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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Securing my digital needs for Hawaii

Hawaii Beach - Sihanoukville, CambodiaImage by whl.travel via Flickr
I'm looking forward to a relaxing time on our Hawaiian vacation.
After booking the flight, hotel, and rental car, my next step is making sure I have my photo gear set for the trip. I want to travel light, but I also want to pack the gear that will get the shots I want. Most people will bring a short lens followed by a long telephoto. Unfortunately the auto focus on my telephoto is broken, so I'll have to stick with my new Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. Here is a quick video review of the lens.

                                       

I learned about this lens through a great lens review site, so far the photos are looking good. Here are a few samples while I was messing around.

This photo was taken by my 5 year-old son, Braden. Thanks to the Tamron's Vibration Compensation he was able to take a sharp photo with a shutter speed of 1/40 of a sec.

The lens is also pretty sharp. Here is another photo taken by my son, notice the nice blurry background (called bokeh).









Finally, here is a photo I took of my dog. This image displays the wide angle this lens of capable of capturing.








After taking the photos, I obviously plan to post them online, which means I'll need a computer and an Internet connection. I'm inclined to bring my older laptop since I don't want to risk anything to happen to our newer computer.  That computer is running a Linux operating system, so I can't use Lightroom to organize my new library of photos. Instead I'll use this opportunity to test the open source programs designed to complete the same tasks.

One other feature I plan to use the the Canon 7D's ability to take photos in in both RAW and JPEG formats so I can have the RAW photos for later and the smaller JPEG files for on-the-road blogging.

In case you were wondering what camera gear I was planning to bring on my trip, here is a little video of me taking inventory of every item.



Since I'm planning to blog and use the Internet, I thought it would be a good idea to check what Internet services are offered at our hotel. It turns out the Mauna Lani Hotel and Resort offers free WIFI!

This guy is ready for any possible shot opportunity
I promised my wife I would not bring too much photo gear to our trip.
I'm wondering how much is too much?
The only problem we'll run into is our mobile phone service. My wife will bring her iPhone 3G, but our plan doesn't include minutes outside of Southern California. We have a really old and cheap plan which is great for home, but roaming charges will kick us in the butt. I looking into upgrading our plan, but it doesn't make sense  just to save a few bucks on our one week trip.

I know it sounds like I'm putting too much thought to this tech stuff, but I just want to land in Hawaii and start having fun. I don't want to think about anything but playing with my kids on the beach, laughing with my wife, and taking lots of great photos to remind us of our wonderful time together.



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Posted by Tony at 12:15 AM Labels: , ,

5 comments:

  1. danAugust 22, 2010 at 9:29 AM

    I have the Tamron lens too, and I have been really impressed with it - the vibration compensation is really good. Just remember to switch it off when you are not using it, as it will eat up all your battery (or so my brother tells me!). Looking forward to seeing your photos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TonyAugust 22, 2010 at 1:46 PM

    Good point. I also think I'll turn the vibration compensation off when I'm shooting at faster shutter speeds since I don't think it will make a difference on a 17-50mm lens at 1/250. The last situation I heard when to turn VC off is when using a tripod for some strange reason.

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  3. AnonymousAugust 21, 2011 at 8:38 PM

    We are planning a trip to Maui but I still am not sure what to pack. I want to pack light but don't want to miss anything. Have a 5d Mark ii, 50d, 18-200 3.5-5.6, 50mm 1.8, 70-200 2.8, 16-35 2.8. What would you pack?

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  4. TonyAugust 21, 2011 at 10:03 PM

    Hi Anonymous,

    I would keep the 70-200 at home. Nothing would be more depressing than losing a lens like that on vacation, plus I would be constantly concerned if someone was looking to steal it. This will lighten you load considerably too since the lens is so big.

    The 50 1.8 is a must, it's small and will come in handy.

    Definitely bring the 18-200. I know the aperture is not very large, but I would compensate by raising the ISO and fixing the noise in post.

    The only wild card is the 16-35. I'm thinking of leaving it at home as well. This is another expensive lens and would leave a big hole in you camera bag if it is lost or stolen.

    If you're still wanting to bring a high end lens on vacation you should consider renting the lens. You could even have it delivered to the hotel when you arrive so you don't have to worry about travelling with it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. DavAugust 22, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    Great! Thanks so much for your info. Do you have a flickr page where I can view so of your hawaii images? I can't wait for our trip to hawaii!

    ReplyDelete

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