I'm finally ready to invest. Would love someone to look over my plan and give some advice.

Not a pro. I'm a hobbyist with similar equipment and been shooting seriously as an amateur since 2004.

You look like you have a well thought out kit and know what you want to do.

I have a Nikon D300 with grip, 2xSB700, 1SB800 and 1 Yong Nuo flash.

I would make the following suggestions:

1. Consider buying Nikon or Metz flashes. Maybe more expensive now, but will last you longer in the long run. YN flashes are notoriously unreliable. I have one and it's pretty cheap. I have it around for a 4th light or as a kicker light.

2. I have a separate bag for my 3 lightstands. Generic one from a camera shop. I thing a snowboard bag or short ski bag would suit the bill for the lightstands. Impossible to find a backpack that would carry all your camera and lighting gear, tripod and lightstands in one package.

If I'm shooting with lightstands, it means I'm bringing my modifiers (light boxes and umbrellas) - they go into my lightstand grip bag. The flashes go into a shoulder bag and my camera and lenses go into backpack. I suppose I could consolidate my lights and camera into a rolling suitcase camera carrier.

Honestly though, if you plan to travel with lights, ditch the light stands and bring some Manfrotto Super clamps, Nano clamps or Justin Spring Clamps. Easier to carry and setup then lightstands.

Don't underestimate how heavy this stuff is. Might be okay for a couple of hours, but carrying it for a day or a week is going to really drain you.

3. Consider buying a vertical battery grip. Not necessarily for battery life, but will improve the ergonomics of your camera and make it easier to shoot in portrait orientation. I was surprised at how much more I shot in portrait orientation after I got my grip.

Hope this helps!

Happy shooting

Forgot to add.

Read bythom.com and his article on buying a tripod. A tripod can last you for the rest of your shooting career. Maybe best to spend the money at the beginning vs constantly upgrading.

I'm happy with my 190xprob and Manfrotto ballhead for what I shoot...but really serious shooters have carbon fibre Gitzo tripods and ballheads with Arca-Swiss plates for the ultimate in stability.

That's a very sound plan, I don't have much to add. I can comment on carrying lightstands using public transport. I carry two lighstands and a collapsible reflector as well as umbrellas. I carry the lightstands in the bags in which they were sold. You can easily fit umbrellas into these bags which is why I chose them over oth er modifiers. I also carry my camera, some lenses and the flashes etc. This fits into my backpack.

This is the absolute maximum that I would carry that way, backpack and two largish shoulder bags. You become an obstacle and get caught on seats etc. It is manageable though. With three light stands? Would be too much for me. If you opt for the snowboard bag you might lose the backpack. It might be possible but it certainly streches the limits. Superclamps or Justin clamps are a way better solution while losing some flexibility.

You know more than I do, but as I understand it, event photography is about dimly lit environments and catching the moment. Given that, I like that you're focused on a fast lens. You might be able to get in to a faster prime lens, too.

I'm really curious why you're doing so much off-camera flash, though. For example, when you're in a pit at a concert they don't allow flashes at all, do they?

If you're going to focus on events and nature, you can skip the flashes, stands, reflectors, diffusers, flters...

Except a tripod, for nature stuff that's vital. I started with a modest metal Manfroto and ballhead. I'm doing travel photography more these days so it's carbon-fiber or nothing.

I think you've got a great gear list here. I wish I had started out the same way.

The Yongnuo flashes are a good choice as long as you realize they MAY be less reliable. It was a chance I was willing to take based on the price difference.

I'll echo everyone else and say get the absolute best tripod you can afford. I went through 3 shitty ones before growing a brain and buying a good Manfrotto.

As someone else mentioned, look into superclamps, bungee cords, and a roll or two of gaffers tape. Really handy for mounting flashes and modifiers and. Much more portable than light stands. Gaffers tape is handy for tons of stuff.

Not sure what your post processing and computer situation is but a good backup solution will save you a lot of headaches. Whether you use cloud storage or a portable hard drive that you store off site make sure you have COPIES of your work. If you store it somewhere and then delete the other copy that isn't a backup anymore.

Have fun and enjoy your new gear!

I have no specific advice, but I wish you good luck and it's nice to see someone doing their homework.

This seems like a pretty comprehensive kit, but I'm not sure I understand why you're buying a lot of it. The lightstands and extra strobes are great for large scale posed shoots, but will be incredibly difficult to manage or set up at an event. What's your expected use for those? (same for diffusers and reflectors)

On Batteries: Don't forget to budget a couple hundred bucks for a LOT of Eneloops (I'd want at least 8 per strobe and four per radio controller, so that's 8x4+4x2=40 eneloops minimum) and a charger that can charge 8-16 of them at once. Also, if you do a lot of event shooting, two spare batteries won't cut it, especially if you have two shoots back to back. I'd go with at least three spares and a spare charger so you can charge two at once.

On SD Cards: If you're going to do a lot of serious shooting, it's worth investing in higher speed UHS1 cards. I believe the D610 is UHS1 capable at ~50MB/sec, and if you buy a USB3 reader you can get higher speeds transferring to PC. You just missed out on Sony's sale for their 94MB/s cards, which I highly recommend. Transferring 30GB of photos to your PC in 5min is way better than taking 25min to transfer them, even if you don't care about the slightly faster write speed in camera.

On ND Filters: Unless you are shooting video at 180 degree shutter, you won't ever need an ND filter at f/2.8. I shoot f/2.8 at 1/1000 to 1/2000s at iso400 to 800 all the time in the day, if it's not super sunny I'll often need to crank my iso up even more at f/2.8 to get a high shutter speed. ND filters are for filming at 1/60 or shooting at f/1.4 with a ton of sunlight.

On Yongnuo: I've shot well over 10k images on my 568EX and well over 20k on my 560II. Even my Neewer TT560's (cheaper knockoffs than Yongnuo) have been rock solid reliable, aside from feeling a bit lower quality. I would NEVER buy a Nikon/Canon strobe when I can buy 3-10 Yongnuo's for the same price, honestly I don't understand how Canon still makes money selling strobes. A couple posters have said Yongnuo's aren't reliable but if you continue spending time reading forums and reviews this doesn't seem to bear out in reality - the big difference is if a Canon strobe goes bad, you're more likely to get it repaired.

Transportation: I have a big square duffel bag that fits a ton of stuff. On some shoots I'll put my camera gear inside with a sling and just wear the duffel like a backpack, on bigger shoots I'll wear my camera gear backpack and just carry the duffel. Bonus, the "core" gear (stands, lights, extension cords, duct tape, etc.) always sits in the duffel in the closet. Alternatively a good 85L backpack that has side/front access (not just top access) can work no problem.

Now That You Have Gear: Don't forget that if you're using this stuff to shoot professionally, it may not be covered by your home insurance policy. You should budget for insurance. Don't forget to budget for cloud backups, storage, editing computer, calibration devices, etc.

Good luck dude!

Have you considered a trigger + flash that can handle HSS, instead of using ND filters?

IMO good choice on the camera and lens for the budget. I've been using a D600 and the older 28-70mm 2.8 and it works great for concerts. The autofocus could be better (especially since it is courteous to turn your AF Assist OFF for concerts) but it hasn't impeded me.

This focal range works great for on stage and in the pit, which it looks like you have access to. Any further than right in front of the stage and it starts getting too wide. Had this problem problem once when the venue decided not to provide a pit for one show without telling anyone, I had to shoot from way off to the side. The resolution of the D600 and sharpness of the 28-70mm still let me get usable shots after cropping but I wish I had known in advance to bring a longer lens.

Here's one of my favorite shots with the D600/28-70mm combo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/108947704@N02/11499487993/lightbox/

This looks alike a solid setup to me. The increased ISO performance of the D610 will make a marked difference in your photography since that is gig/concert's photography main problem (lack of light, that is). F2.8 is pretty decent for now, but you may eventually want to invest in a faster prime, depending on what focal length you find yourself using most (so hold of for now).

I also second meh109's suggestion on getting an original Nikon flash as your main light instead of the YN. The YN ones are excellent value for money so you may still get the secondary ones from them, but for reliability get a Nikon one.

Re point 5 on the Hoya NDx4. I am not well versed on ND filters since I hardly use them, but 2 stops seems like a minor difference, so the NDx4 is a decent choice.

Tripods, get something decent even if it costs a lot of money. I've had like 4 tripods now and all are broken or really shit in windy weather, because I payed less than £50 for all of them. I still haven't bought a new one but my next one is definitely going to be a decent one for a bit more money. So probably buy something decent (Manfrotto or the likes) from the start if you got the money to avoid having to pay the same amount twice.

I would check out the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC, It's about $500 cheaper, it might have some slightly darker corners, but it's a great piece of glass thats almost as sharp as the canon opposite. Then invest that $500 into a good 35mm, 50mm or 85mm. I would go 85 if I was you, you wanna have an extra piece of glass. I have the Tamron 70-200mm vc and it's a great piece of glass, barley a difference to the L counterpart.

Something to consider- the 24-70 2.8 is 1800 dollars+.

Nikon also has a 28-70 2.8 for ~1000

and a 35-70 2.8 for ~4-500.

Perhaps you could use up to $1300 for something else? 2 extra stops of light from a 50mm 1.4 could mean a lot (that's 4x the light than a 2.8).

Personally, I purchase gear through necessity; I only upgrade when I find that my skills fall short due to a technicality (for example, ISO from a full frame compared to crop).

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