Here is some of the gear that I bring on the Missions Trip.
I have the awesome opportunity to go with our church on the annual missions trip. I document the whole trip with pictures, a blog and video. (Check out the Missions trip website – real content will be available on October 6) It has been an annual trip for me, and I love it! It is truly a highlight of my year. I covet your prayers. During the trip, I will take thousands of photos, hours of video, work on daily blog posts for nvbc.org, and have the privilege to preach several times. (This year I’m supposed to preach to a small churches we support and a large public school.)
I have quite a bit of equipment I use to document the amazing work being done by our missionaries in the Philippines. I’ve accumulated quite a bit of technology/tools in the past 5 years of going on this trip. This is more or less my checklist for this year’s tech equipment. I would love to hear what you use or any suggestions. Also, follow the trip on the Missions Trip website. I would love to read your comments! Here’s my list of tech equipment for this year’s trip:
1. MacBook Pro (2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with Snow Leopard)
Aperture on MacBook Pro
- Apple Aperture - I love editing my RAW images with Aperture. I love the fact I can quickly edit my photos in full screen. Time is of an essence. Many times in the back of a jeepney or truck I’ll be editing my photos. Thank God for Aperture…I would really hate for you to see my images before I use Aperture on them.
- Adobe Photoshop – After Editing my photos in Aperture I save them as jpg. I then run a script to convert them to the right size and write the xml for my Slideshow Pro photo gallery. I also quickly edit a few other images to add to the blog page and the photo page.
- Adobe Dreamweaver – I actually do not use WordPress (like this website) for the missions website. I created it from scratch in Dreamweaver, since it will only document about 10 days of travel, this works out just fine.
- There are other programs I use along the trip, but the above software I use most frequently.
2. Nikon D200 – The D200 is a phenomenal camera. It’s quick (5 frames per second), durable (magnesium alloy body), has a large viewfinder and is an overall great camera. (Here are some photos from last year – make sure and check out this year’s when they become available)
- Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Lens – I take the majority of my photos with this lens. This is a great lens for the price. I love the shallow depth of field with this lens. It is a great overall lens.
- Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 DX Fisheye Lens – I won’t use this very often, but this is a great fisheye lens for large crowds or small rooms where I want to get everyone in the picture. You should definitely be able to tell which photos are taken with this lens.
- Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G – This is a decent lens, and I use it when I need to get closeups outside with plenty of light.
3. Panasonic HVX-200 – I’ve really enjoyed shooting video with this beast. It’s not compact at all, but takes great video. At times, my back does not appreciate this camera. I carry it in my backpack until I need to shoot video. I try not to carry to much equipment out in the open. Most of the time, I just have a camera out. I’ve been using the Panasonic to take SD video (using MiniDV tapes) the past few years, and I thought I would finally be able to shoot some HD using my new P2 Cards. However, I did not realize when I purchased the P2 Card that it doesn’t work with Snow Leopard. So, I may once again be shooting in SD…oh, well.
- Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Series Lapel Mic and Receiver – I use this to record audio for interviews.
- Panasonic P2 Card - I don’t want to talk about this. I’m still a bit bitter that I just bought it and it doesn’t work with Snow Leopard! Really though, my fault, I should have done the research before hand.
4. Apple iPhone – This will keep me company on the long flight to and from the Philippines. I’ve already preloaded it with games, music and video for the looong trip.
- Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones – Special thanks to Carl Harter, I will be in noise cancellation peace on the plane ride. Carl has graciously lended me his headphones this year. Good thing too, my Shure in-ear headphones that I usually bring were broken by one of my children during the course of this year….oops.
5. Apple iPod - I have an old iPod nano for simply playing music, so I don’t use all my battery life of my phone. This works out great when we are in the middle of nowhere and trying to sleep. I’ve been able to sleep like a baby while roosters are crowing underneath the hut and people are laughing at us (they find Americans trying to sleep on the bamboo beds quite amusing, I think) thanks to the iPod nano and my Shure headset (may they rest-in-peace).
6. Apple Airport Express – I use this to create a wireless network in my hotel room so I’m not chained to one area. This is both good and bad. Bad, because sometimes I fall asleep trying to work on the comfort of my bed. If I don’t update the website one day, you know why. If possible, I may try to broadcast a live video of the Iloilo Baptist Church with Dr. Rick Martin. I don’t know if it’s going to be possible, but I’m going to try and create a wireless network to do this.
7. Flip Mino – This year will be the first time I’ve brought this. I will use it to shoot video when I don’t have time or the energy to get the Panasonic out of my backpack.
8. There is a lot of other random things like external hard drives, extra batteries for the laptop, camera, and video camera. Also, because we break up into 2 groups at times, I will also be bringing a Nikon D100 and a Canon XL1 for the other group.
Well, I hope I didn’t bore you too much with this list. If nothing else, I have a checklist of what to bring! I once again ask for your prayers, please follow the Philippines Missions Trip online and let me know what you think!
Michael Moyer
