Preparing for a trip

I'm getting ready to head out on a 2 week or so trip with 3 primary purposes: my son's wedding, my high school reunion, and my annual birthday time photography related "drive about". I'm excited about all three reasons but I'll limit my text to the photography aspect.

Overall I plan to drive from Phoenix, AZ up to Oregon along Interstate 5. I'll head over to Reedsport on the Oregon coast and then drive up the Oregon and Washington coast to eventually arrive in Port Angeles, WA for my reunion. Then over by Bainbridge Island to see my son's family prior to driving down Interstate 5 again to the Portland, OR area for his wedding. Finally I'll come back down Interstate 5 to the Interstate 10 which will lead me back to Phoenix. It should be a decent trip, that Bing maps out at around 3,268 miles and 46 hours of driving.

B+W 77mm UV MRC

I hope to get some good pictures all along the way, of the Oregon and Washington coast, I'm going to try to get Port Angeles at night from out on Ediz Hook, and from the Bainbridge Island area, some sunrise pictures of Seattle from across the Puget Sound.

I'm not planning to be the official photographer at the wedding or reunion but I'm sure I'll take some at both of those events.

As part of my planning, I realized that I need to consider taking pictures at the beach and how to protect my equipment. I have experienced some windy conditions in Arizona but not with sand and salt water mixed.

I read a lot of recommendations that you should use a UV or other filter on your lens so I ended up adding one to my collection. I have 3 lenses that I use for the Nikon D610, with a 52mm, 67mm, and 77mm diameter front element. I have a B+W 52mm UV MRC filter already, which I've never used. I also got a cheap 67mm filter with my $1,499 70-200mm lens so I'm just going to use it. I didn't have the 77mm for my $1300 16-35mm lens so I got another B+W UV MRC filter.

I have to give Amazon a plug here.

Amazon has a number of their warehouses in Phoenix which can be cool for me. I decided to order the filter from them on 7/29/2015 at about 7:15 AM. Because I'm an Amazon Prime member, they offered me free SAME DAY delivery. And, they said it was available as long as I ordered by about 11:30 AM. How cool is that?

I got the lens that night, as promised.

But now I'm wondering if there are other aspects of the trip I haven't planned for. I guess I'll find out!

Quick Review of the Hakuba PSTC-200 Tripod Case

I bought this Hakuba PSTC-200 Tripod Case based on the reviews on Adorama's page, and after receiving it on 7/2/2015, I agree with and echo all of the positive comments. 

Hakuba PSTC-200 Tripod Case

This Hakuba Large / PSTC-200 bag is great. The zipper looks like a YKK grade on both the bag and the side pouch. The padding is nice and thick, maybe 1/2" or more. As mentioned, it also includes another pouch inside the bag with a Velcro closure. It also has a transparent pouch for a business card or other identification card on the outside, opposite the large pouch.

I got this case to replace a cheap VidPro bag I'd got from Amazon (which also had a number of positive reviews) that cost about $15.00. That bag had just enough padding to claim it was padded but the zipper failed me after about 18 months (I bought the VidPro on 1/22/2014, the zipper no longer functioned by June 2015). The VidPro has a very cheap sort of coiled plastic zipper that easily pulls apart and eventually wouldn't zip together at all. I really wanted a new bag with a working zipper (otherwise why have it?).

I really did not want the Manfrotto or other manufacturer bags because of the advertising. 

The only thing better in my opinion would be a hard case.

This case easily fits my Manfrotto 055XPROB with 468MGRC5 ball head attached. I can fit my other cheaper tripod in there too if desired.

I wish I'd got this bag at the start - it's under $45 and will provide a lot of protection for a few hundred dollars of tripod and ball head.

I don't plan to use it to carry the tripod on a trail but it does come with a shoulder strap. (I have the Manfrotto strap that goes on the tripod itself to carry it in the field).