Ok, let run this down:
Both bodies set, one with my trusty 17-35 and one with my workhorse 80-200? Check.
Strobe on a rope (SB-800 with SC-17 TTL sync cord)? Check.
400mm and 1.4 converter with monopod? Check.
14mm incase I want to get stupidly wide? Check.
Batteries fresh? Check.
Gore-Tex top and bottom? Yep.
Do I have that XLR to 1/8th inch cable for the Medusa feed? Oh yeah, almost forgot that. Check.
Microphones and recorder setup together? Check.
Dang it but before a "serious" gig I always have the "pack my bags jitters". I’m always afraid that I’m going to forget something simple and basic and feel like a total idiot when I’m on location. Been there and I do everything that I can to avoid said encounters.
Ya see, I’m getting up at the "butt crack" of dawn tomorrow to cover John McCain’s town hall meeting here in Denver and will be putting together both photos and a multimedia package for my agency. So that means more stuff to worry about while I really like to have as little in the way as possible. But when you are dealing not just with cameras but recorders, microphones and headphones as well it gets a little overwhelming. Gad!
Still this will be a good, fun and profitable day. My agency Zuma Press, is just launching their multimedia division as of Monday I am told and my piece will be one of the first they will be moving to web outlets like AOL, MSN and Earthlink. There also hasn’t been many multimedia pieces on McCain so that gives me a vacuum to fill. Whoo-HOO!
I don’t cover politics, not being in Washington helps that ya know?, but I follow it closely. My angle is pretty much always on the "regular folks" not the celebrity on stage. So it will be interesting to get into the people there to support McCain and those who will brave standing in the cold and snow for a few hours to show their disapproval. I’ll post pix and yap about the joy of getting there @ 6am for an event that takes place at 10am. Oh yeah, being "media" is nothing short of glamorous.
Ha! I kill me.