john michael white
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As Mark stated, the system of a good pack with camera block insert, surrounded by a waterproof bag gets the job done safely and with minimal effort and maximum ease of use. I see David is doing this system as well. Same idea, but I searched around for the pack that had all the features and comfort I wanted, and use a different combo (find what works best for you). I have been using this combination for the last year and a half, and am still really happy with it.
This is the pack and waterproof dry bag system I use: Naneu Pro Alpha Military Ops pack http://naneupro.bagyou.com/ttp/Naneu-Pro-Alpha-Large-Camera-Backpack/products_id/1382/brands_id/42.html
If you look around or do ebay, you can get it cheaper. I got it for about $95 new.I love this pack, as it has tons of padding and suspension support. Also, I really like the way it is designed – pockets, etc. It is super comfortable to wear, and is carry on size, so it works well for airline travel and fits under an airline seat. I can carry a camera body, flash, 50mm lens, 70-300mm, 18 -50mm, and 10-22mm wide angle, plus battery charger, 4 batteries, Omnibounce flash cover, and CF cards all in the camera compartment block. Then in the flat back pocket I carry filters, and manuals enclosed in a ziploc bag. This leaves the top compartment free to put fly boxes, rain shell, snacks, water bottle, etc. etc. It also comes with a stowable rain cover and beefy straps/fold out bottom pouch to securely carry a tripod on the side.
I use the Seattle Sports Latitude dry bag (size small) to enclose the camera equipment block inside the lower camera compartment when on the water http://www.seattlesportsco.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=19&idcategory=11
When not around water, I remove it for easier use, but actually, it is very quick to unzip the camera compartment flap on the pack, then unbuckle the two quick release buckles on the dry bag, and there is your gear ready to grab and shoot.
Total cost of system was about $129.
Thanks Michael and Eric….so glad you enjoyed the images. I mean that humbly, in that it really does give me a sense of joy to hear people enjoy viewing my images.
Eric, I agree with you about the chalet….it was so cool, and like you, I love the wood work on it. If you get a chance, try to catch the Great Lodges of the National Parks episode on Glacier airing on PBS (maybe it will re-air soon as the initial airing was back in late September). The Belton Chalet is one of the lodges in that episode. They interview one of the owners who bought it and restored it, and I remember him telling about how he had to cut and finish new pieces for all of the wood railing balluster pieces, and other exterior trim, when they were restoring the chalet.
Well guys, the Smoke Jumper tour pictures did not turn out. I didn’t have my DSLR for the tour (still kicking myself – left in car).
They didn’t have updated information about the tour on their message machine when we called, and so when we arrived, the museum was closed, even though we arrived during hours that they said they were open on the machine. There was an after hours number on the door, so we called it and found out that they stopped giving regular tours in the museum the day before (Labor Day :P). They asked how many of us there were, and we said “two”, so they said, “we’ll send someone over”.
A few minutes later, Enrique, a smoke jumper showed up. He gave us a personal informal tour of the actual headquarters and facilities, the gear, etc. It actually turned out better than if the museum had been open! But because everything was kind of unplanned and crazy, I only grabbed our little point and shoot camera, but unfortunately the results are just horrible. No WB correction, harsh flourescent lighting situations, shallow focus, no wide angle or other lens options…. basicaly I’m embarrased to post them.
Once I saw how cool the tour was, I was looking for a point where I could go back and get the DSLR. Towards the end of the tour I was able to run back to the car and grab it and used it to get the shot of the DC-3.
If I had had my DSLR, the pictures would have turned out great with no issues. I actually thought I was using the little point and shoot well at the time, but when I looked at the images in post, my heart sunk. :-[ It truly was an environment where the point and shoot just couldn’t hack it (or at least I couldn’t get the results I wanted out of it on the fly).
I think this is a societal problem as much as anything else. There are just more and more people in this world that do not care about anyone but themselves. If I dont know you then screw you kind of attitude.
Keith, You and Bob hit the nail on the head.
Joel,
Having a good friend and old roommate who used to subscribe to Varmit Hunter Magazine, all I can say is that brings back memories.
Rich,
I mistakenly quoted the wrong book – thanks for pointing that out. I actualy have not yet read Young Men and Fire. Young Men and Fire is about the Mann Gulch fire near Missoula in 1949 (just ordered it 😉 ).
The book I meant to quote, and was referring to, is called Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire, and was written by Norman Mclean’s son John N. Mclean. It is about the worse fire in the Smoke Jumper’s history and was on Storm King Mountain in Colorado in 1994. Ironicaly, the events of the fire, and topography of the mountain were almost identical to the earlier Mann Gulch fire.
Here are a couple more:
After 2.5 days in Glacier, we headed back to Missoula for the remaining several days of our trip.
We spent one day exploring the Bitterroot River, and saw Lewis and Clark’s campground at Traveler’s Rest, which was really cool. If you haven’t read Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, you owe it to yourself to do so. The fish were in the textbook spots on the Bitterroot, and I caught a few. We also tried the fishing in town along the Clark Fork a couple of different evenings, but didn’t have any luck there. Actually, I did catch one little cutthroat there one of those evenings.
The town of Missoula is really cool, and we had a good time exploring its restaurants and seeing some of the art and photography galleries. Unfortunately, several of the ones we really wanted to see were closed on the two different days we tried.
We can’t wait to go back, and next time I will be in better shape for the fishing, since a lot of the ground work and exploration was done on this trip. We will also allow more time to spend exploring Glacier NP.
The one river I didn’t get to fish this trip, was the Blackfoot, of A River Run’s Through It . Next time, I will rectify that. So far, the Bitterroot is probably my favorite. I really enjoyed Rock Creek, even though we had a hard time there due to the weather shift. I definitely want to go back and fish it again under more favorable conditions.
Mike,
Just got a chance to look at your new web gallery. You have some beautiful images there! Is that Fall Creek Falls in a lot of those shots? I really like what you have done.
When you start using the Cokin system, be sure to practice with different zoom settings for each lens in order to make sure you know what will be in the frame or not (you can’t rely on the view finder). They also make a slim filter holder, which only holds one filter, but it is a must for using with a wide angle like the 10-22mm.
I have found that if I only use the slim holder, the hole on the back of it is just right to fit over the lens with my circular polarizer mounted (not using the slim adapter ring) and if I hold it on, or use a little masking tape, I can use it at 10mm and have nothing show up in the frame. If I use the slim holder with the slim ring adapter, I have to go to about 13mm in order for there to not be anything in the finished image if using the CP.
Neal, those are some cool shots! On my work computer, which is a PC, they look great. This computer is pretty much stock. I’ll try and take a look when I get home on my home PC that has been calibrated, and see how they look there.
Update: As best I can tell, it looks fine on my PC screen at home.
Randy,
A few months back, Ben Cochran wrote an excellent explanation, in this photography forum, of how to use your camera’s histogram (I searched for it here but couldn’t seem to find it). Maybe someone can insert the link on this thread if they know where it is. Anyway, using your histogram (and knowing what it means) is going to be the key to seeing if you have captured a good exposure.
Also, you want to think about where you take your meter reading (shadows, highlights, or mid range depending on artistic intent) in order to capture all of the available info. You can also check the dynamic range of the scene, by metereing the shadows, and then metering the highlights, to see what the f stop range is. If for example your camera has a range of capture of 6 f stops, but the range of your subject is more than 6 f stops, you will need to use a graduated ND filter, or some other means to make an exposure where you have not blown out the highlights or lost the shadow detail.
If it is a really important shot, bracket it. Bracketing every shot will take up a lot of space, and can also be a crutch. Get familiar with your camera, and try to make your exposure settings in manual mode, so you understand how your camera works. You can bracket manualy, and use this to learn how things work, and then when time is tight or it is a really important shot, use the camera’s auto bracketing function.
You can adjust the brightness setting on your LCD screen, and it is also affected by the outdoor light, so it is not an accurate way to tell if you have a good exposure or not. With that said, I have found that I like to set my LCD screen brightness to about 50 or 60%. Not sure what others use or would reccomend.
My $.02 🙂
