Packing Photography Gear For a Destination Wedding

So its my last day before I leave to shoot a magnificent wedding on the island of Providenciales…and I feel the anxiety creeping in from the disturbing and lingering question, “Do I have everything?” I’ve gone through my gear and know I DO have everything I will need, but how do I get it there? I literally have thousands of dollars worth of gear that needs to be packed and stowed away so perfectly that even a bumpy jet plane ride can’t damage it. So how did we get all of this photography gear ready for the trip??

It was a task that I could not have done without my husband. I had never had all of my gear on a jet plane and was not even remotely close to being prepared for the rough ride. Since my husband is in the military, he was aware of the heavy-duty cases made by Pelican. We did tons of research and finally decided on the Pelican 1510 for my carry-on which holds my:
-Two Canon camera bodies (5dmkII and 5dmkII)
-Two Canon 600EX-RT Speelights
-4 Canon lenses (50mm 1.2, 70-200mm 2.8 II, 24-70mm 2.8, 14mm 2.8)
-Manfrotto video light
-Memory cards
-Batteries
-Battery chargers
And other miscellaneous pieces. If for some reason my luggage is delayed or lost in transit, I can still shoot a wedding with the gear in my carry-on.To every wedding, I bring my Paul C. Buff Einstein strobes to power out the sun or light the evening reception. There’s no way of carrying these on so we had to find a sturdy and snug case. We went with the Pelican 1650. It comes with the “Pull & Pluck” foam so we can customize the slots for our exact needs. In this case I have my:
-4 Einsten E640 flash units
-4 Pocket Wizard MC2
-Vagabond Mini lithium battery
-8 Grids
-Reflectors
-Powercords & miscellaneous tools
-Gorilla PodThe most difficult case to figure out was the one for the awkward pieces of equipment like lightstands and umbrellas. Pelican makes a case for these as well, but we had to pass that one up this time around. We decided to use my husband’s golf bag carrying case which worked out perfectly. In this case I have my:
-4 Manfrotto lightstands
-2 Large umbrellas
-Extension cords
-Monopod
-Tripod
I may have overpacked for the trip, but there was no way I was going to be without a piece of equipment. I had to treat this wedding as I do all others. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to pack it all around yet considering I have my carry-on, my laptop bag AND my personal bag (5 bags total), but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there……And have a drink on the beach to lick my wounds.
Keep an eye out for some awesome beach time fun photos!!!