Studio light for outdoor macro shooting?

[peety3]

(Disclaimer: I'm not much of a macro shooter.)

As mentioned in another thread, we're heading on an Alaska cruise in August, and I'm planning out what gear to take. I hate the thought of leaving something behind that could have been useful, so my mind drifted to the idea of taking our Profoto B1 (TTL, battery-powered) studio light along for possibly some formal portraits aboard the ship. We've booked a private photo adventure in Haines (4 hours with a photographer/guide just for us) and I'm sure there'll be some macro shooting for my wife. Would the B1 be useful for macro shooting at all? I could easily take a 10-degree grid and/or a 1x3 softbox; if worthwhile I could take a "Zoom Reflector", and I might pick up a 5' octabox. It makes a beautiful, consistent light, and has a very wide power range so I'm not too worried about it being too bright compared to a flash.

I don't mind taking the light if it might get some use. However, if you folks convince me that it's ridiculous, I'll either leave it in the cabin for that excursion or leave it home altogether. Any thoughts?

[jrw]

From other posts I expect you to be taking a lot of gear with you to cover any situation that might come up. I use studio lights and battery packs when I'll be able to park close to where the location is. Having camera bodies, lenses, light modifiers, and lights can quickly become a lot of stuff to lug around. To simplify, and lighten the load, for further treks I limit myself to one bag that holds 3 lightstands, 2 folding softboxes, 2 - 64" umbrellas, 2 - 42" umbrellas, 4 flash, 1 commander, and batteries. Outdoors my most used accessories are a 42" reflector and a larger rectangular reflector. For outdoor macro shots a couple of small reflectors and possibly some diffusion material would be all I would take with me. How much equipment will you be able to carry on a photo tour and still remain mobile enough to feel that you were on a tour and not chained to one small area by the bulk of equipment? Are assistants being provided to carry your bags?
Perhaps the best thing to do would be to pack up the equipment you think you want to take on the tour and have a trial run in your neighbourhood or some other place close to home. To be honest for the last trip I was on almost all of the shots were done with just three lenses. 16-35, 24-70, and 70-200. 5D3 and 7D2 were the bodies used, mostly the 5D.

[peety3]

My general thinking is that it's a photo tour in Haines AK with a dedicated guide. The guide will have a vehicle for our tour, so I figure we can leave whatever we aren't using for a particular stop in the car. Since I plan to tip well, I don't mind asking the guide to carry a few things for us. I also plan to refine what I take down to what each of us can carry hands-free (two camera/lenses via BlackRapid Double straps, plus three lenses each via a Shootsac) plus what I can fit in a rolling duffel bag (600, tripods/monopod/heads, lightstand, softbox, light). I'm "done" with backpacks except for what I'd call "true travel" (getting gear out to my car on a normal day, or getting gear onto the ship for a cruise).

[jrw]

I suppose my short version would be "You are not crazy for wanting to take lighting equipment with you." I often squeeze a couple of flash into the bag just in case and use them often enough that I don't resent carrying them around with me.
Just be careful to not have so much gear to carry around with you that it interferes with being able to enjoy the trip you are on.