Wind, water and sand....

So you just signed up for one of Adam Schallau's photo adventures on the Colorado River? Awesome! It will be an experience that you'll remember and talk about forever! You've probably glanced over the official guide Adam sends out. And if you're like most of us in 2025, at some point you searched YouTube for 'what to bring' videos. Even I have done this, and I've been down the river a couple of times already. You likely saw advice like 'bring a wide variety of different lenses!' and 'pack for all sorts of weather!' Well-meaning, but not terribly helpful given the somewhat intimidating limits on how much you can bring.

Planning (what I call the 'logistics') for a long photo trip through the Grand Canyon is a challenge. For one thing, the weather can be, and likely will be, quite variable....from cold to hot to windy to wet...so you'll need to be prepared for a little of everything. And although it would be wonderful to bring every camera, lens and tripod you've ever owned, some tough choices will have to be made before you zip those way-too-small bags.

Can you pack 14 days of clothing in a standard gym bag? Of course not. But what you can do is pack for 3 or 4 days, and then rinse or wash things in the river. (I bring a small bottle of organic soap. It seems to get everything just clean enough.) My experience with clothing is that variety is more important than quantity. Socks, underwear and T-shirts can be washed and worn again. "Average" river weather in late spring is warm, breezy and dry. But on a 14 day trip there is bound to be at least one good storm system or cold front which will push conditions well outside the norms....so a layer or two of long underwear and at least one warm fleece is a good thing to stash in the bottom of the bag. On the upside- those 'problem' weather days will likely bring the most interesting skies and could make for some of your best shots.

How about camera gear? You'll have one 'boat camera' and one 'shore/hiking camera'. I use a smaller Fuji mirrorless(set to a higher ISO and Image Stabilization) for hand-held shots while on the river. You tend to get about 4 or 5 minutes of calm, dry 'shooting conditions' on the river between rapids. You'll quickly learn to have your gear stashed and secured before you hit the rapids....this becomes a bit of an art. For my hiking camera I use a larger Fuji medium format. The cameras use the same batteries (helpful) but of course different lenses. Which lenses to leave home may be the most difficult choice of the whole trip! I bring a couple of zoom lenses with each camera, covering mainly wide to normal ranges, with just one longer lens. Having said that, the image I chose to illustrate this blog was taken using a lens I had to borrow from Adam! But my experience is that some of the coolest locations in the canyon are narrow slots and side canyons where a very wide lens is critical.

Unless you're like the guy a few years ago that used a 4x5 field camera, you'll probably be bringing digital cameras which obviously require batteries. In his notes, Adam estimates that most shooters use about 1 battery per camera per day. Personally I've found that I use fewer....but I'm an old film guy (ask me about my Pentax 6x7!) and tend to be pretty conservative, and rarely use auto-bracketing. None the less, your choice ranges from bringing dozens of batteries....to bringing just a couple batteries and recharging them using power banks. I fall somewhere in the middle: I have a handful of batteries in each of my camera bags, but also bring 2 or 3 power banks and a USB charger to recharge batteries (and also headlamps, etc.) in the evenings. On my last two trips I finished the trip with unused batteries! Obviously at the end of the day your gear will be influenced by your own shooting style. I'm not really a 'gear' guy, but planning for these trips becomes part of the fun.

A couple final thoughts.... If you've never done this sort of thing before you might be intimidated by the prospect of 14 days on the river without indoor plumbing (or any plumbing, for that matter) or electricity. For me, these concerns disappeared after a couple days. We're all in the same boat (sorry!) when it comes to such matters as bathing or just using the john. It turns out to be easier than expected. The boatmen (and women) are patient, understanding, and have heard and seen it all.

And neither last nor least- the main features of the Grand Canyon are water, sand and wind. As a photographer, you will expend much effort trying to avoid water, sand and wind! Or at least, keeping them out of your stuff. This is actually a big deal. After two trips I have learned, in particular, to pay a lot of attention to sand. I change lenses only when necessary and only when safe...and I reseal all of my camera bags as quickly as possible even when it seems calm and quiet. Sand is pernicious and will try to get into everything, including your hair, your ears and your camera bags! I bring a small plastic wisk broom to brush away as much sand as possible around camp. When you get home you'll find sand in all of your clothing and gear, despite your best efforts. Adam mentions this in his notes, but you might want to bring a small dust blower and even a sensor cleaning kit, just in case.

These are just a few thoughts after a couple of photo trips through the Grand Canyon. Of course Adam's official guide is the final authority and is exhaustively detailed (hats, sunscreen, carabiners!) Also it has the wisdom of many more years of learning and making mistakes. He and Sally, along with the crew, are awesome and have handled almost every sort of crisis (photographic, medical and otherwise) over the years. Hopefully your float will go absolutely smoothly, but even if there are some unforeseen challenges, it will be a bucket-list experience.

Grand Canyon image taken using a borrowed lens!