Congrats Z6!!!
Mindshift’s SidePath Backpack is Brilliant!
Weight restrictions are a part of my travels since I’m in small aircraft a lot. I’m talking Cessnas and the like and on my recent Griz adventure, weight and space were at critical matter. With that in mind, I turned to the good folks at Think Tank and got their SidePath which is just brilliant! The sad thing, it’s been discontinued so if you want one, go find stock now! I was able to carry the Z6, 180-400VR, Z14-30 & Z24-70f2.8, rain shell and water with ease in the SidePath. Are there other options? You bet, stay tuned, mtc
G-Tech ArmorATD
When G-Tech reached out asking that I field-test their new ArmorATD drive that is “armored,” my curiosity was peaked. When the G-Tech Pelican case was handed to me by Mr. FedEx, I couldn’t get it open fast enough! I’ve blogged about G-Tech drives many times so it’s no secret I’m a fan but the field testing of an “armored” drive has been fun (I did it on a Monday!). The photo you see above was before the ArmorATD was dropped, watered, stepped on (it will take 1000lbs) and kicked with 3.2TB of stills and video loaded up on it. If it didn’t take all the abuse and keep on working, I wouldn’t be writing about it now. Here are the general specs:
On my MacBook Pro and iMac, I found transfer rates hovering around 125MB/s but that’s plenty fast to permit direct editing from the drive in Premiere Pro CC. While a tad thicker than your normal drive, the ruggedness of the drive more than makes up for that. Even the USB port has a rubberized tab for weather protection. With a price point of $139 for 4TB (the drive I tested), it’s a pretty darn good deal. If storage protection for your next adventure is a priority, I highly recommend G-Tech’s new ArmorATD!
Miops – Lightning Strikes More than Once
Madera Lightning
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 / Miops
When the skies start barking, I’m often running to the truck with a camera in hand to chase the storm. So it was yesterday south of Tucson. These days though, it’s a whole lot easier to work with lightning with Miops! This simple, small and incredibly effective tool permits you to shoot lightning any time of day with any rig with ease. You can even update the firmware via the mobile app (Mobile App is the why to go!). Charged via a USB port, the Miops simply can’t get easier, well, at least the shooting part. There we were photographing hummers when kaboom, the skies opened up and drenched us. Well we put our hummers rigs inside, grabbed cameras (I grabbed the Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 / Miops) and sped down the road. The real challenge was finding a spot with a great 360 vista because we literally had lightning in all directions. To be completely honest with you, I saw much better lightning than I captured but we were having so much fun, photography kinda took a back seat. But the good thing for Miops and its mobile app, it kept shooting even if I wasn’t paying all the attention I should to it.
#17 is Creative Fun!
At the Nikon Z launch, the amazing Jerry Ghonis introduced us to the magic of #17. What is #17, why it’s Charcoal, isn’t that obvious? No, it’s not which is why I thought I’d share it with you!
If you going flying to your Z, select #17 and shoot, you might wonder what I’m talking about. So first, let me share with you the settings I use.
#17 Charcoal
Effect Level 50
Quick Sharp 0
Sharpening +5
Mid-range sharpening +2
Clarity +3
Contrast 0
Filter effects ORNG
Toning None
These settings go into the Instruction Set so when you open the file in ACR, you see what you shot. The exact same as when you look at your photos in PhotoMechenic. If you look at the two photos above, you can see the effect with #17 Charcoal which works better than my trying to do a written description.
#17 isn’t something you are going to use with every photo but it’s not for just old wood. Jerry had some amazing portraits he shared taken with #17 which is what go my mind thinking. Hopefully, I’ve played it forward and now you’ll ponder it as #17 is creative fun!
Summer’s Most Important Piece of Gear!
Water! This life-giving fluid is essential for life. Humans should drink at least eight, 8oz glasses a day and up in the Sierra or any place above 5000′, this should be doubled. I’m always surprised though all the stories of folks succumbing to the heat and becoming ill because they simply didn’t drink enough water. It’s a piece of gear you cannot go without!
And on a personal note, get yourself a refillable water bottle and save the environment! This is the one I’ve had for years and it travels everywhere with me!
And we’re not the only ones who require water! Water is essential for birds, summer, and winter. You find free water and you will always find critters. At our home, we have five “ponds” and bathes for our critters and they are always in use. You not only help them by providing free water, but you set yourself up for real great photography. They key is getting low, light and of course, looking for that moment to go click.
Getting down low requires either digging a hole in the ground (which is how these photos were taken) or laying flat. You want to be in a blind as critters feel very vulnerable when at a watering hole. I like going long like shooting with either the D5 / 800mm or using the 180-400VR. You want a background that is some distance from the watering hole and a perch for birds to land on coming to or leaving the watering hole. It all comes down to the water, for us and critters. It’s summers most important piece of gear!