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This is a lighting setup for "137:365 - Tea time 2".
A tea pot full of freshly brewed tea was placed on a glass book shelf suspended above a black foam board.
A gray seamless paper is placed behind for the backdrop and it is illuminated with an SB-26 flash at 1/4 power through a grid spot. I also created a long snoot for it from Rosco cinefoil (black aluminum foil). Then I placed three thin strips of gels on the grid - yellow in the middle, red on one side and orange on the other.
Now that the background is taken care of, I placed three white foam board sheets, one above and two to the sides behind the tea pot. I put three flashes into each of them at low power (about 1/16 and 1/32 power) and used more cinefoil to control the light spill onto the background.
My macro setup for the coffee bean pictures.
The main feature is the light diffuser, a milk jug. Under that I have various objects to raise the height of the subject by varying amounts. I need to stick the light meter in there beforehand to get a reading.
Lens is Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro (non Image Stabilization). The hood on it here. I have a Tamron 1.4x converter on it on this shot but didn't need it for the four beans. Not as sharp as lens by itself.
Stupid broken tripod is used. It's great but broken in three places and I can't afford another one. I have another broken tripod too.
Primary Canon flash at about 10 o'clock trying to point down. I found I needed to make this light source a little bigger/softer so I used the Lumniquest diffuser at the far left. Quantaray slave flash is at half power of the main straight across at 3 o'clock.
Clockwise from the top left
Yashica D - Provia 100f - Optical Slave - 3x Pocket Wizard Plus II - 3x Vivitar 285hv - Sekonic l-358
Dont really do to many setup shots, this is one for a shoot i did today, ill throw it up later in the week. This kind of photography isnt really my thing but i did rather enjoy it. I think it is because I dont do this sort of thing to much.
Feel free to add notes etc if you have something to add.
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Setup shot for snowflake photos.
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Nikon D2H + Micro-Nikkor 55mm/2.8 + bellows unit + extension rings
Setup shot for this photo.
Stand as the Improvised tripod, used at max height.
I screw Manfrotto Stud into camera's tripod socket, then put this to Photoflex Swivel Mount, and put this to a usual stand.
Camera was directed top-down, and triggered by cheap ebay radiotrigger by brand Phottix. Works flawless.
You can see SB-800 and SB-80DX. SB-800 was triggered by SU-800, and powered up with Battery block SD-8a, so even 1/2 power is not a problem, and flashes was recycled quickly.
SB-80DX was triggered optically by another flashes, not by SU-800. Its tricky, but it works, if SB-80DX did NOT see IR signal from SU-800.
And you can see nearby my lovely Lowepro Vertex 300 AW (it can hold all my flashes, camera body, up to 6 lenses, and more room for funny things), and Hakuba Tripod Bag working as counterweight, which holds up to 3-4 stands, umbrellas, spring clamps, battery blocks, etc etc etc - really great bag, and very unexpensive.
Latest version of a setup last used nearly 2 years ago, is it really that long ?
At the core of the setup is a plastic fishtank, raised about 6 inches/150mm above the table, flanked each side with difussion panels made of cardboard trays, with a cutout covered in plastic document wallets containing tracing paper.
Outside these, a pair of Neewer SF-01 Mini slave flashes, on radio triggers and mini tripods.
At the rear, a Yongnuo 460 on its stand, pointed toward a white card backdrop and triggered by it's optical sensor.
The 2 side flashes were fitted with colour filters (Gels also work) in this shot red and blue, but I do vary them.
Guess I had better mention the air supply. That was me blowing through the tube, LOL, but being a bit more serious, the airline goes into the tank at the right, held in place by a clamp.
Once in the tank it goes to a right angle union, then into an old glass pill bottle lying on the base of the tank. You might also note the lead fishing weights that are placed next to the bottle, these are just there to stop it moving around when air is blown into it.
The reason for the bottle is to allow a reservoir of air to build up, then when the bubbles break free, they are bigger than if just coming from the tube.
Makes a lot of mess and before I do any more of these, must find a drip tray to put under the tank to contain the spills. Note the sponge cloth at the far right which got a lot of use in this session.
All good fun, who doesnt enjoy making a mess :~)
One of the finished shots in the first comment below :
Lighting Setup for Patricia´s photo.
As you can see there's only one light and the trick here is that is going for a double function: it serves both as main and background light.
How? it is easy! I'm using a silver parabolic umbrella (1.8meter no diffuser) depending on how you "focus" the light (moving into or out of the umbrella the light source) you can put more light in the center of the umbrella and less in the borders of it, thus if you work it so the exposure on the border with the subject close to it and the light reaching the background far away is kinda the same you can get this result ;).
Sorry I can't remember the camera settings, must have been 1/200th ISO 100 f/7.1 or 11
This is the setup for the Novelty hair tie shot here :
www.flickr.com/photos/steveblackdog/4705384743/
Lighting from 2 x Neewer SF-1 Mini Slave flashes (Also sold as Godox CF-18), mounted on radio triggers and mini tripods. These are shot through some homemade diffusion screens.
The diffusion screens are very simple constuction. The main bodies are cardboard trays that tins of food are supplied to grocery stores in. Into the base of these a window is cut out, just a bit smaller than an A4 sheet of paper.
Over this opening I tape on see-thru plastic document wallets, the type intended for ring binders, leaving the top open to slide in sheets of paper.
A simpler version could be made by simply taping a sheet of white or tracing paper over the opening, but by using the document wallet, it is possible to swap around to give different light levels, making them more versatile. It also helps prevent the paper yellowing with age.
For ths shot I used plain white paper borrowed from my printer, which reduces the light a little, but gives a soft even light.
Triss, The Witcher
Photographer: A.Z.Production Cosplay Photography (www.facebook.com/azproductioncosp)
Cosplayer: Cos Fia (www.facebook.com/CosFia/)
Setup: Main: Godox AD360 with Phottix Para-Pro 1.5m; Edge Godox AD200 with 1/2 CTO gel
Setup shot for Jarka 01
Strobist info:
Two strobes in 45'' silver reflector umbrellas at each side of the model.
Each strobe is a 580EX II fired at full power, triggered with pocket wizards, at 28mm zoom setting
Setup for this photograph (opens new Flickr window).
Simple, ain't it? ;-)
Bowens GM500 monolight in small softbox, fired by I.R. trigger.
Strobist-setup:
- 580 EXII @ 1/4 24mm into 28" Apollo Westcott Softbox above cam
- 430 EXII @ 1/8 24mm through umbrella cam left
- 430 EXII @ 1/8 24mm through umbrella cam right
- Yongnuo YN 460II @ 1/16 cam right
- EOS 5D MKII @ 1/160 ISO 600
- EF 50 1.4 @ f/7.1
- triggered with Yongnuo RF-602
Here is my setup that many of you were asking for!
I would suggest to everyone that it is NOT a good idea to have your drop setup in any room with carpet. I was able to get my whole setup cleaned and all the nasty water into a gallon pitcher. But that gallon pitcher never made it out of my room. Now it rests as a BIG green splotch on my carpet. Lovely
I spent many hours trying different setups. Most of my drop pictures i have uploaded recently have been in different setups i had. This is my final setup that suited me well!
Result:
Ever wonder what one should take with them on an extended international backpacking adventure? Well, here's what I took on a 4-month long backbacking trip to Japan. This is going to be a long read, with(almost) every piece of gear I carry with me on a trip like this, and brief descriptions where necessary.
Let me start by telling you how I organize gear. 1-Shelter(including clothing and sleep system). 2-Food/Water(including cook systems and water procurement systems). 3-Tools(including weapons, blades, electronics, etc). 4-Miscellaneous(Camera gear, repair kits, IFAKs, etc.) 5-Carry systems(backpacks, mostly)
Starting with Shelter(see top left of image):
-Koppen Viggo 20 sleeping bag. I've been meaning to get a quality bag, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. If it keeps you warm, then you can make do with it.
-Coghlan's Bug net. In the red stuff-sack. Absolutely essential on warm/temperate adventures. Trust me. No, really, trust me.
-Eno Singlenest hammock. Do NOT buy a lower quality hammock. Again, trust me on this one. I've seen FOUR cheap hammocks break without any misuse. Buy a quality hammock. Also note: Mine came with very heavy, solid steel carabiners and no hanging line. I've replaced the biners with Metolius FS Mini biners. They are incredibly light weight while retaining a 22KN strength rating. Highly recommended! For hanging line, I use 750 cord; light and strong enough to hang on.
UPDATE: I still use this hammock, but my suspension system has changed. I now use Amsteel Blue as my hanging line, and I use a knotless setup with aluminum descender rings.
-Blue blanket borrowed from ANA airline after I landed in Tokyo. I don't carry anything like this usually, but this one's sort of like a souvenir to me.
-Carabiners. Aformentioned Metolius FS Minis.
-Small green bundle of fabric is a home-made sil-nylon pack cover. Sil-nylon is incredibly light(I mean INCREDIBLY light), much less bulky than many other waterproof fabrics, but is not as durable. Mine has held up well, though.
-Green folded fabric is a home-made bivy sack. I do not use a tent for a few very good reasons. I'm often stealth-camping, and a tent is WAAAY to overt for that, and a tent is heavy and bulky to carry. I haven't used a tent in years and I've had absolutely no regrets. There are some sacrifices made when using a minimal system such as a bivy, though. Ask me about it if you want some pros and cons.
-Sleeping pad. I use a cheap, Wal-Mart sleeping pad, cut to shape in order to fit in the floor of my Alpacka Packraft. There are lots of good reasons to use a cheap, closed-cell foam pad instead of an expensive pad, but the primary reason is that your sleeping pad will probably be destroyed by use over time, and a ruined $8 pad is easier to swallow than a ruined $80 pad.
-Being used as a tablecloth in the image, a cheap 6'x10' tarp. For the same reasons I use a cheap sleeping pad, I use a cheap tarp. I do have to make a note here, though: Not all cheap tarps are the same. I wish I could give you advice on which brands to avoid and which ones to buy, but I really don't remember the brands of the tarps I've bought. Anyway, many cheap tarps have extremely weak eyelets, a weak weave, and(if this is important to you like it is to me), a gloss coat. Some, however, do not have those problems. It's hit-and-miss. Good luck when shopping around, and let me know if you find a decent brand.
Clothing:
-Under Armour compression boxers, 2 pairs. Not recommended. On long treks, they do not wick away sweat as advertised, so you'll end up clammy. They also ride up a bit, and I used to hate that, but I've realized that letting them ride up -though slightly uncomfortable- helps to minimize chafing in and round your sensitive bits.
-5.11 Level 1 9” socks, 3 pairs. The ONLY socks I adventure with. Fantastic elasticity, great durability, and don't start to stink for a loooong time. Great socks!
UPDATE: While I still love how comfortable they are, they aren't as durable as I used to think. I've now owned about a dozen pairs of these, and I've stopped buying them. I've switched to Vermont Darn-Tough socks. More durable, about as comfortable, and they have a lifetime warranty.
-Starter longsleeve base shirt and Starter shortsleeve base shirt, one each. I'm not a snob. I love quality gear, but when a cheap option works this well, I'll advocate its use. These Wal-Mart shirts work just as well as my Under Armour shirts, at a much lower price point. Recommended.
-5.11 Taclite Pro pants, 1 pair. Never ask me about these pants, because I will never stop talking about them. I have a confession(something some of you know already): I love good pants. I REALLY love good pants, and I've spent thousands of dollars on quality pants over the past few years, and out of ALL of them, the 5.11 Taclite Pros are the pick of the litter. They are the best pants I've ever owned, without a doubt. I have them in several colors, but my favorite color is Tundra.
-Lightweight synthetic shorts, 1 pair. Useful in hot weather and as swimming trunks. Here's just a general note: Avoid cotton in all of your clothing. Seriously, just avoid it.
-Light fleece pajama pants, 1 pair. Used as (surprise!) pajamas, but also as an insulating layer in cold weather.
-Light fleece pullover, 1. Insulator in cold weather.
-Columbia HeatMode 2 jacket. Thin jacket for wind/light rain protection. I use this often but it's now out of production. I always travel with a light jacket made of a tightly-woven, synthetic material for wind and rain protection.
-Tru-Spec Web belt. A great belt for it's $6 price point! Recommended if a higher quality belt isn't in the budget. Also, it's flexible enough to be comfortable underneath a backpack hip-belt.
-Baseball cap, for sun protection.
-Shemagh, for 8 trillion different reasons. I recommend everyone have a shemagh on them at all times. Great for lots of things, but I use mine primarily as a scarf, for sun protection, and as a face mask.
-Lightly insulated gloves, for cold weather and for keeping your hands clean while adventuring. I use mine often, always have a pair of gloves! Standard Mechanix gloves are basically a Gold-Standard for adventure gloves.
-Marmot Precip hardshell jacket and pants. Although pricey, I recommend these. I'd actually pay the high price to buy them again if anything happens to mine. Durable, light, packed with features. Great rain suit!
UPDATE: I did end up buying a second set of these after my first ones disintegrated, and my second set is now also disintegrating. I no longer recommend this set. I'll update when I find a good alternative.
-Finally, I separate my clean clothes and my dirty clothes in their own mesh bags.
Food(Top right of the image):
-I won't get into my usual backpacking food, but there are lots of good resources on the web for that kind of info. Message me if you want to know my usual choices.
-I will mention the protein powder, though. If you're hiking and doing a lot of physically demanding tasks, FEED YO' MUSCLES, SON!
-Hard-sided, watertight container. I carry most of my food in a container of this description. It keeps delicate food items or potentially messy food items from getting crushed, it has an air-tight seal to keep animals from sniffing out your food, and it's waterproof. Alternatively, you could use a roll-top dry-bag, but that wont keep your food from getting crushed.
-Jetboil Flash. I avoided Jetboil systems for a long time, primarily because of their price, but when I encountered a fellow traveler using one in the Redwood forests of Northern California, I was blown away. I bought one a few days later, and now I'm spoiled and I never want to use any other cooking system again. Highly recommended!
-Lexan spoon, but no fork. I don't carry a fork because chopstix are easily crafted from twigs or acquired from restaurants. Here in Japan, they give them to you at the cash register when you buy food at grocery stores.
-Spare fuel canister. I actually don't usually carry a spare, since one canister lasts so long, but when I took this photo, my current canister was running low, so I bought a replacement.
-P-38 can opener. Always.
Water(In front of the sleeping pad):
-Nalgene SILO 1.5l water bottle. Nalgenes are an industry standard, and for good reason. However, I'm not picky, as witnessed by the next bullet point...
-Generic 1.5l softdrink bottle, repurposed as a water bottle. Same capacity as the SILO, lighter, but not as durable. I'm not a loyalist to any brand here, not even Nalgene, just be sure to use a reasonably durable bottle.
-Katadyn Hiker Pro water filter. I've been using this filter for years. Highly recommended. I did install a pre-filter the day I got it, though. I use cheap, very small, very light fuel filters. Don't get hung up on certain brands or models, though. I've used MSRs and other Katadyns, and I've done lots of personal research, and they all seem to do the same thing with similar results. Just don't get a Lifestraw. Seriously.
Tools:
-Morakniv HighQ Robust(Not pictured). This tool, as well as the next three tools listed, were in my system until I was arrested in Tokyo and they were confiscated. As a knife guy, I could talk at length about options and philosophies of use, but I'll just leave it at this: Moraknives are the best fixed-blade knife you can buy at their price-point.
-5.11 folding knife. Cheap garbage(Not pictured). I got it as a promo item when I ordered some other 5.11 gear, but I brought it in place of a better, more expensive knife in case anything happened to it. I'm lucky I did...
-Lockpicks. I have Sparrows, SouthOrd, and Peterson lockpicks. I've picked my fair share of locks, and I want to tell you all something. Home-made lock picks are better than each of the above-named brands. My standard set contains the following picks, all hand-made by myself: A shallow hook, a deep hook, a DeForest diamond, a Bogota 2-peak rake, a top-of-the-keyway serrated tension wrench, and 2 bottom-of-the-keyway smooth tension wrenches in different sizes. I carry my picks in a Sparrows Sentry case. Sometimes I carry shims as well, but I wasn't carrying any when I came to Japan.
UPDATE: My every-day lock pick selection has changed. If I'm going minimalist, a set of SEREpicks are what I carry, but if I can spare the extra room, I also bring a traveler's hook, some shims, an EZ-Decoder, and a few bypass tools.
-Leatherman Wave(Not pictured). Always have your multi-tool. There are lots of variations, only you can decide witch one is best for you.
-The pliers on the bottom of the image are a stand-in for a multi-tool. I found them in an abandoned building, so I took them with me. Pliers are incredibly useful, which is one of the primary reasons for carrying a multi-tool.
-No-name, fixed blade knife(bottom-center, next to my Rhodia note pad). I bought this a few days after I got out of jail in Tokyo, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's roughly three-quarter tang, hand-profiled, very hard carbon steel blade. It's been great so far!
-Four-Sevens QT2A-X flashlight, with a poorly-done, home paintjob. I've been using this light for a few years now, and I cannot recommend it. I'm a “Flashaholic,” a term coined by Nutnfancy, so I am VERY particular when it comes to flashlights. This light does not stand up to my requirements. Ask me about it if you want to know more.
UPDATE: ARMYTEK, Surefire, or Streamlight are all great options. I've been carrying Armytek now for a while, and I can't recommend them enough.
-The light is in a home-made .93 Kydex holster. Very cheap, very trim, very effective, great retention.
-Also attached to the light is a Tac-Ord lanyard. I will always recommend attaching your light to a lanyard.
-Fenix diffuser head, modified for use on the above flashlight.
-Fenix Headband, for turning any light with a body diameter of 18-22mm into a headlight. Recommended! However, the process is slow. The retention screw must be completely removed in order to set the light into the clamp. A faster system would be nice, but I haven't found one that's better than this.
-Streamlight Nano/Terralux TLF-KEY1 frankenlight. I recommend both of these micro flashlights, but I recommend the frankenlight even more! With the body of the Streamlight and the head of the Terralux. :p
-Suunto A30 compass with a 550 lanyard. Great compass, very accurate, glow-in-the-dark, rotating bezel. Recommended.
-Garmin eTrex Legend handheld GPS. This thing is definitely dated, has an old, unreliable antenna, and has frustrating controls. Not recommended at all.
-Goal Zero Guide 10+ charger(pictured) paired with the Nomad 7 solar panel(not pictured). This system has served me well over the past 4 years. It charges 4x AA or AAA(with adapter) batteries at a time, and you can usually get enough sunlight in a day to make 2 full charges. It'll also charge my camera batteries, one at a time, and has a USB 2.0 port, so will charge cell phones, MP3 players, whatever. It's a decent, inexpensive system. You can't expect super high performance in a light, backpack-able package, but this is probably as good as you're going to get in this philosophy of use. I will say that it is the most versatile system I've ever found in my research. Recommended. Ask me about it if you want more info.
-8 Goal Zero NiMh, 2300mAH AA batteries, stored in a Bluecell battery case.
-8 Goal Zero NiMh, 800mAH AAA batteries, stored in a Bluecell battery case.
Miscellaneous Stuff:
-50-100' of 550 paracord. Innumerable uses.
-100' of bank-line. Choose your own diameter, I use #15. Great for anything that requires less bulk and strength than paracord.
-Sewing kit. Plenty of thread, multiple needles, stored in a plastic, flip-top tube container. I use mine constantly.
-Primary phone: Nokia Lumia 520 (Windows-based). Not recommended. Windows hasn't been working on their phone OS as long as Android and Apple has, so there are more bugs than the competitors.
-Secondary phone: Motorolla Moto G(Gen1) 8gb, Global GSM(Android-based). Fantastic phone at it's price! I did a lot of research before buying this phone, and I've been very happy with it.
UPDATE: Still using the Moto G series of phones. I'm currently using the Moto G 5 Play, and I'll be buying the 6 when this one dies.
-Note! The Maps.Me Android app is amazing for international travel. Requires no data, no service, nothing. You download whatever maps you want, and you can zoom in, search, navigate- all possible without any connection at all! Great app, very detailed maps for almost every country in the world.
UPDATE: STILL MY RECOMMENDED TRAVEL MAP APP!
-Notepad. Pictured is a French-made Rhodia dotPad #12. Not recommended. Assembled with a single staple, covers are falling off after 2 months of carry and use.
-Writing utensils: Pictured are a 1) Pilot Opt. 0.5 mechanical pencil. Terrible eraser, mediocre spring-tensioned clip. 2) Pilot 3-color, 0.5 Frixion pen. At first I was stoked on this pen. The ink used will disappear with heat, so you get a rubberized-plastic eraser that is designed to create heat through friction, making the ink almost completely disappear. But, after asking around, I've heard stories of ink disappearing when left on hot dashboards and such. That's a dealbreaker. 3) Stabilo Worker 0.3 pen. Not recommended. Running about $8, its ball-point system will NOT keep your lines anywhere near 0.3mm. More like .7 or so. Personally, I'd replace each of these with Zebra pens and pencils. Simple, attractive, reliable.
-Extra pencil lead. I like harder lead rather than softer, but I haven't done enough research or testing to recommend any certain brand.
-Full-sized notebook. The one I'm currently carrying another French-made book- a Jour & Etoffe Color-Fil, 6mm-ruled notebook. Recommended, but good luck finding one. I'm actually kind of particular with my notebooks, but carry whatever you want.
-Generic protractor/ruler combi-tool. I happen to enjoy technical drawing, so I carry something like this often, just to aid in my doodling. However, a ruler is very useful in travel. Most multi-tools will have one engraved in the handles.
-Tissues
-Primary wallet: Keep one wallet with your day-money and photocopies of your Ids in an accessible pocket.
-Secondary wallet: Keep another wallet with the rest of your money and your actual Ids in a separate pocket, preferably a more secure one.
-A few lighters. I don't smoke, but lighters come in handy every so often.
-MP3 Player. I hate iPods, so I've been trying different players over the years. The latest iteration of Sandisk's Sansa series, the Sport+ is actually pretty good. No removable battery, but it has expandable memory, so you can use your micro SD card.
UPDATE: The Sansa series was awful, so I found a generic MP3 player buy a company called Niusute, and it's been GREAT. I've had it for about a year now, and it's held up well. It doesn't have a user-replaceable battery, but it does have expandable memory, and its best feature is that it has a battery life of 80 hours! I use it constantly, and I generally recharge it once a week.
-Micro SD to regular SD adapter, in protective case.
-I am very partial to JVC Marshmallow headphones. I recommend them to everyone, but I bought a different kind of headphone after reading lots of favorable reviews. They have something of a cult following, but frankly, I have not found any reason to like the MonoPrice Hi-Fis. Mediocre. Better than dollar-store headphones, but not by a whole lot.
-Extra ear pieces for my headphones. I always manage to lose mine.
-On this trip, I brought a small Japanese dictionary. The one pictured is excellent. I did some research before settling on this one, and I'm glad I chose it. Recommended for anyone traveling to Japan.
-Pack towel. Never go anywhere without your towel! Arthur Dent will tell you why.
-Business cards. I don't have any reason to have my own, but I collect them everywhere I go from people I meet. It's easier than asking people for their Facebook or E-mail. Just get their business card and stick it in your wallet.
-Lenovo Thinkpad E440, with a Core i5. I usually don't travel with a full-sized computer, but I wanted to edit photos as I went, so I brought my photo-editing computer with me. Included is the appropriate charging cable, a wireless mouse, and a mouse pad. A note on the mouse: Bring a wired mouse when traveling if you bring a mouse at all. It wont take any of your valuable rechargeables, so they can be used elsewhere.
-Silicon Power 1TB external HDD. Highly recommended! I've had this for about a year and a half now, and I've thrown it in snow, dropped it on concrete, dropped it into a sink full of water... And it comes with its own cable, stored neatly in a built-in compartment. Great hard drive!
UPDATE: Still recommend these! Great hard drives!
Hygiene:
-Antibacterial wipes
-Nail clippers
-Razor
-Toothbrush
-Castile soap stored in a repurposed glycerin bottle. This stuff is amazing. I use Dr. Bronner's. It's made of plant material, non-toxic, biodegradable, and extremely versatile! It can be used as shampoo, body wash, face wash, shaving cream, and even toothpaste. As an added bonus for the Tea Tree variety of Castile soap- it acts as a bug deterrent. For about half a day after using it, it works very effectively to repel mosquitoes, gnats, ticks, whatevs. Highly recommended in every flavor!
-My hygiene supplies are all stored in a Kifaru zipper pouch.
Camera Gear: I'm not going to get much into camera gear here. It's not all pictured, but ask me about it if you want to know anything. I'm going to list a few things here, though. Just the “notable” things, I guess.
-Nikon D750.
-Canon 70D.
-5 batteries for each. A mix of OEM and non-OEM. There are lots of good off-brand batteries, do your research before buying.
-Joby Gorillapod Focus with the Ballhead-X. Highly recommended! Love this tripod.
-A zoom lens. At least 250mm, but keep weight in mind if you're backpacking.
-A 50mm lens. Because it's beautiful.
-A wide-angle lens.
-I personally love fish-eye lenses, so I carry one with me. I love being able to see ~so much~ and the distortion doesn't bother me at all.
-Chargers with car adapters.
-LowePro Toploader Pro 70AW. This is another thing that you shouldn't ever ask me about. I will talk your ear off about the quality and features for hours. Of ALL LowePro gear, for that matter. I also have their ProTactic 350. LowePro gear is not particular cheap, but it's worth every penny you'll pay for it. Would you put $5,000 worth of camera and lenses in a $20 case? I wouldn't. Amazing gear. Also, the AW versions have a built-in rain cover.
-Attached to the above bag is a LowePro lens case, compatible with LowePro's SlipLock attachment system.
-Extra memory cards. Seriously, bring extras.
Carry System:
-REI XT-85. I've been using it for two years. Highly recommended.
-Adidas Cinch-bag. Bought it in college, and it's still in great shape. Highly recommended. I bring this with me for times when I can store or hide my XT-85, so I can explore a city without being weighed down. There are lots of small packs that will fill this role, but this is what I had on hand, and I like it.
Not pictured: Here are things I usually bring, but didn't bring on this trip; or gear that I DO have now, but didn't put it in the picture for some reason.
-Handcuff key and Master bump key. Located in a hidden pocket somewhere on my clothing. When I was arrested in Tokyo, and they VERY thoroughly searched ALL of my belongings, they never found these. :)
-IFAK. Stands for Individual First Aid Kit. There isn't one pictured because my custom-built level 1 IFAK went missing before my trip. Whoops.
-A mesh bug shirt. These aren't super effective, but I often carry one because they are extremely lightweight, and offer a ~little~ bit of protection. Just enough to keep you from losing your mind as you set up your net over your sleep system.
-When I'll be filtering water from sources that are likely to contain critters, such as agricultural run-off, I will carry a water purifier in addition to my water filter. My purifier of choice is the Steri-Pen Adventurer Opti with the purpose-built solar charging case.
-Many of you know how much I love packrafting. When you carry one, you have to include the other components of the system. For me, these components are as follows: Packraft, paddle, repair kit, inflation bag, dry bag for the rest of your gear, paracord for lashing your gear to the raft while traveling by water, seat, seat back, riser seat, and stuff-sack. The entire system usually weighs about 7 pounds with the gear that I own and use. It's possible to get your entire packrafting system down to about 5 pounds.
-Guns. When I travel in places where I can legally carry a pistol, I carry a Glock 19(Gen 4) in one of two ways. When I carry openly, it's in a G-Code XST RTI holster on a Low-Ride RTI platform, attached to my clothing belt(not my pack belt). When I'm concealing, I add a Kifaru Koala to my pack system, and I carry the pistol in the Koala's dedicated CCW compartment. In either case, I always use Glock 17 magazines outfitted with Arredondo +6 extensions. Arredondo products are very highly recommended by me! Awesome stuff. I carry spare magazines in either a G-code dual mag holder(RTI variety), or in the mag caddies inside the Kifaru Koala.
-The Kifaru Koala is another piece of gear that I'll talk forever about. It's amazing. Perfect. Lovely. Perfect. Comfy. Perfect. I love it! Added bonus: Last year, Kifaru dropped the price on the Koala. Yay!
-Last but not least... Kelsey. Poor Kelsey got left at home on this trip. It was a difficult decision, and I've regretted it many times over since arriving in Japan. I only hope she'll forgive me when I get back. I'm sorry, Kelsey. :(
I think that pretty much covers it! That was even longer than I thought it would be... If you've made it this far, I'm sure you can tell by now that I'm very particular about the gear I use, and most of what I own has been thoroughly researched before it was purchased. I love quality gear, and it's very important to me to use gear that performs its intended task very well. I never buy anything just because it's the first thing I found on Amazon that does vaguely what I need it to do. No, I spend months, and sometimes even YEARS(no kidding) researching a particular piece of equipment before buying it. If I own it, it's because I have deemed it to be better than any other piece of gear that fits the exact niche I set out to fill.
Update 3 july 2014:
For the current version see: www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/12537231674
There is also an 3D version inuse see: www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/6760414583
Setup for insects in flight. This setup take pictures of insects inflight. An optical extra lens system is added to look for insects in focus. Only 40 usec are needed to check if there are objects in focus.
This unit works on reflected laserlight. No more leaserbeams are needed, no more long arms to put the receivers on the top of the system. The full distance is now free between camera and insects. The unit works in full dark or even in full bright sun. Sensivity can by adjusted by mean of a simple potmeter. To work in full dark 2 to 4 extra high power leds are added. 2 of this high power leds are UV leds at 405nm. This UV light attrack some insects inflight.
Today the first real live tests are done. This works realy nice. At this time no insects are available considering the winter periode here. Focus distance can by adjusted to every value. The focus range of the detector is very narrow. 1 to 2 mm at a distance of 700 mm form the camera. Objects of 2 mm diameter can by easily detected. Detector works also on full black insects. 4 lasers are used, 2 IR 5 mw lasers at 850 nm and 2 x 10 mw green lasers. The green lasers are only for visual position to the insects.
All electronics are mounted into the frame. One CPLD board is used and 2 boards with an AVR controller. The information from the optical system are fast transmitted from the AVR controller to the CPLD board. An 2x16 character LCD display give the status from the system. value of the batterys, value of the high voltage for the electro magnet at 150V, sensivity of the focus detector, width of the digital filter used, value of the environment light, value of the laser return light and expired time between start camera and moment of the picture.
Setup Shot for 042/365 Little Sisters Rule.
Camera Info:
Canon 7D, Sigma Lens 17-17mm @17mm, f/13, 1/60s, ISO 100
Strobist Info:
-2 Canon 430EXII's Camera Right and in front of subject, FULL Power, @24mm zoom, about 5 feet high, 3 feet away from subject inside 40 inch softbox.
-Canon 430EXII Camera left and behind of subject, FULL Power, @105mm zoom, about 5 feet high, 10 feet away from subject fired bare.
-Flashes triggered with Interfit Strobies. The sun was not triggered by Interfit Strobies.
Setup diagram for this shot of Spencer.
Lighting was two Profoto Acute2 heads opposing each other set to the same intensity - exposure was made by just the modeling lights.
Two black flags were used to keep the lightings from flaring on the lens and a third was positioned as a background.
Setup for backlighting a spoon of sugar, using a combination of a DIY light table and difusser panel.
Hopefully not too blown out to be able to see the curved line of the Fax paper used as the backdrop and prop the spoon up at an angle. This is held in place with a couple of clothes pegs, very useful to have around the place.
What wont be obvious here, is that 2 flashes are being used. Both are Neewer SF-01 mini slave flashes (very cheap and compact). The one on view is mounted on a Blazzeo SLT-4 radio trigger and mini tripod. The second is masked by the sides of the difussion panel and is mounted on a small flash stand and pointing into the bottom of the light table. This one uses it's optical sensor to trigger from the output of the radio triggered flash. Very versatile these little flashes :)
The black card at the sides (closest side removed for this shot) and the small piece to the front are to give a dark reflection to the sides of the highly reflective spoon.
Also not shown, is a white reflector which was hand held above to stop reflection of the ceiling and room lights above and bounce some light back onto the subject.
If I had a large softbox, I would have used that above instead. Something to add to my shopping list , or maybe I should make one:)
Might sound complicated, but it's not really.
My Office setup updated :
Desktop HP Z400:
Xeon w3503 2.4Ghz
8 GB DDR3
3 TB HD
ATI Radeon HD 4800 512 MB
Mouse Razer Mamba Wireless
Mousepad Razer Kabuto
Laptop Alienware M15x
Intel Core i7 Q820 1.73Ghz
8 GB DDR3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M 1024 MB DDR3
Mouse Razer Orochi Bluetooth
Dual Dell 2407WFP UltraSharp 24-inch LCD display
Strobistinfo:
Behind glas: LP160-1/4-24mm-20x30cm softbox
Between glas and softbox: piece of black paper (size about A5)