mariosforsos

Thanks to everyone! I think I am now relatively ready for what is coming up. Here's the

plan:

1 day walking around Saigon, 1 full day Mekong Delta tour (incl. boat rowing etc), 1 day

between Saigon and Dalat (waterfalls, tea & silk plantations, volcanoes), 1 day Dalat and

hill tribes (maybe more), 1 day Dalat to Quy Nhon (more waterfalls, Cham towers), 1 day

Quy Nhon to Hoi An (My Lai, beaches, My Son - if there is time), 1 day Hue & DMZ, 1 day

around Hue (complete My Son, maybe venture a bit into the HCM trail depending on time,

weather, etc), 1-2 days Hoi An to Nah Trang (more relaxed pace, some scuba diving,

maybe a bit of the beach scene), Nah Trang back towards Saigon.

This is a preliminary plan and I have left 3 days to allocate wherever I find something I

wanna spend more time exploring. I did book a hotel for the first and last nights of the

whole trip in Saigon (just to make sure there's somewhere to set up base camp once I

arrive and just before I leave), but otherwise everything will be up to whatever.

Gear-wise: D200 (with MB-D200 grip), Tamron 24-75 f/2.8, Nikkor 18-135mm, Nikkor

50mm f/1.8 and Nikkor 70-300mm, around 20GB of storage in CF cards. Manfrotto

compact tripod (cannot remember the model no). All in all, a relatively good set of kit (I

think - anyway, there's no money for upgrades at the moment anyway, so...)

I wish I could spend more than 14 days there, but frankly it's a miracle I can get away from

work for as long as this, so it'll have to do... Lex's idea for a bike trip along the back roads

is truly amazing, but like I said, no time :-(

If anyone knows of something I did not mention, I'd really appreciate hints and tips. The

internet and LP guide can only get you this far...;-) Thanks to all once more for some

great advice...

Dear Mohir,

since I went to Jordan last summer for 13 days, I can tell you this. Your best port of entry into Jordan is definitely Amman. From there, just like everyone else here said, the drive down to Petra is either 3 or 6 hours, depending on which road you take.

I took the scenic route (the King's Highway) and it was amazing. Rough, rugged terrain, drive by the side of the Dead Sea - it almost feels as if you're on an alien planet! Truly amazing (and I can only guess how much more it would be snowed over!).

Petra really needs more than one day to do it full justice. My advice? Start REALLY early in the morning (I went there just when they opened) to have the place to yourself. I managed to get some amazing shots of Petra with less than a couple of people there...less than an hour later, it was so packed and noisy that any hopes of good photography would have been dashed! Stay ahead of the crowds and you'll do fine.

One piece of crucial advice: don't shy away from the two "hidden" paths - the one leading to the top opposite the Treasury and the other leading opposite the Monastery. They are both extremely tough to do, but the views are truly worth it! Plus, there you can be sure you'll be almost alone!

Take your time, be careful with your shots - there's so much to see there and so many amazing ways to frame places that you'll be hard pressed to choose. I shot around 400 shots in Petra over a day and a half. CPL filter is a must.

Also, try to time your visit with the one night a week where they light Petra in the evening with candles! I was unlucky enough to miss it (basically cause I was scuba diving in Aqabe and did not finish in time to drive to Petra that evening), but people who have been there said it was amazing!

Personally, I would stick with one country, rather than try to pack two in a short trip. Unfortunately, my trip to Egypt this Xmas was cut short after just one day due to family circumstances, so I cannot advise you as to which is best. I loved Jordan though.

For some shots, check http://forceos.freehostia.com/Marios_Photography/Travel_Photography/Pages/Jordan.html (it's a bit slow, I know, but it's a free server and am still working to make it faster...;-)

Thanks to all guys... the reason I was asking is because when I started planning this trip, I

just happened to start my research from the south and I discovered that I had more or less

allocated my 12 days - initially planned for - days only in the south! I mean, there seems

to be SO much for someone to see there, there simply is not enough time for me to do all

of it. Hence the decision to stick to the south - not because I could not find interesting

things in the north.

I'm happy to hear people are congenial to being photographed there - it was a major issue

for me both in Jordan and in Tunisia and Morocco (my two more recent trips).

One final question, to start wrapping things up: I am planning to go completely without a

fixed plan, and simple stay at a place I like more. Does anyone have any experience with

finding accommodation on the fly (i.e. dropping in hotels - obviously in smaller cities than

Saigon or Hanoi) In my previous trips to Thailand and Malaysia I had no problems, but I

have heard things have changed recently...any experiences?

thanks again for all the input and help....;-)

What a polarising filter does is - to avoid technical terms - increase the saturation for

your greens and blues and cut down reflections from highly reflective surfaces (i.e. water

or glass). For any landscape - and generally - outdoor photographer it is probably one of

the most useful filters - it turns the sky a deeper blue and will bring the saturation of your

forest scenery way up, making those greens really come alive! Once you start taking

photos with a polariser, you'll never wanna take a nature photo without one again.

Of course, this comes at a cost: polarisers effectively cost you about 1 full stop of light -

sometimes even more and, in some cases, play havoc with your camera's TTL metering.

This makes it a no-no for indoor photography (at least, from my own experience and from

everything I've heard from other photographers so far).

You might hear people claim that you can imitate/mimic the effects of the polariser in

Photoshop, but the truth is that you cannot bring back what was not there in the first

place, so I would advise against attempting to do that.

I think I'll agree with David here - I'm the first person to admit that my fitness levels are

not what they used to be, but sweating has really not much to do with fitness. I have seen

superfit people actually turn back from one of the more demanding treks in Petra (Jordan)

when myself did it (sweating profusely, I'll admit) without stopping. And I have been in

Thailand just before the rainy season, with almost 80% humidity, when sweating was the

norm when you stood still, let alone walk, and crossed the Iraqi desert on a camel without

shedding so much as a drop. It's all about conditions. And unfortunately, a backpack

simply does not help!

That was the initial query - the fitness comment was frankly pointless and the kind of

comment that virtually guarantees people would react negatively! So Frank, if you have a

suggestion that actually answers the OP, go ahead...otherwise, I don't know, join a fitness

forum or something....

Hehehe...some of you guys are WAY over my league...1000 shots a day? I mean,

hell...that's a lot of shooting...if my math is correct, that's around 40 shots an hour, 24

hours a day, or around 1 shot every 1 1/2 mins!!! All day, every day! I mean, even if I dare

assume 8 hours for sleep, it comes down to a shot a minute for EVERY other minute of the

day...! I envy you guys... Count food, toilet and maybe interaction with another person,

and the count goes down to around 5 shots a minute...!!! I am humbled indeed...

Personally, I can only afford (time wise) to take much shorter trips, but on my last trip in

Jordan (last summer), I took just under 1000 shots in 11 days (with a D80). Now I'm going

to Vietnam for 2 weeks with my D200 and am planning to take around 20GB of CF cards

with me. That's around 1200 shots (I get around 120 shots per 2GB) - I have read that

memory cards there are a steal, so maybe I grab a couple more there if I run out...

Personally, I prefer to travel light - cannot be bothered with burners, laptops, drives

etc...but that's just me...I know I risk a bit, but then again, it's the trade-offs we all have to

live with I guess ...;-)

I am in the final stages of finalising the details of my coming trip to Vietnam this April (15 days, with

rented car - so I can pretty much go anywhere I want) and so far, I've included the following places:

Saigon (2 days), Mekong Delta (1 day), Dalat (and environs - 2 days), Quy Nahn (1 1/2 days to explore all

the Cham towers and culture there), Hoi An (including all the beaches around), Hue (and the Perfume River

with the Royal Tombs), DMZ (including tunnels), Nah Trang (for a bit of diving). I have restricted myself to

southern Vietnam as I want more time to explore the place without rushing...

Anyone has any advice for those areas? Places I might want to consider? Photo tips? I already plan to be

at most tourist-plagued sites around sunrise to beat the crowds and will have a sunrise-sunset tables

with me to better time my visits to various places (having my own means of transport helps)

Also, has anyone had any experience with photographing the people there? I have travelled extensively in

Thailand, Malaysia, Bali and Java in the past and have mixed impressions (and we're talking of countries

more comfortable with tourism than Vietnam).

Thanks to all in advance...;-)

While I agree with the whole "carrying lots of weight on one shoulder is bad" concept, I

admit I do walk around with a shoulder bag myself. To be able to do that, I have sought a

balance between all that I WANT to carry with all that I SHOULD carry while remaining

comfortable and still having the stuff I need.

I have gone through the LowePro Slingshot 300 (superb bag, just didn't like the fact that in

order to get to the other lenses - apart from the fitted one - I had to kneel and go through

various juggling acts with lenses and caps and stuff), the Crumpler Pretty Boy XXXL

(amazing for short trips, the best solution for city treks, but too small for anything more

than a camera and 3 lenses max), the Crumpler Daily L (probably the best around, can fit

almost everything you mentioned, but it is a bit too big for me - tastes vary though, you

should test it yourself) and in the end, I ended up with an old, army canvas bag...!!

I ended with that bag, for one reason only: the inner photo pocket from the Crumpler Daily

fits perfectly inside and let me tell you, the combination is the best thing I've found so

far!!! The bag easily fits: a D200 (with grip), a 18-135 (with hood attached), a 50mm, a

70-300 and my permanently attached 28-75 f/2.8. It also fits: 7 CF cards, a small

flashlight, 3 pens, a multitool, a remote release, a small brush. Ready for more? My trusty

moleskin notebook and my ever present guidebook. If I stretch it, it can also fit my

MacBook Pro 15" (even though I never do that).

The bag looks like nothing - nobody ever gives it a second look - and it fits everything. I

have bought, from a hiking store, a pouch for a water bottle and am planning to sow it to

one side for permanent access - it is great. AND, to top it all of, the straps present in

most army canvas bags (which were used to attach who knows what) can easily snug your

tripod at the bottom (gets a bit "swingy" though and can be annoying - for me anyway) - I

have a Manfrotto.

Drawback? Even though I have walked in the rain with it (and it has held without

drenching the contents), I have not tested it in torrential rains...and dust CAN get through

in a sand storm (I was in one in Jordan this summer - had to empty and clean the bag

afterwards). It's all about compromise...

I had the same problem as you Glenn - I have travelled most of the 4th world with a

camera (only one I'm afraid as I couldn't afford a second ;-) and a number of lenses, plus

notebooks, guides, and all sorts of paraphernalia. I was nearly hit twice, but thankfully

bulk and a solid martial arts background kinda diffused the situation (a $50 payoff helped

on the second time however). Anyway, to cut a long story short, I found the best solution

to be this: I bought an old army shoulder bag from a surplus store (for $10) and then

inserted the inner photo pocket from my Crumpler Daily L bag (which I bought but found

to be too rigid and too big for me - the inner photo pocket was a godsend though). The

result? I now have a bag that easily fits my D200 (with vertical grip) and 3 lenses, can fit

my MacBook Pro 15" (even though I never carry it - i have tested it) and all my other stuff,

padded, protected and guaranteed to be safe from any bump, all wrapped inside a scruffy

looking, worn army canvas bag - nobody ever gives me a second look. True, I spend some

time with a massive camera in my hand, but most of the time I'm just another scruffy

tourist...I even left it (huge mistake, I know!) unattended in a cafe in Jordan last summer

for around an hour and when I came back it was still there - slightly more dusty, but still

there! Think about it...;-) I've even seen inner pockets from other manufacturers out

there (even Billingham makes individual pockets which you can add and configure to your

specs, but nothing as robust as the Crumpler pocket)

Costs: Crumpler Daily L=140 euros, Army canvas bag=$10

It's like seeing myself a year and a bit ago... I had a D50 with a 28-100 kit lens (and the

70-300G too!) The results I got were very, very good, so my first suggestion would be to

have a look at your settings and your photographic style. However, on the question of

upgrading, here's a kinda middle-ground alternative for you: How about a used D200

with a used piece of good glass?

When I wanted to upgrade, I shopped around and I got a ex-demo D200 (with the vertical

grip) for less than $1000. I sold my D50 with the other two lenses and with the money I

got a Tamron 24-75 f2.8 and a used Nikon 18-135 f3.5-5.6. All in all, I put around

$1,100 of my own money and now I have a truly good system. Next purchase? A 55-200

f2.8.

My own experience with DNG conversion (I have a D200) is that it approximately doubles the

file size. My normal NEF (Nikon's version for RAW) are around 8.5MB, but when converted to

RAW through Lightroom, their size almost (but not quite) doubles to around 13.5MB. I do all

my archiving in DNG, so I don't care, but it is something to think about when you have 54GB

of RAW images (I only have 13GB)...oh, and I do not Embed the original RAW through the

Lightroom preferences...

That is not true. You can set up Lightroom (version 1.2 and after) to automatically switch to

NEF import upon detecting a flash card (it also works when the computer is connected to the

camera via USB - at least on a Mac it does). You are then presented with an import dialogue

through which you can choose which photos to import and which not. Make sure your

settings on the D200 are set to Mass Storage and not anything else. This is the way I have

been using it for months now. I recently got a card reader though as it affords higher

transfer speeds and does not draw power from the camera (which direct tethering does).

Think about it, it's a much better solution.