Here are a few photos of Munich and the tiny town of Waal, where we’re drying out after a wet day of pedaling down our first leg of the Via Claudia Augusta trail. At least the sun came othere allow some good photography light at the end of the day.
So far, I’m finding the Fuji XE-1 to be a really fun little camera. Pretty much like a deluxe version of the X20. It’s very “camera like.” Easy to use. Wonderful colors. Stay tuned for more!
Plane tickets bought, bikes disassembled, camera gear packed: Alps, here we come!
We’ll be spending the next two weeks pedaling through Germany, Austria and Italy along a route called the Via Claudia Augusta, which is a 2,000 year old Roman Trading route that’s been converted to a bike/hiking path.
The Via Claudia Augusta starts in Germany and crosses the Alps through Austria before dropping into northern Italy. We’ll be flying into Munich, and picking up the route southwest of the city. The path varies from paved bike trial, to gravel roads to forest trails, and passes beneath castles and majestic mountain landscapes, through small Tryolian villages, wine and olive groves and alpine meadows.
Here’s a map of the route. I’m not sure how far we’ll get, since we have limited time, but I’m sure that whatever ground we’ll cover will be well worth the trip. Also, here’s a great video that’s in German, but it shows the scenery that we’ll be riding through. If you’re into bike touring, this looks like a dream route that can be tackled in any number of ways, either totally self supported, credit card inn touring or as a guided group.
Since weight is always an issue when traveling by bike, I’ve pared down to what I think will be an ideal travel photography kit. It consists of a Fujifilm XE-1 body, 18-55mm lens, 14mm lens, the Fuji X20 and a Nikon P7700 compact camera that I’m trying out for review.
I’m also taking the tiny little Fuji EF-20 flash, a sync cord and a Lumiquest Softbox III, all of which is packed into my Lowepro Flipside Sport 10L AW pack. (The SB-III is underneath the removable camera compartment.)
Aside from being a lightweight setup, the Flipside Sport will give me quick access to my camera gear, as well as security from any prying hands. The zipper access to the pack sits against my back, so as long as I’m wearing it, no one can get in.
I’m really excited to see what the XE-1 can do. It shares the same X-Trans sensor technology with the X20, so it will have a familiar look, but it will be sharper and produce images with higher resolution and lower noise. Plus it’s got nice classic styling.
The Fuji XF 18-55mm should be a great all around lens. With an effective view of 27-85mm, it’s got a pretty usable range for everything from wide landscapes to short telephoto portraits and details. For shooting ultra wide landscapes and travel shots, the XF 14mm (21mm effective view) will let me work my super wide mojo even more.
The Nikon P7700 also seems like a nice little camera. It’s got a longer zoom than the X20 (28-200mm equivalent), a fold out swivel LCD screen and a built-in ND filter, which the X20 does not have. This is a very usable feature when shooting in bright light. I’ll be curious to see how it performs in the image quality department.
I’ll be posting photos and updates while I’m over there, so stay tuned to this blog, as well to my other Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds!
Two years ago, when I first tried the Lowepro Photo Sport 200AW, I was completely sold. It quickly became my favorite summer camera pack for hiking, mountain biking and general exploring in the outdoors. If you read my review, though, you might remember that I wished that Lowepro would make a slightly larger version for winter sports and light overnight trips. And I know that I’m not alone with that assessment, right Mike and Janine?
Wish granted!
Lowepro has just released the brand new Photo Sport 30L AW, and my analysis after extensive testing is this: It’s easily the best backcountry ski photo back that I’ve ever used. In fact, it’s exactly what I’ve wanted for years: A technical camera pack that has enough space for use in the mountains, that also holds the big lens in a quickly accessible compartment.
When I visited the Lowepro shop during my California bike trip last fall, they actually sent me home with a finished prototype. I’m pretty sure that I was the first photographer to get my hands on this pack, and since I’ve been using it continuously for over five months, I’ve probably logged more miles, more vertical feet and more turns with the Photo Sport 30L AW than anyone else.
The Photo Sport 30L has a large main compartment that’s big enough to hold everything you need for a day outside, even when it’s cold. Unlike the smaller Photo Sport 200AW, the new 30L version easily fits puffy jacket/vest, fleece layers, sandwiches and snacks, googles, thermos, and a shovel.
I usually strap the shovel handle and an avalanche probe to the side of the pack, as pictured here.
Then there’s the camera compartment. Unlike the Photo Sport 200, this new pack will fit a large telephoto zoom lens, like most 70-200s, 80-200s, and 70-300mm lenses. Anyone who’s shot skiing before knows that using long lenses can be essential for getting great shots.
However, carrying the big lenses into the backcountry has always been a bit problematic. Im the past, I usually kept it in a soft lens case under the top lid, but these meant stopping to take the pack off in order to access the lens. I’m just not a big enough guy to keep a big lens on my belt or in a chest holster pack.
As with the Photo Sport 200, the new 30L model has the bottom side zipper access to the camera compartment, which means that you can get your camera from the pack into your hands in a matter of seconds. As I always point out, this kind of accessibility can mean the difference between getting the shot and missing the shot.
Since the Photo Sport 30L fits my DSLR body with favorite ski lens attached, the 70-200mm f/4G VR, I can be ready to shoot in no time flat. Problem solved. You can also fit another lens, flash or even a compact camera inside the compartment; I usually carry the 24mm lens, which is my other essential ski lens.
Even with the weight of camera and winter outdoor gear, the Photo Sport 30L AW carries quite well. I’ve worn it all during the course of many long days. During a recent backcountry Alaska ski trip, we skied until sunset nearly every single day for a week, which, during April, meant well past 9:00PM.
The shoulder harness system is extremely comfortable, the plastic frame sheet offers just enough support and the wide waist belt distributes most of the weight very evenly on your hips. I’m a huge fan of these wide, but thin waist belts that we’re seeing on packs these days; they let you carry a good deal of weight without added bulk on your hips. Plus it make the pack more streamlined.
Another really nice feature is the trampoline-style mesh back panel. Many packs have a solid pad of EVA foam. The problem with this design is that it’s hard to get snow out of the mesh fabric that sits on top of the foam. It packs itself in there, which eventually leads to a wet pack and/or a wet, uncomfortable back.
With this design, you can simply reach underneath and brush all the snow out from the between the floating mesh pad and the solid back panel. No more snow. Take it from a guy who does his share of falling down in the snow, it just makes for a much nicer day.
The waist belt also has the same zip pockets found on the Photo Sport 200 and the Rover Pro AW. They’re big enough to hold a couple of energy bars or a memory card case for quick access. It’s these kinds of details that help make a pack really functional, and when you combine it with a good suspension system, you end up with a pack that fits well, carries well and works well for active outdoor photography.
Other features:
Finally, the camera pouch is removable, which lets you use the Photo Sport 30L as a regular technical pack if you want to leave the camera gear at home. It carries so well, that it would actually make a great mountain pack, even if it weren’t a photo pack.
Since the Photo Sport 200 came out, Lowepro has worked really hard to create a line of highly functional packs that revolve around the concept of not just carrying your gear, but making it easily accessible. In my mind, they’ve done an excellent job. So good, that depending on what activity I’m heading out to do, these days I never leave the house without one of them on my back.
Overall, the Photo Sport 30 follows perfectly in the lineup. It offers outdoor photographers more room for non camera gear and fast access to a pro DSLR sized body and lens combo. It’s well made and it stands up to the rigors of the outdoors. More importantly, it’s a well thought out design, and so I have to tip my hat to the pack creator team for thinking up stuff that makes my job easier.
Who’s it for: Although the Photo Sport 30L is definitely designed with mountain photographers in mind. It’s awesome for both winter and summer hiking and a variety of active sport use, like skiing or alpine climbing.
I also see it as a great pack for overnight landscape photographers who like to go light and fast. You could easily bring a body, a couple of lenses, tripod, lightweight sleeping bag and pad, a few clothes, a small stove and some food. From that standpoint, it’s smaller and a little more manageable than the bigger Rover Pro, especially if you can pack light.
The new Photo Sport 30L AW is available now at B&H Photo, Amazon and other photo retailers. As one of my readers, you can get a special discount if you buy directly from the Lowepro store. Just click this link and use discount code LP20 in your shopping cart and you’ll get the savings on any items that you buy. (US customers only)
I just released the latest issue of the Dan Bailey Photo Journal. The Spring 13 edition features a collection of new work, recent tearsheets, news and info and highlights from a selected personal project.
This issue’s project revolves around my new love of shooting Alaska mountain aerial photos out the open window of my 1947 Cessna 120.
The journal is a great way for you to stay updated on what kind of things I’m shooting, who’s using my images and what I’ve got planned for the coming weeks and months.
Read the Spring 13 issue of the Dan Bailey Photo Quarterly Journal, or download it to check out later. It’s a small PDF file and a quick read, since it’s mostly photographs, so you can even view it on your phone or mobile device.
I have a confession to make. I’m a total David duChemin fanboy. Not in a creepy stalker type way, but in a total professional admiration kind of way. I see him as one of the great modern day photographic visionaries, and as a fellow photographer who tries to inspire other camera carrying adventure seekers and travelers with my images and writing, I’m awed, and yes, a little bit jealous by his success.
Not that he doesn’t deserve it, though. David has the eye. His people images are stunning. His landscapes are intimate and evocative. As an author, his essays and books about creativity, personal vision and artistry hit it right on the mark. They certainly inspire me, and I’ve been doing this a long time. The only other person who has driven me with such a powerful combination of photography and writing is Galen Rowell. I’ve read nearly every one of David’s Craft and Vision eBooks, and I’ll admit right up front that they were one of my primary influences when I wrote my own eBook, Making The Image.
And aside from being a great photographer mentor to many people, he just seems like a really swell guy. I’ve never met David face to face, but he seems like someone with whom who I’d really enjoy sipping whiskey and talking shop. Or hunkering with in front of our tripods under a howling wind.
Ok, I’ll get on with it. The point of this whole post is not to fawn endlessly over David duChemin, it’s to highlight his latest book, The Print And The Process: Taking Compelling Photographs from Vision to Expression.
Combining a series of photographs from Antarctica, Iceland, Venice and Kenya, The Print And The Process presents ideas, thoughts, and techniques that explore the entire pathway of photography, from idea to final image. In his mind, photography is a process and one that we all struggle with- even him, but the more we learn how to understand our own process, the easier it will be to make photographs that connect with us and our viewers.
To be clear, The Print And The Process is not really about how to make prints. It’s about the gear, the ideas, the creative methods, the expression, the subject matter, or as he calls it, the “messy” process of combining what’s in our mind with what’s in front of us, and then moving it through the camera and the computer.
It’s not overly obsessed with gear, nor is it laden with too much technical stuff. It won’t tell you how to do this or that, but it will walk you through his own mind and handiwork as he gives detailed info about each and every shot in the book. If you’ve read David’s writings before then you know his style. If you haven’t, it strikes a perfect blend of information, personality, inspiration, and education, without being dry, drab or overly obsessed with how much he knows.
The book’s format gives clear and appealing presentation of each and every one of the photographs. The horizontal shots run larger than in most books, which, in my mind, gives it a really nice look. At 230 pages, there’s a lot in there to keep both your mind and your eye busy during multiple readings.
The Print And The Process is not really a book for total beginners, but if you’re an enthusiastic image maker of any level who already has a pretty good understanding of how photography works, there’s a lot to absorb. There’s enough diversity in the material to satisfy both the technical geek and the fuzzy creative types, and everyone in between.
I think that you’ll really enjoy The Print And The Process, both for the artistry of David’s work and the ways that he presents his ideas and methods. It’s a beautiful book that’s worth checking out, if not for the inspiration, then just to enjoy looking at four powerful collections of imagery from around the world. There’s even a Kindle version, which, obviously lacks the impact of the print book, but on the upside, you can take it with you.
Save 20% w/ code LP20
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