My Everyday "Ready Gear" Camera Equipment

This is the gear that I take with me every single day, no matter where I am going & no matter what I am doing. If I leave the house, this is hanging on my shoulders. If I'm really in a hurry & will be moving a lot I'll give up the luxury of a laptop for more mobility & a safer feeling when leaving my car alone for extended periods of time, like for instance a parade in the city)
First things first, the camera bag is a Domke J-1 & my laptop bag is a cheap Targus "eco smart" messenger style shoulder bag that I got for like $20 at Best Buy (big box electronics store where I live). So it starts like this:



Domke J-1 shoulder bag
- Canon EOS 40D w/ battery grip
- Canon EOS 30D w/ battery grip
- Canon Powershot S5 IS
- Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 Ultra-Wide lens
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Standard lens (usually in coat or pants pocket wrapped in bandana or winter hat)
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Telephoto lens
- Canon 580EX II Speedlite x2
- Bogen Superclamp
- Canon CP-E4 Battery Pack for 580EX II
- Rechargeable AA Batteries x16 (2 cases of 8 batteries)
- Canon BP-511 camera batteries x4
- Bogen Tabletop Tripod w/ mini-ballhead
- Pocket Wizard Plus II x3
- Olympus Digital Voice Recorder
- Bogen Nano 001B compact light stands x2
- Giottos MT-9360 Tripod w/ Cullmann Magnesit 35 ballhead (In its own bag w/ monopod inside & a single light stand strapped to the outside)
- Induro MA24 Monopod
- ProBoard light modifying tools (actually cardboard/gaffer tape snoots & gobo's of different sizes but "ProBoard" is my cool new name for it)
- Lumiquest Pro Softbox III x2 (I love these things)
- Canon ST-E2 Wireless Speedlite Transmitter
- Plenty of colored gels for color correction/special fx (1, 1/2 & 1/4 CTO & Window Green w/ velcro for quick, steady attachment, all other gels have gaffer tape tabs for rubberbanding to flash head)
- Cheap disposable OP/Tech rain covers for the cameras x2
- High-Visibility safety vest (for working close to roads & shooting early morning/late evening)
- A watertight box with miscellaneous items like light stand connectors, pocket wizard cables, sync cords, zip-cord, lamp dimmers, etc)

Targus eco-smart Laptop shoulder bag
- Gateway MX 6455 15" laptop (Adobe CS3, Lightroom 2, Breeze DSLR Remote, etc)
- Spare extended life laptop battery
- TomTom GPS for in the car (I'm lost without this thing)
- iPod 30GB
- Mini iPod speakers for music when shooting people indoors & models & stuff
- Mobile phone charger (the ones that use AA batteries to give you extra talk-time or a quick charge anywhere)
- Tons of different USB cables & phone charger cables & a laptop cigarette lighter charger
- Bluetooth travel mouse
- Wired full-size mouse (as backup, I hate the touchpad for editing images)
- LCD Screen cleaning wipes (everything has a big LCD anymore so they get used a lot)
- 8" x 8" Aluminum mouse pad
- Targus laptop tray (folds in half for travel & keeps laptop elevated at a slant for typing & off of my manhood)
- Some more "non-essential" items that get stuffed in either the camera or laptop bag: a backup camera strap (I use Domke camera straps so they won't fail but I had a Canon strap give way on me once so I always carry a backup), 2 medium size automobile-window sun-cutters (the black screen-type things to keep the sun out of your babies eyes, a handful of microfiber cloths and lens cleaning kit, a changeable screwdriver & some other random items that I may come back & add when I remember later.

*Specialty shoots. Sometimes I know I'll need a little something extra & that's usually the only time these items get stuffed in the bag:
- Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens
- Canon 430EX Speedlite w/ 4th Pocket Wizard Plus II
- Canon CP-E4 Battery pack (a second one, if I'll need it)
- Canon ST-E2 Wireless Transmitter (if I know the circumstances will permit it's limited use)
- Canon 2x Teleconverter

**If you have ANY questions about ANYTHING, please feel free to ask me, that's why I'm here**


Part 2: Why I carry the Gear that I Carry... coming tomorrow
An explanation of why I chose to carry the specific items that I have in my "Ready Gear" bags. Nothing in my bag (and nothing in my life for that matter) was chosen randomly, everything has some logic & reasoning behind it so that my limited space is used as efficiently as possible.

Intro Part 2

Now where were we? Oh ya, the Art Institute!
So, anyway what I was saying is the Art Institute didn't exactly work out for me but I think a photojournalism program would be a lot different, especially at one of the better schools like Kentucky or Florida (I hear amazing things about the PJ program Kentucky has) or even something like the Brooks Institute (although I have a feeling those would be more "dangerous waters"). Another thing I didn't like about the Art Institute is that everyone was all bunched together for the entire first half of the program (which would be like 1 1/2 years). It wasn't until after the first half that the tracks split & you had to choose Art photography, Commercial photography or Photojournalism so even though I find the artsy types with the black beret's & scarf's extremely interesting to speak with & hang out with, I don't see how it makes sense to teach us together. Enough of that though. I think my original point is that I'm self-taught & a self-taught photographer without any "real" experience has a hell of a time trying to find a job. Experience is like money, you need to have it to make it. So nobody wants to hire me at a newspaper or magazine unless I've already worked at a newspaper or magazine. That blows but I'll get past it somehow.

Let's step backwards a bit though. So how did all this madness even start? Now THAT is a good question & one that every photographer gets asked, I imagine. Well, I am one of those folks that was always into it, when I was younger (maybe starting around 11 or 12) I would always have a few disposable Kodak camera's. No matter where my friends & I went, no matter what we did, I always documented it with my little disposable. At that time I didn't realize this is what I was doing though, all I knew is that I liked taking pictures of us & the places we went. Looking back now though I can see I was basically doing the same thing I love to do now, I was documenting the life & times. What's kind of cool too is that on the backs of all those pictures (the best ones at least) I have written short little paragraph's explaining who is in the picture, what we were doing, where & when it was & usually how it ended up. What does a photojournalist have to do with all of their pictures today? CAPTION! So I was basically already practicing my craft without even knowing it. [I told you this stuff was in my blood]. It all really began though when my Dad let me use his awesome Pentax ME 35mm SLR. To me, this things was like a god & photography was like my religion. I took it everywhere he would let me (this was before even the disposable days so I wasn't allowed to go too far without my parent's) and took pictures of everyone we met along the way. This is probably the bug that bit me, so to speak. I was never quite the same after seeing what could be done with a camera in my hands. It probably only took one really good picture (which I likely took by accident) and I was stuck. I was in love photography & it would never end.

I didn't actually take the idea of being a "professional" seriously until many years later though. I was done with High School & working full-time at a job I didn't particularly enjoy (roofing, if you're wondering) while trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with my life. The plan of becoming a cop got nixed very early when I became the lucky winner of a criminal record. I loved to teach people things but that would never turn into anything, I was really into electronics & computers but you couldn't get a job doing that without going to college (which I couldn't afford) but, ya know, I really did love taking pictures & I was pretty good at it too (at least for having zero knowledge of technique or rules or anything like that). So I wandered aimlessly for a bit & then one day it kind of hit me. I was walking my dogs in South Park, PA when I saw a photographer shooting a newly married couple over by the duck pond. it was just a teeny, tiny little nib of a thought but it stuck deep in the back of my brain as I walked by but that little fraction of a thought kept growing & growing & moving up towards the front of my mind. Eventually what started as an itch was the idea equivalent of a jackhammer pounding at my brain! I started looking things up on the internet about both starting & running your own business & of course the subject of photography. I realized that I would need more than just a crappy Kodak & this was the time when digital was really starting to take off, Canon's first "Digital Rebel" was introduced & although I never bought it, the idea was nagging at me non-stop until the release of the new & improved "Rebel XT". This was it, I had been building up my portfolio & shooting with beloved Canon Elan 7n and a few crappy lenses, all the while keeping a close eye on the progression of digital technology & listening to what everyone else thought about it but I knew this was the time. It was affordable, it produced good quality & was on "the cutting edge" at the time. So that's how I went digital. It was soon after that I came up with Magik X Imaging & started building a website & a brand, although the "company" wouldn't go online for awhile due to a mix of problems & laziness.

Today I have a website, represent myself on numerous different photo sites, I have some steady work with more coming in, I'm trying to expand my abilities & shoot more genres. I'm working on things like a logo & brand identity & am pretty much filling my days with the advancement of my photographic career. I'm not quite there yet but I am at least getting to the top of the hill & someday, hopefully soon, I'll reach the top & start sliding quickly down the other side, gaining momentum as I go.

I do plan on keeping this blog very up-to-date. I should be writing new entries with every step I take & every job I get. I will be writing my own personal reviews on every piece of gear I own & each new toy I acquire. I'll be talking about the industry & sharing what I think about trends & industry news and we'll probably be doing some other fun stuff too so keep an eye out for new posts & let me know what you think. Definitely write & comment too if you have the time, any artist can use as much C&C as they can get. Cool? Cool.

Ya, a quickie, huh? Sorry...

Intro Part 1

Just a quickie to introduce myself & let you know who I am.

 

Alrighty. My name is Brad Walter Gremba (you'll see that I use my middle name/initial a lot simply because I'm proud of it, being my father's name & all) but you can just call me Brad. Online in community's & forums you'll usually see me as MagikTrik (don't ask because I don't remember) and occasionally now, BGremba. I am a 25 year old (08/07/1983) semi-pro photographer born & raised in the Pittsburgh, PA area. My main area of "interest" would definitely be photojournalism & documentary type photography. I just feel like it's in my blood, like it's what I am supposed to be doing. That said though, I am truly & honestly interested in ALL areas of photography from product/advertisement to wedding photography to fashion & editorial work because everything has its own set of interesting interesting challenges & rewards. This makes things kind of difficult though because I haven't spent enough time "specializing" to really build up a worthy portfolio (worthy to me, anyway) in any one area. That said though, as of right now I'm available to shoot anything from events & parties to commercial work (in case you're interested).

I have real-world experience in most of the area's I'm offering my services in. I have shot for an interior design store called "The Cob Collection" photographing interiors & their advertisement's, I've done senior portraits, birthday's & other parties, junior sports and of course many different types of artistic portrait work. Plus if I'm asked to do a job I've never done before a price can be worked out that reflects my inexperience.

I don't consider myself someone who takes pictures or a hobbyist or a "weekend warrior". Photography isn't something I like or something I just do, it's who I am. I never stop taking pictures all day long, whether I have a camera or not (and it's extremely rare that I don't have at least one), it's just something I have to do in order to keep my sanity. It's like how some folks just "have to" get that first cup of coffee in the morning to feel normal, I "have to" make pictures to feel normal. Many people "have to" get at least 6 hours of sleep a night or they can't function properly during the day, if I don't get some shots in at some point it kind of screws up my internal system for the rest of the day. As I've said, it's just in my blood. The best way I've ever found to describe it is this. "When I hold that camera up to my eye everything else goes away, like the whole entire world only consists of what I can see through my viewfinder & nothing else exists." There is no girlfriend problems, no money problems, I don't worry about my education (or lack thereof), I can't remember the one that broke my heart, there is nothing bad in my life, nothing bad in my whole world. It's just me & that image I'm trying to capture and as anyone who has seen me work can tell you, I quite frequently trip over things & bump into people because I'm so wrapped up in what I am doing.

One of the things that usually works against me when applying for jobs but usually works for me when photographing is, I am entirely "self-taught". Let me first state that of course I have absolutely nothing against a fromal education & I would even go as far as to give one of my limbs to get into school in Kentucky or Florida or another top photojournalism school so I am definitely not against it. I did attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for about 5 weeks but it just wasn't for me. I can't settle myself down enough to sit beside the rich kids who don't give a damn about photography is or what it means, they just looked through a book when Mommy & Daddy said "it's time to go to school" & picked something that they thought looked "cool". I can't give up 2 WHOLE WEEKS of my education just so everyone can learn to turn their camera's on & change the settings. As I've probably "overstated" already, photography isn't a game to me, it is something I am extremely, painfully, passionate about. It is the only thing I truly love, it makes me who I am. Now I could care less if you don't like photography, that's cool. I don't think golf is a sport. It's what makes the world "go round". Where the problem lies is when people don't take it seriously yet think they can do what Cappa or Nachtwey or Liebovitz or Adams (both Eddie & Ansel) can do just because Mommy & Daddy went out & bought them the latest, greatest digital ubermegapixel, 1 billion frames-per-second camera. These people bother me. The way I am, the way I've lived my life I just don't blend in real well with the snobby, spoiled, the-world-should-thank-me types & unfortunately that is what my class was filled with. I actually even got a half dozen phone numbers from the girls there but not because I'm just that good looking, it was because they were all the same & apparently all rich girls like the grungy "bad boy" types (which unbeknownst to me, I resemble) but even this bothered me. Now please don't take this the wrong way, I have a feeling I'm not explaining myself properly. I have no problem with people of a higher social class than myself, I have nothing against people that have been handed everything, honestly I don't. I mean, that's great if you were lucky enough to never have to work, I envy the feeling of always being comfortable, knowing everything is still going to be ok tomorrow because most of us will never have that feeling. The thing I hate though is when those people act like their better than me (granted most of them probably are but that's beside the point). Wait... what was my point? I know I had one originally but I seem to have forgotten it now.

Part 2 coming soon...