A self portrait of me in a slot canyon sporting my Kiboko camera bag by Gura Gear, Anza-Borrego State Park, California.

I have been using this new bag since the beginning of this trip.  I wanted to give it a complete workout in many conditions before I commented on it, but I can’t wait any longer because I love this bag!  It rocks!  I never thought I would be excited about a camera bag, but I am.

For the last 12 years or so, I have been using a Lowepro Photo Trekker Classic.  I have no complaints with the company – in fact when my zippers wore out after 5 years of constant use, they offered to replace them at a very reasonable cost.  Then to my surprise, they sent me a brand new bag for the same price, now that is service!

The company is great, but I have been frustrated with the bag for awhile now, particularly by the very poor harness system that I think has contributed to my shoulder problems.  When Andy Biggs announced the formation of Gura Gear and the creation of the Kiboko Bag, I was very interested.  You see Andy is a world class photographer who frequently leads tours to Africa – I knew he would understand the needs of the traveling photographer.  So now that I have flown and hiked with the bag, here is what I love about it:

•  It is much, much lighter then my old bag, by a number of pounds!  This is huge.  I was actually considering picking up a Canon 5D II because of the weight savings it offered, but here I actually freed up far more weight.  I’m still amazed every time I grab the thing as to how much lighter it is.

•  The harness system is much more comfortable.  the shoulder straps have better support, and the belt actually transfers much of the weight to your hips like a backpack should.

•  It is larger and can carry more gear including a 600.  I have never had a bag that a 600 would actually fit in, this is going to be a big plus.

•  Despite  its extra capacity, it is still domestic airline carry-on legal.

•  The straps and belt system tuck away into their own pocket and out of sight.  This drove me nuts with my old bag – I would board a plane and put the thing in the overhead and constantly had to deal with dangling strap and buckles.  Seemed like those things were always catching on things.

•  It has two heavy duty handles, one on top, and another perfectly placed on one side – these make it a breeze for loading into an airplane overhead compartment, or into the back of a vehicle, because you are now able to hold the thing securely with both hands.

•   It comes with its own rain coat.  This will come in handy back home during the summer on the Alaska coast.

•   The buckles don’t squeak.  This drove me crazy with the Lowepro, and from on-line searches, I’m not the only one.  I never did find a solution short of holding my hands on the offending buckles.  This thing doesn’t make any unnecessary noise.

•   It has a tripod holder.  Before, I was stuck carrying my tripod in my hand with my old bag, this is another big plus!

•   It also has a side water bottle holder.  I used to put a water bottle on its side in my old bag, and unfortunately it would occasionally leak.  Now it sits outside the bag, in an upright position.

•   The inside is completly customizable, and it comes with more dividers then I will ever need.

I must say, there is a bit of a transition phase to having a new bag – with my old one, I could have been blindfolded and still find what I was looking for – that is one reason I never wanted to change.  Once I get a system in place, and use it longer, the same will be true for the Kiboko Bag.  This brings me to the one thing that my jury is still out on for me, and that is the butter fly opening.  Basically, you open one side or the other, there are two flaps  with the hinge for each flap running down the middle.  As I’m still learning where I placed things, I find myself having to open one side, then the other.  I think given time, this won’t be an issue.

A kayaker on Resurrection Bay enjoying a beautiful afternoon this past Sunday, Seward, Alaska.

A couple of months ago I wrote about a sensor cleaning liquid and wand product made by Dust-Aid.  I really like the wands, they made it easy to get the moist swaps into the champer and allowed me to reach the corners of the sensor.  But the real benefit to me was the fact this liquid could be shipped via air to places like Alaska.

Well I just tried another product that works even better!  In fact, I was able to clean my sensor with just one try in just a matter of minutes! 

I had been dreading the cleaning because my sensor was pretty dirty – a month in the desert will do that, especially after driving around in a jeep with the top off!  My sensor even had one of those dreaded dust snakes that managed to appear in the sky in many of my photos!

The product I tried is also made by Dust-Aid, it is called the Dust-Aid Platinum.  If you follow the link to the Dust-Aid website, you will see photos and videos of the product in use, this will give you a pretty good feel for how it works.  It is basically a small plastic flag with a little square base.  On that base is a special slightly tacky silicone.  You take the flag and dab the base on the different parts of the sensor – this process picks up the dust off the sensor.  Included with the kit is a couple of strips of sterilized tape – you use this tape to clean the dust off the silicon on the bottom of the flag so that the flag can be used over and over.

Make sure you keep the bottom of the flag perfectly clean – don’t touch it or set it down on a table, – keep it in it’s nice little red plastic box carrier.  Keeping your cleaning supplies clean is imparative, otherwise you just transfer dust back and forth.

This product has a number of advantages.  It comes in a very small, light weight container that is easy to travel with and legal to ship via air.  Heck, it is so small and light that I can now just leave it in my camera bag.  In addition,  this product is easy to use, but most importantly it really works!  I expected it would take at least a couple of attempts, but my sensor was literally clean after just one use!

I’m am still glad I have the Dust-Aid wand kit – I think it may come in handy when you come across one of those really stuburn, welded on pieces of dust.  Dust-Aid sells a kit that includes both the Wand Kit and the Platinum, then you are completely covered for whatever you might find on your sensor.

Pictured is a quick release clamp on the top of a BH-55 Ballhead.

Trying to attach your camera onto the threaded post you find on top of many tripods, is a slow, awkward process that will have you leaving your tripod in the car.  By using a quick release clamp on your ballhead (pictured above), makes attaching your camera, or lens a quick and easy process.  All you need is the corresponding metal camera plate mounted to the bottom of your camera, or any lenses that may have a tripod mount. 

The plate is a very simple device, it is basically a flat piece of metal with dove-tails on the edges.  This plate slides into the clamp, and allows a quick secure connection between camera and tripod ballhead. 

Now in the days of film, my camera was light enough that a simple flat plate on the bottom of my camera was all I used.  If I wanted to shot in the vertical position, I would cantilever the camera off to the side as pictured below.  

Today, it seems that many digital cameras are extra heavy, and having the camera off to the side isn’t very stable.  Now I use a L bracket, which effectively puts a plate on two sides of the camera.  This allows you to mount the camera in either a horizontal or vertical position, and still keep the camera centered over the ball head. 

There is an additional benefit with a L bracket.  With an ordinary plate, even though you moved the camera just a short distance when going from vertical to horizontal, it often meant recomposing the scene.  With a L bracket, the lens is kept in the same position – if the scene allows it, you can quickly photograph both a vertical and horizontal without recomposing.  Of course, most scenes are not that simple.  If I don’t have to recompose when moving from horizontal to vertical, I’m probably not working my compositions hard enough.

Again, these specialized pieces of equipment aren’t cheap – I imagine the market for such items is fairly small.  I have always purchased my plates from Really Right Stuff, and a typical plate costs about $55, and a L bracket runs about $180.  Really Right Stuff does a wonderful job with their L plates.  They are perfectly designed for each camera giving you full access to any buttons or compartments on your camera – nothing is blocked.

Previous Lesson:  Ballheads

Next Lesson:

When you are photographing wildlife, or pursuing fleeting light, it often seems that speed and efficiency are paramount.  For this reason, I prefer to use a ball head for a tripod head.

With the turn on one knob on a ball head, I can move my camera in any direction, up down and side to side.  Turn the knob the opposite way, and now the camera is locked into that position.  With a good ballhead, the movement is very smooth and fluid, and when the head is locked down, the camera won’t budge; there isn’t any ballhead creep (movement).  With cheaper heads, you  compose your shot, lock the head down and the cameras position drops a little bit forcing you to re-compose, or compose and try to anticipate the movement – I got good at that with my first, cheap ballhead.

The original standard for years was the Arca Swiss B1 ballhead – I had one for many years.  I have now been using a BH-55 from Really Right Stuff (RRS) – this ball head is a big improvement over the Arca Swiss, and have been very happy with it.   Now a good ballhead isn’t cheap, the BH-55 with the quick release clamp like in the photo runs about $455 bucks.  If you wanted to save a little money, I think the BH-40 would be perfectly adequate for everyday use with lenses up  to a 100-400, and would be a great fit for the Gitzo 2530 or Bogen 055.  The BH-40 with clamp runs about $375.  My BH-55 is a little too heavy for the Gitzo 2350.  Now if you wanted some excess capacity for larger telephotos, the BH-55 would be a perfect match for the Gitzo  3530.

B & H doesn’t carry these ballheads, you need to deal directly with the manufacturer.  So why Really Right Stuff?  Not only are their ballheads very well designed and constructed - most photographers consider them the best; but the RSS company is wonderful to deal with as well.  Here is one example:

I usually remove my ball head and pack it in a shoe when I’m flying with my tripod in checked luggage.  This Fall I forgot to remove my ballhead and the quick release clamp lever (I will talk about that in the next lesson) was bent and unusable.  I called RSS to order a new clamp, they asked what happen, when I explained, they suggested I send them the damage one because they may be able to fix it and save me money.  They told me they would call me with an estimate once they could see it.  I was surprised to get my clamp back a week later; surprised because I never received a phone call.  It turns out they repaired it under warranty and sent it back to me at no cost!  They even paid the cost of shipping back to Alaska.  Now that is going the extra mile in customer service!

Next:

Previous:  Tripods

I figure there is no better place to start my nature photography lessons then with what I believe is the single most important piece of equipment; a tripod.  I have written about this before, and at the risk of sounding repetitive and redundant,  I would like to repeat the numerous advantages:

• Typically it will give you sharper images.
• It can allow you to use lower iso settings or slower speed film which in general  can improve the quality of your images.
• A tripod allows you to use slower shutter speeds, which can allow you to use smaller apertures in order to increase your depth of field if desired.
• The biggest advantage to me is a tripod forces you to slow down and really study your composition.  It also gives you time to look around the entire frame for distractions, giving you the ability to fine tune your composition.  When you hand hold, the camera is always moving a little.  That distracting branch may not have been in the frame the last time you looked in the lower right corner, but by the time you hit the shutter, it now might be included. 

A common mistake, and one I made myself, is to buy a flimsy, inexpensive tripod.  Most cheap tripods won’t properly support your camera, nor will they last very long.  I believe it is worth spending the money up front for a sturdy tripod.

Like a lot of photography gear, a sturdy tripod can be expensive, but they do last a long time.  For many years I used an aluminum Bogen 3221 – now the Bogen 055.  I have gone through two of them, they seem to last for a good five years of constant use before scratches, dirt and dents get the better of them – I should add, I tend to be rough on tripods. 

You can get a Bogen 055 for about $190 bucks for just the legs.  The head is extra and the subject of the next lesson.  They come in a few different flavors as notated by the letters after the 055 in the model number.  Some have retractable spikes, a center column that can be positioned horizontally, etc.  I like the basic model, partly because you can spread the legs and lower the tripod to a minimum height of 3.2 inches.

A little over a year ago I finally  upgraded to a carbon fiber Gitzo and I really love it.  The carbon fiber is much lighter, about half the weight of a similar aluminium.  In addition it is quieter and studier.  I also like the carbon fiber in the cold weather, they are much easier on the hands then aluminum.  The drawback, you may have already guessed, is the cost.  A tripod with a similar holding capacity as the Bogen 055 costs almost $600 for just the legs. 

I use a Gitzo 2530.  It has 3 leg sections, they make a similar one with 4 sections per leg.  The 4 is slightly slower to set up, but folds down to a smaller size.  The 2530 is fine for 35mm lenses up to 100-400.  Because I have a separate tripod for my large telephoto lens, the 2530 was a perfect size for my everyday tripod.  For a comparison, The Bogen 055 weighs in at 6.1 pounds, the Gitzo 2530, 3.1 pounds.  If you plan to use heavier lenses, then I would recommend the studier Gitzo 3530.  The 3530 is a very popular tripod because it can support almost 40 pounds of equipment, and yet only weighs 4 pounds. 

If you notice in the picture I wrap my legs with 1.5 inch sections  of pipe insulation and duct tape.  It looks a little ugly, but serves a few purposes.  For one, it is easier on the hands on a cold morning.  It is quieter – the banging of legs as you close up the tripod to move closer to wildlife can spoke wildlife – the insulation muffles that sound. 

But most importantly, the insulation helps soften the load on the shoulders.  When the photography is good, I think most photographers prefer to keep their cameras out of the bag and on the tripod.  One of the easiest ways to carry this combination is on one shoulder, and the foam insulation sure helps.

I have seen a tripod leg protection product being marketed like this one by LensCoat.  I’m sure they do a fine job and look a lot nicer, but it costs a lot more then some pipe insulation and duct tape.

For reference, in the above photo, the Gitzo is on the left, and the Bogen on the right.

The next lesson will cover tripod heads.  More specifically, ball heads.

Next:  Ballheads

I stumbled upon this guy on my way to photograph sunset, look at the size of that camera!  It captures a 20 x 24 inch image.

 I was in a hurry, and I didn’t want to pester the guy as he set up, but I had to ask a few questions.

First I asked if I could take his picture, I guess the answer was obvious.  For film, he told me he was using print paper – I suppose they don’t make Velvia in this format.  The print must have incredible detail, although I don’t know how he would print it larger, that would be an expensive scan!

That was is a 1200mm lens; he estimated it was about the equivalent of 80mm for someone using 35mm film.  In other words, barely a little telephoto.  By comparison, I have been using 1200mm to photograph the tiny hummingbird nest on the last two posts.  It obviously isn’t intended for wildlife.

I wished I had asked the guy his name, but I probably would have forgot it.  Hopefully I will bump into him again while in Borrego, I’m sure he would be interesting to talk to, I would love to see a print from this camera and learn more about the guy. 

Here is the other side of the camera

 So why no photo today?  Well in addition to two days of driving, and the bad weather, I dropped my camera and damaged my main workhorse lens – the Canon 24-105 IS.  This brings me to Hunts Camera.  I called them today as soon as I realized my lens wouldn’t work, and they have a new one being Fedex this afternoon with Saturday delivery direct to our campground!  This is the kind of service I have always received from Hunt’s, and why I recommend them to others.  My salesperson there, Gary Farber checks in with me every few months and is always helpful and friendly.  I got the chance to meet Gary at NANPA in Palm Springs this past winter.  So if you need a camera store with great service and prices, call Gary at 1-800-221-1830, ext 2323.

I have begun using the Canon tilt / shift lenses increasingly more in the past 6 months; I have the 24mm and 45mm.  There are certain situations where having the ability to tilt or shift is really advantageous - I thought I would touch on tilt today, and shift tomorrow.

Many people mistakenly think tilting the lens gives you increased depth of field for a given aperture.  That is probably a nice simple way to think of it, but isn’t exactly correct.  Each aperture still has the same amount of depth of field, but instead of having the region in focus limited to a vertical plane, by tilting the lens the region in focus can now run in a more horizontal manner – in this case beginning at the flowers just a few inches away, and continuing to the mountains.  By having the area of focus angle across the scene instead of running straight up and down, it now takes less depth of field to keep the foreground and background in focus.  Interestingly enough, if the above photo lacked depth of field, the flowers and mountains could still be in focus, but the valley in between might not be, because I used a large amount of tilt.  It takes a little to get used to using tilt.

The thing about a lens that can tilt is it now opens up all kind of fun opportunities.  In this photo I’m laying on the ground just inches from the flowers – almost like a macro shot, but still have the mountains in focus.  The possibilities are exciting.  These maybe better examples;  Grand Tetons, Red Rock Canyon.

In all these examples, I used a tripod and a fairly small aperture since I was already pushing the limits of depth of field.  There are other advantages to having tilt.  In situations where the foreground isn’t as close, you can tilt and use a much larger aperture then would normally be required such as f/8 – this is helpful when you need the extra shutter speed.  A common example is shooting in a field of flowers with some wind.  The trade off between stopping the movement and lack of depth of field can leave you with soft photos – but by tilting the lens, you can have the best of both worlds; a relatively fast shutter and adequate depth of field.

If you are not familiar with the lens I’m talking about, below is a photo of the 45mm pointed straight up and fully tilted to the left.  As you can see, it doesn’t really tilt much, but even a little tilt can make a big difference.I really think one of these lenses could make a big difference when it comes to landscape photography. 

I began with the Canon 45mm tilt / shift lens, and later purchased the Canon 24mm tilt / shift lens.  One day I hope to finish my collection with the final lens from this series, the Canon 90mm tilt shift lens.

This is how I saw Pedersen Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.  But with out a graduated neutral density filter or a similar tool, my camera would have not been able to capture the photo.

Our eyes have an amazing ability to see a very large dynamic range.  We can see detail in the shadows along with detail in sun lite areas at the same time.  Unfortunately, film and digital cameras can’t begin to come close to matching what we see with our eyes.  Here is a perfect example.  With my eyes, I can see the warm, first light of sunrise lighting up the glacier off in the distance.  At the same time, I can clearly see the colorful field of fireweed in the dark shadows.  The camera can’t capture what I see.

I was able to properly expose the sunlit glacier by using shutter speed of 1/13 with an aperture of f/22, but as you can see I lost all detail in the foreground.

By increasing my exposure by about 3 stops to .6 of a second at f/22, I was able to capture the detail in the foreground, but I have now blown out the glacier.  Here is where a graduated neutral density filter saved the day.

These filters are clear on one half, and dark on the other.  The dark portion cuts the amount of light by a set amount, you can purchase them in increments of 1 stop up to 5.  The one stop filter reduces the amount of light in the dark portion of the filter by one stop.  I used a three stop filter in this scene which decreased the dynamic range to something my camera could capture.

In addition to blocking varying amounts of light, these filters can be purchased with either a hard edge or soft edge.  The terms hard or soft edge are used to describe the transition between the dark portion of the filter, and the clear portion.  The hard edge is a sudden transition, perfect when you have a nice defined change in light, I used a hard edge filter in the top photo.  A soft edge is a more gradual transition.

Here is a photo of a 3 stop hard edge on the left, and a 2 stop soft edge on the right, I think this gives you a good idea what this filter is about.  I use Singh-Ray filters developed originally by the late Galen Rowell.  These are supposedly the most neutral, meaning they cause very little shift in color.  Like most things associated with photography, they aren’t cheap for a piece of plastic.  Each filter cost about $100.  There are cheaper options, but most can cause an undesirable shift in colors.  The 2 stop soft and 3 stop hard would be a good starting set.

Now that I have described how I captured the photo, you can go back and look at the original, or this bigger version and I think you can see where the filter was placed.  I had the dark edge begin right at the leading shore of the lake because the reflected light in the lake was so bright.  If you look close, you can see the gravel moraine areas on the left and right side of the lake are extra dark because of the filter.  This is unfortunate, but typically goes unnoticed by viewers.  If I pulled the filter up higher, I could have avoided having dark dirt, but then a portion of the lake would be overly bright – this is something that doesn’t look natural and would be noticed by viewers.

You can get a holder which screws onto the front of your lens and allows for precise placement of the filter.  If you have a depth of field preview button, this can be very helpful when positioning the filter.  It is much easier to see the transition when the preview button is held down.  I usually just hand hold my filter in front of the lens and will typically take a few exposures in order to make sure at least one has proper placement.

I use these filters all the time, they are one trick of the trade I couldn’t do without. There is a new way of dealing with extreme dynamic range called HDR photography that involves combining images of different exposures with special software on the computer later.  The advantage of HDR photography is that you are not limited to preset transitions as you are with filters.  In this example, HDR photography would have allowed me to avoid the dark dirt areas.  I have started using this method recently, and will write about it in a future blog.  I am tempted to go back and rework this photo and others, because I believe this new process may help them.

Your hard drive is going to crash and fail without any warning.  It may not be today, or even this year, but at some point your hard drive will fail.  And this isn’t one of those intermittent errors that gives you time to do a backup, this one will come with no warning and will be sudden and fatal!

“So Ron, you are usually a positive guy, what is up with all the gloom?”  Well, this is the exact mindset I use each and every time I do anything with my digital image files.  Unfortunately, I have had hard drives suddenly fail, as have many of my friends.  I think if you use this assumption each and every time you do something with your digital images, you may avoid a giant headache someday down the road. 

So what do I do?  The only time I have a single copy of any image is on the card as the image is captured – there is nothing I can do about this step.  When traveling, each evening I download every card to my laptop computer, and then download each card to a PD70X.  The PD70X is a rechargeable battery powered stand alone hard drive (maybe the subject of a future review).  Some shooters backup to DVD’s or external hard drives, but I don’t like these solutions as they require a working laptop.  One dropped laptop or even a small failure and you are dead in the water with nowhere to download images.  With a PD70X, I have two completely independent backup methods.  It is not until I have backed up each card to both these sources do a format the card.

I’m not as good at this as I should be, but I try to keep the two backup sources separated.  For example, the laptop in the cab of the the truck, the PD70X in the camper.  Or one hidden in a suitcase in the hotel, the other in the rental car.  You get the idea.

When I return home, or if I’m shooting near home, I download each card to my home computer, and then immediately copy each file to Janine’s computer which has a raid drive.  So now I have it on 3 hard drives before I format my cards or clear my laptop.

Once I have key worded files and adjusted selects, all images get backed up to two on-site external hard drives, and a third external hard drive kept off site, and finally to a set of DVD’s.  This may seem like over kill, but one day while doing a large transfer between two stacked external hard drives, both began to fail!  I was glad to know I had two more options.  I really view the DVD’s as the last resort – I would not trust them for any kind of long term file storage.

I hope my prediction never comes true.  But if it does and you have multiple backups, it will just be an inconvenience, not a disaster.

I used to carry my entire camera bag and heavy tripod whenever I did any hiking.  My thought process was – I never knew what in the bag I might need, and I just had to have a sturdy tripod, so I just toughed it out and brought everything.  Well that attitude left me with a very painful shoulder injury that cut an extended trip short last fall, and sent me on the hunt for a better solution.

When it comes to tripods, I’m happy to report, I found the perfect solution:  The Gitzo G1058 carbon tripod along with a Really Right Stuff BH-25 Ballhead.  (Update:  Gitzo has replaced this lightweight tripod with the Gitzo GT-0540 which has 4 leg sections, and the Gitzo GT-0530 for the three leg section version.)

This Gitzo / Really Right Stuff combination is reasonably steady – rated for a 9 pound load, while weighing in at just about 2 pounds. Friend, fellow photographer and backpacking guide Carl Donohue said he keeps his tucked behind his ear for easy access.  Of course Carl was joking, but the point is well made. The thing is so light that I never think twice before packing it. 

This is a new version of Gitzo tripod, they call their new carbon fiber tripods ”Carbon 6x”.  One of the best features of the new series is the Anti-Leg-Rotation System or ALR.  Most Gitzos use twist locks for extending and locking the legs.  These are quick and easy to use, and don’t snag on vegetation and other obstacles.  The complaint with Gitzos in the past is that the entire leg rotated requiring the photographer to use a careful process that included tightening higher sections tighter then lower and extending the legs in a specific order.  Long story short, this is all a thing of the past with these new tripods.  Extending and retracting the legs on this little guy is fast and easy, and you can do any section in any order.  Unfortunately, they haven’t applied this new technology to their larger tripods such as their popular 3 series size.

The Gitzo tripod models ending with the number 8 are 4 leg section tripods.  (Update:  Now Gitzo seems to use a 30 for 3 section legs, and a 40 for 4 section.  Their model numbering seems to always change and continues to be confusing.)  Normally I opt for 3 sections for added stability and speed of setup / take-down.  For a lightweight hiking / backpacking tripod, 4 sections are nice because it allows the tripod to collapse a little shorter than the 3.  Typically 4 sections take longer to set up, but not with the ALR system – setup is nearly as fast as with 3 sections.

Really Right Stuff has been making specialized photography gear for years – I have many of their camera plates.  For a small, light weight ball-head, the BH-25 does a great job.  I wouldn’t want to use either of these with a long telephoto, but for wide angle to short telephoto use, this combination is hard to beat.  It won’t replace my everyday tripod, but it will now go with me on all hikes, even ones where I might not have taken a tripod at all.