Tag Archives: Global Nomad

Photo of the Month – February 2013 Reply

Landscapes, Photo of the Month, Travel, U.S.A., Walk-About Series, Wildlife • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PHOTO OF THE MONTH – February 2013

This month’s photo comes from Montana, and The Little Bighorn National Park to be exact.

I was in the general area (well I was in the same State) to take photos of a Professional Bull Riding (PBR) event, so I managed to arrive a little early to do some sight seeing.

Wild Ponies in Montana

Wild Ponies in Montana

The park itself contains the battlefield site (as you would expect), as well as the Battlefield Monument and various other memorials.

From the US National Parks site: “This area memorializes the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry and the Sioux and Cheyenne in one of the Indian’s last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, died fighting several thousand Lakota, and Cheyenne warriors”.

While I was driving to one of the smaller memorials I came across this herd of wild ponies. They were simply eating and roaming, so I hopped out of the car and took some happy snaps of them. There would have been around 20 of them all up.

Tree at Little Bighorn

Tree at Little Bighorn

A little further along the same way I came across this lone dead tree off the road a bit.  Would have made for a cool photo with a little more cloud in the sky, but a pleasant walk none the less.

That’s It… See You There!

6 Hours in Dubai 1

Boats, Middle East, Structures, Travel, Walk-About Series • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

6 Hours in Dubai – 1 Camera/1 Lens

I have been to Dubai several times before and it is a cool (well not temp wise) place if you are into taking happy snaps and looking around.

There were a few locations that I had been to before that I wanted to get some photos of on this trip. To make it a little more interesting though I thought I would set myself a small challenge.

6 hours. Door to door, not counting processing when I got back to the hotel. Also I could only use one lens. Simple enough.

It was made a little easier in the sense that I had been to all my target locations before, so I knew what I was heading to… just had to get there and take my happy snaps.

Here’s how it went.

1 camera body: Canon EOS-5D Mk3

1 lens: Canon EF24-105 f/4L

1 lens filter: Singh-Ray LB Color Combo Polarizer

7:30 – Left the hotel in a taxi and headed to Jumeirah Beach. Subject: The Burj Al Arab hotel before all the tourists hit the beach.

Burj Al Arab

Burj Al Arab

Given what time I arrived the beach was basically empty, except for the life guards doing their warm ups. This is an interesting hotel to look at, and photograph. It was blowing a gale, as you can see from the flag.

Designed to resemble a billowing sail, Burj Al Arab is 321 metres high. It is 7-Star, and you can’t even get on the grounds unless you are a guest. One day perhaps. The day before when I was driving passed I saw 2 helicopters land on the heli-pad (the round thing on the top left). I remember Tiger Woods hitting golf balls off that around the time it opened.

The below image is of the beach. I grabbed it simply as it was unusual to see no people. As I said, they were all still in bed or having their morning espresso. This particular beach is to the right of Burj Al Arab and is part of the Jumeirah Beach hotel complex, which is an impressive hotel in it’s own right.

Jumeirah Beach

Jumeirah Beach

9:00 – Back in a taxi and headed further out to the Dhow Wharfage which is located along the Dubai Creek bank north of Maktoum Bridge. It is one of my favorite places to go in Dubai.

Not because it is fancy (far from it), but if you are half adventurous and walk-about amongst it you get to see some great sites. I took the below photo of some of the laborers loading a Dhow bound for the Persian Gulf. Once I took it, this guy and his buddies crowded around me to see the image on the camera LCD. They thought it was funny. These guys don’t have a glamorous life. Smile a lot though.

Loading a Dhow for the Persian Gulf

Loading a Dhow for the Persian Gulf

My objective for going this time though was to get to the other side of Dubai Creek (yes like the chicken). I hadn’t been over before, so didn’t really know what was there. I was hopeful of getting a decent multi-image Panorama of the Dhows at the Wharf. I took a couple of sets, but didn’t end up with a result that I liked.

Water Taxi Drivers

Water Taxi Drivers

The trip over was worth it though. 1 DRM ($0.25). No seats, no life jackets, and no guarantee of making it. It was cool though. The below photo is of a water taxi the same as the one I took. In fact I am on mine as I took this shot.

Water taxi on the Dubai Creek

Water taxi on the Dubai Creek

10:30 – Back in a taxi heading to Burj Khalifia. The World’s tallest building. 828 metres high (2,717 feet).

Late last year I went up to the observation deck… which is floor 124. The elevator is so fast that your ears pop on the way up. The view is spectacular so well worth the price of entry if ever you go. It is located near the Dubai Mall shopping complex so plenty to do for everyone. This is the fourth ‘world’s tallest’ building that I have been up.

This was the building in the last Mission Impossible movie in the sand storm scene. It has 160+ floors,  57 elevators and 8 escalators, and more than 26,000 glass panels.

Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa

It is difficult to get a decent shot of this building given how high it is. A Perspective Control lens (tilt-shift) would have been ideal… but mine were at home. It is so big compared to everything around it that it looks almost toy-like.

12:00 – Yes another (and last) taxi. To the Dubai Marina, which happened to be near to my hotel.

Dubai Marina

Dubai Marina

By the time I arrived here I had about an hour to take some shots and walk back to my hotel.

These two photos are both 11 shot, hand held Panoramas (with the images taken in the vertical). They were stitched together in Adobe Photoshop CS6, and tidied up in Adobe Lightroom 4. The original image was nearly 50 inches wide (127cm).

They are in one of my standard digital mats. This one is 24″ x 12″.

Dubai Marina

Dubai Marina

13:30 – Done. Well at least the photo taking was. I had to download, metadata, and process the ones that I wanted to keep. The single images were relatively simple, however the panoramas took some processing time given the resultant file size.

Overall I was reasonably satisfied with the result. For many of the images I would have preferred my Canon EF16-35 f/2.8L II lens, but the range of the 24-105 on a full frame sensor didn’t do a bad job.

————————————————————————————————————————————————–

I leave you with an unrelated photo that I took the following day with my trusty Canon PowerShot S-100 point & shoot. I had to go to a meeting at the Sharjah Expo Centre, and just down the road was this building.

As it turns out it is the Council Office. Much like the one we have at home….

Sharjah Council Office

Sharjah Council Office

That’s It… See You There!

Photo of the Month – January 2013 Reply

Boats, Landscapes, Middle East, Photo of the Month, Structures, Travel • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

First Photo of the Month for 2013, and the first overseas trip for the year…. not bad given that I left before the first week was done and dusted.

Note: click on the photos to make them larger.

The week prior I drove 3,000Kms (1,800 miles) round trip for xmas lunch, so have put a few road and air miles down this year already.

It is not often you can say that the Middle East is cooler than where you live… no matter where you live. I was in Dubai a few months ago and it was 51 Celsius (124F) in the shade at 7:30am.

Dubai Marina

Dubai Marina

I left Sydney a couple of days ago, with much of the State of New South Wales, and much of Australia for that matter listed as Extreme to Catastrophic Bushfire risk conditions, with a number of bushfires burning out of control. Temperatures in many places (including where I live) were in or above the mid 40s (115+F).

Dubai right now is in the high 20s (80F), and very pleasant. Winter in the desert.

These two panorama photos were taken literally 5 minutes apart. They are both 11 shot handheld Panoramas, stitched together in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

Dubai Marina

Dubai Marina

That’s It… See You There!

Photo of the Month – December 2012 Reply

Asia, Photo of the Month, Travel • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Well time for another installment in the Photo of the Month series. And I am cutting it a bit close to get it in this year.

This one isn’t so much about a great photo but the view – from my hotel room balcony as it turns out.

Singapore Harbour

Singapore Harbour

I was staying at the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore. Have been to Singapore a lot, but have not stayed in this hotel before, or this high up this close to the water. On the other side of the hotel you get to look at other buildings, but I lucked out and got to look at this for a few days.

As it does often around this locale, a largish rain storm came through most afternoons.. Just looking at the rain fall out of the sky is cool to watch when it comes down by the bucket load. You do expect the proverbial cat & dog to come down with it.

Marina Bay Sands Floor 57

Marina Bay Sands Floor 57

I leave you with a cool pool view.

This is the top floor of the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore (floor 57). Some infinity pool. If you happen to leap off the edge… next stop is the bus stop (literally), and the stop is sudden.

Both photos were taken with a Canon point and shoot camera…. PowerShot S-100.

That’s It… See You There!

Walk About in Soweto Reply

Africa, Travel, Walk-About Series • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Walk About in Soweto, South Africa

South West Township (SOWETO). Johannesburg, South Africa.

I have been fortunate for one reason or another to have traveled quite a bit. Current count is around 40 countries… and counting.

Like most frequent travelers I have a bucket list of sorts with respect to destinations that I want to get to before I myself kick the bucket. Today I get to tick another one off that list.

As a child I grew up in rural Australia with not much to do but chase rabbits and play rock golf with a stick. I can’t remember how I came to get them, but I read Wilbur Smith novels about Africa (all of them), and in particular the stories that followed the histories of the Courtney and Ballantyne families respectively.

As a young boy these books were fantastic adventure stories, that inevitably were replayed over and over as I went on my own safaris near our house, albeit I was chasing rabbits and lizards, and not Rhino and Buffalo, and it was the family dog chasing me, and not Zulu warriors.

Ever since that time, going to Africa has been one thing that I knew that I would do, and now that I have been, I know that I will go back again to see more of this fantastic country.

This current trip was brief, and I couldn’t bring any of my real camera gear, so had to make do with my trusty Canon PowerShot S-100 point & shoot which I normally have in my pocket on trips. It is a decent holiday camera, but nothing like my real toys.

I had less than a day to have a look around. I was staying in Johannesburg so it was a toss up between The Lion Park and Soweto. No disrespect to the cats, but I wanted to see Soweto. I knew I would be back… and would be going to one of the big game reserves, so the Lions could wait.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect. My knowledge of Soweto was based on what you see on TV, newspapers, general urban myth, and my South African friends, most of whom don’t live there anymore.

The first thing that struck me was how many people lived in Soweto. I was expecting it to be a suburb of greater Johannesburg, which in essence it is… but it is a large city unto itself. Depending on what data source you look at, the population seems to be somewhere around  1.6  to over 2 million, which accounts for approximately 40% of the population of Johannesburg.

I was expecting less than ideal living conditions, but I was a little surprised as to the diversity from quite well to do, to not well off at all.

An important note to most of the photos included here: These do not illustrate all of Soweto, in fact far from it. I elected to include these ones simply as I found them interesting. Anyone can live and survive in a fancy neighbourhood…. these guys were doing it in not so prime conditions, but for the most part had a big smile on their face as I walked by.

A Note to the Soweto Text: My apologies to the original creators of this text. I obtained it from several websites and was unable to locate a reference to the respective authors. So my thanks to them, and from my side, while I may have changed it around a bit, most of the original text and/or context is not mine, but I wanted to include it to simply add some background to the photos and their location.

The name Soweto is an acronym, made up – in apartheid days – from the first letters of the words ‘South West Township’.

Soweto is a sprawling mass on the south west flank of Johannesburg. It is a hodgepodge of makeshift houses, all the way through to very upscale residences. It is fourth world and first world living next door to each other.

Soweto was created in the 1930s, with Orlando the first township established. In the 1950s, more black people were relocated there from ‘black spots’ in the inner city – black neighbourhoods which the apartheid government had reserved for whites.

Soweto is home to the largest hospital on the African Continent (and according to their website, the largest in the World), the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, and was also the site of the 2010 Soccer World Cup final.

2010 Soccer World Cup Stadium

I did the standard tourist sites, including Nelson Mandela’s house where he stayed before he was imprisoned in 1961. Also Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s house, and the Hector Pieterson museum.

The Hector Pieterson Museum is worth a visit, and I would suggest that you go here first (either that or the Apartheid Museum… which I unfortunately didn’t get to).

It is named after a 12 year-old boy (Hector Pieterson) who was shot on the 16th June 1976 during the Soweto uprising that today is a symbol of resistance to the brutality of the apartheid government. Some say that this event was the beginning of the end of Apartheid.

Soweto came to the world’s attention on 16th June 1976 with the Soweto Uprising when mass protests erupted over the government’s policy to enforce education in Afrikaans rather than English. Police opened fire in Orlando West on 10,000 students marching from Naledi High School to Orlando Stadium. The rioting continued and 200 people, including two white people, died on the first day in Soweto.

The first to be killed was Hector Pieterson. Another among the killed was Dr. Melville Edelstein, who had devoted his life to social welfare among blacks. He was stoned to death by the mob and left with a sign around his neck proclaiming “Beware Afrikaaners”.

The impact of the Soweto protests reverberated throughout the country and across the world. In their aftermath, economic and cultural sanctions were introduced from abroad. Political activists left the country to train for guerrilla resistance. Soweto and other townships became the stage for violent state repression.

Since 1991 this date and the schoolchildren have been commemorated by the International Day of the African Child.

I also went to Constitution Hill before going to Soweto (home of Constitution Court). On this site, once the Old Fort Prison Complex, commonly known as Number Four, political prisoners and common criminals awaited trial and sat out their jail sentences. At the height of apartheid rule, up to 2,000 black South Africans were processed through its entrance daily. Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Luthuli, Robert Sobukwe and Nelson Mandela were guests in the cells reserved for black males at Number Four.

My guide (who was from Soweto) took me into some of the back streets (I am not so good at staying on the well beaten path). As I have said before, you can’t really see a place from the window of car, and where the local tourism board wants you to go. Sure, go and see the sites. But also go and see where real people live and work.

People going about their daily chores, or just hanging out on the street.

Now don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t 5th. Avenue, and nor we’re these people living an easy life, but like most people in this type of situation, they went about their day with a smile on their face, and a friendly wave.

I leave you with this final image that made me laugh.

In the background you can see the McDonald’s advertisement, while in the foreground a guy is selling a bull’s head in his open air market of sorts.

That’s It… See You There!

Photo of the Month – October 2012 Reply

Equipment, Middle East, Photo of the Month, Travel • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Well here is the next photo of the month in the series. As usual I have provided at the end of the post, the very next image that was taken after this one… except in this case, it is the ‘photo before’ I took this one.

October 2012 - UP THE CREEK IN DUBAI

If you follow my blog you will know that I travel a lot… around 2 weeks out of every 6 somewhere overseas.

Where possible I try and manage a day on one of the weekends to go for a walk around. I don’t carry any major camera equipment with me on these walks (for lots of reasons), but will always have a small point and shoot in my pocket.

My go-to camera for walking around is the Canon PowerShot S-100. I have a Canon PowerShot G1x also that I travel with sometimes, but this is too clunky to stick in your pocket so it invariably stays in the hotel room unless I have a small backpack with me, or want to do some basic HDR (I have made a small travel and remote control kit that works quite well).

What is good about the S-100 is that it is small and light. It really does fit in the pocket of your shorts. I only shoot in RAW on all my cameras, and this is about the smallest camera that does this, so that is a big plus also (at least for me).

What isn’t so good about it… regardless of some of the reports I have read, is that the noise level sucks at any ISO above 400 or so. Probably even more annoying though is the built in flash… it sucketh a lot. About the only thing it illuminates is the flash housing that it is contained in.

Still, it is all a game of trade-offs. Small camera… don’t expect a lot of horse power in things like the flash. For what I use it for… size is the key so I am fine with it.

Note to Canon… there must be a way to get some more oomph out of the flash without turning the guts of the camera inside out. Either that or put a ‘mini’ hot-shoe on it and make the Speedlite 90EX or 270Ex or similar fit it.

I am looking forward to the new Canon EOS-M series hitting the streets. This is the new ‘mirror-less’ version that I am hoping will make a good travel camera. We will see.

Anyway, back to my story.

On this particular day it was 51 degrees Celsius (124F)… hot. I had been to Dubai before, and had been to where the Dhows are moored on that trip, which happens to be not that far from the Spice and Gold Souk (market). But I wanted to see them again, so in a taxi it was and off I went.

I am not a ‘market’ person, but the Spice Souk is worth a quick look, if for no other reason than to take in the aromas. Fantastic.

Gold Souk… if you are into gold then have at it. I am not, so breezed through this and got to the boats.

The Dhows are pretty much all the way down the side of Dubai Creek. There is the actual Wharfage (shown on map), but they run most of the way down the shoreline passed the Souk. So if you want to see both without having to walk too far, there are plenty of boats to see right across the road from the Souk (and there is a toilet in the car-park there… don’t laugh, they are few and far between).

Here is a bit from the Lonely Planet review…

Lonely Planet review for Dhow Wharfage

Dhows are long, flat, wooden vessels used in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, and they’ve docked at the Creek since the 1830s when the Maktoums established a free-trade port, luring merchants away from Persia. Today’s dhows trade with Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Oman, India, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan, and you’ll see them precariously loaded with everything from air-conditioners to chewing gum to car tyres, almost all of it re-exported after arriving by air or container ship from countries like China, South Korea and Singapore.  Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/united-arab-emirates/dubai/sights/harbour-port/dhow-wharfage#ixzz27tcyjlia

The actual above photo is not of a Dhow or one of it’s crew, but of a water taxi and it’s driver (or whatever it is a water taxi pilot is called). They are stationed across the road from the Spice Souk, and right next to the Dhows.

Both the photos were taken with an S-100 point an shoot. I ran them both through Topaz Labs  (Adjust 5) in Photoshop to punch up the color a bit  (at least to my eye).

Given that he was sitting under the shade I really needed a decent flash to hit him with so that the background wouldn’t be totally blown out. As I didn’t (see flash remarks above), as a tradeoff I underexposed him a little, which meant that I could get most of the background back in Photoshop/Lightroom  (the bright sky was totally gone though).

All up though, for such a small camera, the result was half decent, and for basic travel photography, good enough for what I was doing.

EXPOSURE SETTINGS

ISO: 200

Aperture: f/5.9

Shutter Speed: 1/500th

Focal Length: 26mm

EQUIPMENT

Camera: Canon PowerShot S-100 point & shoot

THE PHOTO BEFORE

Dubai Spice Souk

The above photo is simply large containers of various spices inside a small shop… which were one after the other. Smelt great.

That’s It… See You There!

Photo of the Month – September 2012 Reply

Australia, HDR, Landscapes, Photo of the Month, Structures • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Well here is the next photo of the month in the series. As usual I have provided at the end of the post, the very next image that was taken after this one.

September 2012 - LENNOX BRIDGE

Lennox Bridge in Glenbrook

This photo was actually the one that I set out to take and post last month. I got side tracked and ended up turning right, and not left. See Glenbrook Creek Photo of the Month post.

To get down the mountain from where we live you drive through a town called Glenbrook. Just as you enter the town precinct on the highway there is a sign saying LENNOX BRIDGE. I have driven passed this thing so many times in our short time here that I wanted to check it out. So today was the day.

The Lennox Bridge (also known as The Horseshoe Bridge) is a stone arch bridge designed by David Lennox.

From Lennox’s Biography by J.M. Antill – Lennox’s first bridge was on the main western road at Lapstone Hill. It is a graceful single arch of 20-feet (6 m) span and 30 feet (9 m) above water level, with a road width of 30 feet (9 m); it was constructed by a team of convicts using stone quarried near the site. By direction of the governor it was named Lennox Bridge and the keystones bear the name of its builder and the date 1833. It is the oldest bridge still standing on the mainland of Australia, and for ninety-three years it carried all the traffic from Sydney to the west; until 1963 it was still used by vehicles traveling up Mitchell’s Pass on the initial climb over the Blue Mountains, although the main road was moved in 1926 to a better gradient by way of Knapsack Gully.

EXPOSURE SETTINGS

Exposures: 11

ISO: 100

Aperture: f/11

Shutter Speed: mid exposure = 0.5 seconds – 1/60th to 15 seconds

EQUIPMENT

Camera: Canon EOS-5D Mk III

Lens: Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L II

The exposures were tone-mapped in NIK Software HDR Efex Pro 2 and tidied up in Adobe Lightroom 4.

THE VERY NEXT PHOTO

Lennox Bridge in Glenbrook

The above image was the next one taken, and is simply a little further down the creek than the initial location.

That’s It… See You There!

Photo of the Month – August 2012 Reply

Australia, HDR, Landscapes, Photo of the Month, Travel • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Well here is the next photo of the month in the series. As usual I have provided at the end of the post, the very next image that was taken after this one.

August 2012 - GLENBROOK CREEK

Glenbrook Creek – The Blue Mountains National Park

Following on from last month’s photo, the exploration of my new greater neighborhood continues. Around 20 minutes further down the mountain from where we live is a town called Glenbrook.

Every time that I have been into the town I see a particular sign that says NATIONAL PARK ENTRANCE.

Being the park stalker than I am it finally got the better of me and I went and found this entrance and where it lead to. I didn’t have much time so I literally went in… then came out again. Mind you, I saw enough promise that I will definitely be going back for some exploration. With camera and water bottle.

I did however manage to take 1 photo. And I mean just 1. This one.

Not far in from the main entrance is a small creek, and looking at the depth markers on the road, it turns into a bigger creek when it rains. In fact there was water running across the road when I was taking this image. My tripod was actually in the slight overflow to get this shot.

EXPOSURE SETTINGS

Exposures: 11

ISO: 100

Aperture: f/11

Shutter Speed: mid exposure = 0.5 seconds – 1/60th to 15 seconds

EQUIPMENT

Camera: Canon EOS-5D Mk III

Lens: Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L II

THE VERY NEXT PHOTO

Bus Stop in Glenbrook

After I left the creek I headed over to Lennox Bridge (my original destination on this particular day)… the subject of a future photo of the month.

On the way, adjacent to a school is this bus stop. Many of the bus stops in the area are painted in similar fashion. Looks better than the typical vandalistic graffiti (as opposed to good urban art, which I like).

So I stopped and got my kit out and took a quick HDR image of it. I got the odd ‘look’ from the locals, but that is nothing new.

There is a lot of distortion in the image (see telegraph poles) simply as I got as close as I could to try and get some of this effect (and had the lens all the way out to 16mm with a full frame sensor), plus my butt was on the road as it was so I couldn’t really back up much further anyway.

That’s It… See You There!

Walk-About in Beijing with a Canon G1X Reply

Asia, Equipment, HDR, Travel, Walk-About Series • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Been on a plane lately?… Been asked to donate one of your kid’s kidneys to pay for an extra checked bag?… and now you have to pay moo-la for a carry-on bag on some planes. And who said bandits sailed the high seas?

When I travel, given how user-friendly airports and airlines are becoming with respect to luggage requirements I tend to be fairly specific with what I toss in my bag. Usually a Canon 5D Mk III, a wide zoom (EF16-35 f/2.8L II), usually a mid zoom (EF24-70 f/2.8L or EF24-105 f/4L), and a Speedlite 580EX II or 600EX-RT. Depending on where I am going I may also throw in an EF70-200 f/2.8L II. I will also toss in a Singh-Ray LB Color Combo filter for each lens element size – 77 & 82 (combo of color intensifier and polarizer).

For HDR images it also means taking an ‘L’ plate for the camera body (Really Right Stuff), a mid sized ball-head (Really Right Stuff BH-40), and a light-mid sized tripod (carbon fiber Gitzo GT-2541L). I also use the really cool PromoteControl for the HDR sequencing. I will also have a Canon S-100 point and shoot in my pocket (more often than not just in case I want to be in a shot – I would rather someone drop that than my D-SLR… don’t laugh.. it has happened. So while I travel ‘light’… light is as light does.

Travel Kit – Canon 5D Mk III

So all up, while it isn’t too bad, it is more than enough when you toss in the odd 17″ MacBookPro, iPad, Bose headphones, and various other work related stuff.

So when Canon recently released their new high end ‘point and shoot’, the PowerShot G1X I thought that this might be a reasonable compromise as a half decent, smallish travel camera. In keeping with the ‘keep it small & light’ mantra, I also changed out every other  item in my travel kit for their smaller, lighter equivalent. The only thing that I couldn’t suitably replicate (yet) was the PromoteControl for HDR.

Again in the spirit of compromise I found a small wireless remote control from Phottix that works great with the G1X body. It won’t do the HDR sequencing like the PromoteControl, so I simply change the shutter speed manually. Not  much of a hassle if you understand how exposure works, but I don’t like the fact that you have to touch the camera, which invokes the possibility of moving it slightly – (1) as the kit is so lightweight, (2) I usually take 7 shots with my HDR images… so a lot of opportunities to move something. In reality though, I will likely come down to 5 shots for this rig to minimize my concerns… Yeah I know, 3 is probably enough… but I like 7.

Note: the second image of the camera body below is only to illustrate the ‘L’ plate… it is not a second body that you have to pack.

I have provided the details of the light-weight kit at the end of the blog, as well as my Likes & Dislikes.

Travel Kit – Canon G1X

So now to test it. I was heading to Beijing in China for work so I tossed it in. The objective was to take a combination of general street photography (single image), both with and with0ut flash; some HDR; and also to test out the video. Now while in no-way do I wish to replace my larger and more expensive toys (love th0se), I do however want a good solution for taking good quality images while traveling (without a pack horse).

How did I travel with it – I packed the camera, Speedlite, and remote control in a Crumpler Haven bag. These are relatively new, but very useful and come in a few different sizes. I attached the ball-head to the tripod and put that inside a small Manfrotto tripod travel bag. Then the whole lot went inside my checked suitcase.

The Crumpler bag has ample protection, and I simply put the tripod on some shirts and undies to give it a bit of extra protection. My concern wasn’t so much that they would get damaged… more the airline would lose the bag (it has happened before), or some fast fingers would steal it (also happened before). As it turned out it all made it there and back fine (must have been the undies?).

Crumpler Haven Bag

So what was I hoping to accomplish? I am not so much into just taking happy snaps, so I wanted to see how the camera would do with some HDR and general photo journalism type images. Video isn’t much my thing either (although I like looking at them), but I thought that I would give that a whirl also to see how it performed for basic travel type footage (for a dummy like me anyway).

Insert ‘pause’ here as I head to the airport (at 4:30am) and take to the skies.

Well I am sitting in my hotel room in Beijing, unable to connect to much other than email and Flickr, so am writing this in Microsoft Word for pasting here when I get home. I used to live in China, both Beijing and Shanghai, but had forgotten that the outside world, while only a plane ride away, is a bit further than that from a social media standpoint. Be that as it may, my MacBookPro still works, as does my camera and Lightroom/Photoshop. Yes you can setup a connection via a VPN or similar to get you out… but I wasn’t staying long and simply couldn’t be bothered.

Technical Note: I have purposely not included any ‘real’ technical commentary here. There are a number of good sites around the place that do provide this (including the OEM sites). My notes are more based on general observation and gut-check feeling… the kind you get when playing with a new toy.

I only had part of one day to get my self imposed assignment completed, so I caught a local taxi from the hotel and had him drop me off about a block from Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City. I went early in an effort to beat the traffic, and the likely few gazillion rubber necks who would also be there later in the day, as it was a Saturday.

PHOTO 1: Going to work at the Forbidden City

For those who have not caught a local taxi before in a country like China where few speak English (relatively), make sure that you grab a hotel card with the address on it in the local language so that you can give it to the driver to get you back. On the way out, it doesn’t hurt to have your destination also written in the local language, as even though the hotel doorman will likely tell the taxi where to go, I have not met a taxi driver yet (in any country) that said they didn’t know where to go. Don’t confuse a smile with understanding. You are a walking ATM, so make sure you know how to get there and back.

Just the day prior (in Beijing) I was in one heading back to the hotel from a major local area (International Exhibition Center), with written instructions, the taxi had a GPS, the driver got out and asked directions two separate times, … and we still got lost three times. Many a time this is a ruse to simply get a higher fare… but in this case I had pre-negotiated my rate… so, between him and me it was a common case of dumb and dumber. We got home eventually none the worse for wear. He did try and ask for more cash… well he simply didn’t give me all my due change… what he didn’t realize is that I can still speak a bit of Chinese, so I got my change… and a knowing cheeky smile in return.

Canon G1X on Tour in Beijing

So, on with my Walk-About.

I put the kit together in the taxi on the way and simply left it together – and carried it around like a stick. It wasn’t worth taking the camera on and off the ball-head, and given that the tripod was so light, I simply lifted it up to take hand held shots, even with the Speedlite on. Simple enough. I did get the odd stare and smile (or a thousand or so) walking around with it, especially on Tian’anmen Square. You could spend the day on the Square simply taking photos of local people with cameras (they are everywhere), but few would have seen a tripod up close before, let alone the remote control hanging off it and a Speedlite.

PHOTO 2: Alley leading to the Forbidden City

Most people head for the bright lights and color (yes I have been there and done that myself many a time – shiny object syndrome), but you don’t really see the local community if you go and look at what the local tourism board wants you to see. By all means go and check it out, particularly in places like China where the history and culture are spectacular in places, but if you get the time, and you have the stomach for it… get off the beaten track a little.

Initially I took a random stroll in the backstreets a block or so from the Forbidden City. There are some small community green areas, and then you get into the local Hutong living communities (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutong). The below photograph shows the entrance way into one of them not far from the Forbidden City.

PHOTO 3: Entry to a Hutong near the Forbidden City in Beijing

While walking around near a small waterway on my way to the Hutong area I came across the below young boy playing a board game with his grandfather. I stood and watched them for a while, then asked to take their photo. I was hoping they would simply keep playing, but the young lad was keen to get his picture taken and he stood abruptly to attention… it took me a little while and some gesturing to get him to sit down again… then he got his ‘photo on’. Peace out in Beijing. They both enjoyed the photo when I showed it to them on the LCD.

PHOTO 4: Peace Out Beijing

PHOTO 5: Next to the Forbidden City

Now while I am a self proclaimed camera snob (I like my Ds & D series… and soon to be Dx body no matter how big (and expensive) and heavy they are), I have to say, given the relatively economical price (not cheap for a point and shoot though) for the image quality you get, the G1X was pretty decent for what I used it for. Now will it be my go-to camera… No… but for basic travel it will be fine for many things. It is also more than adequate for those looking for a decent camera, but don’t want to shell out a lot more money, or have the hassle of needing several different lenses (and the cost associated with them). It is also pretty simple to use once you understand the user interface logic.

It is a bit chunky, so it isn’t what you would call a ‘toss it in your pocket’ camera like the Canon ‘S’ series (which are great small cameras), and when you bolt on the ‘L’ plate it gets a little bigger and heavier. In defense of the latter though, you are only going to do this if you plan on putting it on a tripod anyway. It was actually quite acceptable to hang onto for hand-held shots. The grip on the right hand side is reasonable, and your left hand simply wraps around the other end (depending on your holding style of choice).

For general photography it was fine, but I can’t say that I was enamored with it for HDR. Would it suffice if that was all you had… sure. But the overall stacked image quality did not seem to be what the 5DMkIII or DMkIV will give you (maybe it was just me being that camera snob again)… See previous note re technical review on my part – there is no science to my comment here… just eye-balling it.

Using it with a Speedlite was also a little frustrating. I pretty much use rear curtain sync all the time, so there was a long delay (relative to a D-SLR) from when you pushed the go button, to when the flash actually fired. This was annoying… I will no doubt get used to it the more I play with it.

The lens was OK. Given the sensor crop it didn’t get wide enough for me (compared to a full frame D-SLR), but more than adequate for cruising around (according to the Canon specs it is the equivalent of 28mm on a full frame sensor – something closer to 16mm would be more useful, at least for me). I missed not having a Polarizer on the lens. I have since ordered the 58mm filter adapter so that I can (canon part number: FA-DC58C). While I was at it I also ordered the lens hood (canon part number: LH-DC70).

As for video… as I said I am a relative knuckle-head when it comes to that. I simply used in on the ball-head and tripod and panned it… not really the correct way, but for what I was doing it was fine. Is it on a par with it’s higher end D-SLR cousins… no (and nor should it be for those shelling out the cash to get a higher end camera), but for some holiday video or your kid’s school concert or soccer game it would be more than adequate. I stitched a few clips together in the following compilation. I did not attach a seperate microphone so the sound is as is out of the camera. There was also no post work on the video itself so it is straight out of camera also.

I leave you with the below ‘Team Photo’. While it isn’t a very good photo, it was one that made me laugh while I was taking it.

If you have ever been to Tian’anmen Square you would know that this is an extremely popular tourist attraction for Chinese people… and I mean lots. I felt sorry for the guy trying to take this official photo of this particular tour group. He was trying to get them all lined up and looking at him (something akin to organizing chickens by how well it seemed to be going)… so to make things worse I stood next to him for a few minutes with my camera (on a tripod) held up and I snapped a few shots. I was well on my way and he was still trying to get them to say ‘cheese’. May the Force be with him.

PHOTO 6: Team Shot on Tian’anmen Square

Well that’s it… See You There!

Below I provide the specs on the various photos and kit in case you are interested.

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KIT SPECIFICATIONS

Camera: Canon PowerShot G1X

Flash: Canon Speedlite 430 EX II

Tripod: GITZO GT-1540T

Ball-Head: Really Right Stuff BH-25 Ultra Light

L-Plate: Really Right Stuff

Remote Control: Phottix WXD-189

Pack Mule: Me

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LIKED

- Smaller & easier to pack than a D-SLR

- Hot Shoe to permit use of Speedlites and Pocket Wizard

- Moveable LCD screen

- General overall quality of images was better than all other point and shoots that I have used (which is limited to only Canon models)

- Front dial (have mine set to change shutter speed in manual mode). Useful for how I was doing the HDR sequencing.

NOT LIKED

- A bit on the chunky side to be a real point and shoot… but not bad given it’s size (happy to trade a little size for quality though)

- On the expensive side, but not so if this is going to be your only higher end camera

- Lag on second curtain sync for flash using a Speedlite

- Connection capability to permit use of higher end remote controls (eg PromoteControl)

- For what you pay, the filter adapter and lens hood should be included

- Not quite wide enough zoom given the sensor crop (currently 28mm full frame equivalent)

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PHOTOGRAPH SPECIFICATIONS

- PHOTO 1: Four young ladies heading to work in the Forbidden City

Shutter Speed: 1/250th  -  f/stop:  f/8.0  -  ISO: 100  -  Focal Length: 38mm  -  Flash: No

- PHOTO 2: Alley leading to the Forbidden City – HDR 5 shots

Shutter Speed: 1/60th (middle exposure)  -  f/stop:  f/8.0  -  ISO: 100  -  Focal Length: 44mm  -  Flash: No

- PHOTO 3: Entry to Hutong

Shutter Speed: 1/160th  -  f/stop:  f/5.0  -  ISO: 200  -  Focal Length: 40mm  -  Flash: Speedlite 430 EX II (EV -2 stops / aimed at left door frame)

- PHOTO 4: Peace Out in Beijing

Shutter Speed: 1/100th  -  f/stop:  f/5.0  -  ISO: 400  -  Focal Length: 15mm  -  Flash: No

- PHOTO 5: Building near the Forbidden City – HDR 7 shots

Shutter Speed: 1/80th (middle exposure)  -  f/stop:  f/8.0  -  ISO: 100  -  Focal Length: 15mm  -  Flash: No

- PHOTO 6: Team Shot on Tian’anmen Square

Shutter Speed: 1/160th  -  f/stop:  f/5.0  -  ISO: 200  -  Focal Length: 15mm  -  Flash: Speedlite 430 EX II (EV +1 stop)

- PHOTO 7: Young child on Tian’anmen Square

Shutter Speed: 1/100th  -  f/stop:  f/5.6  -  ISO: 200  -  Focal Length: 44mm  -  Flash: Speedlite 430 EX II

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Well I had one more happy snap left so thought that I would toss it in seeing as how the little girl was nice enough to stand still long enough for me to take it.

Again if you have been to Tian’anmen (or many places in China) you would have seen the many ropes and ‘keep out / keep off’ signs. The parents of this little girl kept putting her over the ropes near these flowers to get a photo… at least until the Tian’anmen police came, upon which they would simply move a little further down the rope line and do it again. I used the Speedlite 430 EX II here. I didn’t have much time as that same Policeman was coming, so you can see the moderate highlight bouncing off her forehead when the flash hit her ‘head on’. It was a really hot and bright day, so I simply tried to balance the exposure to what was on the flowers behind her and get on my way. Aperture priority… push the go-button, and run.

PHOTO 7: Photo Op on Tian’anmen

Baltimore. City of Bulls, Boats & Crab Cakes Reply

Equipment, Professional Bull Riding - PBR, Sport, Techniques, Travel, U.S.A. • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Had crab cakes before… sure. Didn’t think they lived up to all the hype though. Bunch of filler with some crab mush (or something) in. Akin to eating fish tasting baby food.

So to try the real deal (Maryland Crab Cake) I went to Baltimore. Baltimore was on my ‘places to go to’ list, I had some real work to do there, and PBR was on the weekend that I managed to line it all up. Logic… do some work, quick look at Baltimore, try some crab cakes, tick another place of my travel map, then go and take some photos of Bull Riding with my buddies at Bull Stock Media.

First the place. I stayed downtown as it was walking distance to 1st Mariner Arena (where PBR was being held), and it was pretty central to all the other things that I needed to get done (ie work).

Baltimore Inner Harbor

Second. Crab Cakes. My self imposed mission was to have 1 serving per day at a different place each time (was there 3 days). As it turns out… quality had little to do with the location or establishment. Day 1 a colleague took me to a local place in Dundalk (explored by John Smith in 1608 as part of the Chesapeake Bay expedition). We ate at the type of place that several generations of the same family have been to, and you sit at the same table each time… likely served by a person who knows your name (and birthday). This was officially my first real Maryland Crab Cake. And there was no comparison to all those imposters that had been passed off to me as ‘crab cake’ previously. This thing actually had big chunks of real crab… and the whole thing literally fell apart (not like the porridge like experience with other crab cakes). It tasted fantastic… although I could feel my cholesterol meter going up with each tasty mouth full. One comment though from a crab cake amateur… it was luke warm, as were all three experiences. I like hot food to be hot, but I guess this is how you eat them.

Orioles Baseball Stadium from my hotel window

My next experience was downtown on Inner Harbor, at a nationally recognized seafood chain. I had eaten at this chain before in other U.S. cities. The food was OK (not fantastic… food for the masses). However I was in Baltimore, on the harbor, so I expected the crab cakes to be really good here. Unfortunately they were not, and would have qualified as the previously mentioned porridge variety. Very disappointing.

The winner though (narrowly tipping out Dundalk) was Faidley Seafood at Lexington Market. Lexington is the largest continuously run market in the world… more than 220 years, and Faidley has been around since 1886. It is currently owned by Bill and Nancy Devine, who are descendants of the original founders. I actually met Bill while I was there.Nothing fancy about this place. You line up. Order. Get it on a paper plate with plastic eating gear… and you stand up to eat it. However this just adds to the experience and the nostalgia of the place… and the actual cakes were really good… as was the company. My thanks to my friend Todd and his lovely wife and daughter for taking me there. Very enjoyable.

Me with the Stanley DeWalt Bull Riders

So with work and my eating out of the way… time for some bull riding. I have written about taking photos of bull riding several times before, so won’t bore you with the technical details of how it is done. I tried a few different things here this time, so will share that with you.

NOTE: if you just want to look at some photos… either click on the link at the end of this sentence or skip to the bottom for an animated slideshow of the PBR Baltimore Invitational. 100 Photos / 4 Minutes.

I normally hang out in the shark cage in the middle of the arena (I did this one night here also). On the second night I stayed up on the chutes with the cowboys. My buddy Matt (Bull Stock Media) has been taking some really cool shots up close, so I thought that I would give it a try. It isn’t for the faint hearted, as one swipe of the bull’s head (big horns) could take a finger or two off, or even worse, wreck your camera and lens. I have extra fingers, and some other cameras… so let’s give it a try.

Douglas Ferreira on South Point

It is a little hard to describe the experience when you are up on the chutes with the cowboys while they are loading up. It is organized chaos, but if you know where to stand (and where not to), it is a cool place to be. Once the cowboys get to know you they are very accommodating. The bulls on the other hand… don’t give a crap, literally. Taking these photos literally means getting down on your knees, and sticking your camera into the bull chute, between the legs of either the officials or the cowboys helping to rope down the rider. It is like a dance. If it gets out of sync, someone gets stepped on.

It is also very noisy so you can’t really communicate by talking (when the rider is about to come out of the chute). So you develop a morse-code type arrangement by tapping on legs etc to let them know that you are there and where you are in relation to them and the ‘escape route’. They don’t have to look, as they know it is you. The other major consideration is the TV camera guys. These guys are busy, and need to get the shot, as many times it is live TV. They are also very accommodating once they know that you know what you are doing, and won’t get in their way. The arrangement (this time by way of head nods)… when they don’t need the shot… I (or Matt) duck into the slot and get some stills, then pull out just before you know that they will need to get back in. The other issue is getting out of their way when they are shooting. If the bulls go ape-shit and lift up in the chute, the camera guy needs to get out of the way in a hurry. So you need to give them some elbow room, and make sure that if they need to step, that they won’t fall over you (remember I am on my knees at their feet at this point).

At the end of the day though, everyone has a job to do to make the event run, and for it to be successful. So as long as you know what the order of priority is, the sequence of events, and your role in it – all works fine.

Marco Eguche on Black & Decker Orange Crust

Ryan McConnel on Bar Code / Score 85.50

So to briefly give you the specs on how these shots were taken.

Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mk IV

Lens: Canon EF16-35 f/2.8L II with Tiffen HT (high transmission) filter

ISO: 3200 – 6400 (these were at 5000)

Shutter: 1/800th

Aperture: f/2.8

2010 World Champion Renato Nunes on King Lopez / Score 86.75

While it may seem cool to be standing (kneeling) on the chutes… and let me tell you… it is, you have to be prepared to wear some big clods of mud (which sting when they hit you in the face), bull snot by the gobs, and the odd bit of green stinky bull crap… all of which invariably hits your camera, the front of your lens… and you.

As described in some of my previous blogs, the ph0tos are sent directly via wireless transmitter on the cameras, via ‘The Photo Commander’ at Bull Stock Media up to PBR Live Photos. Bull Stock Media do an excellent job at this for fans to see live footage from the events.

Guilherme Marchi on Dark Shadow sent from my MkIV

I leave you with this shot of PBR Bull ‘Back Bender’. He (like most world class PBR bulls) has a head the size of a small car. I had my EF16-35 f/2.8L II literally touching the front of his nostril inside the chute, hence it is way out of focus. The highlights you see near his nose… that my friends is the proverbial ‘Bull Snot’ as he is breathing out. I had to clean big gobs of it off once he left the chute… along with the mud and bull crap that he so generously shared as he exited.

Ty Pozzobon on Back Bender

In case you are interested…. here is an animated slideshow from the PBR Baltimore Invitational. Click on this link to watch it on YouTube or use the embedded video below.   100 Photos / 4 Minutes