Hey Y'all! How's it going? Me? It's been a very busy couple of weeks. I've had my van a couple of weeks and I have been busy planning and buying stuff for the van. It's a lot to consider and with all the black Friday deals out there I'm trying to maximize savings on things I need to get for the van. Originally I was going to have someone else do all of the work for the van which would be great but it would be a minimum of 25,000 dollars and that didn't include things like electric, air conditioning , exhaust fan or fridge. So after adding all of the things together it would be almost 40 grand. So I figured I could do all of that myself. The hardest thing would be the walls and ceiling which were already provided in the van I bought. But it is quite a process figuring what to get and how to do different things . I'm estimating that I will spend about 8,000 dollars give or take to do my build that will make it much like the 40,000 that I was going to pay for. Of course there is no Labor charges and I'm feeling it a little bit in my old bones but if I take my time I will have a great van with all the things I need in it. I have experience in construction and Electrical and Mechanics so I'm pretty good at making things functional but am not very good in making things pretty.  So progress so far...

Purchasing items. I have been very busy buying things for the Van which means a lot of research before I pull the trigger. I will be purchasing things for the van and the only thing that I will be fabricating from scratch is the bed platform and a shelf above the bed. All of the cabinets and things I will purchase and install. I'm not much of a carpenter. LOL! So I have purchased the roof mounted (OutEquip) air conditioning unit that is a 12 volt DC unit. Lots of research there but I pulled the trigger. Also on the exhaust fan for the van which was an easy choice of a MaxAir Fan. These will be the scariest part of my build because I will have to cut holes in the roof of my new van to install. Ouch! Other things purchased is the electrical system for the living area of the van. Everything will be 12 volt from Fridge, AC, Exhaust Fan, Lights. They all will be run off of a Mobile Power station that will supply DC voltage( battery power) and AC voltage (like in your house). The Power Station will be recharged by the alternator (car while driving) and a Solar Panel mounted on the roof. I have purchased everything except the Solar panel . I am waiting for the things on the roof to be mounted (air conditioner and exhaust fan) before I order to make sure of measurements of the solar panel. I have also gotten my internet figured out while on the road while getting a Starlink satellite antenna that I can use while on the road to stay in touch with family and you folks. I'll probably do a separate blog on that item itself. I also purchased the things to build a bed frame that will hold a full size bed.

Building Progress. The bed frame has been built out of angle iron and uni-strut . Attached to the main supports of the van with bolts and Riv-nuts attached to the supports with a special tool. I also have the support for the shelf I will make using the same technique as the bed frame. I have also installed all of the electrical onto a 1/4 inch piece of Oak plywood to custom fit around the wheel well of the van. I've installed a Solar/Alternator charger which I have run the wire to the alternator to supply power while driving. That will hook up to the Bluetti AC200L that I am going to use as my power station to charge. I have also installed two buss bars one Negative and one Positive which will hook to a Fuse panel that I will hook the different Items Lights and things like exhaust fan and AC. I have a device that will hook to my Bluetti (Charging Station) and take a 48volt DC output to 12 volt output at 400wats and 30 amps which will hook to the buss bars to supply 12 volt power to the fuse panel. I have also got a larger lithium battery to extend my Charging station's capacity by a lot. I have also installed a shore power plug so I can plug the van into house 115 voltage and charge that way also. So when all done I'll be able to charge from 115 volt AC , the vans alternator and solar power. The weather here in NC has been unseasonably cold the last few weeks so that has hindered my progress a little but I still have lots of time to go. The spring time line is still a go! Whoop Whoop!

Other things like floor mats and little stuff like that I have been adding to the cabin of my van to make it more comfortable to drive. I still don't have 1000 miles on it yet still getting used to it. And of course getting permanent tags on it was a plus. I hate those temporary paper tags that they put on your vehicle. It just screams look at me I'm new. I once had my tires sliced on a new car with paper tags on at a Pizza Hut and I believe it was just because of the tags. So I'm making progress. Next step is the roof and installing the AC and exhaust fan. Wish me luck! Until Next week get out and Shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link

Hey Everyone! Hope Ya'll are having a great week! Me? Pretty good! It's Holiday season and I'm officially in the mood! Usually it take until Thanksgiving to get me in the mood and this year was no exception. I don't want to see holiday movies, or hear music holiday related until we've eaten the turkey. But now that we have I'm in the mood. I've been working on my Van getting it ready for next years adventures but its been especially cold the last week or so and I haven't done much but purchase things for it while the sales are still in effect. A update will come in next weeks Blog.  This week I want to talk about holiday photo's. To me they are some of the most fun to take . Everybody is smiling , even family! LOL They are a great way to share with family and friends and save memories of times. Looking back in old shoe boxes of photos they are always of family gatherings . Weddings, holidays, birthdays and the such. So just because you're shooting digital now doesn't mean you don't need to document the occasion with photo's . Even if they are only with your phone.

Community Events, During the holidays there are many events going on in the community to celebrate the season. Of course there are Christmas/Holiday parades. This is like capturing joy. Everyone is happy and having a good time. All you have to do is point a camera at folks in the parade and the smiles automatically come. Children are having some of the best memories in their little lives .  Fun is had by all! All you need to shoot these events is a camera and a medium zoom. If your parade ends at darkness like ours does a 50mm with a wider aperture works great also. And it's not just Parades there are tree lighting ceremonies , downtown lights, concerts in the park and whatever your community does for the holidays.  It's a special time to photograph. Don't forget your town's store fronts. Lots of store owners go to great lengths to make their store front the most beautiful. Christmas decorations of all sorts are out. When I was a kid we always went out to see the lights. Going in neighborhoods that had elaborate lighting decorations on their homes. These are also great opportunities to get some great shots.

Photographing Family and Friends, Thanksgiving and Christmas are great times to get family portraits, Group shots and candid shots of family. Remember you as a photographer of the group is responsible for documenting the event and occasion. Sharing these photo's with family and especially if they save or have them printed is a great way for younger folks in the future to see family members all together having fun before they were born. To see family members that aren't with us anymore is really nice. Another idea is to make books out of the holiday. Like Thanksgiving of 2025 and give as Christmas presents to everyone. That way they have permanent copy of them. Whatever you do don't miss this opportunity to get some great and lasting memories of your family.

The holiday season is a great time for photography. I hope you have a chance to enjoy the holidays with family, fun and photography! Until next week Get out and shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link

What's up Y'all? Hope you're having a great week. Me pretty good! This week will be a little different . Usually I'm buying something or getting something new but this week I'm getting rid of something. Now I have changed my camera set ups many times. I've gone from a film shooter to a digital shooter from a Nikon full frame DSLR to a Sony crop sensor Mirrorless camera and back to Full frame Mirrorless and film again. So kind of full circle. Now I have two full frame mirrorless camera's. Both are basically the same . Same sensor and everything but one is a compact size and one is more professional traditional camera. Well I was finding problems on when to use this camera or that camera and what lenses to use just too many choices. So one or the other camera would just sit at home depending on what mood I was in. What a waste. So I needed to get rid of one. So now which one?

Both of my camera's are Sony full frame Mirrorless cameras. One is a A7III which is the more traditional camera with dual card slots a larger electronic view finder and is very robust. It's the one that I use for wildlife and landscape photography. I have 3 main lenses that I have talked about in the past the 16-35mm, 20-70mm, and the 70-300mm zooms which I love them all. I also have the A7C which the "C" stands for compact. It is built in a range finder style and is more compact than the A7III. It's great for travel and street photography with its low profile and I recently used it on a Colonial Williamsburg workshop where it worked great and gave me excellent photo's. For the compact camera I have one zoom a 28-60mm to compact primes a 35mm Zeiss and a 50mm.  Both which I love. The knobs and switches are a little different on each camera so when I go from one to another I have to relearn what switch does what. That slows me down a little. And since both camera's have the same sensor and megapixel count I really need to pair down to one camera. But which one? Well I had to make a decision and I'm going to keep the A7III the more traditional camera and letting the compact go. The main reason really came down to the electric view finder. The one on the A7III is larger than the one on the A7C the compact version which has a small one. And with older eyes the larger one won out. So now I have to decide what else I will get rid of. I decided on the 28-60mm will have to go also because it is in the same range as my 20-70mm zoom which is the better lens. 

Selling the cameras was easy for me. I sold them back to MPB which was where I bought them from to begin with. All you have to do is let them know what you're selling and they give you a quote. Package them up and they send you the label to ship them with and then you take them to a Fed X store and send to MPB. When they receive them they inspect them and make sure they are okay and then they send the money. I originally bought the A7C for 1100 dollars and I sold for 900 three years later. Not too bad. 

Now that I've paired down I only have one system to think about. If I need something small I can always use my little Canon point and shoot that I love for that kinds of stuff. So there you have it I have paired down my Camera's to just one system . So until next week Get out and shoot ! 

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link