kaetheko

We visited Mt. Desert Island last year the first week in October. Coming from a California view (hot, dry Sacramento), it was great. I would recommend the Bass Harbor campground, It was quite empty, and they have log cabins with bunks, electricity, portable heaters and gas grills as well as regular tent sites. This side of the island is known as the quiet side by the locals and I found lots of interesting nooks and crannies to photograph. Also recommend the lobster pound just southwest of Bass Harbor a bit, Thurston's. Recommended by the local folks, nothing fancy, just great lobster. Acadia is a very different national park, very quiet and simple in comparison with others. The carriage roads are not for cars, just bikes or hiking. Might consider how you would carry gear on a bike if that is something that would interest you. Rockefeller spent quite a bit to insure that his family and friends would have a chance to see the splendid vistas, and that was what we saw last fall. Cadillac Mountain is the highest point, very windy but a great 360' view as well as a great sunset spot.

 

I had trouble getting to Isle au Haut that late in the season, check the local travel books or national park info. I believe you will be dependent on the mail boat unless you charter a private boat. I was not able to come up with any overnight accomodations for camping that late in the season.

 

Bass Harbor light (very close to the campground) is perched high above the ocean on a rocky cliff, if you like lighthouses, this is a great one, the boulders tumbling down below the light are great.

 

Have a great trip. kaethe

I have a great opportunity to visit Cape Cod in mid May following a

business trip to Boston. I will be there about 3-5 days, plan to stay

(on a budget)at the hostel in Eastham, might have a car, but I am

accustomed to backpacking everywhere with my gear. I read the notes

about the seals in November, any other recommendations would be

appreciated. I shoot mostly b/w, many for handcoloring and I also do

pen/ink and watercolors. I was also thinking of going to Nantucket,

any recommendations there? I live in Sacramento so this is the other

side of the world for me. Thanks to all. kaethe

I'm only 5'3" and recommend a mountainsmith large lumbar pack (carries the load close in the lumbar area for more stability rather than swinging away from your back in an oversized photo pack) or whatever kind of 'real' day pack you find comfortable. Add Domke inserts, which you can buy separately to fit the gear you have, cut up a piece of backpacking 'blue foam pad' to put on the bottom of your pack, as the Domke inserts do not have foam on the bottom, and you can hike much more efficiently than with a photo pack. I have found this quite comfortable for carrying my MF and SLR gear both hiking or skiing. It also adds versatility if you want to carry more or less gear on any given trip. Many of the day packs designed to carry snow shovels or skis adapt quite nicely to tripods. Most mountaineering shops welcome your arrival with your own personal gear to try out the fit of a pack, so I recommend picking up the Domke inserts first.

 

Good luck, happy hiking. kaethe

Sean, I know you are shopping for binoculars, but just out of curiosity have you considered the Zeiss MiniQuick pocket telesope? It is only 5x, but it is also only 4 1/2" long and weighs less than an ounce, and has that great Zeiss punch which you are accustomed to as I remember you have a Contax system. Sorry, don't know the price and it might not be enough clout at only 5x. kaethe

I highly recommend the Contax G1 with the 90 2.8 and the 28 2.8 if you can spare the pennies. This is the system I have used on hundreds of miles of backpacking trips, euro-wanderings for weeks, and bike tours. The results are always great, even hand-held shots downhill on the bike or hanging precariously on a hold. In addition to the great lenses, the camera can be operated with just your right hand once you have the correct lens on. It is also very sturdy, I have dropped it several feet on rocky surfaces, fell on it once as I slid, and it survived unscathed. kaethe

I carry my tripod and Hasselblad system in a Mountainsmith lumbar pack or the larger Bugaboo, with Domke inserts inside to protect the gear. The tripod slides quickly in and out of the outside snow shovel pocket without too much fuss. Another system I use is to slide it down the side of a day pack designed to carry winter backcountry ski gear. This is a bit slower though and requires more fuss with straps. As others have already noted regular backpacking gear is far superior to photo packs for suspension and long distance and heavy load comfort. kaethe

At the risk of sounding like the queen-of-improvise, I have used two inexpensive white umbrellas from the local discount store with the handles sawed off. I usually do not run into a shadow problem from the ribs, they balance well in the field, and can be combined with a photoflex diffusion screen which can be fastened to the umbrellas. They also do a great job of wind screening and they are quick to set up. kaethe

I have used several options, albeit a bit unusual. I have an old Gitzo 124 which has the short center column because I am short and do not need the extra height of the center column. When this is splayed out it sits 5" above the ground to the platform for the head. The problem I find however is that frequently there is not enough room shooting wildflower macro shots for a full size tripod in this position. I have often actually removed the center column and sunk it into the dirt or wedged it between rocks and had good results. A couple of times when I needed to be even lower and in a tighter space I have just sat the head on a secure spot. My other solution if I am specifically going out to shoot wildflowers is to carry the Slik Mini-Pro. It only weighs 6 oz. and the platform sits 4" off of the ground with a leg spread diameter of 10". Each leg can extend to give a support diameter of 12" with the platform 5" off of the ground.

 

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The companion problem to mounting your camera low is looking thru the viwfinder without crushing the rest of the flora while you are lying on your stomach! kaethe

....The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust

 

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Each of us has something to discover, and often that changes each time we head out on a trip, whether it is to the neighborhood park or the other side of the world. Everything each one of us puts into our photography, each pound of gear carried, each hour of sitting and waiting, each late night spent planning a trip, enables us to make a new discovery, to learn something new, to tuck away a new memory. And each time you track a Canada Goose in your viewfinder, there is something new, waiting to be seen. Anticipation.

 

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p.s. Sean, I beg to differ, because I also paint, and I must confess I carry a sketch pad, watercolors and inks in my camera bag, always. kaethe

I shoot "nature photography" with both b/w and Velvia and I find it is difficult to do both at the same time, because composition and color translate so differently for the two mediums. (I also hand color many of my b/w photos, but that is an entirely different dimension) In addition to the "just go out and shoot to try it suggestion, I recommend reading: An Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography by John P. Schaeffer. It is a Reader's Digest version of the Ansel Adams series, and very readable and understandable, especially for a beginner. Have fun. kaethe

The ease of access to the tripod is definitely an important part of how much can you carry. I use the Mountainsmith systems with their snow shovel pockets, the tripod is carried vertically, slides in and out easily and can be secured with the velcro straps provided to stabilize the snow shovel. This also leaves the sides of the pack free for water bottles or another lens. Inside the pack I use the Domke modular pieces to customize for whatever I happen to be carrying.

 

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I use a Gitzo 124 (older slightly taller version of the 126) with a 1276 head for my Nikon N90 with the 80-200 2.8 and the 075 head for my Hasselblad 500cm. Not sure the 1275 is the best option but happens to be what I have. Oh yes, I am only 5'3", so I only have a short center column that I never use.

When I head up into the Sierras above 6000 or so I usually carry a circular polarizer and the Cokin P series split neutral density. I find that I use the split nd more because of the flexibility of the size, although I would like to get the Singh-Ray set someday. The Cokin filter is not that dark, so I occasionally borrow my hiking partner's, and the stacking is not noticable on scenics. I find that often on those fabulous view shots you have too much contrast between a noon sky and the foreground or even the closer mountain ranges and I don't have the luxury of hanging around until the light is right as I need to make the miles before dark. (ps. I shoot Velvia) I am careful about over-polarizing as it makes a shot look flat or lifeless, (to me). Have never had a problem with black sky.

I too live in "seasonless" California and lust after those New England fall foilage shots. I shoot Velvia and the Tiffen enhancing filter adds even more punch to the colors, unless there is a patch of sky, then it becomes annoying to see the magenta hue. I find that I also use it in the spring for wildflower trips, again, as long as there is no sky. I recently did a series of summer farm field shots, and I also liked the tones it added to the fruits, veggies, etc and the soil (that dry, dusty beige California dirt).