There’s heaps written about what every photographer should have in her or his kit bag: camera bodies that can sink battleships, a range of lenses to bankrupt the Sultan of Brunei, flashes enough to illuminate the Sahara on a moonless night. And really, we know about this sort of stuff; we’d not be taking very many pictures without any of it.
There are other kit bag essentials, though; the little things that you learn about from your friends, the bits that you only realise should always be in your bag after the event. Between us, we’ve accumulated a few suggestions, so we thought that we’d share the sum of Small Aperture’s collective kit bag wisdom.
- Gaffer tape. I grew up in a rural community, where most anything could be fixed using baling twine, lolly sticks, and gaffer tape. It has stood me in good stead.
- Spare memory cards. I can’t think why.
- Spare batteries, of all varieties: for your camera, for your flashes, for your brain.
- Business cards. Seriously, you don’t have any business cards? Go to Moo and get some. Now.
- Torch. I don’t know about you, but my night vision isn’t that good.
- Something to fasten or secure things: string, cable ties, tie-twists, elastic bands. (Or baling twine, even.) Don’t forget that string can double as an emergency tripod.
- Microfibre cloth. Shiny!
- At least one plastic bag; preferably several in a few different sizes.
- Some kind of multi-tool business, you know, Swiss Army Knife, or Leatherman.
- Notebook and pencil or pen. Yes, we all have mobile phones capable of taking notes now, but you never know when you might need to actually write down something.
Anyway, this is what we schlep around with us, pretty much. Is there anything that you’d like to add to our mix?