Brisbane Story Bridge Climb - Photographic Tour

[PhotoByTrace]

Hi all,
I got a gift certificate for the Story Bridge Climb Photographic tour for Christmas. Today the information package arrived and I was dismayed to find that my camera is all I can take. I guess I hadn't given it much thought, but no filters, no tripods/gorillapods, hoods, not even your lens cap can be taken up onto the bridge. Nothing that isn't secured to your camera which will be then fastened to your body. As I understand it, a screw-on filter is permitted, but cannot be removed. The climb starts at 5pm and takes around 3 hours, but I think a fair chunk of that at the start is decking us out in the climb suits. So I imagine I'll have photo opportunities up on the bridge from around 6pm to 7:30pm. Sunset that day is at 6:47pm and 7:13pm is last light.
Has anyone done this climb before and have any advice?
Anybody else with tips for shooting hand-held and filterless at that time of the afternoon/evening, other than increase the ISO to reduce shutter speed to get around my not so stable hands. I'll be taking my D90 with an 18-200mm lens, even though I'd really prefer to have a faster lens, I don't think either of my primes (50 or 85) are wide enough. And the zoom will give me a bit more flexibility and has VR.
Any advice welcomed!

[Rob Douglas]

If you have an in camera setting for noise reduction turn it off. You will get sharper images at higher ISO and have more control in PP for noise reduction if needed. Don't be afraid to bump up the ISO to get a better shutter speed and expose 1/3 -1/2 stop to the right. It's easier to develop noise in an underexposed shot. Just keep an eye on your light and it's direction and avoid shots directly into the sun or with bad shadow areas. Oh yeah, take LOTS of pictures. Good luck, I can't wait to see your post when you return.

[FrankMi]

See if you can talk to someone that has done this tour and find out what worked well for them and why. I think I'd be very tempted to take the best point & shoot I could get my hands on as they usually have bigger range of wide to telephoto shots without swapping lenses.

[PhotoByTrace]

Thanks Frank, I hadn't given that any thought really. And I do have a good point & shoot in the Canon S90. Though it still only gives me 28-105mm equivalent and the small sensor on the p&s will perform more poorly in low light than my dslr. A downside of the s90 is that it sucks its battery power very quickly, so I only get about 200 shots and I can't take the spare. So after considering it, I really don't think this would be a better option for me. Thanks for sharing your thinking though!

[FrankMi]

I guess I was thinking of more like the 36-432mm my Sony has.

[PhotoByTrace]

Yes, fair enough... sorry I assumed you were referring to a compact rather than the "super zoom" sized class. I'd still be concerned with low light performance and am probably more interested in the wide end than the tele end... but I think versatility is the key. A super zoom p&s may well give that, especially those with full manual controls. But I don't have access to one and think if I was borrowing or hiring other gear I probably should look to go up sensor size rather than down given this specific task. But thanks for jumping in and getting me to think a bit outside of my usual box LOL!