Lubbock, nicknamed “Hub City” for its role as an economic, educational, and healthcare center for the South Plains of Texas, is also home to a fascinating variety of photo ops, from prairie dogs and musical performances to world class wineries and museums. These require an equally wide range of photo equipment. Working solo on travel/documentary assignments, however, means a constant equipment balancing act. My pre-departure packing mantra is, “If I don’t have it, I can’t use it, but too much equipment slows me down.” So, putting small low-cost/high-production-value accessories to work is essential to success on the road.

My camera bag, in part, helps me decide what to bring. If a piece of equipment doesn’t fit in it, it stays home. For this assignment in Lubbock, I entrusted my equipment to a Think Tank Walker Pro Rolling Backpack since I anticipated photographing in both on- and off-road locations. My usual kit includes Nikon Z 8 and Z 9 camera bodies, Delkin Black cards, and Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8, Z 24-70mm f/2.8 and Z 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. I added a JJC Silicone Lens Hood, a Westcott 20" Collapsible 5-in-1 reflector, and an amaran Ace 25x Bi-Color LED Light Panel. The total cost of these three accessories is around $125, and because of their size, they are ideal for photographers like me who double as their own assistants (or occasionally ask someone on site to hold a reflector or a light).

On my first day on assignment, I photographed the late musician Buddy Holly’s iconic glasses (above), which were inside a glass display case at the Buddy Holly Center. The collapsible lens hood earned its keep that day, as it eliminated the reflections through the glass. To position the lens hood, remove the lens from the camera body and pull it up the lens from the mount to just above the focusing ring. The JJC Silicone Lens Hood fits on 73mm to 88mm lens body diameters.

I used the silicone lens hood again with the addition of the amaran Ace 25x Bi-Color LED Light Panel to photograph a pair of historic stirrups (above) at the National Ranching Heritage Center, a museum and historical park established to preserve and interpret ranching and frontier history.

Since food is an integral part of any travel story, I documented pies through a glass display case (some of which I of course later sampled) at the Cast Iron Grill (above), using the JJC LH-ARLII and light panel. I also put the light to work on an environmental portrait of pitmaster Amis Robins in the smokehouse at Evie Mae’s BBQ (below).

The amaran Ace 25x Bi-Color LED Light Panel’s ability to fine tune color temperatures to match the ambient light was vital to the success of the image. The light has a color temperature range of 2,300-to-6,500K and achieves a high color accuracy of 95 in both CRI and TLCI ratings. The included lock-to-cold shoe adapter makes the light mountable on any camera with a shoe mount, and a 1/4"-20 thread on the bottom of the fixture allows mounting on most light stands. In this case, I opted to hold it off to my left and slightly low to avoid the shadow cast from Robins’ cap. The light’s magnetic front accessory mount accepts modifiers such as the included dome diffuser, which I keep on as my default setup. A back magnetic silicone pad allows the light to be mounted on any magnetic surface. For those taking video, especially for cinematic projects, there are nine preprogrammed lighting effects: paparazzi, fireworks, lightning, faulty bulb, TV, pulsing, strobe, explosion, and fire.

Another small—albeit more expensive—final addition to my kit was a Nikkor Z Teleconverter TC-1.4x, which gave me the extra reach I needed for a photo session with Lubbock’s prairie dogs (above). I captured them on a plot of land called Prairie Dog Town, created by Lubbock business owner K.N. Clapp in 1935 in an early act of animal conservation. If this were a trip devoted to wildlife or sports, I would have gone to a bigger Think Thank bag to bring my Z 400mm f/2.8 lens and a monopod.

Over a glass of wine crafted from 100% Texas-grown grapes at the family-owned Adelphos Cellars, I reflected on my images and life on the road. Since I spend more time with the equipment I work with than with family members and friends, it’s vital that each item is not only compatible with each other, but with my shooting style.  •

Mark Edward Harris is an award-winning photographer and writer based in Los Angeles.