Traveling Photo Studio: Practice Makes Perfect
I decided this past week to attempt to travel via air with a decent approximation of a portrait photo studio packed neatly into my standard luggage. Since the airlines limit standard baggage to 50lbs it was a challenge. I was in Milwaukee for an auto show for ten days and had to pack normal clothing and supplies for that time in my checked luggage too.
Utilizing a bit of creativity, I was able to fit the following into my checked luggage: six t-shirts, ten boxer-shorts (answers that question), 11 pairs of socks, two pairs of dress shoes (required by contract), two vests, five dress shirts, two pairs of jeans, one leather belt, a set of scrubs with lab coat (always good to have on hand), track pants, slippers (a bit of home), and a dopp-kit. That wasn’t a surprise. What is a surprise is that I could fit in all my tertiary photo equipment: two light stands, a 24″ softbox with mount adapter, 18″ octagon, 48″ 5-way bounce, reflector clamp arm, 24″ 5-way bounce, 2 light-stand flash adapters, a wired mouse (for comfortable editing), and laptop tray (so I don’t overheat my baby while processing huge files). The whole checked bag, when packed, weighed in at only 46lbs and could be tossed around or stacked during transit without damaging anything. The interesting part is that the Dakine bag weighs at least eleven pounds when empty.
In my carry-on pelican case I packed all the secondary equipment like the tripod, secondary flashes, clamps, modifiers, adapters, batteries, chargers, and laptop. I also carry a Tenba Ultralight in which I pack my primary camera and gear including a secondary body, three lenses, my favorite flash, and a king size black sheet to use as a temporary backdrop or light flag. I packed the black temporary backdrop under the assumption that the hotel I was staying in would use white sheets, and that I could scavenge one to use as a white backdrop. The pelican case weighs in around forty pounds and the backpack is easily thirty. In case I have to gate-check the case, due to the jet’s size, I can remove the laptop and lock it. Everything else tumbles without damage.
This is the set-up I achieved in my hotel room.
I really only brought the equipment as a trial to see if I could. I figured it was better to try it in a no-pressure situation before committing to a future client (like you? 
). I know I could always shoot on-site without the extra flashes, stands, and such by utilizing a local setting and daytime lighting, but there are no guarantees in weather forecasting.
At the top is one of the test shots I took of myself on the black background. I was just getting a bit goofy. Thankfully, I told my coworkers, in advance, that I planned on bringing my gear. I had a couple willing volunteers to test the set-up in exchange for free photos. As of writing this I haven’t touched up everybody’s favorites (’cause they haven’t picked them yet), but Heather of HeatherSkipper.com has agreed to let me use one of the shots as an example of the travel studio when used on someone more beautious than myself. 
Hopefully, I’ll see you on the road in the future. I’ll be in Minneapolis this coming week and many other locations in the following months. If you’d like to discuss any photo projects you might need a shooter for, let’s talk. Just send me a note by way of the e-mails. info@jondeckerphoto.com
Today is Wednesday and my Saturday is already filling up with all sorts of fun. Friday night is wedding invitation night, yay. Saturday morning my roommate is finally coming by to move out his furniture (which has been sitting in my living room for over a month). Thursday – Saturday afternoon I be taking down all my loft storage and the loft it’s stored on so I can prep for painting the room back to white (painting white on top of black… should be fun). I might also get around to cutting a shelf for my roommate’s closet (a freebee in the effort to keep the peace). Also, for those following the process, Friday night the B-Movie Poster Title Contest voting will end and I’ll get my first real look at what I need to start drawing up for the art. It’ll be a great in depth usage of my Wacom Intuous 4 which I’ve mostly used for photo touch-ups. If I can get the room situation ready before Sunday, I’ll have time to chill Sunday afternoon with friends. Next week will be my first solo flight in this new job as the rest of the department takes off on vacation, grumble grumble. I’ll use the after work hours to paint. Hopefully by the 7th of August I’ll be able to finish the posters and order the prints for the winners. If you missed out on sending in an entry this time around, I’ll probably do this type of Contest again in a month or so.
