Spring Break - Florida Photos Equipment Advice.

Hello everyone,

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I will be traveling to Florida for spring break and am wondering if

any of you have any advice on gear maintenance/film storage in the

hot salty climate.

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I will be taking a lot of gear that is fairly expensive, and I am

going to be traveling with 2 other guys. This will be a get drunk,

party with girls trip for them, but a photography experience for me.

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My situation would most likely be; park car on beach, walk around for

about 4 - 5 hours then head off somewere else. Since I would not have

my own transportation while there, I would pretty much be stuck where

ever I wind up.

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My question is, how would you store your equipment on a beach in the

hot sun without causing any damage to the cameras or film? If someone

would recommend a certain case, or ice or something, I would be

willing to carry about 20 - 40 lbs depending if it could be strapped

to me or not.

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I do not have a lot of money to replace gear, and would not want to

do anything that would make my camera stop working two weeks later.

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Other than that I would be most concerned with the film, and getting

the highest image quality out of it when I get to develop my film

back home.

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Also, I have never shot slide film in such a bright UV laden

condition as the beach, but was planning to bring some velvia 100f,

provia100f, kodachrome 64, and ektachrome 100 gx. I have 2 stop ND

filter, polarizers, and a warming filter. Is there any exposure

adivce that you could give on in camera metering? Any advice on

indident metering? Should I shoot the film as rated?

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I would be concerned with capturing extremely bold swimsuit colors

over anything else.

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The gear that I would be taking would be; EOS 3 w/ PBE2, 70-200 IS,

100/2, 50/1.8, 75-300 usm, 24-85/3.5-4.5, and contax t3.

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I have hoods for all of my lenses, but is there anything I should

espically be careful with(aka: be sure to keep sand away from ... or

keep ... out of the sun)?

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Ah, one more thing... If I was to purchase a lens for this trip,

would you recommend;

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a) 50/1.4

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b) 15/2.8

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c) 135/2

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d) 35/1.4

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Any advice, comments, questions, well-wishings, or anecdotes, are

more than welcomed.

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-Dan

Go to a Wal-mart: spend 40 bucks on a Olympus Trip 35 and some film. After a week on the beach (think gritty, loose sand) you can toss the camera upon return home. A 35mm f1.4 lens and beach sand shold make a great paperweight upon your otherwise uneventful return.

 

 

 

Drunks, blowing sand, and fine camera equipment are not a ideal mix...

How about leaving all that EOS stuff behind and bringing/buying a cheap digital P&S. The chance of something bad happening to your equipment is quite high and a small digicam would be a lot more fun.

 

If I were still single and college age and at spring break, having an "experience" partying with girls would be much higher on my priority list than having a "photographic experience".

My ruling theory is; chicks dig huge white lenses. ;)

Oh Danny Boy,

 

As Gerald advised, leave the gear at home. Sand and cameras don't mix well. If I bought anything it might be a cheap EOS body rather than using my expensive EOS 3, unless, of course, you are wealthy.

 

In that event, use your buddies to meet chicks this way. Buy a couple of the fold up reflectors and walk up and down the beach getting chicks to pose for you. You can tell them you are doing a photo-documentary for your college credit. Your assistants can use the reflectors to bounce light so you can backlight the models against the sun, bounced light is so much softer. Your 70-200 IS is perfect for this type of shoot. Get tight full figure and head shots to minimize meter errors. I'd go full matrix, aperture priority, 1/200 sec. if you have a 540EZ or 550EX. Heck you may not even need it.

 

Take a box of the large zip locks bags and keep your equipment in these and then in a second larger insulated bag or spare cooler. Use a new bag each day and take some of that compressed can air to blow around the lens/camera connection with the lens on the camera. Never blow air on the curtain. I'd worry less about theft if the gear is in a cooler.

 

Good luck, and I'll need a full report with photos upon your return.

Daniel,

 

Think about the WORST scenarios: damaged gear, theft, and possible bodily harm. Spring Break in Florida attracts petty thieves, though msot people there are out for a good time and won't bother you much (except for drunken behavior). But there is always the chance that someone will try to rob you. So you really want to risk losing it all?

 

If you're after photos of people in swimsuits, you will find better luck with professional-looking gear. if you walk up to a group of young women toting a P&S, they might think you're weird--or worse.

 

So, you MAY need to re-think this trip. One possible addition that would help you avoid theft and appear more professional would be an assistant (as suggested above) to carry bags, reflectors, hand you a change of film, etc. An assistant will make you less of a mark for thieves ("safety in numbers"). And he/she might have a good time helping, too.

 

One other thing: what will you do with the photos? You will almost certainly be asked by your subjects. Any plans to submit them for publication or stock use? If so, get a model release--there are several at Editorial Photographers' website and you will find that your subjects would probably be willing to sign them.

 

Best of luck.

OK, I'll take a slightly different opinion than the other posters. I think that you are wise to not particularly want to get trashed and have sex with slutty chicks on spring break. I would echo the concerns that having lots of drunk people and expensive camera equipment could be a very bad mixture though.

 

Your camera should be fine for a few hours in the hot sun, film too should be ok. Just don't leave it out directly exposed unless you have to, try to keep it in a photo-bag or something whenever possible.

 

Basically just don't get any sand in/on your lenses. Keep them in a camera bag or on your camera body (don't set them in the sand!). I'd say limit what you take though, you won't want to carry all of that. Lose the 75-300 and maybe the 100/2 so you can hike without extra baggage. If you were adding a lens I would add something at the wide angle end (personally I'd get a 20mm, 24mm, or 28mm f/2.8 and not carry your 24-85).

 

What do you plan on shooting primarily? People on the beach or walking far away and shooting wildlife, city, ????? - obviously that effects what you'll need to take and how at risk you will be for sand, theft, etc.

 

Have a good time, but definitely protect yourself and your equipment (no pun intended) haha.

 

Josh

1. don't change lenses on the beach. this should be obvious. step off the beach to do it if you need to. the beach tends to only be 50 feet wide at the most, so this isn't a big deal.

 

2. velvia works really, really well at the beach. (if you can stand the slow shutter speeds, even at sunrise and sunset). if you're on the east coast, our sand is about medium gray, a little on the light side maybe. meter for that, and put it a stop up if you want to (or rate the film a stop down. whatever). if you're on the gulf, it's probably a bit lighter still.

 

3. clean your lenses and filters almost everytime you change them. there's particularly nasty form of fungus here that loves to eat camera glass. really. keep the glass away from moisture.

 

4. unless you're capturing a single bathing suit "creepy old man" style, the telephotos won't do a whole lot of good. the beach is the one area that you can really see a lot of, and wideangle happens to suit it very well. in my opinion anyways. if you're in the everglades shooting wildlife (read: egrets) this is another story.

 

5. leave most of that crap at home. the 24~85 might be useful, as the 50, leave the 100 at home, and at least one of the other two has to go. there's no sense buying a 50 1.4 either, if you have a 1.8. a lot of time you'll be shooting in the bright sun, and having the stop in the OTHER direction might be useful. you can probably get just about any shot with a combination of any two of those lenses.

 

two reasons for limiting your stuff:

 

a) carrying around a big bag in the hot sun sucks.

b) looking like a tourist and getting robbed also sucks.

 

this of course changes seasonally and locationally. whereas in daytona, you might be ok, in south beach you may to be a little more careful.

 

6. on a similar note, don't put down your camera. don't leave it in the car. don't leave your lenses in the car. i'd suggest not leaving it in the hotel room either. but then again, i'm paranoid. another good reason to keep the weight down. the less expensive stuff you have the better. carry your stuff in a backpack if possible. it easier, less work, and looks less like expensive camera equipment.

 

7. your film won't melt. really. however, if you're flying, pack your film carryon.

 

8. big lenses don't impress chicks all that much. anything bigger than a point and shoot generally does the trick. especially if it has a big flash. (i don't get it either?)

 

i might get that 35, and bring the 35, 50, either the 24~85 or one of the other two, depending on your style.

oh yes, one more thing, contrary to popular advise.

 

unless it's really windy, or your friends are really drunk, your lenses shouldn't collect sand. presuming you treat your equipment well. i shoot on the beach all the time.

 

but still, if you want to play on the safe side, ziplock backs. or leave it all at home.

Thanks for all the advice so far guys!

 

I'm always open to suggestions on how to optimize my photographic experience.

 

This thread has been a great read, with some funny posts, and I'll keep checking back if anyone wants to add their $.02

 

Thanks again,

 

-Dan

A lot of great answers above...

 

I wouldn't purchase another lens for this trip unless you see a need to fill in any "gaps" in your existing equipment.

 

Bring your "big" zoom & "little" zoom and leave the other lens' at home...

 

Think "protect your equipment" at all times... which do you want... get drunk and take crappy pictures or have a few drinks and take some really good photos? Also... watch out for theft... lots of opportunity for that at spring break... and keep your equipment clean... take time to wipe down/check/clean equipment often... and keep it out of the sun as much as possible... even if its shaded by your body...maybe bring along some "cool paks" (INSIDE ziploc bags) to keep film / equipment in your camera bag cool...

 

LOTS of guys will have throw-away camera to take pictures of flashing chicks... which do you think would make a better impression? Them? or you? And dress the part... casual but professional; guaranteed "good time"!

 

David wildography@yahoo.com

IMPORTANT---One thing everyone has forgotten to tell you is if you put your equipment in ziploc baggies be sure to put at least one package of silicagel in the baggie. This will get rid of any moisture in the baggie that can ruin your lenses and cameras. I keep at least one or two in all my camera bags. Hey, post some pics of the babes for me will ya!<div></div>