National Arboretum

My wife, son and I went to the National Arboretum over the weekend. It turned out to be mixed. I love the arboretum, but I had never tried going with a 3 month old child before. It turned out to be hotter then we had expected and it was a short trip. A nice walk through the herb gardens and a quick run through the bonsais and we had to head home to get my son out of the heat (It must have been mid 80’s, humid and sunny). Pictures up soon (tomorrow I hope).

Current Equipment

I have a running list of all of the accessories, cameras and lenses that I have had the opportunity to try out, but my actual current list of equipment varies from time to time. This is the list of my current outfit (as of the last time I have updated the page) as well as what I normally carry with me for different types of photography.

 My current list of equipment is (not including filters)

OM-1 (broken light meter) and OM-1n

Sunpak DC3 flash

Lowepro Nova 2 AW camera bag

Targus and Jobby tripods

Sigma 24mm f/2.8, Sigma 28mm f/1.8, Tamron 28mm f/2.5, Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 (2), Zuiko 50mm f/1.4, Vivitar 135mm f/3.5, Vivitar 300mm f/5.6, vivitar 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 (currently for sale), Vivitar 35-70mm f/3.5 (shortly to be for sale), Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 and a Vivitar 2x teleconverter. I also have a Tamron 35-70mm f/3.5 on the way.

I normally carry around my OM-1n, Vivitar 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5, Vivitar 70-210mm f/3.5, Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 and Sigma 24mm f/2.8 along with some filters, film and a short cable release in my camera bag. That is my all purpose kit. With the purchase of some new lenses and selling off some old ones my different carry around kits are going to change depending on where I am going.

My general purpose kit will consist of Sigma 24mm f/2.8, Tamron 28mm f/2.5, Zuiko 50mm f/1.4, Tamron 35-70mm f/3.5 and Vivitar 70-210mm f/3.5.

For Wildlife possibilities I will also carry a Vivitar 300mm f/5.6 and Vivitar 2x teleconverter.

Where low light shooing is a possibility I will leave the Tamron 28mm f/2.5 behind and replace it with the Sigma 28mm f/1.8

For light weight walking around I will probably carry the Tamron 35-70mm f/3.5 on my OM-1n and the Tamron 28mm f/2.5 or Sigma 24mm f/2.8 in my pocket. As another possibility I might carry around just my Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 and Sigma 28mm f/1.8 if I might be encountering low light and walking around (museums, that sort of thing).

Depending on the circumstances I might also carry my Sunpak DC3, Targus or Gorrilla Tripod and OM-1 as a spare body and/or for shooting B&W (generally in a backpack seperate from my lowepro Nova 2 bag).

I frequently place my Lowepro Nova 2 AW bag inside of an LL Bean Continental Rucksack when I am walking around and not actively shooting. This takes the load off the one shoulder the bag would be over and distributes the weight pretty well (it has a waist strap and good hip pads). In addition it allows me to fit some extra camera gear in it if I need the space and it will also accomodate a light jacket, hat, map, guidebook, lunch or snack, a water bottle or two, compass, multitool, long sleeve shirt if needed and I can also hang my tripod off the bottom of it easily enough.