Exploring around Labuan Bajo

With a few days to kill until I could pick up my visa extension, I hired a motorbike and went exploring nearby. Getting around by motorbike gives you the best flexibility, as public transport to outlying villages is usually only once or twice a day. I'm keen to improve my bike handling skills, so rather than hire a driver (which is expensive), I chose to drive myself. And with fuel being heavily subsidised by the state owned petrol company Pertamina, it's also extremely cheap.

First up I tried to head to a town on the north coast called Terang. This required heading up into the mountains, where it rained heavily, I got wet, and then I started to worry whether I'd have enough fuel as the increasingly deteriorating road continued through heavily forested, uninhabited terrain. So I returned to the highway, refueled, and tried a different road. I took the road south of town, past Pantai Pede local beach, which is nothing special, and past some new resorts. The beaches aren't particularly pretty through this stretch as they are mangrove lined and swampy, but there were some fine looking water buffalo taking advantage of the puddles.

Further along again were some rice paddies and then a moslem village with stilt houses, and then the road got really bad, deteriorating to a track of churned up dried mud. I persisted for a while, finding a few nice photo opportunities, but in the end I gave up and returned to Labuan Bajo.

Pantai Pede looked a little better on my return.

Another day I explored the peninsular just north of town where there are a number of pricey beach resorts and private villas. The road deteriorates after a few kilometres, but the scenery is spectacular.

With most beaches on the mainland being mangrove swamps rather than palm fringed sandy oases, I bought lunch at one of the resorts then spent the afternoon reclining on one of their sun lounges and going for a swim or two.

The next day I went on an adventure with a young Dutch couple also staying at my homestay to some waterfalls.

That's next...

Gotta love a new gadget

A couple of months ago whilst spending far too much time browsing on internet forums I discovered this nifty little item, yet another example of a successful kickstarter project. If you are a photographer who sees the value in using a tripod, but you also like doing lots of trekking, then this ticks a lot of boxes.

Introducing the Trail-Pix ultralight tripod....

So my previous experience was to go off overseas with my big heavy SLR and a really good quality tripod. And because I'm not short of a buck I spent big a few years ago and purchased a lightweight carbon tripod. The legs are 835g, which is pretty lightweight for a sturdy tripod (there's a saying that you can only ever have 2 out of 3: light, sturdy, cheap) that will hold up in wind and other extreme situations. Then, because I'm a camera nerd, I got myself a good quality tripod ball head (weight 375g) to mount my camera on. Trust me, a good ball head makes the world of difference.

old set up on the left, minus big heavy SLR

Some people believe that a tripod isn't an essential travel accessory, and is just too much extra bulk and weight for the ability to occasionally use it. But for me, it's essential. With an interest in landscape and long exposure photography, both of which need a tripod, it's a no brainer. And I love taking selfies on a summit after a long and arduous climb!

Here's a few shots I couldn't have taken without a tripod

I thought I had it covered, and then I saw this accessory. Admittedly I will be losing sturdiness, but I'm willing to compromise because of the weight savings, the multi functionality and the fact that I'm now travelling with a much lighter mirrorless camera. A lighter camera puts less strain on a less sturdy tripod.

So, this little adaptor uses the tips of your trekking poles as the legs. Since most people only carry two poles, the third leg is a collapsible tent pole. So all three legs are multifunctional and there's still a little bit of latitude with height adjustments but not quite as much as the carbon legs.

Let's face it, you're not going to need your poles at the same time you want to set up a tripod, so it's an elegant use of something you already have in your hand. The extra leg is light (85g) and can also be used as... gee I don't know, a tent pole??

The accessory itself weighs 68g, the poles weigh 400g, and were coming anyway, and the Gitzo ball head pictured above weighs only 117g. This is small and light but I hated using it when I took it to Java in 2014 because it doesn't have a quick release or a panning mode. If your camera has a strap then screwing it on to a tripod takes time and effort and not a few curse words! So in the interests of my mental health I'll be taking the bigger, heavier, Markins ball head, because I'll take much better pictures using it. It's actually a bit big for the adaptor, but I've tried it out and the legs still seem to fit OK.

In the end I'll be saving about 700g in weight and considerable space in the backpack. Yet I'll have a pretty functional tripod still. I also like how I can use it as a table top tripod, and even turn it into a selfie stick. That makes it infinitely more versatile.

If anyone is tempted to get one for themselves, just a hint that the screw for the ball head is only 1/4" and my ball heads all accept 3/8" screws, so I had to order a 1/4" to 3/8" adaptor on eBay to fit them.

Gotta love a new gadget....

Oh my oh my! What a big camera you have!

Camera, lights, action!!

Ah yes, the freaking great big DSLR camera and all it's paraphernalia.

Some people travel with no camera, or just a small point and shoot or smartphone camera. I did just that in New Zealand in 2012 and enjoyed the freedom of less bulk, yet still managed to take some great photos with my iPhone. But I prefer making pictures with a camera I can tweak lots, and have invested heavily in improving my knowledge, technique and art. I see myself pursuing my passion for photography post retirement from the doctor job. Which means leaving the DSLR behind just isn't an option.

Mt Hutt panorama using iPhone and stitching Apps

This trip I'm changing it up a bit. I've tended to travel with a Tamron 17-250mm lens, a Canon 10-22mm wide-angle, and a 50mm prime. All too frequently I failed, through sheer laziness, to change to either of the latter lenses and found myself with quite a few shots that are a bit soft. So this trip I'm dumping the Tamron and just taking the wide angle and prime. It will force me to work my camera more to get the shots I want, rather than relying on a zoom lens. I'm going to concentrate on landscape shooting, street portraiture, and a few flower shots. I am particularly looking forward to spending some time in the Botanical Gardens in Bogor. I'm such a plant geek!!

Heliconia in Tropical Gardens, Yunnan Province, China

The camera with 10-22mm lens mounted weighs 1317g which is stowed in a Thinktankphoto holster strapped to my chest. The original holster used 2 padded straps crossed over my back to secure it comfortably where I could access my camera easily at any time, but it was a crude design and quite bulky.

original holster and harness

They've come up with a better designed harness, which  I've ordered, but the lower strap requires 2 anchor points on the holster not one. Yes, they redesigned the V2.0 holster with 2 anchor points, but I don't really want to buy a new camera bag just for the sake of a couple of eyelets. There were none in stock anyway.

mmm, much more streamlined..

2 anchor points for bottom strap

I'm sure I can work out something.

Inside the camera bag I stow my spare memory cards, 2 spare batteries and my shutter release cable. Bag and contents (excluding camera) weighs 934g.

Then there's my tripod. I spent a small fortune on a carbon fibre tripod quite a few years ago, and it has faithfully followed me to the summit of many hills, mountains and volcanoes, has allowed me to capture some beautiful sunrises, helped me experiment with long exposure photography, and provided selfies for all my fans  - OK, for my mum! It isn't one of those dinky gorillapods or lightweight travel monopods, because I wanted strength, durability and flexibility. Especially height flexibility, and if there isn't a tree or fence to curl your gorillapod around, you're a bit limited ain't you? It weighs 1037g, I accept this.

Still to pack is a memory card reader, a camera battery charger, and something to download the photos onto. Since I purchased my camera, there's been huge improvements in the cost and quality of electronic components. This means I can now find a CF card reader weighing 16g, and DC/AC battery charger weighing 68g. And neither cost more than a few bucks.

old CF card reader and cable on the left, new one on the right

The 50mm prime lens weighs 152g, including caps and a reversing ring for doing macro. I've a selection of neutral density filters and polarising filters for my wide angle lens so I can play with waterfalls and long exposure dreamy moving water shots and I'll also pop in the Olloclip for the iPhone! Filters 178g in soft case, Olloclip 24g.

Aside from the tripod, which will be stuffed into a side pocket of my backpack, most of this gear will be in my pockets or in the camera bag across my chest. At least to get through the check in. I'm not including most of it in the challenge, because I'm pretty sure I don't need to. No airline has ever asked to weigh it in the past although I have been asked to stow it for takeoff and landing. I look like a freaking tourist - I am, so what? - but I haven't had to worry about my camera being stolen either.

Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, China and geeky tourist!

I have a few thoughts on the "freaking obvious you've got a big expensive camera" debate. I figure that if I am in a really unsafe place then my camera and bag should be totally stowed away out of sight. BUT, and here's the bit that doesn't make sense from all the paranoid people: If I pull my camera out of whatever bag I am stowing it in and take a photo then I'm outed. So I choose to wear my camera close to my body, where a thief has no chance to opportunistically steal from me. I've also exchanged the brand name camera strap, for a smaller, stronger, generic strap.

But the main reason I wear this set up is so I can be mobile and have camera access in seconds. Awesome for hiking and street photography, I love it.