Re: Looking for Equipment Recommendations - Hawaii

Mark² (lowest even number here) wrote:
> <pooua@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:1125792849.479761.306000@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >I am planning a 2-week trip to Hawaii around January.

[snip]

> 7 Islands in 2 weeks?

Maybe 8 islands, if I spend another $360.

> I think that's a real mistake.
> You're not gonna see much of any island with a schedule like that.
> If you were going to be there for a month, then maybe.
> That's just spreading the butter too thin, IMHO.
> Better to spend two weeks on TWO islands, max, if you really want to find
> interesting photos and experiences. You're talking about two days per
> island. That's only time enough for the most touristy of all touristy
> experiences.

Normally, you would be correct. But, I'm not actually going to Hawaii
to take pictures. I am going to Hawaii because, when I was ages 5 to 7,
my family was stationed aboard Barber's Point Naval Air Station in
Waipahu, Hawaii. My Mom promised me several times that we would go to
the Big Island, some day. I was really looking forward to that. But, it
did not happen. Instead, we moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

I am going to Hawaii to revisit my childhood home and VISIT THE BIG
ISLAND!!

Everything else is extra, things I'm doing because I might as well do
them while I am there. After all, it's been 32 years since I was last
in Hawaii; there is no telling if I will ever be there, again.

Barber's Point NAS was decomissioned several years ago. I hope to see
it before they bulldoze it into a Wal-Mart parking lot.

And, yes, there isn't enough time. I know that. I probably would want
to spend a day just walking around where I used to live. Maybe a week.
I still remember playing there. I remember my friends. I remember
starting my first days in school there. I remember our front yard was
full of stickers, and our back yard was full of kaovi thorns.

> I spent a week on Maui last summer, and that was far too short a time.
> I took some nice photos, but would have preferred at LEAST another week to
> look for more interesting stuf. I spent only a small portion focussing
> primarily on photos...doing lots of snorkeling, driving, etc.

I am non-athletic. In fact, I'm generally not in very good physical
condition. Even when I was in decent physical condition, I prefered to
sit quietly in my room to going anywhere. And, here I am, on the
Internet!

> > I expect that I will need a zoom lens and a wide-angle lens. How much
> > zoom would be useful? Would 300 mm have much use in Hawaii? How about
> > 500 mm? I saw a 500 mm "mirrored lens" (?) zoom lens at Wolf Camera,
> > but I don't know how it is designed to be used; I would prefer image
> > stabilized lenses.
>
> Better off with wide than zoom, if you have to choose.
> In jungle areas, a long tele is only a minor tool.
> You might be better off with a close-up lens and tripod.
> Tripods can be an absolute necessity under heavy tree coverage, since light
> can be scarce.

This is the sort of information I was asking to receive.

I was thinking that the telephoto might be useful on some of the aerial
tours I have scheduled?

> > What is the best way to carry photographic equipment? Is a backpack or
> > a duffel bag more useful?
>
> If you're buying a bag, then I highly recommend the LowePro Orion AW (AW as
> in all-weather).
> It is a large hip bag, allowing access to everything without taking it off,
> and it has a built-in rain-cover, which saved my gear. You'll likely see
> rain while there.
> Orions are about $125, and come with a separate attachment to make it into a
> backpack (with top comparment and shoulder straps). Most of the time I just
> take the hip portion. The rain-cover has literally saved my gear more than
> 30 different times in different settings from ocean spray to downpours, to
> drops in teh mud.

Thanks for the advice. I am looking for a good gear bag to buy.

> > What film speeds are best? I am thinking of shooting with Velvia film
> > ($130 for 700 exposures from Wolf Camera), though the salesman warned
> > me that it is a very slow film (but beautiful if used in bright light
> > with a tripod or IS lens).
>
> If you're shooting Velvia, then I hope you're planning on a tripod for
> anything other than brightly lit beaches, etc.

I just spend $260 on a Velbon 540 tripod. I does feel nicer than my $20
aluminum tripod.

> > My Canon Rebel G comes with mid-roll rewind. Does the use of that
> > feature sacrifice the unexposed remainder of the roll? If not, how
> > would I resume shooting where I had rewound?
> >
> > I probably will pick up a disposable underwater camera, though I don't
> > forsee my spending very much time under water.
>
> Talk to the locals there, and they'll show you one of the disposables that
> let you load your own film into it. I discovered this only at the END of my
> trip there. It's not the Kodak one, but another one that's mainly blue
> (under the plastic housing). It's very easy to reload film into.

Thanks!

> >If I try to shoehorn one
> > more major activity into this vacation, I might need a hospital stay
> > when I return. However, the local dive shop says I still have time to
> > become scuba certified. That, in addition to attending college, working
> > full time and planning and equipping myself for this trip.
>
> Do yourself a HUGE favor and cut your trip to 2 or maybe 3 islands MAX.
> You'll have a FAR better experience.
> It might be fun to brag that you've seen ALL the islands, but it would be
> far more rewarding to have GREAT images from a couple of them, rather than
> crap from all of them.

Yes, I am somewhat concerned about that. But, as I wrote, I am going to
re-visit my childhood, more than anything. Hawaii isn't actually my
choice of vacation spots, otherwise. I would have gone to the Bahamas
or Alaska or even Mexico for my photo tour, if not for my desire to
revisit where I once lived.

> > Does anyone have any other equipment recommendations?
>
> When I was there, I used my 16-35 wide and 70-200 IS more than any others on
> my Canon 10D.
> The lens that sat on my camera the most was the wide.
> I also had a 100mm macro, 50mm f1.4, and 28-135 IS.
>
> Definitely bring a wide, and a reasonably long tele (200mm or so) to isolate
> landscape features from a distance.

Great. I'll be checking around eBay for that sort of thing.

> Here are a few pictures from my trip to Maui:
> http://www.pbase.com/markuson/maui_2004

Nice pictures. I expect to take some like those. But, I wouldn't be
spending $2k+ and going to Hawaii if all I wanted to do was take these
kind of pictures.

BTW, if that's you in some of those shots, I'll just say that I don't
look like that...

> My 2 cents...
> -Mark

Thank you very much!

.

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