PixelatedImage Blog

I’m in India - mostly Ladakh - from September 10 until Sept 27, then in Nepal - mostly Kathmandu - until October 24. I’ll spend much of my time within site of Stupas and prayer flags, and while in Kathmandu will be living not far from this one. Because of my extended absence and the difficulty in posting larger files, I’ve decided to do a rare 2-for-1 wallpaper this month.

As usual, click the image to get a larger one then right click and you should be able to set it as a desktop. Windows users, you’re on your own, but I’m sure you know the drill. This image is 1280×853. If you want a larger one, click HERE for a 2560×1600 version.

I know, for a guy who’s always going on and on about the dangers of gear lust, I’m suspiciously inconsistent. But what’re you gonna do, right?

I leave for India in 12 days. So here’s some visual aids re. my packing for this coming trip. I put my Pocket Wizard on my G9 and fired a couple strobes off a wall into my office. The G9 continues to impress me. But this isn’t about that…

Here’s my total kit heading out for 7+ weeks.

Checked: Stormcase, Mountain Hardwear Expedition Duffle
Carry On: Think Tank Airport Security, Think Tank Urban Disguise 60

Here’s how my Airport Security is packed

All the gear below goes into the A.S. while my laptop, Canon G9, and personal items go into the Urban Disguise. I won’t bore you with breaking that one down. Non-essential photography gear is packed into the Stormcase. See below for a complete breakdown. I have removed all padded dividers from my main bag, except the ones separating my cameras. The padded Think Tank Modular bags pad my other gear. Dividers just weigh things down and make packing less flexible.

My Think Tank A.S. carries:

2 x Canon 5D bodies, 5 lenses: 70-200/2.8L, 80/1.2L, 50/1.4, 17-40/4.0L (not shown), 24-70/2.8L, hoods for all, 1 xEF-12 extension tube, 80GB CF Lexar CF cards in 2 x Think Tank Pixel Pocket Rockets, 250 GB Colorspace O, Polaroid POGO, Blackrapid RS-1 R-straps, 2 x 250 OWC Firewire drives in David Honl Gear wraps, Canon Remote trigger, 2 Think Tank Modular Pouches each with 1 Canon charger and 4 BP-511A batteries, 1 Hoodman Loupe, 2 Think Tank Cable Management 10 clear pouches with Lexar card readers, Apple AC cable, misc accessories, sensor brushes, etc. Back right are the Modular and Skins pouches for transporting the lenses. I work out of these on arrival.

And in each of the others:

In my hard case - Sierra Designs sleeping bag, Pocket Wizards, Canon 580EX strobe, Gitzo Basalt Tripod and Head, ziploc bags containing meal bars and granola bars, first aid and sterile sharps kit.

In my duffle bag - Personal Clothing, Down Jacket, rain gear, trekking boots, toiletries, 5-in-1 reflector (large), 1 Mountain Hardwear day pack, Think Tank Steroid Belt and 2 Digital Holsters, tool/repair kit, extra plug adaptors and power bar.

For a complete packing list, check in on Monday.

A word about carry on luggage. It is impossible for me to carry on my important gear and still be under the so-called legal limit. If it is demanded that I check my A.S. bag - which is legal for domestic but not international flights - I’d put everything important into my Urban Disguise, switching the personal gear and the shooting gear, and sling my camera over my shoulder. The rule is - if I need it to shoot or stay alive (insulin), it doesn’t leave me. Ever. But thus far I’ve never been so much as asked to weigh my carry-on. For more on packing and flying as a photographer be sure to check in with FlyingWithFish.

Shot this at a picnic last weekend with the G9. I had to take his toys away for hours before he finally had a meltdown. Just kidding. It was a grab shot, one of those flukes that just turns out expressing the moment. If it works for you it’s a good example of emotion trumping “perfect” technique. If it doesn’t work for you, it’s just a bad example of really slow shutter speed. Before you send me hate mail for taking photographs while the little guy had his meltdown, he’s not mine. His dad was on it, I was just the insensitive friend documenting the over-tiredness - it’s more fun that way.

My guest blog spot over on Photoshop Insider is over and I’m back in home pastures, but it was a really wonderful experience. Thanks to all for the kind feedback.

Scott Kelby asked me to do a guest spot over on the Photoshop Insider today, so mosey on over there for your fix of daily pixelatedimage goodness. If you’ve come here from Scott’s blog - Welcome. Scott’s a How-To guy, and I tend to preach the Why-To sermons. But I sneak in the odd how-to article or something about gear, it keeps the geeks from mutiny. The big bar at the top will take you to my portfolio, a huge stack of my articles, and other resources. Scroll down and you’ll find over three years of opinions, ill-advised rants, and miscellanea.

See you back here tomorrow.

Mark Twain once admonished us not to let school get in the way of our education. I think it’s fair to say we shouldn’t let the lack of school get in the way, either.

In the coming weeks it’s back to school time for kids and young adults across Canada and the USA, and beyond. Kids are gearing up for another year of awkwardness and emotional pain as they jockey to find their place on the social rung. What could be more fun than getting ready for another year of creating scars that will last the rest of their lives? It makes me nauseaous to think about it. BUT that’s not what this is about. I’m over those jerks. No, this is about you. And me. And education.

So I’ll put it to you bluntly - what’s your education plan for the year? Have you chosen your classes? Your books? Your teachers? Sure, you might be out of school, but let that take you away from intentionally learning your craft for too long and you’ll begin a devolution in your skills and marketability.

My challenge to you:

1. Pick one workshop or convention to attend this year
2. Choose one topic you’ll dig deeper into this year.
3. Make a list of 6 books - that’s only one every two months - that you’ll study.
4. Find a mentor, an Obi Wan to your Skywalker.

For those of you who really like the Jonathon Swift quote, you’re my kind of people. I dropped the T-shirt artwork into desktop wallpapers. Hey, you can only wear a t-shirt so many times before an overly sensitive spouse will make you take it off and wash it. Wallpapers suffer no such indignity. Clicking the download link will give you a zipped folder containing 4 jpg wallpapers. 2 white, 2 black. Each one has a smaller version and larger version. The download is 1.4MB. CLICK HERE. They’re free. I only ask that you let me know you like’em. (Sadly, you’ll have to live in the knowledge that I spelled Jonathan incorrectly. I’ll correct it before I start selling the T-Shirts.)

Gear is good. Vision is better. It’s a mantra and you know it to be true. if only there were some way to spread the word with clever propaganda while meeting your need to be sheltered from the elements and still look great.

I’ve been wanting a t-shirt like this for myself so I’ve just put a design into the works with Cafe Press - once I see what the quality is like, and determine what the demand is, I thought I’d let others in on the action. If you’d be interested, drop me a line in the comments. Otherwise I’ll keep it to myself. If you have a suggestion for another Pixelated Image Propaganda Shirt, let me know that too.

What a great time. Big thanks to everyone that came out and made this a fun time to connect. Vancouver has a growing grassroots photography community and I am really excited about seeing where it all leads. To those that joined me and made this such good fun, thank you! Don’t forget to post your Vancouver PhotoWalk images online before the Tuesday midnight deadline.

Anyone up for this again soon?

I’ve got a few posts lined up in the coming days related to my packing for this upcoming trip. I’ll be gone nearly 8 weeks, and need to take light trekking gear, photographic gear, and all the usual stuff you take to be prepared. So when today I did a dry-run on my packing process I wasn’t too surprised it didn’t all fit. It barely does on regular 2-3 week assignments, so throwing it all in plus a thermarest, technical day pack, sleeping bag and boots, well, it just don’t fit.

So as I walked by Coast Mountain Sports this afternoon, I couldn’t help going in and picking up a new duffle. I’m a big fan of the North Face Base Camp duffles. My large red one has been everywhere with me and it finally looks beaten and battered enough to be respectable. But they didn’t have one large enough for me so I went with the Mountain Hardwear Expedition Duffle. It’s barely legal as checked luggage - but if I don’t pack it to the gills, it’ll be fine. Weight isn’t my problem, it’s just the volume. I’m ashamed to say this is only one of two pieces, the other is a large Stormcase, and I have two carry-ons.

So, if you care about this stuff and need a big-ass duffle bag that seems built really well, give THESE a look. If not, I’ll go back to my regularily scheduled rants soon enough.

Tomorrow is the Worldwide PhotoWalk across the globe. That’s what makes it Worldwide, I’m guessin’.

For all of you out there, I got this from the WWPW Intergalactic HQ this week and am pasting a version of it here, specifically for my Vancouver PhotoWalkers, but it’ll be helpful to others walking elsewhere as well. I’m modifying a version Matt Brandon edited for his walk in Malaysia. More after the jump…

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