Traveling out of the country can be an unnerving experience. If you forget an accessory going to a local park, it is easy go back home and get it. However, traveling thousands of miles away from home is a totally different experience. You have to make sure you have everthing you need with you. BUT, since traveling abroad means there are weight restrictions, there is a matter of choosing the most critical component you can bring on a trip. I have my gear ready a week in advance but I nearly forgot about the tripod! Luckily, I was able to squeeze it inside one of my fully loaded bags by removing the head to make it a bit shorter.
My photo travel bag is a backpack by Lowepro called the Rover AW II. It is small enough to carry everywhere yet big enough to carry a couple of lenses and other accessories including a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR. This bag has a removable division separating the top and bottom. The bottom houses all the camera gear and the top can accommodate anything like food, books or extra clothes. Since this trip of mine is primarily to see my son back home, I have a video camera on the bottom section and the D50 is on the top section which I find easier to access. The nice thing about most Lowepro bags is that those designated as AW has an “all weather” cover built into it, usually hidden on the bottom. It saved my gear once when I got caught in a sudden shower storm while shooting egrets in Kings Park. I was drenched because I had to walk 20mins towards the car but my gear remained dry. This bag costs about $140 in B&H but I got mine in the used section for significantly less.
More about my trip tomorrow.
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About the photo:
This is a photo shot last August during the 2007 Metro NY Hot Air Balloon Festival. I was testing the newly acquired Sigma 50-500mm lens back then.
This is part of the Boston / Massachusetts series and many more to come. One of the first things I noticed when we got to Massachusetts is that the population are way younger than us and a lot of them are running and have great physique. Suddenly, I felt so old, like time just went like a blur. I tried sucking my stomach in but to no avail.
I converted this image using two methods. On top is entirely done in Lightroom using grayscale mix and split toning. On the bottom is through Photoshop using the Gormon-Holbert Conversion Method.
Nothing much to do recently, just a lot of work. Getting cold here in Long Island and trees are losing their colors. Time to post old images. This one was taken in Boston. The best time to take IR shots is if the sun is out and shining brightly. The bad thing is, I hate heat and shooting IR is a lot of work and patience unless you have an IR converted camera.
I spent nearly two hours in Borders yesterday, reviewing a couple of books. I focused on one in particular which is Scott Kelby’s new book, 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3. All I can say for now is that it looks very useful if you want to improve your post processing part of your photography. I will get my own copy when I get back from my trip to the Philippines.
Does anybody own this book? Please leave your insights by clicking on comments below.
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About the image:
Another Vincent Versace inspired photograph which I shot yesterday. I should have used the tripod but I got lazy so I had to bump up the ISO to 400 to get a decent image. Hastily processed as usual because I can’t find myself working on one image for hours but I really should, for now anyway, to hone my skills.
I love spending time with nature. This week, in fact, I spent more time outside instead of being in front of the computer. Although I had my camera with me, I did not take a lot of pictures but just walked around and enjoyed the scenery.
This image was taken with the iphone and directly sent to Flickr through email. What nice feature to have — as long as there is a signal which I lose half of the time in this place. It doesn’t really portray what I saw with my own eyes though, which is very saturated with golden yellows all around me. But still, this makes me capable of sharing my day to friends and viewers. What wonderful technology we have now!
I’ve been a Nokiaddict ever since I got the 2010. This is the first time I switched and liked it. Sorry Nokia but Apple just hit the spot on the iPhone. Minimalist can be a good thing and one of the strongest points of the iPhone but it can also be a bad thing as well.
I like the simple design of the hardware and the structure of the software. The overall performance (voice, internet, etc) is very good and even the keyboard is easy and convenient to use. Watching movies is a blast! (yeah, I can convert normal movies to iPod standards (thank to our own video store. lol!)) I watched Dead Silence last night and even with just 2 channels of the earphones can make the experience hair raising!
As a photographer, using the iPhone as a usable viewer is important and in this regard, the iPhone is great! Watch Chris from Tips From The Top Floor demonstrate it. (He uses an iPod Touch but it is the same concept.)
But, as I’ve said, minimalism can be a bad trait too. Take the camera for example, images taken by the built-in camera cannot be sent via bluetooth or sms. The button is awkwardly placed — I wish you can touch any part of the screen to shoot. No cut and paste for text! Definitely not a blueberry alternative. Oh, and, what’s with the sissy ringtones?
Granted I can find a couple of faults for the iPhone (what phone doesn’t have them?), they are not really major in my opinion, just minor annoyances. My overall positive impression far outweighs the negatives. I think new functions could be added through firmware revisions if Apple decides to be generous.
Take this with a grain of salt. Our individual objectives vary. Case in point, I’m a podcast addict. I watch and listen to a lot of them through my computer. I wish I could watch or listen to them everywhere (especially on a train to Penn Station). I could have bought an iPod for that purpose but this is much better since both phone and media player are integrated.
I can surf the net now and find directions through google maps. Yeah I could do that on my previous Nokia phones but having just a keyboard to navigate is really ackward. It just much better with the iPhone. The screen works like a charm. Trust me on that!
I love how easy it is to find and connect to wi-fi networks. Granted they are not password protected, just a click of a button instantly connects online at a much faster rate than using a slow poke but still (usually) useable Edge network.
Now that the price is lower than initial release, I would recommend it.
PS: I’ve been wanting a Nokia N95 for so long but the $700 price tag just turns me off completely.
Comments and suggestions are welcome. Please click on the word Comments below.
