jimbojack

<p>I can highly recommend State Farm insurance, specifically I have the personal articles policy. I took the insurance out for my camera equipment about 3 years ago.<br /> <br /> Last month I had my camera and lenses stolen in Ecuador (first time I had my camera stolen, and I travel a lot), after I came back from the trip I made a claim with my State Farm agent. A person from their claims department called me back the next day, asked about what was stolen, asked about the police report (I did obtain one, but she did not ask for a copy of it, just that I had it). She then told me she would go to the B&H website to verify my claimed values were reasonable, called me back 15 minutes later and said that my check would be mailed within 2 days. 4 days later I received the settlement check (this was for a few thousand $ btw, definitely not a small amount) <br /> <br /> The check was for the values of equipment that I paid. So for example if you buy a Nikon D300 for $1800, and next year it gets stolen the amount you get back would be $1800. Some insurance companies will deduct depreciation from the amount insured, so make sure you know exactly how your insurance works.<br /> <br /> All insurance companies are nice, until you have to make a claim.....</p>

This Russian lady really knew how to dress while in a conservative muslim country (Syria)

 

http://www.jimbojack.com/Countries/Syria/Syria_Palmyra_059.jpg

 

Feel free to use it for your school project

I would go for a used d200, take the difference in money you would spend on a d300 and put it towards a lens.

Despite the horror stories you read about on forums, buying used cameras is not that risky. All the cameras that I've

used in the last couple of years (d70, d70s, d80, 2x d200) were bought/sold used and I've never had a problem with

them.

 

It all depends on where you live and who had the camera. The first d200 I bought I paid $1000 for (about 14 months

ago), the guy had it for 10 months and completely babied it, it had 1000 pics on the shutter!

 

Second d200 I bought about 8 months ago for $700, 24k on the shutter.

 

I've taken tens of thousands of photos with both of them with absolutely no problems.

 

Check your local craigslst, where I live (So Cal.) there are tons and tons of people that love to buy new equipment

and not use it, then they sell it for half the price so they can get the "new best thing"

 

As far as prices, I've seen plenty of d200's around $650-750 recently depending on condition/accessories.

Hi,

 

I don't mind criticism at all, thank you for giving me another perspective

 

Travelling is a passion for me, I've been travelling for quite a few years. Photography is a much more recent hobby for me, I really started taking pictures around 2002 with a P&S digital camera (and it was one of the early models at that). Needless to say most of my photos from 2002 to 2004 are fairly crappy, they are more like snapshots.

 

At the end of 2004 I got my first DSLR, the Nikon d70 with the kit lens. For the next 2-3 years the photos got better, but I was still learning (still am). There are a few that I really like, but they are definately not pro quality.

 

I started really getting into photography about 1-2 years ago, I learned more about how to use the cameras properly, bought some better lenses and upgraded to a used d200

 

Looking back at my work I can see improvements as time has passed. My website has photos from everywhere and all time periods, if you look at the pictures from Thailand (posted in 2003) they are fairly crappy. But If you look at some more recent galleries (India, Banladesh) you will see they are better.

 

Up to this moment, I still did not take photography that seriously, let me explain:

 

When I go on a trip, I go to see the country, not to photograph it. That means that when I get to a site that I want to see and it's noon with shitty weather, I take the pictures anyway and go to another place that is interesting for me. I don't wait 2 days for the weather to get better or come back at 5:30 AM for the perfect sunrise shot simply because I can be somewhere else seeing a new thing. I also don't take a tripod with me (almost all the night photos were taken with the camera on a rock or something similar for suport).

 

What I am contemplating now is taking photography a lot more seriously. Taking much more time to photograph places where I travel (which also means spending more time in each place and seeing less), taking with me and using a proper tripod (I have a good CF one that I almost never use), generally making sure that I get the best images that I can get.

 

I've never taken a photo class or seminar, everything I know I learned by myself. I do plan on taking a photo class or two at my university (I'm still a student) later this year.

 

At the moment I'm trying to figure out if/how it is possible to get something more out of my photography, everything I've done so far was just as a souvenir for me of the places I've been.

 

I sometimes use Lonely Planet guidebooks, so that's how I know about their stock photo site. They seem to be pretty big as far as travel photography goes, that's why I thought I'd ask if anyone had any experience with them. Looking at some of the LP guidebooks I've used (I have over 40 of them), some of the photos used in their books are just simple snapshots. Their photo books however are excellent (The Travel Book, One Planet, etc)

 

Next month I'm going on a 2 month long trip to the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia) and Central/Eastern Europe. I plan on focusing more on photography during that trip then I have on my previous ones.

 

Thank you again for the criticism, I know I have to take this more seriously if I am to make something more of my photography.

Hello everyone,

 

I love to travel and photograph what I see, I try to do it for at least 2-4

months of every year. Over the years I've visited and photographed quite a few

places.

 

So I have well over 100,000 pictures from many different countries (and

growing), most of the photos are not that great but I think I've improved quite

a bit in the last couple of years and I'm quite happy with the ones I've taken

last year.

 

I've been thinking about doing something with them, so I stared to check out

some travel oriented sites and lonely planet images is one of the more famous

ones (I do use their guidebooks sometimes)

 

http://www.lonelyplanetimages.com/prospectivephotographers.html

 

They require a "application" CD/DVD with 500 images. I'm fairly confident I

could send them a collection of 500, maybe from 30 different countries or so,

and have a decent chance of being accepted.

 

Before I do that however, I'm trying to decide if I should go this route. One

of the things they require is that you have to let them be the only agency that

can sell the pictures submitted for the next 5 years. Another requirement is

that you travel a lot and consistently keep submitting images to them (not a

problem for me).

 

 

Anyone have any experience with them? What do you think I should do?

Any comments/suggestions/experiences would be great, thank you in advance

 

Here is my site and some of my pictures:

 

www.jimbojack.com

 

http://jimbojack.com/South_Asia.htm

 

http://jimbojack.com/Photography/Middle_East_Photos_01.htm

http://jimbojack.com/Photography/Middle_East_Photos_02.htm

 

http://jimbojack.com/Countries/Mali/Various.htm

I recently came back from a trip to South Asia (I visited Sri Lanka, India and

Bangladesh)

 

Currently I'm working on updating my website with some of the thousands of

photos I've taken there. Please take a look if you're interested

 

http://www.jimbojack.com/South_Asia.htm

I use the Lowepro Computrekker AW. I've used it for 3 4+ week trips so far and am taking it again with me when to South Asia next week. It holds my 12" laptop (will hold up to a 15" I think), D200 + 17-55 attached, d70s + 70-200vr attached, sigma 150 macro, 10-20, a 50 1.8 and a 1.7x tc, I also have a Slik 813cf tripod with a 488rc2 head.

 

As you can imagine it weights quite a bit, but the straps are pretty well padded and I've gotten used to it. If you take the tripod off it will fit in an overhead bin on a plane, so it's no problem as a carry on.

 

The built in rain cover is also nice, although I never really used it

 

I highly recommend it

http://www.lowepro.com/Products/Backpacks/allWeather/CompuTrekker_AW.aspx

 

They also make a "plus" version which is a big bigger

Sounds like a great trip, too bad you can only go for two weeks.

I would suggest you take a zoom, something like a 70-200 if you have it. There are some places where a zoom would be very beneficial (A burning funerary ghat in Nepal for example), you could take some photos without getting in the middle of the ceremony.

 

You might also want to take a graduated ND filter if you have it, could be usefull with mountain landscape photos.

 

Enjoy your trip and post some photos when you come back.

I'm planning a trip to South India as well, I'll be there around the middle of January though (Starting next month in Sri Lanka). I haven't really read up on exactly where I will be going, but the backwaters of Kerala are a definite.

 

I would definately recommend taking the 70-200 2.8. I have the nikon version and always take it with me when I travel even though it's heavy. I also take a 1.7x TC, which makes it a pretty decent lens for wildlife when I need more reach. If you take your 70-200 2.8 and a TC, you would be able to get some better shots in a nature reserve.

I had the same problem in Nepal a few years ago.

As far as I know it started by someone taking some wet (acid) batteries (like the ones in cars) onto the planes. The batteries leaked acid and cause considerable damage. Because of that the security officials (in Nepal at least) consider batteries to be "dangerous" and don't allow them on the plane. I was stoped and asked to put my batteries into my checked baggage (they were AA NiMH), I was able to explain that they were sealed and perfectly safe, after a few minutes I was allowed to take them onboard.

I was in Morocco in March/April of this year. I came in and out of morocco through the airport in Casablanca a few times (to/from France, U.S., Senegal, Mali) and never had anybody check my camera gear other then x-raying my backpack. I had a fully loaded phototrekker with a couple of bodies, laptop and 5 lenses. Shooting in places like Marrakech, Fez, Casablanca, Meknes, etc. (The tourist places) is no problem, people there are somewhat used to tourists and as long as you don't stick your camera in their face don't really have problems with you taking photos. Shooting tethered to a laptop would be a bit difficult, you definately need to keep an eye on your stuff. Keep in mind that in the old cities the streets are often very narrow, and you'll have people, motorcycles, donkeys, etc. squeezing past you as you're walking/shooting.

 

I didn't have any bad experiences, but make sure you keep an eye on your gear! I always take a pac-safe mesh for my backpack just in case I need to leave it in a hotel.