david-m

<p>Thanks for the reply, and sound words. I have just picked up a GH2 which I may end up taking anyway as I kind of like the lighter weight!<br>

Thanks for sharing your 'mugging' story!<br>

David</p>

<p>I am travelling to Colombia for a 2 month trip very soon and although I have never before worried about wandering through cities and places with my D700, I just wondered if anyone had personal experience of carrying a DSLR in Colombia, and the security/ease of photographing places/people.<br>

I have travelled through Argentina, Bolivia before with big cameras (and BTW, Pakistan, Sudan and more) but just don't fancy the aggravation of being robbed in the street.<br>

I was thinking about getting something like a Panasonic GH2 (lighter, less conspicuous, but still has a EVF) but know I will take a drop in image quality (I already use a GF1 sometimes).<br>

(BTW, I always try to place some 'holiday' shots with stock agencies to pay for my trips, so that's another small consideration, but no deal breaker)<br>

Any wise thoughts very welcome please.<br>

David</p>

 

<p>Hi Stephen,<br>

Myself (I am English) and my business partner in Germany (Klaus) would be delighted to chat with you about doing your photography next year. We travel all over Germany and the UK so I am sure Koblenz wouldn't be a problem. Take a look at our blogs and get in touch if we fit the bill.<br>

Kind regards<br>

David<br>

http://blog.picture-of-me.co.uk/<br>

http://blog.picture-of-me.de/</p>

<p>This may not be true, but I heard that by posting any image on any part of Flickr entitles the use of that image (by someone, I don't know). Maybe this is just a rumour but it was a good friend and a pro photographer who told me. Perhaps this is worth looking into generally for all of us who post on Flickr (I stopped doing it about 5 years ago myself).</p>

<p>Sara,<br>

I have looked at your flickr page and the photo is only 500 pixels large so unless you have removed the largest size from flickr recently, then it would be impossible for The Guardian to publish this image at anything more than postage stamp size.<br>

If this was the largest size on Flickr, then double check that you haven't sent them this image as part of the competition, as they are entitled, as part of their rules, to use any submitted image in their newspapers without payment or notification.<br>

Good luck</p>

<p>Great replies - thanks. Any more really welcome.<br>

David</p>

<p>I am off to Japan for a month in mid-April and would really appreciate any suggestions or ideas for places that might interest a photographer that are not touristic. I will spend time in Kyoto (ye olde culture) and Tokyo (21st century buzz) but am also interested in seeing/photographing one or some of the folowing:<br>

- peaceful/deserted seaside areas (that could be described as 'not interesting for the casual tourist')<br>

- mass housing estates/blocks of flats<br>

- industrial areas that may or may not be derelict but should be accessible to a 'tourist with a camera'<br>

- music/art scene or studios for portraiture<br>

- teenage/young adult fashion/trends<br>

Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions for any of these are really welcome - and thanks so much.<br>

David</p>

<p>Well said, Riley S.</p>

<p>Hi Hannah, Budapest is a great city and full of interesting sights. Apart from obvious places that you would find in guide books I would recommend just to wander the small side streets away from the main drags - there are still quite a lot of unrenovated areas that are really evocative of an earlier age - with lots of excellent old signs, doorways and shop-fronts, and (for me at least) tons of superb graffiti.<br>

Enjoy</p>

<p>Sorry Tanya, I didn't realise you and your business were just aiming for amateur photographers who take great photos for pleasure. I didn't realise that you wanted to exploit these guys who perhaps imagine that by giving their great work away for free that they will then be on the first step of a success ladder.<br>

Sorry, it wasn't aggression it was just plain bewilderment.</p>

<p>Sorry but this is a joke of course. <em>Free</em> photographs to use for your <em>business - for you to earn money!</em> Excuse me if I sound angry, but I am. I try to make a living by selling hard-worked travel images to libraries, newspapers, magazines etc.<br>

What about this instead: "I am a photographer who needs to travel for business, so you give me a free holiday and I will add your link and bio to my website".</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Forward together...</p><div></div>

<p>I spent 2 months in Uganda and Rwanda in 2008 (with pro gear) and never experienced any security issues at all. I would, however, agree with Robert that it is often unacceptable to take photos of people without their consent or unless it is in a specific PJ sense (if you are taken specifically into a school or charity project for example). Away from specific tourist sights, most people are naturally quite suspicious of foreigners with cameras (and especially the police or local officials) but I found by making friendly contact, speaking with people and then asking if it was possible to take a photo, then often they would say yes. I personally would think about taking the D700 with the 24-85 (i also use this lens) and a 50mm, together with a small P/S.UNless you are going to look for animals then this is enough.<br>

As a matter of interest I found Uganda to be a stunning country with friendly and amusing people, whereas I found Rwanda to be not quite as attractive (more intensively farmed) and with less friendly (but not unfriendly) people. Both places are still totally fascinating and I would go back in an instant to either.</p>

 

<p>I certainly agree with Michael that you should dress respecfully - long trousers (or long shorts) for men and trousers or (not mini-) skirts for women. Tourists with very revealing upper or lower body parts are frowned upon. Even though this is a very tourist-friendly country it is still predominately a Muslim/Islamic society. I would also say that you should respect the privacy of women who may not want their photos taken - even in modern Cairo.<br>

Food - I love Koshary for lunch and there are lots of great (and cheap) places to enjoy this local dish in Cairo. And yes, drinking tea outside is a wonderful thing to do, especially with the wafting smells of the Sheesha-pipes.<br>

As far as gear is concerned I would take the 50D, wide angle zoom, wide-medium zoom and a 50 1.8 (for very low light level shots, short DOF and size). Obviously keep an eye on your kit but Egypt is quite a safe country and you shouldn't worry about hanging a nice camera around your neck.<br>

Enjoy!</p>

<p>Hi Eric,<br>

'<em>you should be ashamed of yourself and your Western value'</em><br>

Of course you are joking, aren't you? It makes me laugh anyway. I have spent the last 20 years travelling the world, taking photos and making a living from it. I give heavily to local charities in the these countries. If you seriously think that giving a child a pen and 'bringing a smile to his face' is going to change the developing world's poverty instead of donating to a local children's charity then you and I are poles apart on this issue and I won't even try to convince you otherwise. Giving a pen to child is about the most 'western colonial' patronising thing I could imagine doing as a tourist.<br>

Thanks Monika<br>

Yes - Rob</p>

<p>I know Egypt quite well (it's a terrific country) and there is no issue with tourists bringing cameras and using them pretty much anywhere. Obviously avoid bridges or sensitive government buildings or border crossings.<br>

The country relies entirely on tourist money and they even have special tourist police to help you - and are really nice helpful people - so they will not be bothered about you taking photos.<br>

On the subject of pens - for heaven's sake stop this stupidity now. Do not give pens away, if you want to help the poor local children then donate to an Egyptian children's charity. The kids just ask for pens because that what dumb tourists bring with them. Stop it.<br>

Otherwise it is a great country especially away from the big obvious tourists sites.<br>

In my times there nobody ever asked me for baksheesh to take their photos and I don't see the reason to encourage it unless you are a pro and want specific images (I have nothing against paying 'ordinary local models' for photos and have done it myself in other places but unless it is obviously that kind of deal then to encourage money for photos is the wrong path to go down).<br>

Enjoy.</p>

<p>Enrique, The D90 is an excellent camera and produces superb pro results. You seem to have a nice selection of DX lenses (your wife hasn't killed you yet) so I am unsure why you need the D700 (great camera though it is - I have one). For the 'cost' of the extra stop or so you could get a nice tripod or a SB900, and save ALL that money by not buying the D700, and the three FX lenses you crave - something like 6000GBP. That's an awful lot of prints, new monitor, holiday in an interesting exotic location, etc etc.<br>

Nikon makes huge investments in DX, and I don't see the need for most people to change to FX just for the sake of it. Just my thoughts, mate.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi Ash<br>

My name's David Myers and I am running a 12 day photo course in conjunction with a charity (TravelAid) that takes place in Cambodia in March 2010. You can find the details at www.tecic.co.uk/focus/cambodia.htm<br>

It's suitable for beginners and pretty advanced photographers alike who really want to improve their travel photography.<br>

Hope it is something you are looking for, but if not then best of luck finding something suitable - and certainly I agree with Arthur above, that you should make sure you are happy with what's being offerred and that the course tutor is a professional.<br>

And have fun with the Nikon.<br>

David</p>

<p>I have the 24-85 as my hiking and walkabout lens (on a D700) and although it is not very sharp wide open (actually it is a bit soft compared to my 24-70 at 2.8/4) it is very good stopped down a bit. I picked it up pretty cheaply second-hand.</p>

<p>Yep thanks for that - of course I should have thought of the 4 digit answer myself - doh!<br>

Cheers<br>

David</p>

<p>I have used my D700 for 9 months now with no real problems but yesterday I noticed something odd (or maybe I am doing something wrong) - I uploaded 300+ new images from the CF card onto my hard drive and (by accident) noticed that they were the same series of file numbers (exactly the same letters/number sequence) as some (unrelated) files I had taken and uploaded 6 months ago. In other words, the camera is repeating file numbers (eg _DAV5768.NEF). <br>

In the custom menu D6 I have the 'File Sequence No' set to 'on' - is this the culprit, or what?<br>

Any ideas or thoughts very welcome.<br>

Many thanks<br>

David</p>

<p>Thanks for the posting - really interesting.<br>

David</p>

<p>My new business partner rated our latest event (of 2700 images) using Microsoft Expression Media (his normal catalogue system) but I use Lightroom 2, and when I imported the Nef files to Lightroom, there were no ratings with the files. I tried importing again making sure I had clicked-on the xmp dates box, but still no ratings. Anyone an idea if this is possible to do, or do we have to spend another day rating the images in Lightroom?<br>

Many thanks for any advice.<br>

David</p>

<p>I have some jobs in Germany this summer and wanted to set up the possibility to sell some of the event images online (like Photobox in the UK - or I believe Smugmug in the States) but to the German guests.<br>

Does anyone know of a site like this in Germany that is easy to upload images to and that will allow the client to order and get prints from? <br>

Many thanks for any help or advice.<br>

David</p>

<p>I used a D2x for three years and now have used the D700 for 6 months. In my mind there is no doubt that the D2x acquires focus faster than the D700. The D2x has superb IQ at 100 and 200 iso, and is a real joy to have in your hand. For me though, I prefer the smaller D700 for my kind of usual work (travel and weddings).</p>