Travel Photography - Equipment

April 30, 2014 by Andrew Duncan in Tips and Advice

This article is intended to be of assistance to people embarking on a long travelling trip and looking for advice on camera equipment. I'm not suggesting to copy what we've done however I hope the commentary on the pros and cons of what we have chosen to take with us will be of assistance.

Bison on Antelope Island, Utah, United States

We are using two primary cameras for our travel photography. The Canon 6D and the iPhone 4S. Each has it's advantages under certain circumstances and both have been receiving a strong workout during the last several months of travel. We left home late September 2013 so keep in mind there's probably newer gadgets out by the time you read this.

Canon 6D

I upgraded from a Canon 400D a couple of months prior to leaving on our trip with travel photography in mind. The 6D appealed due to it's inclusion of a GPS, allowing for geotagging of photos as well as generating GPS logs of our travels. The much more modern and larger sensor also behaved significantly better in low light situations, creating acceptable image quality up to ISO128000, a huge improvement over the questionable quality obtained from the 400D at ISO1600.

Before leaving I also purchased 2 additional batteries which has proved more than adequate. We recently completed a 9 day hike through Torres del Paine where the camera was used extensively each day, was recording a GPS track at 5 minute intervals during the day (turned off at night to both save power and stop recording the boring sections) and also to flick through the photos already taken to show people what they could expect to see. This completely drained one battery, finally failing sometime while we were on the bus ride home.

The Canon 6D has proved resilient. It has braved cold weather without significant degradation of battery life (also holding it by the handhold helps keep the battery warm). It has survived rain covering the top surface while shooting from a zodiac at Cape Horn. It has endured 100+km/hr winds with horizontal slushy ice hiking the John Gardner Pass in Torres del Paine. It has been covered in salt while I lay in the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni with no apparent long term effects (thoroughly wiped cleaned afterwards though). It has almost swum in the humidity of the Bolivian Amazon. And finally has survived the knocks and bruises that accompany anything you take with you while traveling, even if it's kept by your side at all times and treated as my baby.

The GPS has proved useful and, in most situations, setting it to record the location log every 5 minutes is more than adequate. I've even been decimating data points from the logs as they still grow too big for some applications to handle. At this frequency the battery life has been more than sufficient between power points.

The low light capabilities of the 6D allow it to show nebulae detail in a single exposure.

The high-iso capability of the camera has discouraged me from using a tripod. There are certain situations where a tripod would be very useful; silky waterfall photos, star trail night shots etc. I have made do with rocks and a gorilla pod in these cases. Depending on where you fall between making your trip about travel while taking photos or about photography requiring travel to get there will determine if you bring a tripod regardless. The camera merely means that in low light situations you can usually get away either without a flash unit (no inbuilt flash on the 6D) or with a handheld photo at one of the higher ISO settings. Or, when all else fails, a convenient rock.

Along with skipping out on a tripod I have limited myself to two lenses for the purpose of minimising weight and space requirements. These were determined by their quality (this is a once in a life time trip after all) and their portability (if it's too big I'm more likely to leave it behind on a quick expedition). The feature missing from my collection is the ability to shoot macro. If I was choosing again I would swap out the 24-70 f/2.8 for something that can do similar but with a macro focus range.

It's worth noting I have recently had some issues with the menu control buttons which seem humidity related. Some water has probably worked its way in. Storing with the camera bag open in a low humidity environment has sorted it out so far.

Canon 24-70L f/2.8

This lens has been my primary go-to during my travels. It has a good quality polariser which is almost always on the lens to double as protection for the lens itself (no UV filter). At times when I'm not directly using the polarisers abilities it is needlessly reducing the light available to the camera but again, the high ISO capabilities are such that during the day I don't feel the pinch.

This lens has performed well. Sharp images with excellent colour and contrast. As mentioned before if it could focus at a macro range I would be entirely happy with it. My previous (cheaper) lens was a Sigma 17-70 with macro on a cropped 400D sensor so perhaps I was simply spoiled early on in my photography life.

Canon 70-300 f4.5-5.6 DO

I didn't understand the purpose of this lens until I looked at it with a travellers eye. The price is similar to lenses that receive better optics and build quality ratings on photozone (seriously an awesome website when deciding what lens you should buy). The advantage comes in the 'DO', Diffractive Optics and the reason the lens warrants a distinctive green ring. This technology allows the 300mm zoom to take up as much space as the 24-70L. I can store my camera with either lens attached with equal ease in my camera bag.

The other lens in consideration was the 70-200L f/4 IS. By comparison the 70-300 has poorer image contrast, older image stabilisation, a much smaller footprint so it fits in your bag easily and, importantly, an extra 100mm of reach. The difference between 200mm and 300mm on a full frame sensor justifies itself when trying to shoot wildlife. Of course I've often wished for more...

Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home

The Crumpler camera bag I have taken with me has endured the same abuse as the Canon 6D and acquitted itself just as well. I've made sure to leave some moisture absorbing packs at the bottom to help dry everything out after some of the more humid / wet adventures. The bag itself holds the 6D with a lens attached and the other lens comfortably. It has room for a spare battery and as many SD cards as you can poke a stick at. It doesn't appear to interfere with the GPS reception. A nice touch is the ability to silence the velcro closure while trying to take photos of wildlife in the jungle and make the velcro nice and loud while walking through cities of questionable safety.

There are probably equally capable or better bags out there but this has served me well either walking through the markets in Bolivia or trekking with a backpack through Patagonia.

iPhone 4S

I had to hand back my work iPhone 4 when departing to travel and decided to get the iPhone 4S. It has the same charge plug as my iPad which was also coming for the ride, was available cheaply off eBay given the iPhone 5 had been out for a while and the 5S was due imminently when we were leaving. Importantly, the camera was sufficiently better then the iPhone 4 to warrant the additional cost. Camera aside, a smartphone has been invaluable on our travels. It has been used for email, maps, travel guides, ebooks, games, translation etc.

Punta Arenas, Chile. The photo was run through a filter on Instagram.

As a camera it is able to fill a few niches where it performs better than the Canon 6D. Firstly, it's much smaller. Walking through crowded markets with a giant SLR strapped to your hip draws attention. We've not had any unfortunate incidents yet and hopefully we won't but even if you aren't concerned about theft in crowded areas often by the time you draw the camera, take off the lens cap, point and(y) shoot, the moment has passed or you're spotted and the candid nature of the photo is ruined. The 4S is kept with me even when I don't take my big camera, it has additional features such as a GPS map that keep it handy all the time. There's a lot of truth to the saying 'the best camera is the one you have with you'.

Additionally, the iPhone 4S (and most new smartphones) can shoot HDR, high dynamic range. This is useful for all those times you find yourself posing in front of a bright glacier and don't want to choose between seeing your face or seeing the glacier. This can be done on the 6D but I've found it much easier with the iPhone. The iPhone 4S and onwards can also shoot panoramic photos with ease. These are high quality and easily made without requiring any post processing on a computer later. Very handy.

Finally, the iPhone runs apps such as Photosynth which allows you to create a 360 degree scrollable image and TimeLapse which allows you to create videos with the action sped up. Both very neat in certain locations.

The iPhone also geo-tags photos if it's not in airplane mode. Handy, but I tend to be in battery conservation mode when on a hike so it doesn't tag those.

I also invested in a Mophie battery pack for the iPhone to enhance it's endurance. I quickly got used to the additional bulk of the case and have grown very fond of the additional power available to the iPhone. In airplane mode the phone can last as a camera and offline reference guide for 5 day hikes without needing recharging.

In South America I have been able to backup the iPhone photos over wifi using Dropbox without much pain. This uploads the full resolution photos and videos to your Dropbox account.

Photo Editing

I had originally hoped to get by with carrying just an iPad, uploading using the Camera Connection Kit and editing/blogging etc from there. This wasn't practical when I started however Adobe has just release Lightroom for the iPad so perhaps look into that meeting your requirements. I also looked at buying a netbook but they are surprisingly hard to find these days. We ended up bringing a 13" MacBook Air with us. It has added to my carry-on bulk but was an unfortunate necessity for what I wanted to do. Lightroom has been invaluable and I don't regret bringing the computer for the ride. A netbook could do the job but would be less pleasant due to the small screen. The laptop has seen a lot of ancillary use during our holiday and has been worth the extra bulk.

Conclusion

I am happy with the current kit we have for our travels. If choosing again I would ensure one of the two lenses I have was macro capable, probably swapping out the 24-70 for one of the high quality Sigma lenses.

I have not felt overburdened with the DSLR or laptop while travelling through South America. We have stayed at hostels and camped (in Uruguay, Argentina and Chile). We have tended to avoid large cities as our interest is in hiking and landscapes. If I don't feel comfortable with a flashy camera (i.e. at night in a less than safe country or in a particularly busy location with pickpocket warnings etc) the DSLR stays locked away somewhere (look up PacSafe and get a combination lock) and the iPhone comes for the ride flying solo. Maybe I miss a good shot but I OK with that if it keeps us out of conflict.

Eastern Islands, Galapagos, Ecuador

April 30, 2014 by Andrew Duncan in Places

Greedy to experience as much of Galapagos as possible we booked for a second boat cruise right after our first. This time aboard the Santa Cruz, a larger boat holding 90 guests for 5 days. This would take us out to the older islands on the eastern side of Galapagos.

Our 5 day itinerary aboard the Santa Cruz

The islands on the east of Galapagos are the oldest. The volcanoes have stopped erupting, the landscape is showing more advanced signs of erosion and the animals are well established.

We were able to land on Rabida, an interesting red island that we had only seen from the ocean while aboard the Angelito. Then Santiago, Genovesa and finally San Cristobal where we had changed our flight to leave from. The only island we would not see in Galapagos would be Espanola.

Genovesa is an amazing island covered with bird life. Here we saw our first red footed boobies and finally got to see frigate birds with their large red bills inflated. They use them as pillows to rest their heads on when not attracting a mate and look like they could pop them with their beaks during a sneeze.

The frigate birds puff a bright red pouch of skin full of air to attract a female to their nest. Shannan gave some of the less endowed birds an inferiority complex by remarking (loud enough for them to hear) that they would never attract anything. The ones that did put on an amazing courtship display involving wings wide and dancing with their red puffs bouncing around. Their warble was similar to a turkey gobble.

The feet of the red footed boobies is coloured by the food they eat. The red footed boobies, a distinct species from the blue footed variety, nest inland and commute each day to distant food sources. These birds are very large and have some disturbing social habits where murder and rape are common place.

Once again, snorkelling provided eyeopening experiences. This side of the archipelago the sharks seemed bigger and more numerous. One expedition ended early when Shannan declared shed had enough after twice being sandwiched between a huge galpapos shark and a large pack of yellow eagle rays. It is a bit unnerving when something much larger than you sidles up alongside, no matter how well fed and disinterested it looks!

Back aboard the Santa Cruz we had an assortment of activities as we moved to our next location. The top deck had areas for sun tanning (good for Shan who is frantically tying to even out unfortunate sock and bather lines in time for Rasha and Bens wedding!) and a bar with shade and ice water (good for me). Books were read with the tropical islands floating past. The Santa Cruz also had a jacuzzi which I made a point of getting into at 10pm on our last night when I realised we hadn't even looked at it yet.

Our Captain treated us to a night of singing. La Bamba finale!

Our captain treated us to a night of latin american classics. Que Ses Quie Sas and La Bamba being highlights. I was conscripted at some point in the night to play the part of a boobie on stage, much to Shannan's delight.

We befriended some Australians who were also traveling around the continent and spent one night shining their torch over the side of the boat to illuminate the fish. Life just teems in Galapagos, absolutely everywhere. It really is amazing. Just over the side were sharks, sea lions, flying fish (delta winged!) and sea turtles. Unfortunately we may have ruined the night for a poor flying fish when it suddenly found itself well lit and a nearby sea lion gave chase. Oops.

Giant Tortoise eating breakfast at the bus terminal on the way to board the Santa Cruz. A normal day in Galapagos.

We are going to Cuba!

April 01, 2014 by Andrew Duncan in Holiday, Places

We leave for Cuba tomorrow for about a month. Internet is apparently hard to come by so updates may be sparse. Viva la Revolucion!

Marine Iguanas on Isabela Island, Galapagos

Isabela Island, Galapagos, Ecuador

March 31, 2014 by Andrew Duncan in Places

We explored the west islands of Galapagos aboard the Angelito. This 16 guest capacity yacht provided us with an unforgettable experience as we toured to different landing sites and snorkelling areas to explore the incredible biodiversity of Galapagos.

Returning to the Angelito by zodiac after a hard days exploring

Our 8 day itinerary took us from Santa Cruz, our island of arrival, to Isabela, Fernandina and Floreana before returning to Santa Cruz.

Of course, the major reason to explore the Galapagos Islands are the wildlife, at least for us. Each island seems to generate it's own species of the various land based favourites such as the giant tortoise, the finches and the iguanas. The animals are all pretty chilled out. They are happy to let you wander around, take photos of their babies and ooh and aah confident that you won't be a threat. And, thanks to conservation efforts and breeding programs, the animals are incredibly plentiful. We had to climb over marine iguanas that had colonised a landing dock and there was the constant peril of being distracted by distant animals and almost stepping on some well camouflaged creature underfoot. Each landing provided the opportunity to search for new species. Some of our fellow guests were particularly into this and excelled at identifying new birds in distant trees or fish hiding under rocks.

Here is a selection of the animal photos from our various landings. We had no underwater camera so there are no fish, ray or shark pictures unfortunately.

We quickly grew accustomed to cruising these tropical waters on our yacht. After each landing we were welcomed back on board by snacks and, something the Ecuadorians do particularly well, fruit juice. Galapagos has been feeding my jugo de maracuyá addiction (passionfruit juice). Along with other favourites such as mango, strawberry and blackberry. We enjoyed venturing up to the sun deck between expeditions to spot manta rays and sea turtles, to read a book or to just watch the sun set over the waters.

It was sad to say goodbye to the Angeltio and all the new friends we made during our stay however we consoled ourselves with the knowledge that this was not the end of our Galapagos journey...

Andrew's somewhat abridged account missed out some pretty amazing parts of the cruise, so I feel compelled to write my own account on parts he missed as he is steadfastly refusing to let me add bits in.

Our boat, the Angelito has recently undergone a major refit, which meant that not only did we get a double bed cabin, but the facilities were akin to a first class yacht. After settling into our cabins and being introduced to the crew we quickly learnt that the sun deck was the place to be for animal spotting. It was from here that we saw our first green sea turtles and galapagos sharks (4 large individuals chose to circle our boat shortly before our first snorkelling expedition). During one of the longer daytime navigations, we encountered a large group (50 or more) of giant manta rays feeding. These amazing creatures were the size of cars, or bigger, and could be observed in the distance flapping through the water and in some cases, jumping like whales. When they passed close to the boat we could see their giant mouths open, scooping in the krill. Andrew found it highly hilarious that I was running from one side of the deck to the other exclaiming how magnificent they were.

Having visited sea lion colonies on South Plaza and Mosquera Islands we were delighted to be joined by a family of three, while snorkelling in Targus Cove off Isabela. The younger ones took great delight in flipping and darting around us, blowing bubbles and speeding past at close range. They were soon joined by little penguins hunting tiny fish (with great success) and a couple of chilled out sea turtles. Our guide almost had to forcibly remove us from the water when time was up. The mating sea turtles spotted in the water on our way back to the boat was some compensation at least! Indeed, we were treated to many spectacles of mating animals, my favourites being the giant tortoises (the only time they make a noise!) and the spotted eagle rays (they do it on the surface so it looks extremely awkward..why not the sea floor?)

Andy mentioned the marine iguana greeting party at our stop at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina, but forgot to mention that these are the biggest examples of these guys in the archipelago, so at more than 1m long, their ability to snort salt at high velocity was quite the sight. As was the stacks-on pile of about 200 of them sunning themselves. Upon our return to the landing site we were bemused to see they had further invaded the dock and gentle prodding was required to return to the boat.

One afternoon we were treated to a boat ride through mangroves. Unlike other places, the Galapagos mangroves exist in very clear water, so we could peer down at the masses of sea turtles, penguins and spotted eagle rays that lived there. On our way into the grove we passed a rock, about 2m by 3m with no less than 6 species sitting on it; a marine iguana, a penguin, a few blue footed boobies, sea lions, cormorants and sally lightfoot crabs. Don't be fooled by this apparent harmonious cohabitation however. Throughout our stay we witnessed the giant frigate birds terrorising boobies and gulls (grabbing them by their tails and shaking them until they dropped their fish), hissing pelicans, giant tortoises walking up to other individuals and biting them for sport and lets not forget the giant shark patrolling the beach where the baby sea lions were playing.

Our final island visited was Floreana. After a couple of days of poor water visibility I had high hopes for our last snorkelling expedition, having read it was some of the best the Galpagos has to offer. The Devils Crown is a sinking crater located a few hundred meters off the main island. As the boat approached I was a little hesitant about jumping into such deep and open water, but relaxed after spotting the welcoming blue inside the crater. That is until Andy jumped into the water first and exclaimed at the two very large sharks directly below us! Nevertheless, once in the water I felt safe as they were a good 10m below us! The water was clear as a swimming pool and although very deep we could see all the way to the bottom. Thousands of fish swam around us in all colours. As we circled the outside of the crater we spotted turtles, giant rays (I only hid behind Andrew for a little while, and maybe once pushed him in front of it...), little reef sharks and sea lions.

Devils Crown: Absolutely amazing snorkelling. The water was so clear you could see the shimmering ripple of currents!

A number of little underwater caves provided havens for fish and I was treated to large numbers of my favourites; the pink and turquoise parrot fish (I love their buck teeth). Swimming in the crater proved difficult however, as we had to fight a strong current trying to throw us out to sea, so after a while the guide suggested we hop back in the dingy and be transported to the other side. Here was where the bigger sharks were hanging out. They were amazing to watch and when I dived down after one it hid in a cave, apparently scared of me! The water was so warm we stayed in for nearly two hours and were once again forcibly removed by our guide when he realised we were behind schedule by over an hour (the national park tracks all boats by satellite!).

For our final night on the boat the crew threw us a party. The cook carved a number of impressive Galapagos animals out of fruits and vegetables, we feasted on fresh fish and enjoyed the company of our new friends for the last time. As we watched the sunset from the back of the boat I spotted a little lava heron fishing. Here I sat next to him (I named him Gerald) for over an hour enthralled at his rubber like movements and ability to track and catch fish without ever getting wet. It was then I knew for sure that the Galapagos is one of the most amazing places on earth, already I long to return.

Puerto Ayora, Galapagos, Ecuador

March 30, 2014 by Andrew Duncan in Places

Landing in Baltra we made our way to the town of Puerto Ayora, a mere bus trip, boat trip and 45 minute second bus trip away from the airport. From the boat we could see birds diving into the water hunting for fish. The dock on the Santa Cruz side of the boat trip had a young sea lion lying across the walkway making everyone step over it. Once we arrived in town we saw our first Sally lightfoot crabs and some baby marine iguanas. Also a family of sea lions and about 15 pelicans waiting around the fisherman's docks for a feed. There's certainly an air of 'unique' about Galapagos from the moment you set foot on the land.

In Puerto Ayora there are a number of things to do and visit:

The Charles Darwin Research Center has breeding programs to repopulate both the Giant Tortoise populations of a number of islands as well as the Land Iguana populations. Both are on the rebound however there is a lot of work yet to be done. A giant tortoise only reaches breeding age around 30 years old. You can see the whole range at the breeding centre from yearlings to breeding age tortoises.

The fish docks were not only great to see while the fishermen sold their catch, some nights there was a small restaurant set up using the fish directly, about as fresh as is possible. I had a local lobster, grilled with garlic. Absolutely delicious.

There are many day trips possible from Puerto Ayora. We only managed to fit one in even with all our time here. We went to South Plazas island. This island contains a huge number of land iguanas on an interesting terrain of red plants and cactus. It is also home to a sea lion colony. When we landed we saw the baby sea lions being tended to by a few of the mothers, the rest out fishing. The large male sea lions were patrolling to keep the sharks away from the frolicking baby sea lions. After visiting the island we had our first Galapagos snorkelling experience, amazingly clear water teeming with fish.

A number of beaches are accessible from Puerto Ayora. One of our favourites was Tortuga Bay, a decent walk from town across the Great Wall of Galapagos. Along the way we saw ghost crabs, marine iguanas, sea lions and a shark swimming in the mangroves. Another great swimming hole is Las Gretas, a crack in the lava wide enough to form a good sized lap pool. It's very deep and many people jump from the rocks along the top.

Another day we hired bicycles and took a taxi up into the hills. Cycling back we visited the Tunel de amor lava tunnels. No idea why they're called that but the lava tunnels were interesting to see. We had them all to ourselves as we walked the kilometre or so. The tunnels are formed when the lava that is in contact with the air cools faster than the lava underneath. This cool lava forms a wall which insulates the lava inside allowing it to keep flowing down hill. Eventually the volcano stops and the last of the lava flows through leaving empty tunnels behind. Continuing our cycling we stopped in at a small village for some ceviche, an Ecuadorian specialty. This was some of the best we had.

While fitting in all this activity we found time to visit the Galapagos Deli enough that the staff started setting their watches by us. Tasty fish and chips paired with delicious maracuya juice meant both Shan and I couldn't resist.

We also scoured the various agents for some last minute cruises. We were fairly disappointed in what we found and generally found better deals emailing the boats directly. In the end we found not one but two!