alex_rostocki1

<p>Hi Allen- I just wanted to balance out the coments you have gotten to your post. I am from New England, and with great anticipation did an Oregon coast trip similar to the one you are planning. I have to say I was a bit dissapointed, and I don't know if I would do it again. Four days is certainly enough, and maybe concentrate that on ony one or two choice areas.<br>

I found that although I took a few seascape shots I am very proud of, the problem always seemed to be when you turned your head towards the land. Virtually all the land has been clearcut at one time or another, and there is surpsingly little majestic forest near the immediate shoreline. Also there are a number of sad, mostly abandoned lumbering towns- and mind you, not with charming decay- they're just depressing like abandoned New England mill towns.<br>

In summary- pinpoint selectivity I think would be more rewarding than a broad overview...........Alex</p>

 

<p>First, I stuff everything I don't need into the room safe. If the room safe is too small, then I remove most of my clothes from a suitcase, swap the clothes in the suitcase with my photo gear and/or laptop and lock it. I haven't had a problem yet. <br>

I try to think like a thief- would I if I was a thief go through the trouble of breaking open an otherwise inconsopicous suitcase to probably be greeted with more shirts, toiletries and underwear? Not likely.<br>

But would I zip open an obvious camera bag or laptop bag on a table which is unlocked to get a big payday with no trouble- very likely.<br>

Also- I was in all the places in Peru you mentioned (except Lima) this past September, and never had the feeling I had to look over my shoulder. I was however told by locals that Lima is a totally different world, and that everyone, locals included, has to be wary about theft all the time.</p>

<p>Thanks Bruce and Santo for all this truly useful information. With this in mind- I'm flexible, so I will probably move this trip to early or mid- May.<br>

Bruce- your photo makes me want to go there immediately though! Thanks again.....Alex</p>

<p>Hello Friends- Has anyone been to Santorini in early to mid April? I thinking of adding that on to a trip beginning in Istanbul. Specifically:<br>

1. My non-photographer companion will need something to do. Is everything (Shops, restaurants etc) mostly closed this early in the season, or mostly open?<br>

2. I would like to try my own spin on the much cliched dusky shots of Oia. Is that famous overview of Oia taken from the edge of Oia itself, or from Fira?<br>

3. Any other tips on photos ops in Santorini would be appreciated. Thanks!.........Alex</p>

The place to be this week is Litchfield County Ct. This past weekend I was at Lake Waramaug in New Preston, and Bantam Lake in Litchfield. The color is pretty mind boggling now. Especially Bantam Lake from the edge of Rt 202. There are orange and crimson colored maples on a mountain reflected on the lake like a perfect mirror. The light is perfect from 5 pm to sunset. It actaully causes a small traffic jam in one spot where people stop to take photos.

 

The town center of Litchfield and the roads that radiate out from there are post card perfect right now also.

1. It won't be terribly cold in January. When I was there in the first week of January there were times when it was near 50 degrees.

 

2. Standard procedure with snow- expose for the shadows

1. See the New York City locals see, and have great photo ops: rent a bike for the afternoon and do the bike path on

the West Side along the Hudson. I bring my own bike ( I live in CT) but I believe the bike rentals are near Battery

Park or Chelsea. I understand it is best to rent the bike by 10 am, on the weekends because they sell ot by

noon.You can bike the circumference of most of Manhattan very easily. My favorite ride starts in the West 90's, I

follow the River down past the Battery and up the East side as far past the Brooklyn Bridge as I feel like.

 

2. There are great photos ops of the bridges, and the Empire State Building from DUMBO- which is a fun destination

in its own right, even if it didn't have the wonderful views

 

3. The New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx is great- go there in the afternoon and then have dinner in one of

the Italian restauants on Arthur Avenue.

 

4. The Brooklyn Museum would be a world class museum anywhere, but it gets over shadowed by MOMA etc in

Manhattan. As an added bonus the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens is right next door. There is a wonderful Japanese

garden there.

Thanks for this info, Alex. I will be staying at theTRC. At that bench at the end of the trail, are you closer to the

colpa, or is there a possibilty of the birds landing closer in trees?

I am considering visiting the macaw clay lick at the Tambopata Research Center in Peru and am trying to determine

if I can get some decent shots with my zoom lens at its top range of 400MM. I will be using a Nikon D300, and

expect that I may need to enlarge the digital images somewhat as well. I have read that visirtors are usually 100-200

meters from the macaws.

 

Has anyone been there, or otherwise have ideas based on the above info? Thanks.

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island is a great place for birds. Corkscrew Swamp, as mentioned previously is also greatfor birds and other wildlife.

1. The Fenwick and Saybrook Point areas of Old Saybrook.

 

2. The areas along Rt 7 in upper Litchfield County, especially Kent Falls, West Cornwall, Cornwall Bridge.

Hi- I don't have a D40X, but can vouch for the D300. I am shocked at what an incredibly intuitive and user friendy camera it is. My previous DSLR was a D70. There is a world of difference between the two in the "noise" department. With the D70 noise was noticable at ISO 600, and pretty bad at ISO 1000 and up. With the D300, virtually no noticable noise up to ISO 1600. I remember shooting endless rolls of Velvia with my F100 not too long ago and always lugging a heavy tripod. Imagine me now at street markets in Morocco in the middle of the night shooting hand held, and getting images with the sharpness and quality of Velvia. Amazing.

I live in the New York City area, and although I haven't been to Coney Island for a couple of years, I would imagine a good part of the amusement park is gone at this point. Last year private developers got approval to tear down most of the amusement park. They plan to build luxury housing and retail, and also to integrate new amusement rides into the plan. But as of last fall I read in New York Magazine that significant portions were already torn down, and they had even auctioned off some of it.

 

In summary,the amusement park at Coney Island in recent memory was never very big anyway, it was always desolate in winter, and now parts are torn down. So I don't know if I would go out of my way for it when there are so many other stunning photo ops in New York City- unless of course if you are a Coney Island buff and must see the 2 or 3 historic rides that are there (which will probably never be torn down). Better yet- I don't know if you are actually going in winter or not- it is absolutely worth going out of your way to Coney Island for the last Saturday in June for the Mermaid Parade. It is a New York kinky delight. It is big colorful, outrageous, and many people near New York don't even know about. Check out the Coney Island website.

Michael- I was there in January. There is no opportunity for night photography. When I was there the sun dipped to almost below the horizon for a few hours. Partially obscured by clouds it made for a beautiful four hour "sunset"- but the sky never got dark enough for stars to come out.

 

All of your equipment sounds fine.I did the same as you- digital and film.There will be less use for a tripod than you may think. It is extremely bright and contrasty, even when shooting for the shadows (an absolute must), and even then using small apertures, and even on an overcast day. Along with other lenses I used an 80-400mm zoom and found the additional tele-power useful for photographing birds (including huge albatross)out on the open water.

 

Also it's no where near as cold as you might expect.

 

You will love your trip!

Namibia. The sea of sand dunes is a photgrapher's fantasy. It's all about stripping reality down to form, color and light. What could be better?

Hello Folks- I plan to spend a week in Panama in mid March. I imagine I will

explore the Panama City area for perhaps 2 days, and the other 5 days at one

or maybe two eco-tourism type locales elsewhere in the country. Any

suggestions? Also are the birds in Panama as brave as, say, South Florida? I

am hoping to get at least some good bird shots with a 400mm. Any tips would be

great. Thanks!

Visit a natural palm oasis!There are many scattered throughout the area. They are fascinating and very accessible ( at least 5 or 6 years ago when I was there). There is a particularly large one in Palm Springs which is actaully a small part of the local Agua Caliente Indian reservation. The the tribe has its own website with a section about each major oasis: http://www.indian-canyons.com/. These are great places for a juxtopostion of lush palm and desert landscape, and also for birds- especially humming birds. Also, as a previous person mentioned, Joshua Tree N.P. is a must.

Hi- I have done substantially the same trip twice in recent years.

 

Spain and Sevilla are quite safe, exercise common sense without paranoia.

 

Tips-

 

at Semana Santa time the almond trees are bloming in most of the country. They have a pale white/plum colored flower. It is especialy beautiful to look down from a high place at a large orchard and get shots of rows of the blooming trees with orange or red soil.

 

The Jacaranda trees (brilliant lavender flowers) will have started blooming as far north as Sevilla if it was a warm winter, otherwise they are usually an early April event.

 

When the Semana Santa processions emerge from the cathedral you need not stand way at the back. If you have expensive serious looking photo equipment you can boldly walk right in the parade route in front of the stands near the church door as the processions emerge. Just stand next to the television crews- no one asks you any questions. I have done this many times. Have fun!

You have to get a few nice shots of the Chrysler building.

 

You can get many good views from Lexington Avenue around 30th street. Very late afternoon is good here, as you can get the pink light from the setting sun reflecting off of the stainless steel.

 

You can get some very nice dusk or early evening shots near the cormer of 5th Avenue and 43rd Street, with the Chrsler building in the background and Grand Central Station in the foreground.

Hi- Last autumn I went deep into the dunes, and also visited Etosha National Park. I used Crazy Kudu/Wild Dog Safaris in Windhoek for a mobile safari. I can't recommend them enough- nice people, and very reasonably priced. Each night was spent sleeping in a tent (they supply all the gear and food). I hadn't done that in 30 years, and it's not my cup of tea, but it was bearable considering the reasonable price and relative comfort. You will love Namibia. I defiitely want to go again. My only warning to you as a photographer is that it is mindbogglingly dusty. Also, if you are shooting with film, be careful of the heat. When I was at Etosha the first week of October, it was over 120 F. a couple of times. Surreal.

Herman- Perhaps I can give you a few small nuggets of information.

I was there in 2001- at that time the head park attendant was in charge of summoning private jeeps by radio or phone into the park, depending upon the number of people seeking a ride. At that time the number of jeeps per road was extremely restricted. As I recall the major road was a loop, and perhaps only two vehicles were allowed in each direction at a time, and even then, the number of trips per day was restricted.

 

Also, unfortunately, when I was there only about 4 or 5 tigers were in the entire park, and after 3 days of riding, we caught a glimpse of one of them on the road obscured in clouds of dust from all the jeeps that had descended upon it. Sadly, I understand that there may be even fewer or no tigers there now due to poaching. As you would expect, the evironment of the whole world seems to be inexorably going to hell. There are a number of other interesting animals there, including endless peafowl, monkeys, elk, etc.

 

I defintely would take a 500MM lens. I had a 400MM zoom at the time, and I felt like I could have used more power. Hope some of this info helps

Hi James- You have chosen one of the most scenic areas in the East, at one of the best times of year. As someone else noted the eaxct timing of peak color in any location, and the quality of the colors in any apartcular year are variable.

 

I live in the Hartford Ct area, and have followed the timing of fall foliage carefuilly for years. In general, the mid Berkshires and slightly north tends to peak during the first week of October. The Ma/Ct border and south into Litchfield County Ct is around the second week. Central Ct around the 3rd week of October. The Ct coast and NYC area, the last week of OCtober into the first week of November.

 

Also, in any location, peak color is greatly influenced by altitude. The highest spots in Litchfield County Ct are starting to show some color even now.

 

Here is your best plan for mid-October:

 

This whole region is pretty compact. You should check out your area in Ma. and then drive south through Great Barrington Ma and on into Litchfield County Ct along Route 7 which meanders along the Housatonic River. There are marvelous fall photo op's along this Route including Kent Falls State Park, and the covered bridge at Cornwall CT. At Corwall Bridge, you "have it all" in terms of the grand Hollywood stereotype vision of Connecticut. Not only is the covered bridge a treasure, but it crosses a boulder strewn river with trout fisherman in a canyon of crimson trees. If you divert here and drive through the bridge ( I think this is Rt128), you can keep meandering along Route 128 for awhile.

 

Other great fall spots in Litchfield County: the center of Litchfield itself with grand 18th century mansions and hundreds of ancient sugar maple trees. Also Lake Waramaug which straddles Kent, Washington and New Preston, Ct- still one of the best kept secrets in Ct. It is a lake surrounded by high hills which reflect thier color onto the lake. There is a delightful winery in one high spot with views of the lake. Many charming cottages around the lake, and a number of great casual dining choices there also- think field stone fireplaces and French cuisine- this area is also one of the weekend haunts of wealthy Wall Street types.

 

Boy- you have me going now- I can see the colors, feel the crisp air and smell those wood fires burning- you'll love it here in October!

Hi Tim- It's hard not to get good shots in Venice, no mstter where you go. Right off St Mark's square on the edge of the huge canal lots of gondoli are docked and anchored against wooden poles. It's a great spot for a time exposure of the gondoli bobbing and slightly blurred, but with the poles still and crystal clear.

 

In Barcelona a visit to the unfinished cathedral designed by Gaudi is a must. In fact you can't go wrong with visiting and photographing a few Gaudi creations, including the architecture at Parc Guel, or the apartment building, Casa Mila. On second thought, if you can only do one Gaudi building, then do Casa Mila- you can take great surreal shots up on the roof amidst the bizzare chimneys. There is a minimal admission fee for a roof visit.

Hi David. Wow- where do I begin? I've done substantailly the sanme trip you are doing in South Africa, with substantially the same euipment and last autumn visited Botswana and Namibia. Here are my rambling thoughts:

 

The wild life, will of course blow your mind- especially the birds. People only mildly interested in birds come back from Southern Africa as birders. You can often approach birds from extremely close range in a safari vehicle. To be frank though, I think you need more telephoto power. Although you will get good shots from tine to time at 200mm especially of larger animals like lions and leopards, at that focal length you will still being doing substantiual enlargements of your digital images. I brought my Nikorr 80-400MM VR zoom and nearly always shot at 400mm. Life is short, you probably won't get to Africa often- take out that credit card and buy more telephoto power- you won't regret it.

 

Also, you will need an adapter for a European style plug ( what they use in S.A.) for your battery charger, if you are coming from the U.S

 

When taking photos of the animals you will quickly see it isn't too hard to get many calm composed, almost posed shots (animals are not worried about safari vehicles). Therefore, shoot like crazy and try to get photos of animals actually doing things. You will find many of these shots much more interesting.

 

Cape Town is a beautiful city. Get a taxi driver to be your tour guide! They love to do this and will do it for a very reasonable price. You will be taken all over and the taxi driver will watch out for your safety (BTW- Cape Town is not nearly as scary or dangerous as some travel writers would lead you to believe- use common sense as you would in any big city and you will be fine). My driver took me to the well known Muslim neighborhood (the name escapes me at the moment)where everyone paints their homes in gaudy crayon colors- you will get memorable shots there.

 

Kirstenbach (spelling?) Botanical Gardens is worth a visit for the lovely native flowers, beautiful setting, and again, numerous birds.

 

It's worth considering an afternoon side trip out of Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope. This can be arranged inexpensively from any large hotel concierge desk. The park at the Cape reminds me of the California coast. You'll see many ostrichs there, as well as large klans of baboons, who will often sit in the road and refuse to get up and let your car pass. Along your route to the Cape you can easily stop at the park named "The Boulders" in Simonstown. It is one of the only places outside of Antarctica other than in the Galapagos where there is a native penguin population. They are a lot of fun to observe and photograph.

 

Joburg itself? You might as well put your camera away and conserve your energy. There is NOTHING of aesthetic value there. You might enjoy visiting the African crafts market- again I forget the name now, but everyone knows it- it's interesting and large, you can spend a few hours there. Also if you want to have an incredibly entertaining kitsch experience,then visit Monte Casino. It is a hotel, with an adjoining "Tuscan" hilltop "village". When you enter the walled fortresss around the village it's actually a shopping mall, restaurnat and casino complex with cobblesone streets under a starry sky and clotheslines with a selection of drying underwear- presumably for a more authentic Italian experience!

 

Enjoy your trip- you'll want to go back, I guarantee it.

As to one of the first responses, about taking pictures of your own back yard- you really should not particpate in forums like this if your form of "help" is to be sarcastic and deameaning. This is a community of people who want to help each other-from which I and others have obtained great benefit. You, if you want to admit it or not, have asked people questions in your life that they thought were stupid. And I'm sure you preferred help over sarcasm and demeaning comments.