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My recent trip to Guatemala to photograph for an NGO gave me an opportunity to field test a bunch of new gear under real working conditions – jumping on and off chicken buses, crammed into the seat of a van for hours with all of it on my lap, roaming around the streets of Antigua trying to be discreet as possible carrying a 70-200mm lens and a backpack full of equipment, and photographing for long hours at a time.  I had done a bunch of Internet research to choose the best and the most appropriate gear, made a couple trips to B+H and Calumet to get it all, and it all worked out as good, or often better than expected.  I’m not sponsored or compensated by any of these companies (but wouldn’t be opposed to it if they happen to be reading…)

First off is the Lowepro Compu Trekker AW .  I chose this to be both my carry-on and my working bag during the day.  The size worked perfectly for both needs.  It easily fits the airline carry-on size, including smaller international requirements in some regions, yet fits more that it would first appear.  With careful configuration of the interior dividers, I fit 2 Canon bodies (an XT and a 7D), a 70-200mm f/4L IS, a wide angle zoom, a standard zoom (all with their hoods turned backwards), a 580EX II flash, diffuser, 2 external hard drives in cases, a couple memory card cases, and some filters.  In the outside pocket, I had a couple battery chargers, extra batteries, medium Rocket Blower, miscellaneous cords, caps, and accessories.  In the rear pocket designed for a laptop, I easily fit a 32″ 5 in 1 reflector.  Once I was in Guatemala, I played around with the dividers until I found a set-up that best fit my flexible daily needs, and allowed quick preparations or lens changes.  The pack is extremely comfortable, has tons of padding on the straps and the back so that its weight never bothered me and I didn’t feel the reflector in my back.  I often wore it for hours...

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