Headed to the cottage? What gear should you take?

As the winter makes a turn and we head into spring people are in the middle of planning their holiday vacations. Some will be taking day trips with the kids, others travelling across country and outside the country... but many Canadians head to the cottage...

I too am headed north to the Kawartha's this summer ... beer, sun, swimming, fishing, friends, family and campfires where we make smores, cook hot dogs over an open flame and set marshmallows on fire so we can fling the flaming white chemical infused balls or sugar out onto the lake... The common denominator here though is the camera... capturing all this is what makes this all so special.

So... what gear am I taking north with me this weekend to make sure I capture all this?

1) My DSLR's... I shoot with Nikon and will have my D7000 and D600 with me...
2) My point and shoot... The ever faithful canon powershot always comes in handy.
3) my Sigma 11-22mm wide angle lens to capture those early morning landscape shots of the lake and back lakes on our hikes. Its also a great lens to have on the camera for those times where we are all scattered in the dining room and dining room... the wide angle allows me to capture everyone sitting and enjoying the conversation.
4) my walk around lens... the Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 which is wide enough to take great landscape shots, but has the 70mm to focus in on those closer crop shots when needed.
5) my Sigma 70-200mm f2.8-3.5 telephoto lens that i use to photograph water skiers, boaters and kids jumping into the lake.
6) the 1.4x teleconverter that i slap on when i am hunting down some of the blue herons or loons that are often seen on the lake.
7) My 120-300 f2.8 for my longer telephoto needs..
8) the tripod and shutter release for those night time photo shoots where we go light painting or long exposure landscape photography.
9) my Lee filter sets.... i always carry my polarizers and ND filters with me.
10) external flash and flashlights
11) six memory cards... usually 3, 16gig and 3, 8gig Sandisk extreme compact flash cards.
12) 6batteries and a charger to make sure I never run out of juice.
13) laptop to download images to work on some photos and show everyone the photos of the day in case they ask.
14) Lowepro knapsack to carry it all

If you are going to the cottage this summer I hope you have a great time... chronicle the family vacation and just enjoy the time away with your family...

If you want to come to the cottage with us and participate in one of our workshops up in the Kawartha area of Ontario this summer or fall, check out the details on the Photographer's Lounge. We would love to have you join us.

Kev