[WesternGuy]

....question from another thread...

If it's not too tangential to this thread, do you have any tips for photography in the Galapagos as you mention your visits there? I leave for Ecuador and Galapagos next Saturday (24th). Polariser perhaps? Zoom/landscape? Light and so forth? Travel photography almost worth another thread - would you care to start one? Maybe there is one already. I'll be hanging on your thoughts on that!

Cheers, Jeff

Rather than hijack another thread, I thought it might be appropriate to start a new one with a travel and equipment theme where folks could post images on travel , or ask questions about travel and equipment...so in reply to a question that Jeff asked me about Galapagos travel in another thread...

As far as the Galapagos, I checked my Lightroom images as selective filtering let's you see exactly what lenses you used and how many shots you took with it - I just love that Library module. Anyway, I took the following lenses with me (all Canon), 24-105, 70-200, 100-400 and the 100mm macro. I used them all, but over two-thirds of the images were taken with the 70-200. You are never really very far from the wildlife, so the 70-200 was suitable for most images. The 24-105 was used at the 24mm end for scenics, mostly sunset images. The 100-400 was used for birds in flight and some for wildlife where I couldn't get close enough with the 70-200. The 100mm macro was used for...macro! I also took two cameras. If you have only one, then make sure it is always around your neck, particularly when you are over the water in a zodiac (they refer to them as "pangas" in Ecuador). Bring lots of cards for each camera and something to download them to at the end of each day. I have a very small ASUS portable computer and a 1TB portable hard drive. At the end of each day, I would download the images to the HDD, then back them up to a 64 GB flash drive - safety in numbers and all that. I have 10 CF cards that I rotate as filled up, or after each day's shoot. That way I always have the last couple of days images on the CF cards in case something happens during the backup process.

I took a polarizer, I do not remember if I ever used it. It is just one of those accessories that is always in my bag. I do not remember if I took a flash. Probably not, because I do not normally use one outdoors. I did not take a tripod as you really don't need one, maybe a monopod, but I found no real use for either of them. Depending on how many batteries your camera uses at once, bring at least one extra for each battery in use. For example, if you have a grip that uses two batteries, then bring at least two more as backups. Keep them charged. At the end of the day, I would replace the battery in use in my 1D X with the new charged one and charge the one used that day so it would be ready for tomorrow as a backup.

Also, take rain gear for you and your equipment. We didn't have much real rain there, but it was often cloudy with some showers. Make sure you have a rain cover for your backpack as well. I also carry a couple of very small hand towels to wipe moisture off my gear when necessary.

I do not know what your "travel organizer" has told you, but make sure you have good hiking boots. You will probably spend some of your time walking over very sharp lava rocks and they can be hard on your boots as well as your feet if you are not careful. Walking poles are also a "nice to have".

I do hope that answers some of your questions. If you have any more, then please post back and I will do my best to answer them. Have a great time, take lots of images and enjoy yourself.

WesternGuy

[Freeman]

Westerguy wrote (brief excerpt)

Rather than hijack another thread, I thought it might be appropriate to start a new one with a travel and equipment theme where folks could post images on travel , or ask questions about travel and equipment...so in reply to a question that Jeff asked me about Galapagos travel in another thread...

Hi WesternGuy

Thanks for starting this thread. Travel photography seems to be a genre all of its own and something that so many of us do to differing levels of seriousness. All your points for Galapagos are helpful - I will reply to some of them more fully in a day or two .

Cheers Jeff

[dave1712]

This sounds like a holiday of a lifetime! I did something similar just over a year ago in Southern Africa. Carry-on weight was a big issue. I was using a Canon 7D so used a 18-200 lens and also took a 120-400 and 10-20. Also took a x1.4 tele converter (no use at all with lenses I took) and a couple of extension tubes (great for insects with the 120-400 - if you have time to fit them Even so one of the lenses went with my wife's carry-on to avoid excess.

I also took a spare 40D body which I hired from my local camera store for £70 for the period. It was only 10Mpx but my view was the holiday cost shed-loads, I wouldn't be that way again, and when in the middle of nowhere (photo equipment wise) 10Mpx of something is much better than 18Mpx of nothing if mine broke! Also carried a spare universal charger for camera/ tablet/ gps charging.

Since then I picked up a used EOS M body which is small and lightweight, but uses my lenses.

If you have a compact Garmin Etrex or similar GPS, load it with Openstreetmap for the Galapagos. Just switch on and leave running in your bag when touring. With programs like Geosetter you can then display your tracks on Google Earth for a screen dump for the album, and insert GPS Exif data in the images - solves the perennial problem of 'where did we take that one?'

Make sure the file numbering on different cameras won't clash so they can be saved in a collection (suggest a minimum of 1000 between them.) Sync the time and date of the cameras, (so you can sort by date a collection from any source.) Note the time diff between the gps and the cameras (or sync the cameras to the GPS.)

If you don't already, consider setting save to jpeg+RAW. Sometimes that snatched shot is one of the best but unfortunately you didn't set the white balance or exposure beforehand. With RAW you can always get MUCH more recovery that ever is possible with jpeg. Even if you have never processed raw before, then that one shot might justify the effort. I have a frame of an adult male elephant, head on from about 10 metres - the driver was slipping the clutch in case it didn't like us 2nd best frame of the week but white balance is wrong. Got it ok with yellow and blue sliders in Photoshop but how much easier and much more accurate in RAW...

Make sure you use good memory cards (never ceases to amaze me people spend £1000's on photo equipment then get cheap memory cards from ebay), carry then in a metal container or one lined with aluminium foil (know airport screening is not supposed to mess them up but for the sake of a bit of cooking foil...)

Finally make backups each night. I used to carry a netbook but now use a dedicated backup device, or my Android tablet with a hub and 126 GB USB sticks.

You can probably guess from the above that I got almost every bit of that wrong at least once - they do say experiential learning is the most valuable!

Have a great trip

Dave

[WesternGuy]

Dave, thanks for your contribution to the thread. You are right, the Galapagos trip was fantastic. It was nice to hear about your Africa trip, care to share exactly where you went? I have been to Africa three times - Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania. I will make my fourth trip there this fall to Namibia. I just love that place.

I can not help but underline your comments about having a second camera. The one other thing about having a second camera, even if the first one doesn't give you problems, is that you can keep a different lens on the second camera. For example, when I was in Tanzania, I had my 100-400 plus the 1.4X III converter on my 1D X and the 24-105 on my 5D III. That way, I was always ready for wide angle shots, or real close ups and I didn't have to stop to change lenses.

I would also reiterate your comment about taking GOOD memory cards. Stick to the major brands like SanDisk and Lexar. You may have the occasional problem, but I have been using both for my entire time shooting digital and have never had a problem. Also, your point about making backups each night is also an excellent piece of advice. Thinking that if you leave pictures from one day on a partly filled card so you can "fill it up" on the next days shooting is a false economy. You run the risk, albeit a small one, that if the card goes "funny" on you, then possibly two days of shots are compromised.

The small computer that I have taken to both Africa and the Galapagos was an ASUS Netbook. I had them top up the memory to a full 8 GB and I carry an extra Western Digital My Passport 1TB external HDD for backup. I started taking the external HDD after my trip to Botswana, when I discovered that the 750GB HDD in the Netbook wouldn't hold all the pictures I was taking. Fortunately, I had a large enough number of 64GB flash drives that I could use them for backup, but that meant that I really only had one copy of my images. With the external HDD, I have the first copy and then I back that up to a series of 64GB flash drives. That way, I have a second copy of my images. Both the HDD and the flash drives are part of my carry-on luggage.

So, that is one other piece of advice that comes out of this discussion: you will always take more pictures than you think you will (at least 50% more IMHO), so have sufficient memory and backup to make two copies of every image and keep the copies separate.

WesternGuy

[WesternGuy]

I am hoping we could begin an all inclusive thread here that folks could come and ask questions about equipment for travel, or share their experience with things they have done that worked, or things that didn't work and maybe "why" they didn't work and what they might do differently next time.

Thanks.

WesternGuy

[Freeman]

Hi guys

Thanks for the brilliant postings already on this thread. I hope we start getting some travel snaps posted as well and advice and questions. I fully agree with extending the title of the thread. The advice given so far applies widely.

I plan to take with me (on Saturday) my laptop and a 2TB external hard drive. I will load the snaps from the cards onto the laptop each evening, backup onto the external hard drive and format the card in the camera. This worked for my Singapore and other overseas travels during the year based on what I learned in Peru. For my Peru trip Jan 14 I took a much smaller and lighter Samsung unit with a huge memory but I used cards as backup copies. But the laptop will give scope to edit and also to write blog pages as I go along and dispatch them. In Peru I depended on hotel IT facilities and at Lake Titicaca, through using foreign and possibly even faulty equipment and a foreign language, I lost a good deal of my blog (no snaps lost obviously) and had the pleasure of recreating it - not a great burden really.

I do use Sandisk and similar quality cards, typically using 32 MB cards at 95 MB/S in slots 1 and 2 which obviously get used over and over, and half a dozen slightly slower cards in my bag or pocket in reserve. I take the point about protecting with foil.

What I haven't done is provided myself with a second DLSR (I just sold all my Pentax kit) - I have a bridge camera which might serve as second camera though that does mean an extra charger and batteries. It uses SD cards. But it won't give high quality images as say buying a relatively cheap second hand Nikon - maybe a D80 which are about £100 on Amazon. I slightly hesitate because the D80 is DX. Does it matter that much? Maybe I will hire a spare or see if the camera club can help. And will check the camera numbering sequences are different and match date and time and so forth as you suggest.

I shoot RAW and use the cards for sequential storing. Must do as you say and get some extension tubes but it will be for a subsequent outing now. I don't have the Garmin portable to use as you suggest but daily itinerary and blog may help with locations.

Million thanks for brilliant postings and let me know any further thoughts too. Jeff

[Freeman]

Hi al

Well, I took most or all of the advice and suggestions you posted, and am now back from my visit to Ecuador and Galapagos. I used almost exclusively my Nikon 80-400G lens with my D610 and in fact did not take a spare camera other than iPhone. I love that combination, the focusing speed is terrific and it covers most situations, especially wildlife though it does need quite a lot of light. I barely used my wide angle lens and I'm not sure I used my extender at all. I used a harness throughout and was delighted with it - lightens the load and you have hands free. I'm pleased with the results and it looks as though a good few will be published in due season, though you know, a photographer is rarely completely happy with his shots. One thing I found, perhaps to my surprise, was the amount of noise. Of course, I was using high shutter speeds a lot of the time and ISO's up to 3200 were eventually brought into play. But even so, the level of noise is more than I would expect. I found that my 95mb/sec SD cards were indispensable. I used hand warmers throughout under a sock around the lens and by and large kept fogging at bay. I don't hear others complaining much about fogging. I must make more enquiries to find out why it affects my equipment - surely our highly sophisticated kit should manage in high humidity areas? I carried a laptop and an external hard drive so I always had two copies which I kept separately. No mishaps (though our bags went to Chile). I will post a small number of shots from the visit together with my photo website link so anyone can follow the drift if desired. Kind regards and huge thanks for the guidance before the event. Jeff

[Rolf]

....question from another thread...

If it's not too tangential to this thread, do you have any tips for photography in the Galapagos as you mention your visits there? I leave for Ecuador and Galapagos next Saturday (24th). Polariser perhaps? Zoom/landscape? Light and so forth? Travel photography almost worth another thread - would you care to start one? Maybe there is one already. I'll be hanging on your thoughts on that!

Cheers, Jeff

Rather than hijack another thread, I thought it might be appropriate to start a new one with a travel and equipment theme where folks could post images on travel , or ask questions about travel and equipment...so in reply to a question that Jeff asked me about Galapagos travel in another thread...

Just a couple of other things that could be considered... (I hope this is not considered Hijacking...)

Get insurance for the gear... I was in Dublin.. taking shots of the river bridge architecture... tour bus pulls up alongside ... I was swapping lenses... put the 24-105L on the parapet wall and was putting the 70-200L on when kids ran up to look at the river.. jumping up the parapet and knocked the lens down 30 feet into the Liffy!! Called insurers... they asked what was the nearest Canon dealer... I told them... within the hour I had a text to say to go to the dealers and sign for a new 24-105!
The other point is the airlines and their carry on luggage policies!! Apart from the benevolence or otherwise of the check in staff, they are pretty mean with their allowances these days... I don't want my gear thrown into a hold then have heavy suitcases thrown on top while the baggage handler inside the aircraft tramples all over it! I make no apology... I have seen it done on numerous occasions when I was watching and thankfully, had my gear on me... I hang both cameras on my shoulders (one less obvious behind my back) with the heaviest lenses, with the converters too if possible on them and a flash gun on each... I put the wide angles and filters etc in a jacket pocket together with spare batteries... I leave the 600 or 300 in the Tamrack Expedition 9 photo back pack and hand that over to the check in and plead its a $13,000 lens... and smile... once through... repack the gear and get a coffee! This has always worked for me... A word of caution though... if the case you have your gear in... when you fully repack it is too fat to fit the overhead locker... the cabin staff may ask you to put it under the seat, or take it and get it put in the hold... you may want to keep a body and lens on you so the case will fit in the OH locker...... or if travelling with wife/husband etc... get them to take a camera and lens... with a couple of smaller lenses in their jacket pockets... (they never seem to weigh people...) It is a little sneaky but then it's a ligit response to the nickel and diming the airlines come up with...

Another way is if you really are too heavy ... ask that you take your gear to the ramp... you leave it by the aircraft door as you enter and it gets carried to the hold as an individual item... it comes off first and is waiting for you when you exit the door... my gear case weighs in at 42Kg... so they have to be careful with it and lift it on top of the luggage in the hold. All that said, flying with BA I have shown the case open and pleaded ... (I grovel well! Pride is suppressed in the interest of gear preservation!!) They let me on a couple of occasions take the wheelie case on the aircraft and put it in the galley space for the crew. Result!! So, some options! My personal experiences... I hope it will assist others... have a great holiday!

Kind regards

Rolf

[WesternGuy]

Rolf, interesting approach to travelling with photo gear . What I have done is to purchase a Pelican 1510 case. When I remove all of the inside "packing" stuff, my ThinkTank Airport Essentials (TTAE) fits inside. It is a bit snug, but if you pull up all the straps tightly, it will fit with the straps towards the bottom of the case. Inside the TTAE, I put camera gear that I could do without, or easily replace, if it was lost or stolen. This includes a flash, a lens, my lens extenders, filters in a pouch, my extra camera batteries and some miscellaneous gear such as small reflectors, etc. I then put this package, the Pelican case with the TTAE inside, in a relatively non-descript piece of hard-sided luggage and lock it with the approved TSA locks. I have done this about 6 or more times now and have never had anything stolen and have only had it inspected once by the US "homeland security folks". I carry on the rest of my gear - two cameras, required lenses and other gear. I try to keep the carry-on bag to about 15 kilos, so I can lift it into the overhead racks. I don't get any static from the airlines, except once on a very "short haul" flight on one of those baby jets, I was asked to gate-check it - no problem. I also carry on a laptop bag with a 17" MSI portable in it. The laptop bag usually fits under the seat in front of me or, if there is space, I also put it in the overhead racks.

WesternGuy

[Rolf]

Another approach... seems we all get creative with the airlines... LOL!! My Think Tank Airport Security ll wheelie case is, at 42KG, heavy enough without the added weight of a Pelican and another even larger suitcase... Which with the current baggage allowances and excess charges makes a very expensive addition to the budget... I travel with my wife and share the "externally mounted gear" and use Tamrac Expedition 9 - for me and the 7 for her gear. Both fit in the OH lockers once repacked. I just think that the airlines could do more for people wanting/having to fly with expensive gear whether it is photo or computing gear or musical instruments etc.. especially with a more sympathetic approach to baggage handling... just stick a "fragile" sticker on anything and watch the target effect it has on handlers... I have had, over the years, so much stuff lost, a laptop stolen,(airport cops located it in a handlers locker later that day so did get that back, after the court case was concluded some 6 weeks later!) lenses stolen from cases, damaged or just sent to another continent and had to wait days for it to find its way home!

All that said...I have travelled more successfully than not so I still do... but with creative balancing efforts to the airlines constraints !

Are you somewhere close to Alberta? Calgary even?

Kind regards

Rolf

[WesternGuy]

I have to pay for all my checked luggage when I travel, so an extra $25 or $35 isn't too much to have some good decent camera gear with me when I travel, particularly when you are paying upwards of $1000± for airfare and all the other $$$ for hotels, rented car and meals, etc. I have a TT Airport Takeoff (it is wheeled) which is one of the two bags I use when I travel. The other is a Gura Gear Bataflae 32L - no wheels (I have a small portable trolley, that folds up nicely, to wheel it around airports). It holds my 600mm very nicely on one side and other gear on the other side. Everything is insured. I also travel with an MSI 17" laptop in a bag that will fit under the seat in front of me, or in the overhead bins if there is room. I have never had any hassle from the airlines (cross-fingers). My tripod and a head goes in my regular checked luggage. I wrap them in bubble wrap and hold it together with large twist-ties or elastic bands and that works well. Only once have I had to "gate-check" the large Takeoff bag and that was on a short haul connector flight on a baby jet where not much fit in the overhead compartments.

The nice thing about having the Airport Essentials (packed in the Pelican case inside a non-descript piece of luggage), is that, at my destination, I can use this pack for my daily outings. As configured, it will carry two cameras, an extra lens or two, filters, a flash (if needed) and miscellaneous bits and pieces for a days photography. It is light and I can carry it on my back if it is necessary to do a short hike into the point of photographic interest. I really would not want to carry the Airport Takeoff around, although it does have straps for use in an emergency.

Amazing what one can do to make sure you get your gear where you need it.

You mentioned "musical instruments" in your posting. You should take a look at the You Tube video that David Carroll, a Canadian entertainer, produced when United Airlines broke his guitar and would not pay to replace it. Go here for the background - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breaks_Guitars. If you scroll down under the heading "External Links", you will find a link to the video. It is well done, but quite hilarious.

Your thoughts on the location are spot on. I live in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies and have a fantastic backyard for photography - mountains and foothills to the west and prairies to the east. Wouldn't live anywhere else.

WesternGuy

[Rolf]

Ha! a Taylor! Well some years ago... the RAF Transport Command flying the VC10 broke my Hoffner Blonde...! I can sympathise... Love the video... need to keep it!

I'm in Calgary... can meet for lunch and a pint if you would have time? Tell lies about lenses and camera performance and the pixel that got away... (I'm a fisherman too )

Kind regards

Rolf