Hey Everyone! I hope everyone is doing great this week. If you can remember when I took my trip to Utah I was using A RavPower File hub to backup my SD cards and everything was fine except the Dating on the Files. Well I figured out what I did wrong! Yes it was user error , the nut behind the wheel. Here is a quick overview of the file hub if you don't remember.

The RAV Power File Hub wireless travel Router. There are Four things you can do with this device. (1st) its is a backup battery source.(not a large one at 6700mah battery) (2nd )it can act as a wireless router from a wired ethernet cable or (3rd) it can be hooked up to wireless intent say at a hotel and be a secure WIFI with another layer of security. You don't have to subscribe to some sort of VPN service. With this device you can do many things but the main thing I want to do with it is (4th) backup my SD cards.  To use you simply Plug in your SD card and your SSD drive hold in the transfer button for 5 seconds and the device will copy everything off of your SD card to your External Drive into a Time Stamped File.  You can then access your files via WIFI and edit them on your device.  This is pretty cool .  The very cool part is that its only 60 bucks.  There are fancier devices that can do this but they can cost up to 800 dollars for a 1TB drive one that they don't even make anymore.   The draw backs are that transfer times of data are not as fast as a laptop.  But it's not terrible. Maybe only a minute or two longer from SD to SSD.  But you can choose what hard drive you want to go to by hooking up any drive you have to it. So it's versatile . The size of this device is small at 4.4 X 3 X .9 inches weighing only 7 ounces.

Screenshot The problem that I was having when I was on the road is that every timed stamped folder had the same date. I didn't notice until a few days in and I panicked a little but all my files were there and I just had to rename the folder. Well I said I would get back to you when I figured it out. I have another trip planned in a few weeks and I wanted to get this figured out before I left. And I did. The time and date stamp comes from the File Hub. You can set this manually or have the internet do it for you by syncing the time and the date each time File hub hooks up. Well this is where I messed up. I wasn't hooking this device to the internet or manually setting the date each day. For each hotel we were in during our trip I just needed to connect to the WiFi and it would automatically set the time and date.  Which I did not do. My iPad has Cellular coverage and I was using that for my internet so I didn't need my file hub to be connected to the hotel Wifi for anything . Or so I thought. So now there is an extra step to make sure that the file hub is connected to the internet before I transfer the files and a new folder each day will be made and all of the files from the SD card will be put in that folder. I did a test the last three days to make sure it worked and it did I just needed to make sure it was hooked to the Wifi before I started transferring files. If you want more info on the way I view and transfer files while on the road I'll refer you to this blog  Traveling without a Computer . So until next week get out and do some traveling! Get out and Shoot!
 

Hey Everyone! Hope you're doing great this week. In a couple of weeks I have a trip planned that will take me in an urban street photography climate. I don't do a lot of street photography but always enjoy it when I do.  Being a gear head for this trip I wanted to challenge myself. Don't buy any photography gear! That's a big challenge! I'm testing out a street photography kit that I will take with me trying to keep my set up light and nimble and inconspicuous.  That's going to be tough. So I know that on this trip there will be some night scapes and some things that will require a tripod.  A tripod is a very cumbersome piece of equipment especially if you're taking it on a plane. Light and nimble I want to be so I won't be taking a tripod.  But I will be taking a camera support with me to take some long exposures. I'll be taking a Platypod Ultra in place of my tripod.  This will save weight and be small and inconspicuous.  I have had a Platypod Ultra for quite a while and  haven't used it very much. I think it was on sale and I got it.  This will be the perfect photowalk camera support.  If you don't know what a Platypod is its a plate that you can hook a ba,llhead to and put your camera on. Its large enough that your camera won't tip over with a  reasonable size lens on it.  It comes in two sizes the Ultra which I have and the Max which is built for large DSLR's.  This plate is small enough to fit in your back pocket.  It comes with feet that you can attach that have a pointy end for added support in rough terrains and a rubber end for sitting on tables or surfaces that you don't want to scratch.  Or you can just use it without the feet.  It also comes with a strap that you can wrap around a pole or small tree and secure it. It is very versatile.  So here's a few reasons to use a Platypod.

1. Inconspicuous- The Platypod has a very small foot print compared to a tripod.  Many places don't allow a tripod like museums, some National Park trails, historic places. But a Platypod is not a tripod and most of the guards don't pay it any mind and let  you use it. I'm thinking of a situation where you have people shoulder to shoulder looking at something behind a rope. You could sit your Platypod on the ground at your feet with a wide angel lens and with your phone trigger your camera to get the whole scene. Pretty sneaky and neat.

2. Small and Lightweight- Like I said before this will fit in your back pocket and depending on the size of your ball head it can be a very small package. Easily put in a pouch of your backpack or camera bag.  It comes with a carabiner that you can use to hook to your bag or belt loop. This will not be a problem getting through security at an airport.

3. Perspective- This little camera support can give you many point of views that you can't get with a tripod. First of all it can get very low to the ground giving you that great perspective.  And you just have to set it down.  You don't have to struggle adjusting legs trying to get it lower. You can put it in nooks and crannies that a tripod just won't reach or can get too because of the large foot print that a tripod has.  Think of the possibilities the rail of a staircase, the rail of a bridge.  When I took photo's for New Years at Mount Mitchell NC this would have worked great. I ended up setting my camera on a support and this would have been more secure and gave me sharper photo's.

Now will this Platypod take the place of my tripod for everything? Of course not .  I love my tripod and love using it but this is great for Urban environments where being nimble and inconspicuous is important. In  upcoming weeks I'll talk more about the trip and what I am doing to get prepared for it.  So until next time Get Outside and Shoot!

Hey Everyone! Hope you are doing well.  For the last couple of weeks I have been fine tuning my camera gear for an upcoming trip.  This trip is going to be in an Urban environment with lots of neat street scenes to take photographs.  With this kit I want to be nimble and lightweight and inconspicuous at the same time.  And my biggest goal is not to spend any extra money on Photography Gear.  Now that's a tall order! To be in an Urban environment without screaming I'm a photographer and have thousands of dollars of equipment with me is the goal. But also have enough gear with me to do the job whatever circumstance comes up.  We will be taking Public Transportation and Ubers wherever we go so I don't want to stand out any more than I already will looking around with eyes wide open to new places.

So let's start with my bag.  I have a great photowalk camera bag that I call my purse that I use that is an over the shoulder bag but it is too small to use all day with carrying coats and water with me. So a backpack is the choice but I don't want to use a photography backpack that looks too Photography "Look at Me". So I'll be using use an everyday day pack from Mountain Smith. Its a 25 liter pack made for day hikes. So inconspicuous. I'll put a divider cube that is made for carrying camera stuff inside of the bag at the bottom and leaves plenty of space for a puffy jacket and any things I may buy on the way.  It has water bottle pockets on the side to carry a bottle of water.  I have used this system twice in Washington DC for trips and it works great. (Well a little update I did purchase another everyday bag that I will be doing the same as I did with the Mountain Smith bag. I saw this bag in a store and loved all of the origination inside. Its built for a college student and doesn't scream photo gear. It's an Osprey "Flare" and is 27 liter bag so just a couple of liters bigger than the Mountain Smith. Osprey is a great backpacking gear company with solid built products that are warrantied for life. This one looks like an everyday backpack.)

Camera body is next. I'll be using my full frame Sony A7III.  Its an older model but works great and I love the ergonomics of it.  Its a 24 megapixel sensor camera and works great in low light.  Its small and I'll be using a Really Right Stuff "L" bracket on it.  I'll only be using the base plate on it unless I might need the side piece and then I will put it on. I'll take an extra battery with me.  This camera has the larger Z batteries by Sony and one battery can last all day not like the other Sony's I have used that ate batteries.  I'll be using a Peak Design wrist strap rather than a neck strap.

Lenses. For this trip I'll only be using Prime lenses. Sort of.  I'll get back to that in a moment. I love Prime lenses for lots of reasons. They are lightweight , sharp, and wide aperture. I'll be taking three lenses with me. Now I only wanted to take two lenses. But as I thought of it I needed and extra wide angel lens to capture city scapes and maybe tight spots in museums.  The first lens is the Sony 85mm f1.8 lens.  This is a fantastic lens and will be my longest lens.  It creates great separation when shot at wide aperture and compresses well for longer shots.  My next lens and the one that will be on the camera 90% or more of the time is the Sony 35mm f1.8.  This lens is great for walking around and shooting what you see. Again Great Separation at wide apertures and can get close for closeup shots.  The last lens will be a surprise to you. It is a Sony 10-18mm f4 APSC (Crop Sensor) lens.  I know what your thinking if you use that lens you will have a heavy vignette around the frame. And normally I would agree with you.  But when you zoom from 15-17 there is  no vignette.  So I can use this dialed into 16mm and I have the full 24 megapixel without cropping. So I can use this lens on both of my cameras the full frame and the crop sensor. So I will have effectively 3 Primes with me a 16mm a 35mm and a 85mm. But if I need that little bit extra when using these lenses I can go into Super 35 or Crop Sensor mode on my camera and make the same lenses a 24mm (16mm) a 50mm (35mm) and a 127mm (85mm) .  Of course when shooting in Super 35 or Crop Sensor mode the megapixel will be knocked town to 10 megapixels.

Filters and Accessories.  The only filters that I will cary are Polarizer and Variable ND filter with step up rings.  I will not have a tripod but will be using the Platypod Ultra which I have a whole other blog for next week.  I will have all of the lens cleaning accessories that I always have with me on a shoot like a blower, lens brush, microfiber clothes cleaning wipes.  An emergency Poncho and cover for my camera incase of rain. And that's about it nothing out of the ordinary.

That is pretty much my Urban Street Photography Kit.  I have been testing and tweaking it but it seems about right.  It is lightweight , nimble and inconspicuous.  So until next week Get Outside and Shoot.