What to bring into a disaster zone

By Nico — October 27, 2009 | 5 comments

When the next natural disaster hits, I’ll be traveling there to photograph, film and document the story. This is the gear I’m bringing to do it.

My job is to go to the places the news media can’t afford to, and to tell the survival stories of those on the receiving end of climate change and natural disaster. I’ll be reporting independently, while working alongside the Inside Disaster documentary crew as they film the Red Cross FACT team in the disaster zone.

With this job, I find myself in the shoes of the reporters I passionately followed (and sometimes was able to meet) during my years of travel and filmmaking: Canadians like Paul Watson and Robert Young Pelton, and modern “SoJo’s” like Kevin Sites. Many of them didn’t have the technology I have access to today, as I take my turn recording stories of human resilience.

So what are the essential tools I am going to use, and how will they fit in my backpack?

In the aftermath of the next flood, typhoon, or earthquake, I will be shooting video, taking stills and writing blogs which I will upload to this website every night via satellite modem.

Since I could end up working anywhere in the world, the packing list and choice of equipment is crucial. I have to find a way to have the best footage, sound, and picture quality, but without packing a full film studio.

So here is what I packed last week, when we thought we were going to Indonesia:

THE CAMERA: Panasonic GH1

Because of the conditions I’ll be working in and the fact that I’ll be working alone, I won’t be able to carry a big heavy video camera, along with an SLR camera and a collection of lenses. I can’t picture myself trying to switch lenses and reload a tape in my 6 kg video camera while swimming in a flood.

I’ll find myself in places where the local police and military will confiscate my gear if I look like a walking Hollywood production set. Ideally, I would like to look like a common tourist who happens to take a few pictures with his small, cheap camera.

The GH1 looks like a small SLR camera, but there is much more to it! This is an SLR camera capable of shooting true HD video (1080/60I) as well as taking stills (12 mega pixels). It comes with a lens that goes from 28 to 280mm. This “hybrid” system is the latest technological breakthrough and this is just what I need.

With such a small camera I can jump, run, swim, surf, crawl or fly anywhere and be very discreet and unobtrusive in the way I work and approach people (I hate to have to shove my lens in peoples’ faces).

It was easy to get a small waterproof case for the GH1, and it only takes me a minute to get the camera in it when needed. Total freedom!

EDITING AND DATA MANAGEMENT: MacBookPro and Lacie Rugged Drives

Because the GH1 uses memory cards, at the end of the day I can upload my footage and pictures to my laptop to edit the material. My last Powerbook made it through 6 months in the Amazon rainforest and came back to the studio intact, so I’m sticking with Mac for this trip. With the new MacBookPro, I have enough power to edit, color correct and encode video in the field, all while working in Photoshop and other applications.

To backup the data, I’ll use the Lacie “rugged” drives. They don’t take up much space in the backpack, and will allow me to store up to 1000 Gigs of data.

INTERNET: BGAN SATELLITE MODEM

Once my masterpiece is edited and encoded, I’ll hook my laptop up to the satellite modem and beam it at 400k/s to the server in Toronto to be uploaded to this website. All I have to do is point to the satellite in the sky from wherever I am (easy said).

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Tags: Featured Gear Geotag Logistics Nicolas Jolliet Satellite Technology