Currently updating this page. It's long overdue and as you'll see, most of the info is outdated.

Travel Tips

Airlines:

I'm the biggest fan of air travel. Of course it's not always the most cost effective way to get an assignment done. If the client is willing to fly you,
by all means do so. I'm a big fan of US Airways. Others, like Southwest, which has some nice prices are a tad sloppy in my opinion.

US Airways has a very clean fleet and the arrival/departure times are accurate (in the East). If you do settle on one airline you prefer, get in with their frequent flyer program. I know guys who are able to fly their entire family to Hawaii once a year on their miles alone. Also, a lot of airlines have credit cards that give you points. For example, I have my regular frequent flyer program number, then I have my credit card and long distance tied through it. If you book your flight with that card you get 5 extra miles per dollar. It may not sound like much, but I've been getting at least one free flight a year. And when I consider how much time I'm on the phone to New York, LA or Miami talking to clients, that's about another 2000 miles a year.

You will more than likely have to check your gear. BE SMART ABOUT THIS. Stuff gets beat up at the airport more than it does in the plane, so keep that
all in mind. I strongly suggest you don't just check your camera bag and expect to see it when you get where you are going. Lightware makes some pretty
rugged soft sided cases, but I prefer the hard cases like my Pelican 1650. It offers a lot more protection in case they put your bag at the bottom of the compartment. Something I find to be effective is packing my lens cases with gear. I have a case for my 400 AF-S, and I can fit my 15mm, 35-70mm, 24mm, N90s w/ MB-10 and at least one SB-26. If you do that you can carry it on, and if you have to check it, it will also be protected in the case. Make sure you can lock your cases.

When you get to the baggage claim, park yourself right at the exit point. Don't let a ton of people get between you and your gear.

International flights now have luggage scanned with high intensity X-ray. There are two scans, one as a rough once over and a second as a more intense
CAT scan. This is reported to be able to fog even 100 ISO films, so make sure you carry your film on the plane with you. To speed things up at the security
scanner, have your film already out of the canister. Some places will make you open each one, especially the black Kodak ones.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hotels:

I love the Marriott, but that's not always feasible. They own all the Fairfield Inns, Resident Inns, Renessance's, Courtyards... You name it. You can generally get a good room for about $89-$140 a night at one of the nicer ones. If you are going to feel guilty about charging a client for that kind of place, my favorite affordable places are the Red Roof Inn and the Comfort Inn. You'll pay between $40 and $80 for say, a Fairfield Inn. The nice thing is since you're staying at a Marriott property, you can wrack up points too. Plus Marriott's are also starting to become standard with high speed internet.

I don't trust anyone with my gear. It's insured, yes, but I still don't want to hassle with it being stolen. When I stay anywhere, my gear sleeps in the room with me. But what about when you leave? Lock everything up. Make sure that hard cases are locked, and that your soft cases are somehow difficult to open. After all that, I'll hook everything together with an 8 foot long piece of 1/4 inch thick cable. Loop it all together, then hook it around the bed frame. It will annoy the maids, but it's better than you being annoyed when $35,000 in gear is stolen.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Around the town:

Don't be obvious. The dumbest thing you can do is look like a tourist. Leave your camera in your bag. As for the bag, make it look beat up.
Lightware makes covers that you can put over your bags, that are all paint-covered and such. Why bother buying one though? I accidentally spilled a bottle of transmission fluid in my trunk, and the bottoms of all my bags got messed up. So I did it to the rest with dirt and massage oil. It caused color shifts and made the bags just look plain beat up even though they are only two years old. A nice clean bag will hint to a thief that it's new (even if it's not) and that you might have some nice shinny new cameras inside it as well. However, if it's threaded and dirty....

Putting gaffers tape over the brand name will do nothing. The LCD's on the back of the cameras are the obvious features. The bigger something is, the perceived cost is also higher. Most criminals are smarter than you are anymore. They know exactly what you have and what it's worth. In your smaller cities, like my hometown of Middletown, Ohio, they just don't even know how much a camera is. Sort of a catch 22, but it all boils down to how safe you feel with it.

Keep it in sight. If you are on a subway train standing near a door don't have the camera on the door side of your body. All they have to do is wait until about a second before the door closes, walk by, cut the strap and they are out the door. If they have to reach around you, it will slow them down just enough. But even then, they have a sharp object and you have soft flesh. You're camera isn't worth your life.

On the other hand, if you are about to be mugged, don't forget that swinging an 1D across someone's brow will cause some healthy damage to their face as well as their consciousness. It's basically a mace and chain, without the knobs. Once again though, be careful.

Something else I do that you might like is putting your gear in a regular backpack. I got a North Face backpack for Christmas, so I'll just toss a few lenses in there and go about the town. It looks more natural than a big, tan over-the-shoulder bag.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Car/Truck:

If you're going to be using your own car a lot, might I make a few suggestions? First off, buy one. There is no way you will
be able to have a lease with the amount of miles you will be putting on your car. I'm putting about 36,000 miles a year. Some of my buddies who have staff jobs are doing 45,000 a year. If you think you can get a 40,000 mile-per-year lease and pay less than a car payment, you're lucky. Of course, you could always live on an expense account and just rent cars as you need.

Now then, there are a few vehicles I strongly suggest. The VW Jetta, Nissan Xterra and Nissan Frontier crew cab (the last
two are nearly identical). I've borrowed my sister's Xterra a few times for fun and location work. It's built like an F3 and can literally
go anywhere you want. The curb weight is just under 4,000 pounds and with you and a passenger inside, you hit that mark easily.
Even with all that weight, it still has enough power to get all four wheels off the ground when you are off-roading. It is designed and marketed to compete in the same class as the RAV4 and CR-V but it's larger than a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and it's about two-third's the price. It's a great SUV, and it's designed like the Frontier, which is just as awesome. The only difference between the two is that one is totally covered. The interior of the Xterra also has these ultra handy cargo clips for you to secure gear to. But it's also a tank. It's tough to fight downtown rush-hour traffic if you are aggressive like me. The Jetta, however, is nimble. I just bought a 2003 GLI. Unlike the Xterra, it's excellent on gas and it can weave between buses as easily as bike couriers. The trunk is outrageously huge. You can fit three small children in there . . . Kidding. But I can fit a Pelican 1650 case, two Lightware cases, three Domke J2 bags, a computer case, lens cases, light stands and a small backpack with clothes. It has a really big trunk. Gas mileage is about 28-34 mpg highway depending on which engine you want. Or you can go with the TDI and get a whooping 60+ MPG on the highway. Really great cars, all three of them.

RENTING: All rental lots carry weekend specials from time to time. Do your research. Budget isn't too shabby, and they have the
Ford Ranger for $20 a day. The problem is, it's a bait-and-switch scam. They only seem to carry 4-6 per lot, so you are forced to upgrade to an
Explorer.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

BEEF JERKY:

No car ride is complete without it.