The world of instant gratification and the need for immediacy in photography makes for an interesting journey when traveling anywhere. This year, as I prepare for the national finals breakaway roping in Las Vegas Nevada, I am in the process of figuring out exactly what I need to capture the images and send them to the editor in a timely manner.The event is only two days this year, but that doesn’t matter, it’s about having the right tool for the job no matter where it’s at or how long it takes! The arena is one that I have not shot in before so it requires taking an extra lens and a few things that I wouldn’t normally carry, simply due to lack of knowledge of this venue.

For the glass and cameras: I will be taking Nikon D6, Nikon D5, and two Nikon D850’s. The glass will consist of a 400-F2.8, a 200- F2, a Nikon 120-300, a 70-200 and a 24-70.

Downloading and editing will be done using a MacBook Pro and several hard drives to back up work on the road. Like most everything else that I’m carrying with me on this trip, I will have a spare, including my wife’s MacBook Pro.
I will be using a friends lights already set up in the arena for this shoot but I will need to carry my pocket wizards, eight total, to switch out possibly and have extras. I will be carrying two Profoto B1x’s for the portrait session or headshot session of the top 15 contestants in the world.

Now all this sounds pretty straight forward, the challenge lies in getting all the gear to the destination in working order. For this I use a series of cases. Yes when we arrive we will look like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America! I use an oversized, large pelican case for long glass and Nikon D5. The rest of the bodies and lenses go into a think tank roller. The Profoto B1x’s dúo pack, which would work well as a stand alone shipment, is put inside a 511 military duffle bag, along with pocket wizards, RRS monopod, spare wizard batteries, Fusion TLC trigger, CamRanger for image transmission to ringside. Most of this stuff is cushioned with my clothes, the ones that don’t wrinkle. We wear our boots and hat so we don’t have to pack them.
Last year when the event was moved to my back door at Globe Life Field, I had everything I needed in my truck, which makes our lives much simpler, but hey, if it was easy….

Everything you can do to save time and space when on travel shoots will relieve travel stress and allow more rested and creative shooting time. That being said, I never really relax until all my equipment is at ringside, light checks done and ready for first competitor, but that’s only part of it. After capturing the images, I won’t fully relax until everything is transmitted and backed up to a hard drive that is in my pocket on the plane ride home.

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