Vacation Photography

Since we have already had a tour of the ship I though that today we could discuss travel photography. In particular, I felt it might be interesting to discuss how I took these pictures and what equipment I used. This will not be a course on photography, it will not tell you how to use your camera, and it is certainly not for a photographer at the professional level. I know this could be a dry and uninteresting chapter for many so I will try extra hard to make it interesting.

If you look around you at the people you are travelling with you will notice that very few carry cameras any more. Many do not concern themselves with pictures at all and those

that do are using cell phones or tablets. And this brings up the subject of what you want from your pictures, if anything. Before you leave home you should think about why you would want to take pictures. Just because some of us obsess about photography that does not mean that you are obligated to take a single image.

There is a great sense of freedom when you experience your trip without being worried about saving pictures. There are always postcards, books about places you visit aimed at the tourist, and on the ship, there is a good photo service where you can have portraits taken and printed. For many this is all they need and I understand that completely. There are days that I leave my cameras at home and I know that is a liberating experience. I also know that I regret it every time as inevitably I will see beautiful picture just crying out to be saved. That is the curse of the amateur photographer.

The majority of those who want to take pictures want images of themselves on their phones or tablets to show friends back home. Maybe they want a few 4″ x 5″ prints which the smart phone camera can handle easily. And this is a perfectly legitimate use of photography. If that is all you want, don’t burden yourself with a camera or any of the gear that goes with it. Don’t envy those of us with the fancy cameras. They are heavy and they make our necks hurt hanging there. Travel light and enjoy it.

There are some of us who love taking pictures. There is some question as to why we are so afflicted but for me it is such a love of life that I want to collect as much of it as possible to savour

later. Pictures have this amazing ability to evoke memories of a place or time that one did not realize they had. These are memories not only of the place but of smells, sounds, even feelings. For instance, this travelogue is a trip down memory lane for me and I am recalling things that I had long forgotten.

So what were my plans for my pictures? This is an important question. You should not carry more camera than you need. Well, I like to make books with my pictures. Just self published books one copy at a time but I love them. I like to display my pictures on my website and I do make prints up to 13″ x 19″ and occasionally larger. So I want a high resolution camera. One that will give me lots of options later on.

My Camera

In 2012 my “go to” camera was my Canon 60D which I had bought new a 

year earlier. Although I have bought two more modern cameras since this 60D is still a workhorse for me. Most of the camera and lens images on this website have been taken with it.

This camera has an 18 megapixel sensor which is capable of making fine prints of up to 13″ x 19″ and even up to 18″ x 24″. Not only that but this camera has decent low light abilities and enough features to allow me to be as creative as I wish.

The lens that came with the camera was excellent but I opted to upgrade to an EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 lens that promised sharper images and larger aperture. Being a zoom lens it was flexible enough for most of my pictures. The larger aperture allowed me to take pictures in lower light situations which is a distinct advantage if you are in churches, historic buildings or even cruise ships.

The EF-S 17-55mm lens we have already discussed is ample for the less fanatical photographers amongst us. It will take wonderful pictures from reasonably wide angle to almost telephoto which is usually enough.

However, for the more fanatical amongst us extra lenses are essential. Now, the mistake most people make is thinking that the best extra lens is a telephoto. This, however, is not true. Travel photography makes much more use of wide angle lenses. Walking in city streets, taking in large buildings, capturing the interior of cathedrals, you need a wide field of view. It is essential to capture the “feeling” of a place.

The wide angle lens I took on this trip was the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM from Canon. This lens couples to the camera giving seemless auto focus and automatic exposure. This is a decent lens at a modest price and certainly adequate for our travels as you will see.

I did carry a telephoto lens as well. And this is where it gets interesting because my choice was a mistake. I chose to carry my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM. Quite a name for an truly excellent lens. But it is large and very heavy. And that is the problem.

This is the very large and very heavy Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L II USM. Note the label identifying the owner. Do it to all of your gear.

But, you say, how did you carry all of this on the plains, trains, ships and automobiles? Well, there was more than this which we will get to shortly. And it was all carried in a backpack small enough to be hand luggage on a 747.

It is a Lowepro bag and I have had it so long I have long forgotten the model. It is well padded with lots of dividers and pockets. There is a pocket for my laptop and there are straps on the side for my travel tripod. It fits in the aircraft’s overhead bin or under the seat in front. And with its padded straps and waist strap it is comfortable to wear, even for long periods.

One more thing: put your name on the bag with indellible pen. I have my name, e-mail and cell phone number on the back between the straps. Label all of your gear. If you lose it you will likely not get it back, but, you never know. There are some honest people in the world.

Using it daily it was never full. Wherever we stay I unload it and only carry with me what I anticipate needing for the day. Often I just carry the camera and one lens. The backpack is an essential piece of kit.

The Bits and Pieces

So we have discussed the camera and lenses but that is not all that I carry. There are many other smaller bits and 

pieces that are important as well and  that we should touch on. For instance, the camera needs Batteries. So I carry the charger and at least two batteries. I like to have one in the camera, one fully charged in my pocket and one at the hotel in the charger. Those accessories are pretty obvious.

Filters and Lens Hoods are essential. The day you buy a new lens put a skylight filter on it. And don’t skimp on the cost because you want optical glass with a decent lens coating on it to reduce reflectons. You do not want to clean your lens’ front element any more than absolutely necessary. If it is protected by a filter you should never have to clean it. You clean the filter. The filter also protects the lens surface from finger prints, sand, dust and being hit by foreign objects. It is cheaper to replace a filter than buying a new lens!

Lens hoods are also very important. Firstly they protect the lens from stray light coming in from the side. This light can flare in the lens and reduce overall contrast. But even more important, the lens hood keeps your fingers off the front element, which should be a filter in any event. Also, if the camera swings against a door frame or pillar, the hood will absorb the impact. It may break but it will save the filter ring and front edge of the lens from the impact. Look at the picture above of my 60D. That lens hood is great physical protection for the lens.  Again, a new lens hood is cheaper than a new lens!

I used to carry a Tripod when I travelled. Not now. I have a nice Giotto travel tripod, light weight, sturdy, and really good quality. But I find I don’t use it. Firstly, many places where you might want to use it, cathedrals, museums, piazzas don’t allow the use of tripods as they represent an obstruction and trip hazzard for pedestrians.

Lately I have been carrying a Monopod which helps steady the camera and I use it as a walking stick. But on this trip I did carry a tripod.

It does rain on vacation. This street in Torricela Peligna in Abruzzo, photographed in 2014 on another trip, is beautiful in the rain. But you must plan to protect your camera.

I tried everything I knew to access the drive without success. I contacted a data recovery company in the USA and sent them the drive. They said that the heads had crashed on the disk surfaces and gouged them so badly that there was nothing they could do. All of my pictures were lost! So how do you protect against this?

This is my Pelican waterproof memory chip case. It easily holds enough memory for a summer’s worth of pictures. Notice some chips are top side up. These are empty and ready to be used. The top side down chips have images that are already backed up by my laptop so that I have two copies at all times.

And there you have a rundown on how I take these images. It is not about how to take good pictures but rather the physical process of capturing the images you want and getting them home safe. No magic. Just careful planning.

So, get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow we spend walking the streets of Helsinki!