Outdoor Photography Preperation - Gear-Hacking a Camera Holster

An Easily Accessible Outdoor Camera Rig - For Half of the Price.

 

Over the last two years, I've attempted to combine my love of photography with the enjoyment that I get from being outdoors. To put it mildly, I have had very little success. Sure, I've snagged a few nice shots, but if you're going on a multi-day camping trip, the amount of time you can spend pulling gear out of bags to get the perfect shot is limited

So, how can I make my camera more available to me, on the go? I'm going on hikes, doing alpine climbing, and paddling down rivers at times. Breaks are fine, but part of all of these journeys is reaching the destination (eventually) . If I keep stopping for the perfect shot(s), I'm going to be very late to work the next Monday!

There are a number of complex chest rigs to hold your camera in place as you hike, even with a full backpack on. Well, those cost anywhere north of $99. That's a little much for what I want to spend. But then I stumbled on Think Tank's Digital Holster 10 V2.0. (You're welcome, Think Tank. How about endorsement money now? No? Maybe a coupon?)

So, let's get this puppy all set up. See this cool super sturdy velcro tab? We can attach the camera holster to the backpack via the chest strap.You may be curious as to why I didn't just attach the holster to my waist belt. Well, I'm going to be traveling while wearing a climbing harness on occasion. The one thing that I do not want my camera to interfere with is my safety equipment. Safety first!





















Just make sure that you've got enough room on the male end of the clip to buckle the strap. You might think that this will be uncomfortable, but the chest strap isn't meant to be cinched tight and bear weight. It should be semi-loose when clipped!

So here is what we've got when it's attached to the strap and clipped in. Not too bad! But I'm putting some pretty pricey gear in this holster. I don't want to trundling down a hill, cliff, or worse when I take my pack off for a breather. After all, tired minds make mistakes. So we get out a cheap carabiner.





















Finally, I've attached the carabiner to one of the metal D-rings on the holster, and then attached that to a closed loop on the chest strap. Note - CLOSED loop. If it's just the strap, the holster can still go sliding off - this time with a carabiner in tow. And there - I've just recreated a camera set-up for half of the price that keeps my gear well protected from weather and bumps, all while securely fastened to me in an easy to reach place.

ProjectDC: Welcome to the Metro

Well, I've been out and about on the Metro a few times this summer, and on occasion I've felt that I'm in the right place at the right time (and in the right mood) to capture life in D.C. on the Metro. As some of my Twitter followers may know, D.C.'s Metro (WMATA) can be downright terrible for reasons that perplex me. But that's old hat in D.C., sadly.

So how better to begin exploring the Metro and its problems than by looking at the people on the Metro? I have a long way to go, that much I know. I've lost a bit of my street photography mojo - if I ever had it! Eventually I hope to do some portraiture in the system, but, until then, it's just about capturing life on the train.

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Mea Culpa

Well. I've been remiss this summer in posting content - photos, tips, pitfalls that I've encountered - everything. Fortunately, I haven't stopped shooting, and will have plenty of posts coming your way soon!

The most exciting post, in my view, is from my first set of D.C. metro shots. Some are good, some are keepers, and some are juat good learning experiences.

So, stay tuned! I will be better!

Simple And Fun D.C. Fireworks Shots

There isn't much to say about this set of photographs. I wasn't close enough to really get the best out of my wide angle lens, so these are cropped fairly heavily. Despite that fact, the colors and the motion, I feel, really came out nicely. Which is what makes me happiest about fireworks photos, so I'll call it a win!

Equipment Used

Nikon D7100 Camera
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens
Manfretto BeFree Tripod
Nikon MC-DC2 Cable Release

Images

How Good Are Teleconverters? A Non-Technical Look

So I've often wondered if it made more sense to get a really good 200mm or 300mm lens, and then slap a teleconverter on it to get that extra reach. After all, it would save thousands of dollars, and if the starting lens had a nice wide aperture, it would give you the same numbers in the end. I read reviews, I attempted to look at sample images, but I just couldn't see what the sites were saying. The images looked good to me. I didn't see sharpness falling off dramatically as you moved away from the center, I didn't see issues in the corners.

The 70-200mm f/2.8 is all-metal and surprisingly heavy.
First shots with it were canted due to the surprising weight!

Fortunately, I am able to easily rent lenses and various components, so Itested Nikon's 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 teleconverters on Nikon's 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens (not the current VR II) with the racing ponies at Pimlico. Where better to test focusing and sharpness? So, now, without a further adieu, images and commentary based on a photography enthusiast's images, not highly calibrated lens test diagrams.

Baseline: This is how good the lens is, on its own
1/3200 at 82mm f/2.8 ISO200

The Teleconverters and Sharpness

Now I went for a little extra reach, mounting the 1.4x. The nice thing is, the autofocus system for the 70-200mm still works!

It is clear that the lens is losing a little something. Not much, but a little. Compare the original image on the left with the crop on the right. Even I can appreciate the ever so slight softness in the horse on the right. Remember, we're losing a couple of stops and the maximum aperture is now smaller.
1/4000 at 280mm f/4 ISO800



Now we move up to the 1.7x and it gets very apparent that you're beginning to really lose something in the image. But that's only if I'm cropping and zooming. At full size, the image looks brilliant. Again, at wide open and with the 1.7x, we're closing the aperture more.
1/3200 at 340mm f/4.8 ISO640



Now we go to the 2.0x teleconverter, and start losing some serious light. I decided to give zoomed in views of the corners on this one, so that the sharpness can be really appreciated. I don't know how, but the 2.0x just looks good.
1/2500 at 210mm f/5.6 ISO1600

The main image.


Upper right corner. You can really see the detail in the horse blanket, and it is fairly crisp. This surprised me.


Now to the lower right corner. Here you can see the details on the boots, but they do become a little fuzzier as you move further from the center.


Lower left corner. This is the shot that showcases the loss of sharpness when using the 2.0x. The coat on the legs has become blurry, but still detailed enough to pick out the hairs.


Upper left corner. This one vexes me. The coat is very similar to the lower left shot, save for the extreme upper left corner. The top of the horses hindquarter is full of detail and is quite crisp. VERY surprising.

Focusing Speed

But what about lens performance in the areas that you may not know about until you experience them for yourself, like focus speed? This is where the Nikon teleconverters blew me away. The 70-200mm lens is a fast focusing lens in my opinion. I expected to lose some serious performance, and probably lose some good action shots as a result. Boy was I wrong. I missed the shot on the left. But the next image, taken while the horses were still in the same stride? Boom. SHARP. It may be a slower focusing speed than the lens without the teleconverter, but that is fast enough for me.
1/2500 at 400mm f/5.6 ISO1600



And one final image with commentary, all the way out at full stretch, with the focus point (and subject matter) fully off center. I won't lie. The detail looks pretty freakin' good!
1/3200 at 400mm f/5.6 ISO1250

Equipment Used

Nikon D7100 Camera
70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens
Nikon 1.4x Teleconverter
Nikon 1.7x Teleconverter
Nikon 2.0x Teleconverter


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Announcing a Photo Project: DC in Motion

Today, I, the Evolving Photographer, am proud to announce that I will be undertaking a project to document the the riders of the D.C. Metro - their experiences, their frustrations - everything. Talk to anyone here, and they will gripe to you about the broken escalators, long delays, constant track maintenance. We read about it in the Washington Post almost daily. But what does any of that mean?

Well, let's see what it means. Literally. WMATA, the governing body of the Metro, does not regulate the usage of handheld photographic equipment so long as the user does not interfere with or impede the operation of the Metro. So myself and my camera will be taking a trip to the various Metro lines with the goal of showing you what it's like here in the American capital.

All of my posts on this project will be tagged with "ProjectDC." I will still be doing my usual (more frequent, I swear) postings on photography and the various things that I learn. Check back for updates, or keep up with the project via my Twitter account - @511Ian.

Finding Inspiration as a Photographer

One of the great things about spending significant time in a new place is that it really invigorates you to try new things, see the sights, and take some truly special photographs. Unfortunately, you have to return to the old places eventually, and that's when it can be tough. I've been back home for a month, and it's been difficult to go out and find something interesting to shoot. It's home! I know it too well!

So, on the advice of some photography buddies, I joined a group meet-up website and found a nice photography group to join. I may not be 100% behind every event that I go to, but it will force me to get out there, see what other people are
photographing, interact with them, and share ideas. Now THAT is how you get going creatively!

My first event was a car show. I haven't been to one since I "took" my Dad for Father's Day when I was still in elementary school. Beyond reading enough to know to have a polarizing filter to deal with reflections and windshields, I had no clue what I was getting myself into!

I don't think that I've broken any incredible ground with these photos, but I had a great time, and, most importantly, learned. The low riding performance cars are meant to be photographed from a low angle - but with a wide-angle lens. Guess what I didn't have with me? My wide-angle lens. Trying to replicate those shots with a 35mm lens just isn't possible. Creatively, the distortion that my 11-16mm lens would create is what I envisioned. Instead, I got some good shots, but didn't make anything that I loved.

Equipment Used

Nikon D7100 Camera
35mm f/1.8 lens
B+W Circular Polarizer Filter


Images

Lessons in Fine Art Photography

So it's been a while since I've posted - shame on me! I have kept on taking lots of pictures, just none of them have inspired a post just yet. However, this past week, I was privileged to soak in the expertise of two photographers that operate in a realm that I haven't much explored. Fine art photography. Is this some art school definition that has years of theory behind it? Not in the slightest, it's just how I view it.


To me, fine art photography is an odd place in the photography spectrum. All photography has a point - to inform, to challenge, to make a point. We have documentary photography, or photojournalism, which simply prevents life as it is. There is traditional portraiture, which can be documentary in nature, or it can present a specific vision of the photographer that isn't necessarily as simple as reality. And then there is what I see as fine art photography - photographs that are meticulously planned in order to convey a very specific point from the artist.

This week n Stockholm was Photography Week at the Fotografiska, my favorite museum here in Sweden. First up for me was a tour of Roger Ballen's Theater of the Absurd. This wasn't a mere tour. Roger Ballen himself led us through his exhibit. I will admit that for some reason, despite looking at some of Ballen's work, I still expected a more classical photography discussion of his work. Instead, I was treated to a sometimes confusing, but always insightful discussion on photography, art, and the human condition.

Ballen presented himself as someone exploring his own psyche, and representing that on camera with a mixture of photographs of people surrounded both by their own dwellings and simple drawings added to the scene (to be fair, some of the dwellings already had artwork on the walls). In the Theater of the Absurd, Ballen seemed to be presenting images with incongruous subjects and settings, sometimes making you laugh, other times making you cringe, all the while, making you think. I won't pretend to have completely understood Ballen, just as I doubt that anyone could ever understand every point made by an abstract artist, but his attention to detail and how even the smallest piece of wire in his photos were carefully calculated to completely "make" the photo impact the viewer. Check out "Head Below Wires" and note how the bends in the wires, the missing chunk of the Simpsons picture, the Jerry Mouse mask - they all create the same form that is mirrored in the man's profile. While you may not love the art, the craft behind it is unmistakeable, and a very valuable lesson in of itself.

The second day, I attended a talk by Jimmy Nelson, the photographer behind Before They Pass Away. It would be an injustice to try and summarize the points he tried to impart, but, here we go. Mr. Nelson strives to present the pride, beauty, and inner character of tribes at risk throughout the world. Rather than presenting them simply as they are, flaws and all, Mr. Nelson created intimate portraits, carefully posed (and composed) images of every day life within the 35 tribes he explored. While this format has come under criticism, it was positively fascinating (and inspiring), to see Mr. Nelson simply explain that, in the developed world, we often portray one another in the most flattering manner in photographs - why can this courtesy not be afforded to the "undeveloped" world? Post-processing be damned, Mr. Nelson has created amazing images that convey the uniqueness of all 35 of these cultures, some in their day to day life, some in their "Sunday best," all while giving these individuals the respect that any subject should get from a photographer.