Less is more

It strikes me as I get older that I am carrying less and less by way of camera kit when I go out. Of course when I were a lad I thought nothing of swinging a dirty great LowePro Magnum from one shoulder all day, laden with a couple of bodies, half a dozen lenses, flash, film, notebook, pen, cuddly toy, decanter and glasses, etc. I would yomp over hill and dale, and return home having burned a roll or three, mostly with a single lens and a single body.

There are still occasions to this day when I will go out loaded for bear. The most recent was a Sealed Knot event to which I took:

Digital SLRs - 1
Film SLRs - 1
Digital Compacts - 1
Thumping great fast tele zoom - 1
Almost equally heavy fast standard zoom - 1
50mm lens - 1
1.4x teleconverter - 1
Monopod - 1

Total focal length covered - 24- 560mm


I used the lot, one way and another, although the long setup got the most use because the action was so far away (Did you know that a pike is 16ft long? The crowd is kept at least that far back, just in case one topples...)


For those (k)not in the know, by the way, the Sealed Knot is a bunch of English Civil War re-enactors. They take it all frighteningly seriously, and seem to have a thoroughly good time along the way.

But I digress...

These days my preference is to carry something like a D-Lux 4 or a Leica II, that fits in a pocket or small bag, and can be carried all day, even at my ever-advancing years, without feeling it. The practical aspect is obvious - and my chiropractor approves.

But there is another force at work. Because I carry less, I work harder, look harder. Because I look harder I see more. Because I see more, my hit rate has increased. Oh, not by much, but by enough to notice. The shotgun has been replaced by the target pistol, the bludgeon by the rapier.

Have you ever watched one of those chop-socky movies where the baddie whirls around like a manic Magimix for a few moments then the hero fells him with a single, languid move? That's the effect I'm aiming for.

I'd rather be old and cunning than young and random, anyday.

Bill

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