Packing for Chicago - the SKITCH-12 is the Winner!
The SKITCH-12 tightly packed.
I bought the Vanquest SKITCH-12 Messenger Bag to use as my second bag when on trips or “everyday bag” at home. My plan, therefore, for my trip this week to Chicago to attend the third annual Out of Chicago Photography Conference was to pack all the camera gear I wanted to take in my Think Tank Retrospective 30 bag and take the SKITCH-12 in my carry on bag for use in Chicago. However, after laying out all of my camera gear and deciding on which items I wanted to take with me, I discovered that in its “medium” configuration, I could get it all in the SKITCH-12! Since, though, some things I might want during my trip to Chicago would be a bit difficult to get to, I decided to also use my old Lowepro Streamline 250. This did, of course, break my goal of carrying only one bag on the plane, but the Streamline 250 is a nice and compact bag and I don’t plan to stuff it with lots of things.
Lowepro Streamline 250 and Vanquest SKITCH-12 ready to go!
Since I will be attending a day-long workshop with Bryan Peterson which will involve, I assume, a lot of shooting out on the Chicago streets, as well as hour-long, sit-down sessions and going on photowalks, I wanted to bring as many of my lenses as I thought I would use. I will also be volunteering for a 4-hour workshop with Jamie MacDonald and Mike Boening that I know will involve doing live composite shooting. So, my Olympus OM-D E-M1 naturally is in the bag. I will be taking pictures en route and when just walking around by myself in Chicago, so, of course, I have to have my new Panasonic GM-5 camera. I have my small Nissin i40 flash “just in case.” I am taking most of my lenses, but leaving the Olympus 60mm and Panasonic 20mm at home. I have packed my ShouldPod S1 smartphone holder in case I want to record some video with my iPhone 6, but also because I hope to record some Video Update videos and get back on track with producing video for my YouTube channel. To that end, I am also bringing my Rode VideoMicro mic and one LED light. I have my regular array of small tripods, but I am also bringing my MeFoto DayTrip tripod (packed in my checked bag).
This bag is stuffed!
I am happy to discover that this new messenger bag is working out to be as versatile as I hoped it would be. Once I am in my AirBnB apartment in Chicago, I will unload the bag and put it into its “short” configuration for everyday use at the conference.
The List
Cameras: Olympus OM-D E-M1 and Panasonic GM-5, iPhone 6
Lenses: Olympus 9mm BCL, 12-40mm, 45mm, and 75-300mm, Panasonic 12-32mm, 35-100mm, and 25mm (f/1.4)
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