Zeek (you know him from SHEP, the people who make our videos) and his friends went to Mexico City. With their TOM BIHN bags, of course. Here's a video that Zeek made of the trip and, below the video, some of his tips for bringing cameras and shooting stills and video while on vacation.
- When I travel, I try to reduce my camera setup to the absolute minimum. For Mexico City, I picked a single prime lens that made it easy to take a few steps back for wider shots and a few steps forward for closeups. It was incredibly compact and it was far more important to me to have something I could easily pop in and out of a bag to take shots quickly and discreetly -- and not have my mobility inhibited whatsoever.
- I think the biggest thing while traveling is to try to find that zen place where your camera doesn't get in the way of your experience. If you go into the mentality that you are under no obligation to capture everything and only take your camera out when it feels natural, you'll ultimately be more in tune with your environment and get better stuff. I find myself particularly not worrying about the big stuff. Famous monuments have been photographed millions of times -- do I really have a unique perspective to offer? Why would I worry about getting a subpar version of what my friends and family have already seen in National Geographic quality? I'm far more interested in noticing small, weird details or spontaneous moments of everyday life. When you're producing images you always have to remember you will have an audience -- whether it's an actual publication, family, or just your future self remembering the trip.
