September 17
First thought about shooting the 5x7 in the field? Heavy, heavy, oh so heavy! Not much I can do about that except carry less holders or only 1 lens, not sure I want to go that way. Today in the field I carried 14 holders, 2 lens, 3 filters, one reflector, one spot meter. All of that gear plus the backpack weighs 20 lbs. Then you have the Linhof metal body 5x7 and the Gitzo carbon fibre tripod with Manfrotto geared head, that is all another 40lbs. I guess I could purchase a lighter 5x7 but I love the projection and the closed metal case of the Linhof body. When I am riding in dusty open areas like in the back of trucks or on motorbikes the closed sealed body should help ward off dust and rain etc. The other thing I love about the Linhof is the movements, some geared some not. The rise and fall has a wonderful clicking geared adjustability in the rise/fall. There is no front tilt but the rear tilt works very well and is easy to use. I think the Linhof will be great for making portraits in the field so I need to deal with the weight. I might be able to cut down to 10 holders if the weight becomes to much for me and to 1 lens. I can make that call in Asia when I am working in the dump, photographing the families on a daily basis. I might also be able to drive my rented motorbike (assuming I can get a rented motorbike) closer to the action to limit the amount of steps I have to carry with the gear on my 51 year old back.
First thought about shooting the 5x7 in the field? Heavy, heavy, oh so heavy! Not much I can do about that except carry less holders or only 1 lens, not sure I want to go that way. Today in the field I carried 14 holders, 2 lens, 3 filters, one reflector, one spot meter. All of that gear plus the backpack weighs 20 lbs. Then you have the Linhof metal body 5x7 and the Gitzo carbon fibre tripod with Manfrotto geared head, that is all another 40lbs. I guess I could purchase a lighter 5x7 but I love the projection and the closed metal case of the Linhof body. When I am riding in dusty open areas like in the back of trucks or on motorbikes the closed sealed body should help ward off dust and rain etc. The other thing I love about the Linhof is the movements, some geared some not. The rise and fall has a wonderful clicking geared adjustability in the rise/fall. There is no front tilt but the rear tilt works very well and is easy to use. I think the Linhof will be great for making portraits in the field so I need to deal with the weight. I might be able to cut down to 10 holders if the weight becomes to much for me and to 1 lens. I can make that call in Asia when I am working in the dump, photographing the families on a daily basis. I might also be able to drive my rented motorbike (assuming I can get a rented motorbike) closer to the action to limit the amount of steps I have to carry with the gear on my 51 year old back.
Once I got the camera gear to the location making the photos today was joyous. Nothing I love better in life than making pictures, nothing. I practiced photographing a young tree, pretending it was a standing figure : )), used the 120mm. I wanted to get a feel of how I would attach-remove the lens, the holders etc. I need to be able to handle things efficiently, while in compact areas.
In the dump I will be placing my camera bag down in garbage so need to plan for that. On my return to Canada not sure the camera backpack will be in good enough shape to reuse. I am getting new rubber boots this time round because my old ones from May/November 2013 have such a sickly garbagie smell to them. A nauseating type of oder. I expect something similar to happen to my camera backpack. I wonder if I can rig up a throw away plastic bag bottom of some kind (a bag condom), that would prevent my backpack from sucking up the sickly juices of the dump. It is something to consider, I could replace the bag daily.
Anyway today’s shooting all went pretty well. I think everything should work out on the coming portrait trip. Of course when your photographing a tree you do not have to speak Burmese or Thai to them to get them to cooperate : )) People are always a thousand times more difficult to work with. I have the camera technique-practical stuff pretty much organized in mind. I should then be free to try to create portraits that have important and lasting meaning. How do you say, “Just one more, PLEASE!!” in Burmese again??
