After getting over the shock over such a bonehead move, I began to think of it as a blessing in disguise. I had loaded the bag as if I were hunting for bear, with practically every bit of kit stuffed into the backpack. There was hardly any space not being used in that bag and I could feel it as I tried to heft it onto my back. But as I got back on the road, I wondered whether I would really be able to do much with just a single lens.

When I arrived in Cambria to meet the rest of the photographers, I realized I wouldn't have to. There were other Canon shooters there and Mike who led the workshop had a Tamron 180mm Macro lens that he offered me to use. Once I attached the lens to my camera, it rarely came off.

Though I normally would work with an extreme range of lenses from 11mm up to 300mm, I was now just working with a single lens, which really allowed me to focus on more specific subject matter for the bulk of the trip. Very quickly, I took on the challenge of trying to make beautiful images using just this single focal length by primarily focusing on the quality of the light.

Having just written a book on the topic of available light, it was a perfect opportunity to put my money where my mouth is.

I don't make macro work a big part of my photographic process, but I quickly found myself really exploring how the light revealed the various subjects that were around me. I didn't merely want to just document the subjects, but I wanted to reveal them in that special way that can only occur when one is sensitive to light. Under lackluster light, these same subjects would appear flat and uninteresting, but under the right light there could be something magical about them.

As I continued to shoot, I quickly realized that by working so simply, I wasn't burdening my body with the weight of all that camera equipment. I was able to maneuver the trails and the beaches in a way that would have otherwise been quite the challenge, especially considering I've been spending far too much time as a keyboard jockey.

Not having a full assortment of gear certainly reduced the possibility of making certain types of images, but I actually came to enjoy focusing my vision on a smaller range of subject matter. I paid attention to some the smallest and almost incidental elements in a scene and truly examining how I could reveal it within the frame. It invigorated and challenged me in a way that I don't think would have occurred otherwise.

Like many photographers who have accumulated equipment over the years, I often think of the photo opportunities that I would miss if I didn't have a piece of gear, but I was not so quick to think about what I could miss by taking too much. Had I been burdened with the weight of all that equipment, I would have been exhausted prematurely, making those 5 am wake-up calls more difficult than they already were.

Though leaving my equipment behind is a mistake I'll never make again, in this situation it really provided me a wonderful opportunity as a photographer. I was able to emphasize how I saw the world rather than the equipment I used to photograph it.

© Ibarionex Perello

Ibarionex Perello is a photographer, writer and editor and author of Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography Using Available Light from Peachpit Press. He is also the host and producer of The Candid Frame, a bi-weekly interview show, which features conversations with established and emerging photographers.