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. 
 

Hey Everyone! Hope your doing great this week. I just got back from a weekend trip to Shenandoah National Park.  This trip I took with my wife and Forrest the Wonder dog. This trip was for me an excuse to get away with my wife for the weekend and spend some time away from our phones and just relax.  We took our little Teardrop Camper that we got a five or so years ago. It's a great little camper. We have camped on and off through the years and have always used tents but the camper was meant to get two old folks off of the ground.  I still like my hammock for camping in the backcountry but this little camper is great for a weekend away. Almost glamping in a way. Compared to all of the campers in their tents this weekend it was a definite upgrade to what they were doing. Car camping is great because you can get away to a location like a National or State park you can sleep under the starts but you still have the amenities of a bathroom.

Shenandoah is a National Park that is not too far away. We could have got there in four in a half hours if we drove by interstate but we decided to take the backroads there and it took us an hour longer but well worth it to see small little towns and the countryside instead of traffic on Interstate 95. Shenandoah is located in the mountains of Virginia along Skyline drive. The northern part of the park is only 75 miles from Washington DC.  
Skyline drive is an extension of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Really the same road they just change the name to Skyline Drive when you enter Shenandoah.  It is a long Park that goes right up the ridge line of the mountains. It has over 500 hiking trails and the Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Main runs right through it. So we left home and took the drive that was about five and a half hours and arrived at the park entrance. There is a fee to get into the park but if you have an annual pass to the parks that will get you in and save you 30 bucks. The pass is good for 7 days if you don't have the pass. There are several Campgrounds in the park and we stayed at one that was on the southern end of the park called Loft Mountain Campground. 

The Loft Mountain Campground is a National Park Campground. We have never camped with our trailer (I must really get a name for the trailer) at a National Park Campground before. The fee was a little expensive for what you get at 30 dollars per night. But the campground was very clean especially the bathrooms. It was set up really nice and you didn't feel crowded there were plenty of trees and growth to make you feel like you were camping in the wilderness. Shenandoah is known for its bear population and there are strict rules for keeping food locked away. We did not see any bear but did have a family of deer that regularly roamed the campground eating leaves from the foliage around the campsites. They would get within 10 feet of you before they scurried off.  The campground also had a camp store that sold camping supplies and also had coin operated showers available.

We arrived in the afternoon on Friday and set up camp and hung out at the campground. We played cards and took Forrest for a walk around the campground. The next morning we got up and made breakfast then headed out to Skyline Drive.  Skyline Drive runs north and south through the park for over 100 miles. At 35mph speed limit it can take you a while to navigate the whole park on the drive. There are two visitor centers one is about midway and the other is at the northern part of the park. There are little stores and restaurants called Waysides that you can stop and shop and eat at. And there is one gas station in the middle of the park. We drove along Skyline drive stopping at overlooks along the way to take photographs. Skyline drive was built in the early 30's by the Civilian Conservation Corp. And the park was established in 1936 I believe.  It is a slow and winding drive through the park with many overlooks. Be on the lookout for bicycles while driving . There are many cyclist making their way up and down the hills.  We even saw a bicycle built for 4 with a family of 5 pulling a trailer for the smallest of the family. It was quite a site to see this young family cycling up the hills. Later in the day when we were at camp this family came into the campground and stayed just adjacent from us. We grilled some chicken for dinner that night and after eating it started to get stormy as a front was coming trough. We spent the night in our camper watching a movie. Yes it has a TV in it and a Blue-ray DVD player. The rain cooled off the air and made for a pleasant sleep. We woke and had breakfast the next morning and packed up camp and headed home. 

Shenandoah National Park is a pretty park and must be amazing in the fall when the leaves change. There are waterfalls and all kinds of beautiful scenery to see. Make it a point to visit this Park you won't be disappointed .  Until Next week Get outside and shoot.