What do I bring on a Florida Gulf Coast vacation?

Yep, another one of these threads...

I'm staying in Venice, Florida for about a week in March with my girlfriend. I'm thinking that I want to pack on the lighter side, so as to really enjoy myself on vacation, but I am interested in taking some photos down there.

Here's what I have:

6D & T4i
17-40L
35mm f2 IS
40mm f2.8
50mm f1.4
85mm f1.8
100mm f2.8
24-105L
55-250mm STM

I'm thinking of bringing the 6D, 17-40L, 24-105L, & the 40mm pancake. The 24-105L for most everything. The pancake for low-light/weight/profile snapshootin' around town. The 17-40L for the beach, sunsets, landscapes, etc. I can pretty confidently say I won't need the 50, 85 or 100, but I'm afraid I'm going to miss my 35mm f2 IS. Maybe the 50mm f1.4 makes more sense for creative purposes. I think I can do without a flash, but I'll bring my travel tripod too. What would you bring?

Heya,

I live on the West coast of Florida, on the Gulf.

I usually enjoy wider angles and telephoto. I rarely roll anything in between.

If you're just doing shots of walking around, travel, etc, the 24-105 really will do everything you need, leave the rest at home. Otherwise, if you're more into wider angles, the 17-40 is also a good walk around, if you're more into wide angles. I wouldn't even take the 40 F2.8, that's not a low light lens by any means, the 6D's high ISO makes up for the 1 stop you get from that lens. If you really want a low light lens, take something F1.4 or F2 IS.

Very best,

Thanks for the reply! Good to get insight from someone who lives there . Good call on the 40. I think I was really just thinking the size would be nice for walking around town, but if I'm really taking photos I'd rather have the 24-105 or 35 on my camera. Otherwise I can pull the iPhone out. I think I'll bring those three (24-105/17-40/35).

Florida is a birder's paradise. Will you be wanting to shoot birds? If so, you would need a 400mm or longer, and you should put it on the T4i for its pixel density.

The Venice Rookery at Annex Rd is famous with birders. A couple hours south is Ding Darling and Little Estero, great birding places. And that's just for starters.

But I realize you never mentioned birds.

Yeah, I'm not much of a birder, but I may want to photograph some wildlife when we visit some nature preserves. I'm thinking about bringing the t4i and 55-250 to get that 400mm FoV. Thanks for the info!

chexjc wrote in post #17388953
Yeah, I'm not much of a birder, but I may want to photograph some wildlife when we visit some nature preserves. I'm thinking about bringing the t4i and 55-250 to get that 400mm FoV. Thanks for the info!

You really would need 400mm or longer on the crop. The equivalent on a FF would be 500-600mm or longer.

(Those 800s are nice.)

I live in Sarasota - if you can get up here, I suggest visiting Ringling museum... it's a wonderful photo site (inside is no flash).

I'm not familiar with the 17-40L, but if it has enough good IQ for 2-3x cropping, it should be satisfactory.

6D with the 40mm stm is all I would take. I am from Florida as well.
It is very light weight and with the ISO performance on the 6D you can go in very low light with it.
Corkscrew swamp sanctuary is a nice walk for an hour if you're close to the Fort Myers area.

Hey thanks for the advice! I am planning on at least one day spent up in Sarasota. Actually, we were looking to stay there initially but apparently they're doing some dredging of Lido Beach during our stay and I was afraid it'd end up being right in front of our hotel. That museum looks pretty cool, I will add it to the itinerary.

InfiniteDivide wrote in post #17389289
6D with the 40mm stm is all I would take. I am from Florida as well.
It is very light weight and with the ISO performance on the 6D you can go in very low light with it.
Corkscrew swamp sanctuary is a nice walk for an hour if you're close to the Fort Myers area.

I may end up bringing the 40mm regardless of what else I decide, because it's small enough to fit in a side pocket of my camera bag. I'll grab the 35mm if I'm out to take some pictures at night. If we're just headed into town for some shopping/being touristy/etc. the 40mm is a trusty lightweight lens to have. I believe we're going to fly into Fort Myers, so I'll look into the swamp sanctuary -- thanks!

I go to Venice every year with my whole family. This year I will bring 16-35, 50mm, 135mm, and 300mm. All with a 6D and 7D. You should definitely visit the Venice Rookery even if you are not a birder. The 55-250 will be Okay but not ideal. This was taken with a 70-200 and a 1.4X TC on my 7D last year.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.nekpics.com​/p226139685/e2ca9a208

'Corkscrew swamp sanctuary is a nice walk for an hour'....was in the corkscrew 3 weeks ago...had 4 hours there and wished for more, they had to run us out (which they did).

The pier by Sharky's Restaurant in Venice can be a good photo opportunity. I posted a picture that I took there a few years ago. The restaurant is good too!

MysticFalcon wrote in post #17389394
I go to Venice every year with my whole family. This year I will bring 16-35, 50mm, 135mm, and 300mm. All with a 6D and 7D. You should definitely visit the Venice Rookery even if you are not a birder. The 55-250 will be Okay but not ideal. This was taken with a 70-200 and a 1.4X TC on my 7D last year.

Awesome shot! I'm kind of on the fence about selling a couple of my lesser used primes and buying either a 70-200 or perhaps the 200mm f2.8L. I could part ways with my 40mm, 50mm, and 55-250mm. It's one of those -- the lens is worth more to me than the little cash I'd get for it situations. I will put the Venice Rookery on the list of things to check out. Thanks!

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #17389400
'Corkscrew swamp sanctuary is a nice walk for an hour'....was in the corkscrew 3 weeks ago...had 4 hours there and wished for more, they had to run us out (which they did).

Sounds like something I definitely need to check out then!

fishbio wrote in post #17389433
The pier by Sharky's Restaurant in Venice can be a good photo opportunity. I posted a picture that I took there a few years ago. The restaurant is good too!

I've heard many good things about Skarky's, so that's already in the plans. That pier looks beautiful. I want to check out the jetty as well. I wish I was a bit more into fishing! Thanks for the recommendation!

OK, I gotta dissent about Corkscrew. It is mostly a long featureless walk thru a bald-ass prairie, no trees with hardly a bird or other critter to be seen. Finally towards the end there is a swamp with trees. This is your reward. There are anhingas, night herons, wood storks, and more in the swamp area. Still, the area is not that photogenic IMO.

Corkscrew is remote and $12 to get in. If you're in the Ft Myers area, there are better opportunities - like Ding Darling or Little Estero.