Nervous about bringing DSLR

[Chikabowa]

I've checked out some of your pictures...GORGEOUS! My question is this....do you go with little kids?

I take all my gear + little kids. I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old.

While walking around I hang my camera bag off the back handles of the stroller. That helps a lot in terms of carrying stuff around all day. Plus I can just grab it quick off the handle bars and take it with me into a shop or a ride (for the record, we have a BOB stroller, so it can handle the extra weight like a champ). DH and I will also take turns carrying the bag if necessary.

I take a good portion of my kit with me to Florida, but I pack and re-pack my bag daily depending on what we are doing/seeing.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'm sure I can give you some other advice about little kids plus lots of camera stuff. I've always traveled with a large kit so it would be weird for me to NOT have it with me. It would feel like I'm walking around without pants or something like that! One thing that I do have is a very patient and understanding DH. He realizes that his wife is insane and no amount of complaining or eye rolling will turn me sane. So now he just rolls with it and actually enjoys it!

 

[2Tiggies]

Regarding the kids, I see from your signature that they are 6 and 4. They would probably enjoy taking some photos themselves, if you are worried that they may begrudge you for stopping. When my DD was 6 she was already showing signs of getting as bad as me to stop and take photos. In fact, by the last trip a few months ago (she is now 8) she was worse than me - I'm sure of it. Children take some really interesting photos, particularly as their eye level is different to ours.

 

[Groucho]

I take all my gear + little kids. I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old.

While walking around I hang my camera bag off the back handles of the stroller. That helps a lot in terms of carrying stuff around all day. Plus I can just grab it quick off the handle bars and take it with me into a shop or a ride (for the record, we have a BOB stroller, so it can handle the extra weight like a champ). DH and I will also take turns carrying the bag if necessary.

Ditto - except that I don't get to pawn my bag off on my wife. (Except for rare times when we need to leave the stroller and I'm off doing something like changing a diaper.) Hanging the bag off the stroller is very handy. When I am solo and carrying the bag the whole time, it gets a lot heavier! I've got a 5-year-old and 1-year-old, for reference.

Straps help, too. I have an Op/Tech SOS Strap on my camera bag, which is wider and stretchier than the original one. If you (the OP) are still using the strap that came with the camera, you may want to invest $20 or so into an Op/Tech Pro strap - this is a big improvement over the OEM strap. You'll see the Photopass guys using them sometimes. I often see DSLR (and regular camera) users at Disney carrying their cameras by holding them by the neck strap - almost certainly because those straps are killing them! The BlackRapid R-Straps are picking up popularity but are very expensive (almost $60!)

In terms of gear - I'd say, bring your best stuff. Your fast-focusing DSLR body, your sharpest lenses - you don't want to be missing shots because the D50 can't keep up with the D90 (or have the low-light ability) or to think that your photos are worse than they could be if you used another lens that you left behind.

Some people carry around the external flash a lot... but I haven't used mine a single time on my current trip (which is on day 11 now.) There's only been once or twice that I would have wanted it (for fill light or off-camera use), and that's mainly for off-camera stuff. Your D90 should do well enough in low light to not need it too much.

One other thing I do is use a lens pouch that attaches to my belt to hold one or two (small) of my often-used lenses. This helps distribute the weight. I have two but I don't think my wife will be seen with me if I wear both, so I usually just have one. Of course, women don't always have such an option - I frequently lament that my wife has limited carrying ability since women's pants so often don't have pockets or get worn with a belt.

 

[boBQuincy]

We don't have children but about once a year we travel with some friends and their two girls (they call us their "FairyGodParents"). These are not the "photo trips" as much as our adult or solo trips but even on children trips we still get some photo time, we just have to be fairly quick at it before the family gets too far ahead.

We tend to pack light while in the parks and limit it to what will fit in the $4M home, usually one lens and maybe a small flash or sometimes two lenses (I don't have anything larger than 70-200 f/4). If I miss a photo opportunity because I don't have the right lens with me, well that's what tomorrow or the next trip is for. Plus DW is usually there with her Xsi and a medium range zoom so we miss very little.

Overall we would rather carry less than lug something around in the heat all day that we might use 1% of the time. One of the most interesting things about photography is that there are so many different philosophies on how to do it.

 

[Kphoto]

LOL, my family has a rule - I can only bring point & shoot cameras on family trips. Now that I live close to WDW I can spend as much time as I like wandering through the parks with my good camera.

Karen