Traveling and Photography

     Very soon, as in in two weeks time, I'll be leaving on a jet plane - but I know when I'll be back.  I'm actually headed to New Zealand's South Island for 15 days with the wife and kids in tow.  The main reason I wanted to go for the trip is the photography.  Of course, the wife likes to travel and shop, and the kids want in on the action too - and there's going to be lots of it for them like getting on the Shotover Jetbot and luge at Queenstown, sledging and skiing at Coronet Peak, whale watching at Kaikoura, plus a whole bunch of other stuff we have planned for.

     So, back to the real reason I want to go for the trip.  Yup, its to take photos.  I figure I'd share some of the preparations I'm making for this trip to let me get the best images from this trip.  I'm preparing to take photos in various kinds of situations.

1. Whale watching on a ship out in the open ocean

2. Hiking, perhaps under canopy of some trees, as well as in open land scapes

3. Sunsets and sunrises

4. Night shots in towns that we visit.

5. Street photography

     In preparation for this, I'll be bringing the following:

1. Two camera bodies - my 50D and 450D.

I'll primarily use my 50D for most of the trip while the 450D is intended as a backup, in case anything happens to the 50D.

2. Lenses.

- Canon EF 50 mm 1.8 Mk2.  (if things go as planned, this will be replaced with a 50mm f1.4 just before we depart :) ).  This will be for low light and general shots.

- Tokina 11-16 2.8 for landscapes, architecture and wide shots

- Canon EF 70-200 2.8L IS USM + Tamron 2x TC for whale watching.

- I'm still undecided about bringing my 18-55 IS kit lens and the 55-250IS.  They are mostly redundant and will just add to the weight and space.  I'll decide on it later.

3. Tripod

4. Flash and remote triggers.

5. Protection

- Silica gels to protect against exposure to moisture and fungus spread - yes, NZ is a humid place, especially on the west coast, and in southern locations.

- Optec rain sleeves

6. Lowepro Flipside 300

7. MacBook

     So, going through this list, it seems like a lot of weight and bulk to carry for a hiking trip across New Zealand's South Island.  It actually is.  But, our travel plans involve renting a campervan, which means that I have the option of leaving some of the gear in the camper when we go out on foot.  So generally, for each hiking excursion we go on, I'll only bring what I need and leave the rest behind.

Anyway, I'll be off on the morning of May 29th and will only be back some time in mid June.  It'll probably take me 2 or 3 weeks to process the images but do look out for them on my flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/meandmycanon.