Once again I visited Paris on one of my business trips. I arrived around 8pm and knew I had to focus on basically one site to take photos. In walking partially to and all the way back to the site there were a few photographic opportunities I took along as all. My target for the day was the Louvre and there the Pyramid. I quickly realized I was in for some pretty decent light with a string sunset but unfortunately an almost clear sky.
The equipment I brought along was my all new Canon EOS 5D MKIII, the 16 – 35mm 2.8 and the 24 – 70mm 2.8 lenses. And I should not forget my Novoflex Minipod. This is the greatest, most stable and smallest tripod I’ve ever used. It folds totally flat is less then a foot long when folded and ways less then 10 oz – and this thing holds 10 pounds absolutely stable with no shake! Oh, I almost forgot – I had my new Hoya ND400 Filter along as well (10 f-stop neutral density filter). What a great tool for long exposures while you still have too much light!!
One thing I learned with photographing while traveling on business – you have to take what you get in terms of weather. location and timing. If you plan ahead and know your schedule, the place you are staying and the times of sunrise and sunset you take away a lot of uncertainty and can predict if it’s worth your while to haul your equipment along to a business dinner. Also if you do some internet scouting of great locations around where you plan to stay, you’ll be most efficient in getting to the chosen locations.
So all it takes is determination (I want to shoot breast pictures while I’m on the road for business), planning ahead of time (location, sunrise and sunset times, weather information) and hauling your equipment around. You would have laughed if you could have seen me in Paris. As I had no room in my luggage for a backpack – my suits had to come first this time 😉 – the only way I could carry my equipment was a plastic bag! I must have looked like my standard living quarters are under one of those lovely bridges over the Saine river in Paris 😉 But keep in mind – It’s not how you look with your equipment, and it’s not your equipment but it is you that makes the difference when you are out shooting!
Hope you enjoy the pictures.