The Right Choice
I spent last week in South Carolina on vacation. The biggest decision to make while packing was what camera equipment to bring with me. I wanted to bring the big (500mm) lens in addition to the 100-400mm lens, and I wanted to bring two cameras. But the last leg of the trip involved a smaller airplane, and I was afraid if my bag got too big I’d have to gate check it and risk getting it damaged. The gear is insured against theft but not damage, so I was nervous about bringing the big lens.
I ended up bringing my daypack packed with only the two telephoto lenses, which I figured would be flat enough to fit in even the small overhead compartments of the little planes (it was, with even an inch or two to spare). I also packed it with some air packs and bubble wrap from my recent photo order to B&H, just in case I needed to gate check it. My laptop bag held both cameras plus the 24-105 lens (and my laptop), and everything else went into the suitcase.
While in South Carolina, I got up at 5:15am every morning to be at Huntington Beach State Park by 6:00am when it opened, spent two or three hours hiking and wildlife watching, then came back home for family time. Both the 500mm lens and the second camera saw heavy action, so I’m glad I brought them.
This snowy egret has just snagged a large shrimp from a freshwater marsh. The first morning I was there, the water had a lot of stuff floating in it, and a small army of snowy and great egrets was gorging themselves on shrimp — they feasted constantly the entire time I was there. The water was clearer the rest of the week and the egrets caught much less shrimp, so I was fortunate enough to have caught the feast that first morning, and fortunate enough to have the right gear along to capture it.