When you’re heading out for a full day of shooting, the last thing you want is a heavy camera bag. But there are a few things that I can’t work without, and they really don’t add enough weight to ruin your day. Here are 5 things I always bring along:

Multimedia Photo Viewer There are several companies who make multimedia viewers, but in my opinion, none does it better than Epson. The P-3000 (40GB), P-6000 (80GB) and P-7000 (160GB) are all high quality, relatively lightweight (1 lb each), portable display/storage/backup devices. Transferring photos (or videos) directly from your camera or card is really easy, and the 4″ screen displays both RAW and jpg images as well as slide shows. Use them to show photos to clients while shooting on location, or to move and/or back up your photos (and free up space for more shots) while touring a city, zoo or national park. They retail for around $299-$699.

Joby Gorillapods I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a big fan of tripods. They’re heavy and clunky and for the kind of photography I like to do, limiting. But sometimes you can’t get around it – you need to use a tripod for certain shots. Gorillapod to the rescue! These funky-looking gadgets are really lightweight and relatively inexpensive – $24.95 for the 1.6 oz point and shoot variety, $44.95 for the 5.8 oz SLR model – but best of all, their bendable, flexible legs can be twisted around a huge variety of things (railings, your bike, a tree branch, etc.). You can of course also leave the legs straight and use it as a regular tripod.

Homemade Flash diffuser On-camera flashes usually produce some pretty horrible results, and not everyone wants to spend money on an external flash (and take the time to perfect using it). I have found two homemade remedies that work really well:

If you have an SLR with a popup flash, try cutting a small sliver out of an old film canister (the milky white kind) and just slide it over the flash. It takes a little bit of trial and error to get the camera settings to where they need to be for the best exposure, but it is definitely an improvement over a “naked” flash.

If you have a point-and-shoot with the flash embedded in the body, put a piece of Scotch Tape over it (the hazy looking kind that you can write on), do a test shot, and see how it looks. If the flash is still too strong, put another piece of tape on top of the first one and give it another go. Continue until you like the results.

Collapsible Reflector It might seem like an unnecessary expense, but these small, lightweight disks are invaluable for adding light to the shaded part of a person or object, both indoors and out. I use the 22″ Photoflex disk in Silver/White for just about everything, but they come in several different colors. Give it a try yourself: place a person parallel to a window and take a head shot without the reflector. Then take one with your subject holding the reflector (outside of the picture of course) so that it bounces the light from the window onto the shaded side of their face, and look at the difference. If you want to do the test shots before investing, try it with a white piece of cardboard. It works just as well, but it’s not as easy to pack in a bag. Weight: 1.75 oz. (22″ Photoflex) Cost: Around $25.

Rain Protectors If you use an SLR, check out the Shutter Hat. It covers lenses up to 8″ long, fits into the camera’s hot shoe, has openings for the strap, and is held in place by Velcro strips. It’s relatively inexpensive ($39.95), weighs only 2.28 oz. and folds up tiny, so you can always have it in your bag in case of sudden inclement weather.

If you use a point and shoot, you can go with the low-cost alternative for land-only shooting: a Ziploc bag or shower cap with a hole cut out for the lens. But if you want to invest in something a bit sturdier that you can use while white water rafting, snorkeling, or getting drenched by Shamu, your best bet is an Aquapac waterproof case. The point and shoot cases (they make them for SLRs too, and pretty much everything else) come in several different sizes and cost $35.00-$55.00.