Centralised thread for backpacking photographers

[zoossh]

Any travel tips to share would be greatly welcomed.

Summary
1. travel projections to get partners
2. links to discussion about destinations revolving around travel photography
3. topics about travel photography: etc general planning, equipments, handling of weather.

Simply pop in your projection (of cos it is not a committment, just a projection, as i understand many need to see if their leave can be approved or not)
1. your projected destination (country, area, city) of travel,
2. which month? when? the duration you prefer or can afford to spend
3. no of people in the group prefered.
4. the link to the thread that you have further discussion about. or any other things you would like to add, e.g. contact, preferences

Kindly do the same way i do below (after that one liner, you can leave additional/further details in your post) then i will do some simple cut and paste as below.





Summary of travel projections

2006 Dec
Szechuan - ling nightsky, early dec, 10 days, 2 more to go, thread
HK & China - XC Pictorial, Dec 7-15, 9 days, Hong Kong, GuangZhou, ShenZhen
Japan - ReiszRie, Dec 15-27, 12 days, Kansai region and Kinki Region with a day trip or 2 to Karuizawa and Hakone
Cambodia - USM, Dec 8-12, 5 days, Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), thread
Cambodia - pauche, Dec 23-Jan 7, Siem Reap - Phnom Penh - Sihanoukville, dun mind bike mates. thread: look below

2007 Jan
Cambodia - kitkat, 4-5 days, Angkor Wat, looking for tickets.
India, Northern - binbeto, Jan 13-21, New Delhi, Agra, Allahbad and Varanasi, thread
China, Northern - peapilot, late jan to late jun duration unknown, around beijing

2007 Feb
The Philippines - zoossh, 1 week before and during chinese new year, maybe 10 days, prefer 4 in a group, planning

2007 Mar
Yunnan - luosangjian, mar 11-20, 10 days, thread

2007 May
Szechuan - djinn, thread

2007 Sep
Ugyur (Xinjiang) - luosangjian, end sep, thread




Summary of discussion of photographic travel destination

South Asia & Himalayan region
India, Delhi 2006 Nov
India, Rajasthan 2006 Oct
Tibet 2006 Nov

East Asia
Japan 2006 Nov

Southeast Asia
Laos 2006 Oct



Travel photography issues: basic planning


1. What resources can I get to start a backpacking trip?

Basically, it depends on your style of travel. Usually it takes one to have a few trips to start to get a feel of what backpacking is about and how it should be conducted. It can be done alone or in small groups or in bigger groups and experience can be pleasant or "enriching" depending on where you go, when you go and who you go with. To make your trip more complete and memorable, it is actually better to have a rough idea of what you want, especially in a photographic trip, so a little planning would be good.

What one needs is
1. general ideas & descriptions
2. details
3. pictures
4. advices

First of all, get an idea of what is the highlights of the place you are going to and its climate. This will set a mapwork of your entire plan. Have an idea of the space and time to see if you can fit so many places in that many days.

Next you will need exact details such as the distance between different locations, routes or even opening hours for locations in the cities. I find that the best resources is to get the latest edition (preferably within 2 years of last print) of lonely planet. They have little pictures but give a pragmatic system that is more complete than other travel books. Nobody in any forums is going to be a walking travel dictionary to remember all the details of his previous trip, unless he just came back recently, and nobody is going to hunt down online that specific questions of your trip that you can't find online, that he is not going for. That is why open ended questions in most travel forums are often left unanswered. So the most reliable source is from the books supplemented by information available online. But do note that things changes, and nobody can guarantee the accuracy of the information. Nuts have set up an excellent site for this, http://www.wookup.com/. Although traffic is low and thus not really updating, it is an invaluable resource that takes a lot of effort to organise.

Pictures would be good to just browse through. It will help to entice you to travel to specific locations in an area that you are more likely to be interested.

After homework are done, now it is good time to join in the forums to get more advices, of which a post in some local high traffic forums may be useful.


2. Quick links to flight schedule & ticketing

Singapore, Tiger Airways schedule, booking
Singapore, Jetstar Asia schedule & booking
Singapore, Singapore Airlines schedule & booking
Singapore, Silk Air booking
Thailand, Thai Airways schedule & booking
Taiwan, China Airlines schedule & booking
Taiwan, Eva Airlines schedule & booking
Taiwan, Far Eastern (Yuan Dong) Air Transport (domestic) schedule & booking
Taiwan, Mandarin (Hua Xin) Airlines (domestic) booking (in chinese)
Taiwan, Transasia (Fu Xing) Airlines (domestic) booking (in chinese)
Taiwan, Uni (Li Rong) Air (domestic) booking (in chinese)
HK, Cathay Pacific (founded by US-AU, now under UK) schedule & booking
China, Air China schedule & booking (US site)
India, Jet Airways schedule, booking
India, Air Sahara schedule & booking
India, Air India schedule & booking

http://www.zuji.com.sg/web/content/sg/index.html
http://www.airfares.com.sg/flights/2_latest_airlines.htm


3. Quick links to maps
this part is endless, so i just add on when i see links that is useful

India maps of India


4. Other useful links

Wikipedia domestic AC power sockets/plugs

 

[zoossh]

Travel photography issues: Assess to equipments on the go


1. How do I get quick assess to my equipments?

Suggestion 1 - The cheapest and simplest method is to keep to one body with one lens, if ever possible with you. Either you do it with a shoulder sling, neck strap or a hand grip. Neck strap or shoulder sling go for something that gives you weight reduction, of which a choice may be optechusa. Hand grip wise gives you safe handy use but will make it difficult if you need your master hand, eg. to write, or if you need both hands.

Suggestion 2 - If there are many items you have that you can't carry around all at the same time, or that you need to be able to keep it and take it out at different situations, most will go for a shoulder bag that is the most conventional or use a sling bag. Both gives easy accessibility, fair capacity. Shoulder bags are more common and have more option. Sling bags gives slightly better comfort as weight is carried onto the back too. Optechusa have shoulder slings that can help to give some weight reduction. Backpack types are meant for those who wanted to carry more capacity but you have to put the bag down to take things out.

Suggestion 3 - Go flexible with a bare skeleton - that is holster type. I do it with a thinktank waist system and a optechusa chest strap for the camera. it gives me fast assess to change lens rapidly and is fairly comfortable. the chest strap helps to distribute the weight and i thus do not get strain and cut marks on the neck.

Here's an example. With a carabina, any plastic bags can be attached to the waist without affecting my shooting. So i did shopping and shooting together. I extended the optechusa chest strap with a mammut rope and hence with some adjustment, it rested just right to the waist and anytime i can bring it up comfortably to some eye level, both horizontal and vertical. the only thing it affects me is that i have to bend down if i am to shoot at ankle level. above shot by cs forumer hosea.




Travel photography issues: weight


1. How much weight should I carry? Actually it is a question that one does not really think carefully about. How many of us weigh our bag before we go travelling? And perhaps you just want to make sure you does not exceed the weight limit set by the airline. well it is more than that.

yeocolin says it well and everything i need to and want to say. See this thread.

"It depends on your style. Some like to shoot ultra wide such as fish eye and 20mm. Some like to shoot at 28, 35mm. All I can suggest is to carry a lens which you are most likely to use. You don't need a fast F2.8 lens for landscape cos you are shooting mostly F16, F22 anyway! Its more useful that you carry a light lens to reduce encumbrance and a zoom, cos when you are shooting on top of a mountain, its not easy to move forward or backward several hundred meters to get that crop or magnification you want. Its not like street photography where usually many, including myself will use a prime and fast lens. Don't forget, when doing landscape, you are already carrying loads of stuff, such as tripod and your hiking gear. During my backpack trip to India and Scotland, I carried 17-35mm and 50mm F1.4 lens. It covered all my needs. I shoot mainly landscape and street photography. How do you know which lens you'll like or use before even going for the trip? Treat Singapore like the place you are going to. Go around and shoot and see which lens you end up using most of the time to shoot the type of pictures you are likely to shoot when you are there. Don't end up carrying whole load of equipment which you find superfluous, but worse still, take away the joy of the trip! You are going there to have fun and soak in the sights, not to be a mule and cracking your brains trying to change from 1 lens to another."



2. How do i cut down the weight of my luggage? Well, it is a question that bothers most travel photographers and even I myself are still tackling it. I can't get below 8kg. But i'm sure there is something we can share.

Suggestion 1 - Go for the heaviest items and think heavily on whether you are going to bring them. Needless to say, everyone will be thinking of whether to bring his flash, how many lens, whether laptop or not, and tripod, monopod, beanbag or none. but what most people miss out will be the bags. Dun forget bags are themselves heavy too. I use to carry a Deuter 65+10L backpack that weighs 2.7kg. it is comfortable and often we do not actually know how heavy is our backpack compared to a hand luggage. i downgraded to a Deuter 40+10L Act lite backpack subsequently and try to make do with the reduced capacity. basically, one need at least 2 bags - one for everything inside, one for on the go. bag usage depends on shooting style. mine is that i drop off my main luggage in the accomodation place and makes myself light when going out to shoot. in fact, i do carry many bags too. for my last laos trip,

1. Deuter 40+10L Act lite backpack, as mentioned above. 1.7kg is by far the best weight i can have for about this capacity with fairly comfortable straps. http://www.deuterusa.com/actlite40.html. for a shorter tour, deuter 35L navajo 475 backpack weighs only 980g for 35L.

2. Optechusa chest strap and thinktank modulus system. for those interested, can go to the links at http://www.photovideoi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17406985&postcount=7. for the modulus system, i have a Pro Modulus belt, Lens Changer 15, 25, 50. speed changer is too heavy. bum bag i use it only if i need more items. otherwise i use the extra space around lens changer 50.

3. a foldable shopping bag - never used it. hahaha.... maybe should not bring it.

4. a mountain designs dunker sack xs (dry bag) - 110g. $13 from x boundaries. rarely use it cos never really caught in the rain without shelter. use once with kayaking, fail to waterproof my compact camera. anyone got lighter and better solutions, do give some feedback.

5. eagle creek - the "pack-it" system is wonderful as intra-luggage light-weight compartmentalising bags. i use this "cube-size" model as my hand carry bag to hold a laptop, a camera body and 3 lens. to protect the lens, i wrapped it with optechusa cushioned wraps.

Suggestion 2 - Dun forget that every electronic carries a charger and maybe a power adapter - they are heavy. I try to bring 1 universal adapter, check out the power requirements and the socket type of that country. to cut down on weight for example, there are light weight adapters that can convert a US 2 flat pin into a Euro 2 round pin if that country's socket fits a euro 2 round pin plug. some equipments do share the same type of charger and that would be great, for example, my zigview and fotomore devices happened to be both from Korea and both can use the same charger. do check out if you find your charger plug seems to look similar, maybe it works. i'm still looking for a laptop power adaptor - but nothing is cheap and all is heavy, and only the kensington power adaptor is light and works only in vehicles.

Suggestion 3 - Fluids (bath lotion) and books are often heavier than what you think. i only bring lonely planet and avoid bringing any books no matter how much i feel like reading them. hygiene items i bring what i need and put them into smaller lightweight containers. bottlelax systems are good and are available from outdoor specialist at peninsula 2nd floor.


.... to be continued

 

[zoossh]

3. What lens should I buy/bring for travelling? Again, another highly subjective question that is no definite yes or no. We can only advise on factors for consideration, not exact solutions. First of all, it depends on needs and expectations. what do you shoot or what do you think you can afford to not shoot? that is the main question.

Suggestion 1 - If inter-accomodation transport is easy and overall luggage weight is within your back carrying ability, you can afford to bring more lens overseas, but everytime you go out to an location, you will choose 1-2 of the many lens that you brought, and this 1-2 lens will be the lens available at hand. On a separate location that you are going out, you can again choose other lens suitable for that location. This will mean one can bring various types of lens, including various prime lens, but weight is compromised, so is the safety concerns of having so many expensive equipments overseas (especially if the "extra" lens are left back at the hotel). of cos, i dun think that inter-accomodation transport can be that easy for backpackers and overall luggage weight for photographers can be that light, unless you are very very fit and rugged. so, i do not recommend this and i also think not many people are that hardcore too to do this. and one who wanted to bring all the lens in his daypack type bags all around when travelling, should just skip this part about weight.

Suggestion 2 - If possible, compromise expectations with weight. consider first what you can afford to not shoot. usually for most, more specialised subject matters and their respective focal length lens will be the first to go, perhaps fish eye or macro. in the end, if you want to shoot everything, you will need to buy everything and bring everything. if you are willing to maybe expect 80% of desired shots to have their desired lens available at hand, than concentrate on your most commonly used lens and bring only them. leave your creativity of the special lenses back at home where going around is easier for you.

In general, at a crop factor of about 1.5, the usual street range will be about 28-70mm to shoot people and object within 5m, that means people will be aware of your presence. A short tele of 70-200mm will be required to take someone further away or to shoot some close-ups of people in those intermediate distance. To take scenaries and buildings at close distance, a normal wide angle from 18-28mm will be required and this is commonly covered in the street zooms. Of cos, this is highly aribitray and is primarily a newbie view (not expert opinions) and the lens focal length depends on your distance from subject and the crop factor of the sensor. This is something that you can never get any same answer if you ask for open ended questions about what is a good travel lens, because different people have different threshold to which how much of the wider and tele end they can afford to sacrifice depending on how far they stand from the subject comfortably and what is the magnitude of their subject in relation to the framing. What you can ask is probably better phrased in terms of what focal length is suitable and needed for the kind of comfortable distances of you from your usual subjects, be it a tree, a human being and a building and what you would like to capture, e.g. for shooting people, facial close-up, facial portrait, top 1/3, top half, whole body, many people, or people next to a building. In general, cover the range and balance with factors such as weight, maximum aperture for low light situations, picture quality and of cos pricing. It will be a compromise between these factors.

For greedy people like me, i'm already happy with a nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR. some who thinks f/2.8 and sharpness/performance is more important, probably are just as happy to have their 17-35 or 17-55mm range. but if you are one of those that are going to lament everyday that you have missed the golden opportunity that is best taken at 500mm and you have only a lens up to 200mm which you can't stop thinking that is not good enough, and you still want to bring another 2 lens for your most commonly used focal range, then either you force yourself to be more easy going with your yield and stop this bad habit, or you do suggestion 1 to reduce the chances of not having the lens when you need it.

Suggestion 3 - Reduce the number of lens and reduce the need to change lens is good also to prevent your sensor being exposed to dust and other stuff. an 18-200mm serves me well, which i find that if i'm on the go and cannot afford to change lens fast enough to react (yes, even if i'm using a thinktank), that is the most frequently used lens i brought. but i usually bring 3 lens - 18-200mm wide/street/short tele, 10-20mm ultra-wide, 50mm f/1.8 prime low light. my suggestion to people asking about the number of lens and what type of lens to bring is in general, get the longest range for the lens that the quality is acceptable and price is affordable and augment on the range that is not covered by your longest range lens with another lens. most street zooms will not be able to cover the street range with the ultra-wide, hence if 17 or 18mm is not wide enough to cover your scenaries, the 2nd lens (an ultra-wide) may become inevitable. The tele range beyond 200mm, not covered by a long range street zoom lens, will require discretion with regards to its indications as their purpose is more specialised and is usually quite heavy.

Suggestion 4 - Using a super light prime like nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D can be useful in low light situation.

Suggestion 5 - What do you expect out of your ultra wide angle and should you bring it? One probably have a wide to middle focal-range starting from 17-20mm going up to maybe 35mm, 55mm, 80mm, 130mm, 200mm, where the tele limit of the range is more flexible. however, the reverse of the limit on the wider end is not the same. if you want to go below 17mm, you will need an ultra-wide lens, an addition to your wide-onwards lens, and it is going to be another half a kg. dun just listen to people that (ultra) wide angles is a must for scenaries. it very much really depends on how far you are from the background and how big is the background structure. it is very possible to get as good a result an 18mm compared to a 10mm if the difference is about scale. and you may even be thankful that you are not using a ultra-wide angle which can include many unwanted details and make your flat structures look really small on a wide horizon. however, for me, my ultra-wide is indispensible because of two purposes, one is that i do like the distortion of perspective introduced by the ultra wide to emphasize the foreground, and i can use the ultra wide to shoot events or rooms in enclosed space at closed distance, and that cannot be done by a normal wide angle lens more than 16mm; i wanted something at least lower than 14mm. if you dun do the above two things i do, perhaps the lens 18mm and more, will suffice, and you can save yourself an extra lens to bring.

 

[zoossh]

This is an example of what I can shoot when nobody else around me at that time can shoot like that at that particular situation. This is Gyeongbokgong Palace in Seoul, of which tourists can only stand at the window to shoot. there is no other standing point to take the interior, low light situation is going to make middle range and tele range more prone to handshake, and higher ISO is going to affect the details that is so rich in the interior. hence i need that wide an angle. so ponder over it if such situations is important for you or is it "passable".

Suggestion 6 - How about tele? I can't answer that as I dun have that much experience using the tele end. I'm happy with my 200mm limit to shoot distant portraits. i dun shoot wildlife. just remember that tele lens are even more heavy. bring it if certain tele subjects is your main interest, such as birds. but if you are also a newbie like me, and does not have very skewed preference to the tele end, hold off this part until you have grew a lot of interest in subjects that need very long focal length and is willing to carry that 700mg-1kg morere. for newbies that is wondering if they need that extra tele range and how far they need to go, well, i thought the best to understand the ability of the tele range is to use it. trying it out at the shops give me little idea of how useful it is. you need to appreciate the relationship between the distance of the subject from you, the size of the subject from you and the expected framing and cropping you want. i guess one can get around to rent one to try out. should be available from the service subforum.



4. Should I bring flash? I dun own and does not use an external flash. in fact, i dun even use built in flash. as such, i will only regurgitate what many other people say. if weight is an issue, external flash is best avoided as it is usually not useful except in certain situations where you need to illuminate a foreground subject. most will advice that external flash is not useful for most scenaries and it will also be not that appropriate when you shoot at strangers attracting unwanted attention and undesirable responses.



5. Should I bring a tripod?

Suggestion 1 - Determine the indication of use and possibility of use. Compare with your actual experience in Singapore. Do you always find it troublesome to open up your tripod and adjust for your shot? Do you ever bother to use a tripod during the evening or nite, or do you simply push up the ISO at a fairly lighted frame at evening/nite and bear with the noise? What situations in Singapore do you use a tripod? How heavy are you willing to carry it around and for what distance and terrain? In a way, apart from studio, the use of a tripod means fairly the same in Singapore and overseas, except that
1. the terrain may be more rough in situations overseas, esp if you are trekking, worst if you are going up a mountain to catch sunrise, which in that case, really must sacrifice to get the lowest possible weight of the tripod or get a porter. but if expectation is not that high, handheld is fairly possible for most sunrise which isn't really that dark.
2. if you drive, you may have the benefit of keeping it in the car and taking it out when necessary. you often do not have that benefit unless you have a vehicle at your command all the time when travelling.
3. you will come across more opportunities in travelling that will entice you to use the tripod, e.g. larger waterfall, fantastic evening landscapes
hence on top of the usual considerations in singapore, will be the above few. It is always a hard call as nothing is really that perfect. But first and foremost is the weight and if that will dampened your mood, and if you are really willing to use it when that moment comes (some people bring around the tripod but lazy to open it out and ended up using handheld in the end). Just like the number of lens, it is not possible to really suggest whether you should bring a tripod or not, but to suggest to you what you should consider and how you should choose a tripod.

Suggestion 2 - After you determine that you will need some kind of extra support which is beyond stable handheld techniques, body or lens vibration reduction (i like the term not becos i'm using nikon but i find that the description is more accurate than image stabilization and super steady shot) mechanism, pushing up high ISO or sacrificing to push down the exposure, next comes what kind of support do you need.
1. bean bag (soft cushion base) or table pod (short mini-tripod)
2. monopod (single legged stick that attaches to the camera)
3. tripod
major considerations between them are
1. stability
2. height
3. weight

Suggestion 3 - you can reduce the weight by bringing something lighter, bringing it out only when necessary, e.g. for a trip to the waterfall, returning to the hotel in the late afternoon to fetch your tripod out, using suspension shoulder strap.

Suggestion 4 - consider a monopod if you are less likely to shoot at very prolonged shutter speed, such as waterfall, waves at coastal regions, late evening/sunset and very small aperture for fairly low light landscape. It gives the necessary height, much lighter and is more easy to setup, but gives lesser stability and may not work if the shutter speed is really long. If you use a monopod, also must learn the proper techniques by adopting a stable standing posture and using one foot to stabilise the leg of the monopod.

Suggestion 5 - consider a beanbag if you can always find something to fill up the bag when needed, dun mind looking for a height support to give the necessary framing e.g. a bench, or can sacrifice the framing you desired, i.e. everything becomes low angled.

Suggestion 6 - consider a tabletop or a gorillapod if you are using a very light DSLR+lens, or a bridge/compact. Gorillapod SLR supports up to 1.1kg. like the beanbag, height is an issue that you need to combat with. But definitely much lighter than a tripod and monopod and more convinient to use than a tripod. Quoted areality “Table-top tripods are also quite useful, for compact digicams at least, but I don't recommend that for DSLRs, even though you can find one that can hold a heavy load.”

Suggestion 7 - consider the weight of tripod and ballhead versus the weight of camera body and lens and portable flash. The heavier your gear, the heavier for your tripod and head. Assuming that you are not using a long lens, and that the weight is central, my gitzo weighs 0.75kg and it can hold my 1.3kg gear fairly well. Each brochure will give the maximum load recommended, but that is assuming central distribution of weight and each as their own calculation, as such this is only a rough guide and it is best to try it on with your heaviest gear when purchasing. Areality recommends “I got myself a Slik Sprint Pro with 3-way head. 1.9kg only, cheap and abuse-able, and can be easily attached to the side of my minitrekker backpack. It is more than enough for a DSLR with a wide angle.”. Some others have been using Singaporean branded PPCP tripod which I think weighs 1.4kg, but bear in mind the leg to head male screw thread size is 2/8 inch, whereas some tripod head is commonly 3/8 inch female thread.

Suggestion 8 - think of how you are going to carry your tripod around. Areality quotes, “Don't let your tripod weigh you down. Know what you like to shoot and not let it get in the way. If you shoot more street than landscapes, a lighter one is better, as it can be attached to your backpack or slung around your shoulder, as you need to move around a lot.” I can’t say for sure what method is the best, but here is a number of way you can carry it around depending on what kind of bag you use
1. slung it on the shoulder: use an anti-slip weight reduction shoulder strap, go to my link in the signature to look through various product, optechusa is what I’m using myself
2. slung it across the shoulder: more tight but gets into the way if you strap anything else on your chest or on your neck, can also cut into the skin of the neck
3. strap it to your backpack or shoulder bag, which can be on the side, on top or below
4. strap to the waist with a waist belt: only if your tripod is not too heavy. Can be used for a monopod too.

Suggestion 9 - you can also try to use a lighter tripod and improvise to increase the stability of the tripod by a few tricks. I find that the main one that is the most evident is by attaching your shoulder bag to the ring of the central column. The rest are less evident, which includes
1. open the legs wider (but sacrifice a bit of height)
2. if not fully extended, extend the upper thicker segments first (more troublesome)
3. if not required, avoid using the central column to extend height
4. if possible, do not extend high to your eye level but to bend down to visualise.
5. look for spiked leg or suitable anti-slip devices if the terrain is prone to slip
6. shield the tripod from strong wind with your body
7. use a timer mode to reduce shutter shake and tripod shake

Suggestion 10 - protect your tripod. Areality quotes “One tip is to tape your tripod legs with cheap gaffer tape. Has more grip and is more resistant to knocks.”



next post scroll below to post 9 or directly here

 

[glennyong]

this should be made a sticky i think. good idea... keeps track of csers in other countries.. :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

can PM them and tongpang items back. :bsmilie:

 

[ReiszRie]

Japan, Kansai region and Kinki Region with a day trip or 2 to Karuizawa and Hakone

12 days

15th Dec - 27th Dec

^^

 

[kitkat]

Jan 2007 to Angkor Wat... (4-5 days), looking for tickets.

 

[limkopi]

Nice effort to compile a summarised thread like this... :thumbsup:
Me nvr really backpacked before but hv always wanted to try...
Interested to travel in 2nd-half of Dec / early Jan...

 

[zoossh]

Travel photography issues: Cold weather


1. Fogging on front element: warmer water vapor condenses on the cooled front element, e.g. when your camera is cooled in cold weather and you returned to the warmer shelter and exposed the cold front element to the warmer air inside the house. problem is fogging will occur and persist until the camera is warmed up and the condensed vapor dried up and you won't be able to shoot for quite a while even if you returned to the cold outside

Suggestion 1- avoid removing the lens cap until the camera is warmed up in the house before you shoot in the house. if you are not shooting in the house and are shortly returning to outside, do not remove the lens cap in the house.

Suggestion 2- some magazines says that if you used a lens hood and do not use a lens cap, wrap the front element in a plastic bag to prevent the warm air from condensing directly on the front element. however, if one bothers to wrap it with a plastic bag, might as well take off the hood and put on the lens cap.

Suggestion 3- instead of protecting a cooled camera in contact with warm air, try to make the camera always warm. keep the camera closed to body inside jacket at all times and minimised exposure time to cold only to shooting. in that case, the camera will remained warm enough not to condense warmer air subsequently.



2. Shorter battery life: some battery will have shortened functional period or become malfunctioned at very low temperature. i used to have a fully charged (but used, not brand new) compact camera lithium battery that apparently "dies" in 20mins at subzero temperature, but works again once it is down to about 15 degrees celcius.

Suggestion 1- keep your battery warm by keeping the camera near your body sheltered in your coat.

Suggestion 2- bring extra batteries kept near the body inside the coat. the number of extra battery depends on your battery life and your daily usage pattern. when the first battery "dies", change it with the new one and put the "dead" battery back into a warm place near your body and hope that it revives again.



3. Frostbiten hand in handling: at subzero temperature, the fingers may become so cold and may become painful. yet with a thick glove, you may not be able to handle your camera buttons

Suggestion 1- get a mitten glove that have a flap that can selectively cover the last segment of the fingers when you do not need to handle the buttons, and can be flapped open when you need to assess the buttons. my girlfriend got me one but i do not know where to buy them. Nuts suggest "Winning (now they have 1 branch in Taka) used to have them but I find them not very good mabbe bcoz of the materials... YMMV". asterixsg says "I bought mine from Wintertime at Suntec (now closed down, but I guess there's one in Marina Square now), last year. I think it costs less than 15 bucks."

Suggestion 2- get a thermolite glove which is 97% thermolite 3% lycra from adventure 21, chinatown complex. cost $15 a pair. this is the thinnest glove i can find that covers the hand, give some warmth and still enable most handling of the camera. Nuts suggest "I use layering on my hands as well! Those above, or any of those Polypropylene gloves act as my "base layer", and I wear a thicker stronger protecting gloves (Polartec etc) on top of it. When needed, I remove the top layer, and still have my base llayer to protect me hands for a short while. Best for sub-zero shooting where sometimes, my bare skin just can't withstand the elements and thick gloves makes me can't handle the camera...."

Suggestion 3- the magazines suggest getting golf gloves. i have not used them as i do not play golf. anyone who have used that and finds it good, pls give us some feedback.

Suggestion 4- avoid using metallic gears e.g. aluminium tripods.

Suggestion 5- get some sheep oil. they are good for keeping your hands warm. i have tried once in taiwan. but anyone knows where we can get it in singapore?

Suggestion 6- keep your body warm in general. to be able to enjoy photography, you need to be fairly attired. in general, it takes 3 layers - an inner thermal wear, a middle layer (fleece or polypropylene fibre would be good), an outer shell (preferably gortex or similar material). wool for the middle layer is too thick and gets heavy and cold if damped, even if you have a gortex shell, water can still gets in. a few shops that sells good quality winter gear - adventure 21 at chinatown, x boundaries at seah street, camper's corner near cityhall, and a few smaller shops at peninsula plaza 2nd floor. it depends on personal preference and physique on when and what exactly to wear and if you need further stuff like scarf, headgear (e.g. ski mask) and ear covers. high cut trekking shoes specialised for trekking in snow may be required in thick snow environment. ask the shop keepers for further details.

Suggestion 7- get mentally prepared regarding the local weather. do note that higher attitude, esp with rain, can bring drastic weather situation that is not within normal estimation by those reported for the nearby cities.

 

[Pauche]

Anyone going to explore the entire Cambodia instead of just Angkor Wat alone?

 

[LOTUSfairy]

Anyone going to explore the entire Cambodia instead of just Angkor Wat alone?

I went to Angkor Wat, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Aug06. I would like to visit Sihanoukville take the local rail and visit other parts of rural Cambodia...
The unspoilt beauty, non tourist and non commerical villages etc, scenery, waterfall, lakes..:angel: ..

 

[Pauche]

I went to Angkor Wat, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Aug06. I would like to visit Sihanoukville take the local rail and visit other parts of rural Cambodia...
The unspoilt beauty, non tourist and non commerical villages etc, scenery, waterfall, lakes..:angel: ..

cool...... what is your mode of transport?
you touch down at siem reap and then get around via bus or boat through the tonesalp river to phnom penh?

 

[LOTUSfairy]

cool...... what is your mode of transport?
you touch down at siem reap and then get around via bus or boat through the tonesalp river to phnom penh?

I took Jetstar to Siem Reap, took a domestic bus to Phnom Penh..


Get a local to buy the bus tix for u..
I paid a higher price US$8. Local only pay US$5.

The bus Aircon was not working...me Chinese and my friend Indian and other countries Ang-Mohs nearly kicked the bus driver! Lousy service.

Siem Reap is so much better. Phnom Penh, not much to see though.
I would recommend Siem Reap..and other parts of the countries.
Phnom Penh is just a normal city.. Everything is expensive.

 

[Pauche]

I took Jetstar to Siem Reap, took a domestic bus to Phnom Penh..


Get a local to buy the bus tix for u..
I paid a higher price US$8. Local only pay US$5.

The bus Aircon was not working...me Chinese and my friend Indian and other countries Ang-Mohs nearly kicked the bus driver! Lousy service.

Siem Reap is so much better. Phnom Penh, not much to see though.
I would recommend Siem Reap..and other parts of the countries.
Phnom Penh is just a normal city.. Everything is expensive.

oh okok... did u go to the killing mine field near phnom penh?? its the capital of the country, surprise to hear that there's nothing to see. hee hee.

 

[scud]

i have been doing my planning to cambodia, almost in the finalising stage.
my 1st stop will be SR, 4 days, follow by bus ride to PP for 2 or 3 days.

just that i find nothing worth to explore in PP, except the killing fields, tuol sleng (S-21) and those normal city attractions (eg palace, museum, monument, central/russian market). all these places can be covered in 1.5-2 days. anything else worth to explore in PP?

btw, any recommandation for stay in PP?
prefer along the riverfront cos wanna shoot sunrise and river cruise with dinner.

 

[Pauche]

i have been doing my planning to cambodia, almost in the finalising stage.
my 1st stop will be SR, 4 days, follow by bus ride to PP for 2 or 3 days.

just that i find nothing worth to explore in PP, except the killing fields, tuol sleng (S-21) and those normal city attractions (eg palace, museum, monument, central/russian market). all these places can be covered in 1.5-2 days. anything else worth to explore in PP?

btw, any recommandation for stay in PP?
prefer along the riverfront cos wanna shoot sunrise and river cruise with dinner.

yo scud.... nice to see you here. my cambodia trip is kind of finalised...... 23Dec to 07Jan. Will stay at Siem Reap for 3 nights. Will then head down to Phnom Penh for 2 nights, and prolly another night in Sihanoukville before heading back.

when are you going?

 

[zoossh]

yo scud.... nice to see you here. my cambodia trip is kind of finalised...... 23Dec to 07Jan. Will stay at Siem Reap for 3 nights. Will then head down to Phnom Penh for 2 nights, and prolly another night in Sihanoukville before heading back.

when are you going?

can i assume that you are going on your own trip and merely tagging a discussion in this thread. or are you looking for partners? if the latter, pls specify.

 

[nuts]

Travel photography issues: Cold weather
.....
.....
3. Frostbiten hand in handling: at subzero temperature, the fingers may become so cold and may become painful. yet with a thick glove, you may not be able to handle your camera buttons

This is one of my major problems as my hand is very susceptible to cold....

Suggestion 1- get a mitten glove that have a flap that can selectively cover the last segment of the fingers when you do not need to handle the buttons, and can be flapped open when you need to assess the buttons. my girlfriend got me one but i do not know where to buy them.

Winning (now they have 1 branch in Taka) used to have them but I find them not very good mabbe bcoz of the materials... YMMV

Suggestion 2- get a thermolite glove which is 97% thermolite 3% lycra from adventure 21, chinatown complex. cost $15 a pair. this is the thinnest glove i can find that covers the hand, give some warmth and still enable most handling of the camera.

Well, I use layering on my hands as well! Those above, or any of those Polypropylene gloves act as my "base layer", and I wear a thicker stronger protecting gloves (Polartec etc) on top of it. When needed, I remove the top layer, and still have my base llayer to protect me hands for a short while. Best for sub-zero shooting where sometimes, my bare skin just can't withstand the elements and thick gloves makes me can't handle the camera....

Suggestion 5- get some sheep oil. they are good for keeping your hands warm. i have tried once in taiwan. but anyone knows where we can get it in singapore?

This is something new

 

[XC Pictorial]

Hong Kong, GuangZhou, ShenZhen 7th to 15th Dec

 

[Pauche]

can i assume that you are going on your own trip and merely tagging a discussion in this thread. or are you looking for partners? if the latter, pls specify.

Hi zoossh, I am making my way there alone by motorbike and will explore cambodia by 2 wheels. If you share similar interest, and is experienced enough for a long trip like such, I do not mind having some company.