gear. One more con: there’s a “lack of laptop access” challenge since your laptop is stored in your camera bag. If you need your laptop during your flight, you have to pull your whole bag down, which is a bit of a hassle, since it’s so heavy when fully loaded.
All in all, I pretty much liked Case Cruzer, and it did work to get me down to two carry-ons, but it’s just not quite 100% there. I wish I could design two camera bags myself; a “Nikon shooter’s bag” and a “Canon shooter’s bag.” But in the meantime, this will have to do.
I wanted to take my “Think Tank Modular Belt System” out for a try (you can see it in the photo above from Sunday’s shoot—it wears like a belt, with different compartments for different lenses and accessories). But here’s the new problem–how do I get it to Chicago? I don’t know what everybody else does, but I packed it in my checked luggage. There’s probably a better way, but I don’t know what it is. Anyway, the Think Tank system absolutely rocks for Sports Photography. I hate carrying a camera bag over my shoulder, and on the sidelines, there’s really no place to store yours safely, so you have to lug it around (but nobody does, because nearly everybody has a Think Tank system around their waist).
Anyway, I’m amazed at how well it works; how handy your gear is, but most of all how it distributes the weight so well that you forget you even have it on. Really brilliantly designed and thought out. I still don’t know the best way to get it to the sidelines, but I sure like having it (and I used it for last night’s USF game shoot).
I also packed two of the greatest inventions known to man; Gel Knee Pads. They are absolutely invaluable!!! (I bought mine at Home Depot, and they have the word “Gel” on the front, under a clear plastic part of the pad).
So, to recap:
So, you can see how hard it’s become to travel with photo gear, and because of the very real worries of theft from checking camera gear in your luggage, you really have to take your gear on board as a carry-on. Also, I’m pretty queasy about shipping my gear by Fed Ex to my shoot, especially if all I can do is ship it to the hotel I’ll be staying at (I’ve had hotels turn down or refuse a delivery to a guest for no apparent reason).
Anyway, if there are any other sports shooters out there who have come up with other ideas for getting your gear to the event, and managing it once you’re there, please let me know (post a comment here), because while what I did, worked—it ain’t great.
This week, Westcott introduced the brightest fluorescent bulbs yet for their popular Spiderlite TD-5 studio lights. I got a chance to work with these in the past few weeks, and these new brighter bulbs just make a huge difference (they give you at least a full-stop more light).
The bulbs themselves are only about 30% larger in size, and they’re now 50-watts each (where the old bulbs were just 30 watts). So, when you get a 5-pack of their lamps, here’s what you get:
(4) 50-watt Fluorescent lamps (equivalent of 200 watts each), plus….
(1) 20-watt Fluorescent lamp (the modeling light)
For a total of 900 watts of power.
The 5-pack of bulbs above sell for around $179 (retail), and a single lamp goes for around $45. You can learn more about them, and Westcott’s Spiderlite kits by clicking here.
I believe Westcott has updated all the kits that they sell direct (well, the kits from around $800 and up), to the new blubs, and B&H Photo is now including these new brighter bulbs as part of their “Westcott Scott Kelby Studio Kit Deluxe Kit” (I’m really delighted that B&H is now including bulbs with the kit). Here’s the link to my kit with bulbs at B&H Photo.
Anyway, I know a lot of you either already have one of my kits, or are thinking of picking one up (I’m using my kit on my Lightroom Tour again myself), and these new bulbs really make a difference.
Note: I don’t get a kick-back, royalty, etc. on sales of these kits. B&H Photo has made the “Scott Kelby” kit available as a courtesy to my students who see me using the Spiderlites in my seminars, here on the blog, and during my Lightroom Live Tour, which kicks off again very soon. My thanks to B&H Photo for packaging them together and making things easy for us all. And as always, B&H offers free shipping to NAPP members in the US too. 
A few weeks back, I went ahead and bought the new Nikon D700, but I really wanted to spend some time with it, and shoot in a number of different situations and scenarios, before I gave you my review. Now that I have a few thousands shots on it, I’m ready to share what I’ve learned.
My Field Report
The D700 was announced on July 1st, and Nikon seeded a number of photo sites with an early review unit, so for more than a month now we’ve all had access to very detailed write-ups of every single pixel, technical aspect, and mechanical specification possible. So, when I do a review, I want to bring a slightly different angle to it, so it’s really more of a ‘Field Report’ (what I liked and didn’t like and my personal impressions from actually using it out in the field).
My challenge in writing this field report, is that while it’s true the D700 is a new camera, it’s really two existing cameras made into one (the guts of a Nikon D3 inside the body of a Nikon D300), so I’m not going to have a bunch of exciting new features to share that everybody doesn’t already know about, so it’s really going to be a “feel for the camera” type of report, and my feelings on who might want one and why. We’ll start with a quick recap of what the D700 brings to the table.
Comparing it to the D300:
A few weeks ago I was doing an on-location video shoot for my new book, The Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers. (This video is a special bonus feature exclusively for people who buy the book, in addition to the two new workflow chapters already in the book; one on location portrait photography and one on travel photography).
Anyway, I tried out this new piece of gear for the shoot (I’m not going to tell you what it is), and it worked so amazingly well, that I decided on the spot to do a quick little side video just to show it off.
I have no affiliation with the company whatsoever, but Larry Becker (NAPP Exec Director) was with me and let me know that NAPP members get a $10 discount on it, so then I had to do the video. It’s only 1 minute, 47 seconds long, so if you’re a Wedding photographer, you’ve got to watch that video up above.
By the way, here’s the link, to the product I’m demoing (ya know, just in case). 
You know how as photographers we go through phases with our gear? For example, I go through phases where if I go to a shoot and I don’t have at least three big lenses, two camera bags, three cases of lights and a tripod that weighs more than my kids, I feel like I’m out there naked.
Well, right now for me, the pendulum has swung completely the other way. Now I’m in my “shoot light” phase, where I’m shooting with just one lens if I can get away with it, a very lightweight (but sturdy), tripod and if I have to bring lights, I want to bring one; preferably a off camera flash, like a Nikon SB-800. OK, maybe two SB-800s, but if I have to bring lightstands, they have to weight less than my daughter’s stuffed animals.
That’s why when I went to David Hobby’s (of the Strobist fame) excellent Off Camera Flash seminar last year (here’s the link to that story), he was speaking to my “less is more” mindset. I went and bought his exact on-location set-up (putting an SB-800 on a super compact, lightweight light stand with a hot shoe adapter clip and firing the flash thru a shoot-through umbrella), and I find myself using it more and more (see this link for more on me using it in the field). That’s a photo the basic rig below.
In fact, I use his rig so often now I bought a few (they’re very inexpensive, which is part of the beauty of it), and I wanted to keep one in my trunk, so I would always have a location lighting kit with me at all times. Anyway, after searching every “real” lighting case, I have found the perfect solution (which isn’t a lighting case at all).
It’s a Hakuba PSTC 100 Tripod Case and I swear this baby rocks!!!! (photo at the top of this post, and below by RC Concepcion). There are five things that make it so perfect if you use a David Hobby kit:
The case is surprisingly rugged, it’s super-lightweight, and I used it on Friday for a formal bridal shoot, and I was reminded at what a great bag it really is. Anyway, for those of you whose pendulum over to the “less is more” side, like I have, I think you’ll totally dig this bag. As for the David Kit itself, he arranged his kit through Midwest Photo, and here’s the link to their site with the details on all his kits (they now carry 14 different Strobist kits, and I couldn’t figure out which one was the kit I bought back in April. This is an example of the “More is Less” thing in action).
Below is exactly what I bought at the time (and still use today), which is 1-1/2 kits (I didn’t need the 2nd umbrella):
Hope that helps.
Scott Kelby is the editor and publisher of Photoshop User Magazine, Layers magazine (the how-to magazine for everything Adobe®) and President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). Make sure you check out Scott's Gear *updated* and his Photography Portfolio.
2006 - 2008 Photoshop-Insider - Written by Scott Kelby, Brought to you by NAPP.
Adobe®, Lightroom™, and Photoshop® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe® Systems Incorporated
