I'm a wide angle kind of guy

I gravitate to taking photos with a focal length (cropped sensor) from super wide (10mm) to 18mm.  I know because I checked (in Lightroom) and I wanted it to be wide.     

The world is a big place and I like to take it all in (portraits of people and isolated action may be an exception).  

The new lens I have me eye on is the latest Fujinon 18mm f1.4. The focal range should optically reduce the shallow depth of field effects of such a wide aperture and closing down a few stops to its ideal sweet spot may strike a magical balance of speed (light) and a pleasing depth of field.   What does it say about my view of the world where I’m drawn to a wide field of view but also have a feeling that a more focused subject may be valuable?

I often feel I’m somewhat of a polymath and feel torn trying to decide my favourite style of photography or even giving preference to a specific domain where I feel I contribute the most.   

I wrote these words:

Drawn to the world that is wide

Less corner places to hide

more to see in the city frame

Even glimpses of an old flame

big-time performance stages

tempting blank white pages

All that it could contain

Way beyond memory lane

A soft focal point of thought

Specialization of some sort

Something new emerges over there

Even more tempting things to share

Pivot to the next wide urban shot

Seems this story repeats quite a lot

Landscapes require more depth of field

Fuzzy Patterns becoming less congealed 

To form a representation of life

A Polymath understanding its strife

And then put them in a video:

Photographer’s frivolous fillings

My new camera bag is arriving tomorrow.  I’m excited.  I like organizing stuff and I have a lot of camera gear.  I’m constantly having to move bits and pieces from one bag to another and often discover I’ve forgotten something when I’m “on location”.  On the weekend trip shoot at the Beaches I forgot my audio adaptor for my action camera.  I once had everything organized, ready to go for a week away and I forgot my entire camera bag - well that’s another problem.

I like to research purchases and I spent way too much time shopping for a new camera bag.  I won’t list all the options here and I’m not going to talk about the bag I’ve decided on just yet.  But I thought I should organize my thoughts first it terms of what will go in the bag.  Yes, it should be quite a bit bigger than my current bag, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to fit everything in it.  And if I did, it would be very heavy and impractical for my local photo excursions.

First and the simplest decision - the camera(s) - the Fuji XT-4 and the DJI Osmo Action

Lenses - how many?  The 50-150mm is the best lens I have and the biggest, it belongs in the bag, but it may be removed if I’m really aiming to travel light and/or when I know exactly what I’m going to be shooting.  The 18-55mm kit lens and the 10-20mm super wide are my urban and landscape go-to lenses.  The 35mm is superb and compact, but it’s usually on my older XT-1 for walking around the neighbourhood.  A maybe.  The 56mm is great but I don’t use it that often.  I purchased it more for portraits, but it would be interesting to see how I’d use it in the field.  A maybe.  The fisheye lens?  It’s a Nikon mount and I have the Nikon-Fuji adapter on it, so it’s not that small.  But it’s fun and would definitely be a nice option to have more readily available.  I’ll give it a spot in the new bag.

Accessories: I have three filters, two variable neutral density (ND) for video work (another thing I forgot on the weekend) and a soft glow that I keep forgetting about.  I have two Smallrig cages and a Smallrig grip that I’m not certain about.  The one cage for the XT-4 is quite large and specific for video work.  It’s maybe and it would be a good test of the size of the bag as it’s a weird shape.  The Smallrig grip is usually on the XT-4 so that stays and the other cage is for the action camera for vlogging which I hope to do more of - so, yes.  There is the 2x Fuji lens adapter  - small but not a biggy to leave behind.  There’s also the close-up tubes - mostly for home project - so I can leave them out.  The Rode microphone - yes, but the lavalier mic and extra long audio cable maybe not.    The DJI iPhone gimbal - hmm, I havent’ used it in a while, so probably not, especially since I added the DJI action camera to the kit.  Cleaners and the puffer go in.  Extra SD cards go in.  Let’s not forget the Peak Design camera strap (I often do).  The flash and and LED light panel I’ll leave out unless a portrait session is planned - which may be the case this weekend when I visit my parents to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.  

I’ll probably have the small gorilla pod strapped to the side and find room for the folding selfie stick for the action camera in side somewhere.  There are a also few action camera mounts and one for iPhone that always come in handy.

Now there are other important accessories in a smaller Peak Design gadget bag, so the question is - do I move the important bits (e.g. extra batteries) into the new bag and do I put the whole gadget bag in the newer bag.  We’ll see.

Don’t worry, I don’t think I want to do a What’s in my bag Vlog, but this kind of gave me a game plan for tomorrow.  Happy shooting folks.