Taking Photos at Burning Man
I took a bunch of great burning man shots in 2004 with my trusty $1500 digital SLR camera. If you're into taking photos, here are some issues you should think through as well as a list of things you should bring.
Note that you should only bring prime lenses; forget bringing anything with a telephoto zoom as it will never work the same afterwards as dust gets in and clogs the zoom mechanism.
Wesley's Self Portrait on the Playa
- Trusty digital SLR camera (Note your camera will never be the same, the dust on the playa is evil and gets into every nook and cranny of your camera. It took me 5 hrs after burning man to clean my Canon EOS-10D out and I wasn't able to get everything out.)
- Wide Angle Lens (I usually bring my 24mm f/2.8 lens)
- Medium Zoom Lens (I usually bring my 50mm f/1.8 lens)
- UV Haze Filters for your lenses (if you don't have these already, get some. Spend the $30 to get filters to keep your expensive lens from getting scratched up)
- Lens Caps (both ends, keep these on at all times when you're not using the camera)
- Light Weight Tripod (Using a flash is lame as you have so many "light up" displays at night where a flash would ruin the scene. You'll need a tripod you can carry around the playa easily)
- Padded Camera Bag or Backpack (to protect your camera and lenses when you drop them)
- Lots of heavy-duty zip lock bags (you want to keep a much of the dust out as possible, so every time you put your camera and lens back into your bag, you should zip-lock your stuff up first. It's extremely inconvenient but very necessary given all the dust on the playa)
- Moist Lens Paper Towlettes (you can buy this at your local camera store. You'll need this to wipe the dust off your lens and camera)
- CCD Cleaning Fluid and Swabs (dust will almost certainly get into your camera and on your CCD. The swabs you need to clean them off are expensive but you will be really be upset when you see black blobs on your photos caused by dust and figure out that there is no easy way to get them off.)
I'll be posting more thoughts and updating this list at http://www.weschan.com/burningman.html.
