Just a few days left and I'm getting all the little things taken care of. Wash and waterproof the boots. Hold the mail. Accumulate relatively new US$ bills. Get someone to "babysit" my CSA share.
Oh, and update this blog. :)
Amazon.com finally let me down. I tried to order a few more camera bits for the trip. They'd gladly sell me a SD card, a thumb drive and a new lens, but it wouldn't ship for nearly two weeks, and wouldn't arrive until after I leave. Boo hiss!
But I'll tell you who came through on the camera gear... Staples.
Yeah, the office supply place sells camera lenses! Cost about the same and I got it shipped to my door the next day! OMFG!
I got a Nikon 55-200 zoom with vibration reduction. It's basically a kit lens and it's kinda slow, but it's great for travel and will give me a bit more reach than my 18-135 zoom. I took it on a local photo safari today (through Washington Photo Safaris - David Luria is a great instructor) and it seemed to work pretty well. He thought I should rent a larger lens - I could probably get a 300mm or longer glass for $150 shipped. Not a bad idea, but I'd have to hump it up Kili first and it won't be of much use there. I'll save it for next time.
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Monday, October 12, 2009
"Oooh, I'm jealous!"
Who said that to me?
National Geographic photographer David Evans.
I met him at an alumni event up here in DC last week, where he showed some of his pics and talked about life as a globetrotting photog.
Now, this dude's been all over the place: Chad, Brazil, Romania, China. For a living. And he tells me he's jealous of my Kili trek. Wow.
I got to pick his brain a bit about lenses. I was thinking about getting a wide-angle zoom. He suggested I look at fixed focal-length lenses, but said the jack-of-all-trades kit lens I had (18-135mm Nikon AF) might do just fine as a travel solution. Changing lenses in the bush can be risky.
I also asked him if telecoverters were worth it. The answer was pretty diplomatic: He didn't think so. (Then again, he can justify buying top-shelf telephoto glass and has no need for them). "But try it. If it works for you, great!"
So OK, I'll give the teleconverter a miss. Time to shop for a lens. :)
National Geographic photographer David Evans.
I met him at an alumni event up here in DC last week, where he showed some of his pics and talked about life as a globetrotting photog.
Now, this dude's been all over the place: Chad, Brazil, Romania, China. For a living. And he tells me he's jealous of my Kili trek. Wow.
I got to pick his brain a bit about lenses. I was thinking about getting a wide-angle zoom. He suggested I look at fixed focal-length lenses, but said the jack-of-all-trades kit lens I had (18-135mm Nikon AF) might do just fine as a travel solution. Changing lenses in the bush can be risky.
I also asked him if telecoverters were worth it. The answer was pretty diplomatic: He didn't think so. (Then again, he can justify buying top-shelf telephoto glass and has no need for them). "But try it. If it works for you, great!"
So OK, I'll give the teleconverter a miss. Time to shop for a lens. :)
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