Steve Gibby
Red Savant
I hear ya Denis...
When me and my crews do mobile EFP work, especially adventure travel, action sports, and wildlife, the crew size is usually no more than two people, and frequently just one person. Mobility is critical in those situations. I remember well doing the same genres in the '80's and '90's while packing 28 to 35 pound camera systems way out into remote areas! Fortunately in the past decade the average weight of the camera systems and tripods we use has diminished.
Staying physically fit is critical for mobile EFP work - always has been, and still is. Beyond that, as you know, great backpacks are a must. Over all these decades I've used backpacks from every major manufacturer: PortaBrace, Kata, Cine Bags, Tamrac, Lowepro, etc. Me and my crews now use backpacks from Clik Elite. Clik backpacks and accessories are designed by and for mobile shooters. They're way comfortable, durable, well thought out, and just look like a good backpackers pack - which helps keep equipment security risk down to a minimum when we're way out into remote areas. My favorite Clik backpack, which I've used in remote areas all over the world for production, is the Contrejour 40. I also use a Contrejour 35 for mid-sized and smaller camera kits.
Beyond backpacks I've also adopted other ways to haul equipment way out into remote areas. I drive a longbed diesel 4x4 pickup with a small camper on it, and frequently pull a high clearance trailer with a utility ATV on it. For eco-sensitive area filming I also bring along a mountain bike that pulls a small cargo trailer, on which I strap my backpack and tripod, then just pedal out into the relative location for filming, and hike the rest of the way in.
Again, I hear you and agree - a pound saved on the equipment weight is a pound less that we have to transport. Unlike cine style (narrative, etc) or studio based hardlined EFP productions, those of us who work in mobile EFP genres don't have the luxury of large crews and easy access to shooting locations. We have to work our tails off to get out to the filming locations - but that's the reason we can take satisfaction in knowing that very few production people can get the unusually hard to get images that we shoot. To me, to you, and to anyone who works in mobile EFP, that's an important part of the mental and emotional rewards we reap for our hard work in getting the dynamic images.
Some myopic elitists who work in other higher profile motion media genres tend to look down on mobile EFP workers - but if they spent just one long day with a mobile EFP crew of planning, hiking, weathering the elements, using extreme patience, self operating the camera systems, and quickly capturing great images in natural light they'd definitely find some solid respect for how difficult the work is, and how frequently stunning the resulting images are - and that's the bottom line isn't it?
When me and my crews do mobile EFP work, especially adventure travel, action sports, and wildlife, the crew size is usually no more than two people, and frequently just one person. Mobility is critical in those situations. I remember well doing the same genres in the '80's and '90's while packing 28 to 35 pound camera systems way out into remote areas! Fortunately in the past decade the average weight of the camera systems and tripods we use has diminished.
Staying physically fit is critical for mobile EFP work - always has been, and still is. Beyond that, as you know, great backpacks are a must. Over all these decades I've used backpacks from every major manufacturer: PortaBrace, Kata, Cine Bags, Tamrac, Lowepro, etc. Me and my crews now use backpacks from Clik Elite. Clik backpacks and accessories are designed by and for mobile shooters. They're way comfortable, durable, well thought out, and just look like a good backpackers pack - which helps keep equipment security risk down to a minimum when we're way out into remote areas. My favorite Clik backpack, which I've used in remote areas all over the world for production, is the Contrejour 40. I also use a Contrejour 35 for mid-sized and smaller camera kits.
Beyond backpacks I've also adopted other ways to haul equipment way out into remote areas. I drive a longbed diesel 4x4 pickup with a small camper on it, and frequently pull a high clearance trailer with a utility ATV on it. For eco-sensitive area filming I also bring along a mountain bike that pulls a small cargo trailer, on which I strap my backpack and tripod, then just pedal out into the relative location for filming, and hike the rest of the way in.
Again, I hear you and agree - a pound saved on the equipment weight is a pound less that we have to transport. Unlike cine style (narrative, etc) or studio based hardlined EFP productions, those of us who work in mobile EFP genres don't have the luxury of large crews and easy access to shooting locations. We have to work our tails off to get out to the filming locations - but that's the reason we can take satisfaction in knowing that very few production people can get the unusually hard to get images that we shoot. To me, to you, and to anyone who works in mobile EFP, that's an important part of the mental and emotional rewards we reap for our hard work in getting the dynamic images.
Some myopic elitists who work in other higher profile motion media genres tend to look down on mobile EFP workers - but if they spent just one long day with a mobile EFP crew of planning, hiking, weathering the elements, using extreme patience, self operating the camera systems, and quickly capturing great images in natural light they'd definitely find some solid respect for how difficult the work is, and how frequently stunning the resulting images are - and that's the bottom line isn't it?
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