Blog #138 Happy Nude Year!
Reader Rating
📷 Amateur
That’s not a typo. I wish you a Happy [and very] Nude Year. Making art with your camera is the most fun that you can have with your clothes on (or off if you prefer).
It’s 2019! OUCH! My head hurts. I’m starting a new year of art, photography and life with a new sense of humour. Here are some of the changes in the pipeline:
Blogs posts will now be fun-er or funnier, whatever works. Posts will also contain a simple system to communicate the complexity or sophistication, so to speak, of the piece. There will be three levels, these are listed below. The aim here is to assist the reader in understanding the target audience.
Reader Rating
📷 Amateur
📷📷 Intermediate
📷📷📷 Professional
3. Previous Blogs will be Archived and new posts will be here [let’s see if this works].
4. You should be able to subscribe so that new posts get pushed to you in a timely manner [in theory].
Now, on to the good stuff…
Winter means holidays and holidays mean time off. Take a vacation or maybe a staycation. It really doesn’t matter where you go as long as you practice your craft and make pictures. Travelling abroad is great, but so too is going to places in your own town or city that you have been meaning to travel to. Surely [or whatever your name is], you haven’t seen 100% of your own town or city, have you? I polled some readers on Facebook and a majority of people travelled from their homes over the holiday.
This brings me to the subject of this week’s blog entry (the first one of the year). Gear! What to pack? I’m travelling to the Philippines for over two weeks and there will be a variety of activities and events throughout that time. How does someone prepare for it all?
Family parties are perfect for some Instax. Adventures to more typical tourist destinations may require a small, light, but powerful, mirrorless camera body. I suggest a zoom lens and an extra battery and SD card for a whole day of uninterrupted shooting. Your smartphone is the backup camera. Bring an extra power source for the phone as well.
Hitting the beach? Work on your golden complexion while pounding mojitos and burning some film. Use an old school Single Lens Reflex (SLR) with a prime lens like a 28mm and some colour 35mm film like Kodak Ektar 100 . This will make for a reliable and easy to use set up and will transform a simple day at the beach into an adventure with of a lifetime. Slide film [Color Reversal Film] can make for some terrific memories to be shared around the home projector, weeks after the return home to reminisce and reflect on the time together as well but it’s a bit more expensive and complicated to deal with because you need to mount slides after developing.
Going for a swim with the fishes? No prob! There are inexpensive and highly effective underwater point and shoots for endless [until the battery runs out] underwater photography options.
Can’t decide or maybe your plans are not concrete. Why not take all of the above? This has been my thinking as I approach my holiday trip. There will be family holiday parties, beach, pool, sight seeing, and everything in between. The trick is to be prepared and to bring the right gear for the right job. Plan for whatever situation you might be in and you can’t go wrong.
Bring a suitable bag to carry and protect your gear. I’m using ThinkTank stuff these days. Imagine purpose-built gear for photographers. These bags are built for people schlepping cameras and camera gear. It’s not cheap, however, and there are many alternatives. Use whatever works for you.
The light is always right.
JHG
*Images: © Limelight Limited
Where: Somewhere in a rock in the South China Sea
Subject: Gear stuffed into my ThinkTank Airport Essential
Gear: iPhone XS + Ikea side table LED lamp
Dig in the Crates! [Blog Archives #1 - #137]
National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2017 Editor’s Favorite: Galleries: Week 4 Cities & People
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #18 Criticizing Photographs or Beyond the “like”
Blog #25 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark[room].
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #90 Restrictions, Revisited
Blog #93 Photographic Technique
Blog #105 Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign
Dig in the Crates! [Blog Archives #1- #137]
#photography #professional #professional_photographer #hongkong #gear #photography_gear #travel #travel_photography #limelight