Tips for multi-day backpacking as landscape photographer

I have returned from one of the longest hikes so far, the famous O Circuit in Chile’s Torace Dale Pen National Park! This eight -day increase goes around Pine Massif, crosses these magnificent peaks and shows them from every angle. For landscape photography, it is difficult to think about more exciting growth.

But the plan of photography during such a trek can be quite difficult, especially given weight ideas. Should you bring a tripod? Is focal length necessary, and what can you go away with going home? In today’s article, I will undergo some main ideas and tips that I find me useful for such multi-day growth.

Although this article is especially based on my experiences in Patagonia, I think the text here will apply to almost any multi-day hiking.

Camera Gear I brought

The camera kit brought with me on the O circuit was away from the optimal – I deliberately overpack so that I could test many lenses as much as possible for the upcoming reviews on photography life. This meant two cameras, seven lenses and my regular tripod. You can see what I do for our reviews! My kit looked like this:

• Nikon Z7 (675g with battery and card)
• Hasselblad X2D (895g with battery and card)
• Voigtlander 15mm F/4.5 Heliar (294G)
• Voigtlander 50 mm F/2 Apo-Lanthar (370G)
• Voigtlander 75 mm f/1.5 Nokton (530g)
• Nikon Z 28-400 mm F/4-8 VR (725G)
• Hasselblad 28 mm F/4P (245 g)
• Hasselblad 55 mm f/2.5 v (372g)
• Hasselblad 35-75 mm f/3.5-4.5 (1115g)
• RRS TVC -24 Tipi (1500 grams)
• Markins Q3i-TR Ballhead (374G)
• Arca-SWISS Quick Link Set For Tippai and Head (139G)
• Total weight: 7234 grams or 15.9 pounds

I also brought with some other items, including:

• RRS L-Bracket for Nikon Z7
• Arca-SWISS Style Base Plate for Hasselblad X2D
• Tipi a small allen wrench to tighten plates
• USB-C charging cord and adapter
• Additional Nikon N-L 15 Battery
• Small microfiber lens cloth
• Sensor gel stick
• F-stop gear large internal camera unit

Here, the main source of weight was F-stop gear internal camera unit, which placed all gears and kept it safe and accessible during the increase. I measure it as a weight of 752 grams. Other items were individually very light, but add an additional ~ 200 grams either. It puts a total weight of camera equipment around 8.2 kg / 18 pounds.

It should be known without saying that you can, and almost certainly, should be packed very lightly for multi-day hikes. But I leave the list here for reference for you and to answer any question about what I brought.

Tips for Multi-Day Photography Hike

1. Distribute weight

I did not pack light for this hike at all. Still my bag was not really uncomfortable, and I was able to keep my hiking pace appropriate without being unhappy throughout the time.

A part of it is because I distributed the weight of goods in my pack. My advice is to keep the heaviest (or in fact, dense) items in your backpack as much as possible for your body. In this way, they do not pull you backwards and feel more heavier than actually they are. In addition, do not add dense items at the bottom of the backpack or very high, but rather, near the middle or slightly more.

As a photographer, it is likely to include your cameras, lenses and batteries. Unfortunately, the best place for weight distribution is also going to be a bit harder to reach quickly, so there is a bit of a tradeoff. But I think it is worth distributing weight better – you probably do not want to make the full growth more difficult in exchange for a little faster camera access.

There is also a case of balanced from left to right. If you bring it with a tripod, it is common to lease it on the edge of your pack. But if you do not unbalance it with something on the other side, you will put more weight on your left or right shoulder, which can increase in a major problem during several days. The easiest way to balance it is with a bottle of water in the opposite direction – although it works best when the bottle is relatively filled. Personally, I moved the internal content of the backpack slightly for compensation.

2. Every ounce matters

The short decisions you make when making such a long growth, they actually add. This can make it feel crazy to cut your toothbrush in half, put all your trail mixture in the same plastic bag, use as many clothes as possible, and spend $ 50 more for a sleeping bag that One ounce is light. But if you do All These things, suddenly your pack is quite light.

This camera also applies to gear. Go with just one base plate instead of L-bracket. Leave your UV filter and your camera strap at home. Bring just 1-2 additional battery instead of 3-4 (it is stunning how far you can get the use of the battery). Congratulations – Now you have reduced the weight of your bag significantly!

In fact, one thing I do differently on future multi-day hikes, this is that I leave my F-stop gear internal camera unit behind. This was understood something to carry it on the O circuit, which is more of my camera equipment, but if you have only one camera and 2-3 lenses, then you have clothes in your backpack instead of a dedicated camera unit You can protect them properly by using.

Finally, depending on the trek, there may be huts on the way with snacks, food and even beds. It is likely to be quite expensive, and is attractive to save money by bringing its gear instead. However, I would say that for photographers, it is better to take advantage of these creatures if possible. Your bag is already overweight than most hikers; If you can reduce weight to a great extent by spending more money during increase, think it as an essential evil.

Losing weight is not my primary goal on multi-day hike; Get good landscape photos. But for many reasons, a light bag takes better photos!

3. Wait repeatedly for photo

It is easy to get a little in your own head while doing multi-day hike. In particularly after the trek, it can feel that your main focus is far from photography – it is on things like food, sleep and where it is to keep on its next footsteps. In addition, I think the new scenes may feel less and less “new” because the hike moves forward. You can lose inspiration to stop your camera again and pull out.

But I encourage you not to try not to fall into this mindset. Seven days on the trek day can feel similar to 1-6, but I suspect that it is still very different that you normally see in your daily life. Do not be satisfied with taking out your phone out and taking snapshots, or taking photos only at the most dramatic places. If you were ready to take all your heavy camera gears far, Stop and use it,

If you are a little on the fence about stopping, then stop! Take some appropriate pictures, even if it slows you a little. Until you go out of your path to re-do the entire multi-day hike, there is a good chance that you will never return to this place, and you will not regret when you get missing when you take a photo. Want

4. Do you need a tripod?

I am a big proposer of tripod. And I do not think that just any tripod can work, especially in the event of air. I knew how much air the O Circuit could get, so I eventually brought my middleweight tripod (RRS TVC -24) instead of my lightest trip.

This is a wrong option. I could save about 800 g / 1.76 pounds by bringing Gitzo Gigt1545T with my lighter tipi kit (Gitzo Gigt1545T RRS BH-25 Head). It is not that I regret completely, but I think I will do it in different ways. Di, this is partially because it is finished in the air less than expected, which is not something that can be predicted ahead of time.

But apart from the unique situations of my special growth, it is possible only these days to pursue your gear, without a tripod, or with a light trippai. You can go a long way through a combination of high ISO, image stabilization and careful depth of field placements.

In fact, during the hike for a day (the most difficult day, an out-and-back climb total 18 miles / 29 km), I left my tripets and various gear on one of the huts to lighten my pack. Gave. I was plagued about it, because I knew that on that day there would be some interesting waterfall pictures, and I hoped that a tripod would come in handy. But it was cured, it was cured. In-bodi image stabilization, as well as later, worked innocent with the explosion of photos to select the fastest. I managed to take a lot of sharp handheld photos around 1/15 seconds, which allowed me to use the base ISO 64.

Again, I am still happy that I brought a tripod, but I’m probably going to use the lighter next time. And other photographers are not religious about the use of tripod as I am, so you will need to make this decision for yourself. It hurts a little to accept it, but I think the multi-day hike is one of the rare times when the opposition can beat professionals-at least the image depends on the quality level that you accept to accept Are ready for, and how much low-light photography you are planning to do.

5. Do not compromise on focal length

It is not a bad idea to compromise on camera devices for multi-day hikes. The state of the tripod is an example; So is your choice lens? For example, it is appropriate to choose something like a variable-aperture zoom instead of F/2.8 or F/4 zoom, even if it comes with some image quality deficiencies. I think it is okay to reduce your image quality standards to some extent on multi-day hike.

I don’t think you should compromise, however, focal length. I consider it important to carry the entire range of focal lengths, which you expect to be useful for travel. You certainly do not require the fastest or most bright lens on a given focal length, but leaving a large gap in your kit is another case.

Of the seven lenses I brought with me to O circuit, I was only reviewing six of them. My seventh lens-nicon jade 28–400 mm F/4-8-3-3-focal lengths that other missed, especially at the end of the telephoto. I have already reviewed this lens Did not do any more need Any sample photos during hike. But I took it with me anyway, because I did not want to leave without telephoto once during a lifetime trek. The decision paid, and I took some of my favorite photos during the O circuit in the 300–400 mm range.

conclusion

I hope these tips have given you some ideas and inspiration if you are planning a long growth in the form of a photographer. I will soon have a lot of photos and articles to share with my journey to Patagonia, but in the meantime, tell me in the comments whether you have any questions! This article only scratches the surface of multi-day hiking as a photographer, but in the comments section, I am happy to answer any questions especially about O circuit or in general. Will be