| Our Gear | Wednesday |
| Hoi An, Vietnam | January 23, 2008 |
Hey everyone!
Right now we're in Hoi An, which is a small town in central Vietnam. The main reason to come here is to get clothes tailored. There are about 500 tailors in this small town, honestly you can't look around you without seeing one! This is really why we decided to come to Vietnam, to get ourselves some sweet new threads, and so we've been really busy running around and getting a ton of clothes made! So not too much in the way of pictures right now, but what I've done is put together a quick little video that shows you what kind of gear we're using, and how we lug it around with us.
I also wanted to mention that we carry around 50GB of memory cards with us, as well as a little Wacom tablet, which makes editing our photos on the laptop waaaaaaay easier.
Our travel plans have changed a bit and we're planning to head to Thailand next week. After that, in the second week of February, we finally make our way to India, the place that this whole trip was planned around. And once we get there we will change gears and start to really focus on people photography, rather than having a bit of a holiday, which is what we're doing right now. I hope you all are really excited for that, because we certainly are!
Cheers,
Rob (who is quickly becoming addicted to tailored clothes....they just fit so well!)
P.S. I've been toying with the idea of putting up lens and camera data (exposure, aperture, etc.) info for all the pictures we put up here, but that will take a fair bit of work. Let me know in the comments section if there are some of you out there who think this would be usefull for them and then I'll do it up. And make sure to let me know if you are curious about any of the photos here, and the processing we do to them, and we'll do our best to explain!
Category: Photography Tips
Tags: photography, travel, vietnam
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Scott Cejka: Hey guys, been stalking you for awhile and have to say I'm wayyyyy jealous! It's not easy travelling in some of the countries you've been to much less shoot weddings in them! Mad props to you both. Just wanted to say Vietnam was one of my favorite places in SE Asia (haven't been to India-yet) Of course bought clothes in Hoi An..even a great full length winter coat that I didn't even need but at something like $50, I could resist. Did you ever get up north to Sapa? Made some great friends there, can't wait to get back. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, and of course amazing photos. Cheers! ( 2008-04-13 18:21:19 )
Lorelei: Hey, you two! Just realized you're off on your grand adventure. Excellent!!! I would, for one, love more detail about your shots, so vote one in favor of exposure and aperture detail. Have a great time in India! ( 2008-02-02 11:48:57 )
Rob: Hey Michael! Thanks for the monster comment. I'll try to answer or reply to most of the things you said, sorry if this comment seems a bit all over the place! First off thanks for the tip about taking the tags off our bags. We bought Canadian flags to sew over them before we left but hadn't gotten around to it. I have ripped the lowepro tags off the one bag and sewed a Canada flag patch over the other. The packsafe has indeed been great so far, it's a lot easier to use than I thought it would be. Having a built in wacom tablet would be awesome, it kind of sucks lugging it around, but it has been pretty useful! We haven't used the pocket wizards yet, it does take a lot of time to set up good lighting and we haven't seen a strong incentive to do so yet--you just walk a few more steps and something else will be perfectly lit. As far as lens selection I definitely understand the desire to travel with an all-in-one lens. It would be nice if they made a 15-300L IS f/1.8. Until they do, I'm really glad we brought the lens selection we did. I think I would be disappointed later knowing I could have gotten a better shot with a prime. We have the 28 1.8. It was a horrible lens on the 20, 30, and 40D but it seems to have taken on an entirely different personality on the 5D. It still needs to be stopped down a bit but it's a sharp lens and delivers good color. I would definitely recommend Hoi An as your last stop in South East Asia. We bought so much stuff we needed to ship it home. I have never put on a suit and had it fit so well... getting clothes tailored is quite addictive. ( 2008-02-02 09:45:15 )
Michael Shandro: Hi Rob and Lauren, Thanks for the descriptions of gear. They were very helpful. You really did bring a bunch of stuff! That packsafe is a great idea. When we take our next monumental journey I will have to be sure to bring one of those along. We might have to ask to borrow yours :) The Wacom tablet is a great idea. Our next laptop will likely be a Fujitsu tablet PC with built-in Wacom technology so we will have no problems there. One suggestion that I have for your bags is to tear off the Lowepro labels and put some duct tape over the National Geographic logo. There is no need for anyone to know that it's not just full of sandwiches. When Haley and I went to London I took a 580 with remote triggers and I only used it a couple of times. It annoyed Haley when I would stop for a couple of minutes to set up lighting. We didn't bring our 5Ds on that trip, we packed very simple. I brought a 30D with a Sigma 18-200 Image Stabilizer that came in very handy. I also brought a 50 1.4 but I found that I would opt for the super-zoom more. It was nice to travel light, but I did miss the super-sharp pictures that the 5D delivers and the brilliant colours from the L-Series glass. Our backpack was the Lowepro Slingshot 200AW which I would NOT recommend for long journeys. It is a great sling backpack for normal purposes, but if you have to wear it all day it starts to give sore shoulders since the weight is isolated to one side and you cannot switch which shoulder you carry it on. If I had something like that National Geographic backpack I would have likely felt good carrying more gear. That underwater housing for the G7 looks great! I imagine that you will be able to use that in some very creative ways for weddings and portrait sessions in the future. The videos are really good. Which 28mm lens is that? I have the 28 2.8 that I bought when we first went into the Canon system but it is too soft (and noisy) of a lens to use for pro work so it is for sale if anyone wants it ;) Is that the 28 1.8? Do you use it much? I'm envious of the clothes-shopping. There is not much selection of clothes for short guys like me in Canada. Usually the necks are too small and there is way too much fabric around the waist. One day Haley and I will go to East-Asia with empty suitcases. I've been loving the shots so far and am looking forward to seeing more! Michael ( 2008-01-28 10:06:43 )
Rob: Hey Lisa! Thanks for leaving a comment! Also thanks for posting Mona & Mohit's wedding on your blog and linking to the wedding travelers. Anyone reading this should definitely checkout Lisa's blog and get in touch with her if you need some help planing your wedding in Calgary, or even just to get some fantastic ideas for your wedding! When the Wedding season picks up again we'll be sure to send some new wedding photos your way! ( 2008-01-24 21:09:48 )
Lisa from Blush: Hi guys, I am so jealous of your trip. The adventure! Even including the rain, potholes, and karaoke! I wanted to thank you again for sending me the pics of the weddings. I finally posted Mona and Mohit's wedding today. And I linked to "The Wedding Travelers" too! I'm going to continue to follow along on the blog but please feel free to send any cool wedding photos you make! Happy and safe travels, Lisa ( 2008-01-23 15:16:11 )