Sunday
Mar302008
Speak Softly And Carry A Big Camera Bag
Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 5:59AM 
I'm leaving tonight for Australia on the Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop Adventure 2008: Tasmania!
My good friend Mikkel Aaland, author of O'Reilly's Lightroom Adventure is leading another photo expedition; this time it's to Tasmania with a bunch of the world's top photographers for the next edition of his book and he invited me to come. I couldn't resist even though I'm no photo pro. (They're billing me as a "special media guest.")
I do apologize to my friends on the mainland - the itinerary is limited to Tassie: A week in Hobart and a week in the wild. Our Qantas flight does stopover for seven hours in Sydney, so thanks to Aussie Mike, we'll do an impromptu meetup at the Starbucks at Terminal 3, Sydney Airport, 11a-1p on Tuesday. (It's a 12-hour flight and we cross the International Date Line so even though I'm leaving Sunday night I won't arrive in Sydney until Tuesday morning!) If there are any fans in Hobart who want to set up a meet up on Thursday or Friday let me know.
I'll be doing my radio show from Sea FM/Heart 107.3 Hobart Sunday and Monday morning 4-7a local time (Tasmania is UTC +11 but it'll be live in the States). The following week I won't have access to a studio so we'll air two shows I've recorded ahead of time with all new material.
I'm bringing enough gear to equip a multimedia army.
- Canon 5D digital SLR with 24-105mm, 50mm f1.2, 70-200 f4, 180mm Macro, and Lensbaby 3G lenses
- Pentax K20D DSLR (my backup camera, on loan from Pentax) with 50mm Macro and16-200 Zoom lenses
- The new Canon HV30 Vixia Hi-Def Video Camera with wide angle converter and Canon shotgun mic
- HHB FlashMic flash audio recorder
- Marantz PMD-660 flash audio recorder with Shure SM-58 mic (as backup)
- Apple MacBook with 250GB internal and a 160GB external backup drive, equipped with Final Cut Express 4, Amadeus Pro, Adobe Photoshop CS3, and Lightroom
All this fits into my Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW backpack (it's huge) but I'm also bringing a Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW to carry into the field.
And a change of underwear.
Thank goodness I'm not going by ship. I think I'd sink it.
There's a reason for all this gear. I'll be blogging the whole time I'm Down Under, including photos (on Smugmug and Flickr), audio (here), and video (on Smugmug and Viddler) so watch this space. Many of the other photographers will be blogging as well on the O'Reilly blog site.
tagged Appearances, Australia, Cameras, Gear, Photography, Tasmania in Appearances, Blog, News, Tasmania
Appearances, Australia, Cameras, Gear, Photography, Tasmania in Appearances, Blog, News, Tasmania
Reader Comments (49)
Sounds like you should give yourself some extra time at airport security!
:-)
Leo,
Best of luck on your trip. I'm sure we're all looking forward to the images you're able to make. Count me in as one of the jealous photogs :) I would love to be making your same trip.
I just got back from 10 days in Greece and Italy, and I carried almost as much gear as you did (no computer), and I adore my Tamrac 5577 Expedition 7 SLR Photo Backpack, which is about the same size as the Lowepro. You'll be very glad to have that backpack going through all the various customs checkpoints and airports; comfort is magic for these trips.
Best of luck and have a fantastic and safe trip!
Thanks for everything,
Bob
Have a great trip Leo. I'm from Brisbane Australia so I'll miss out on the Starbucks meetup :-( I'm sure Starbucks wont know what will hit them ...
It's a killer the flight from USA to Sydney so I hope you have your kindle all ready. I'm sure you'll love Oz and I hope you come back and visit Queensland next time.
Have a great trip - Shaun
Just be sure to warn Blogger Bob ahead of time so you're not held up.
Enjoy your trip ;)
Have a great trip Leo! Hope the hunt for connectivity isn't to hard. That is an impressive set of gear, hope Quantas has generous luggage limits. Oh, and don't forget the Clear Card!
I am sure you will have a great time - Tasmania is a beautiful place. I have to admit I'm disappointed you're not heading across the Nullabor to visit Perth, though!
Hey Leo,
I'm in Sydney and I got all excited that you were coming to Australia. Sadly, I just read that you'd only be spending a few hours in Sydney. I would have loved to have a chat in person! Enjoy your stay in Tassie. Very beautiful and photogenic country scenery.
Leo, please make sure you get on the right airline .. it's QANTAS (without the U). Don't want to be picky, but I would hate you to end up somewhere else on a strange airline.
I would love to take a photography trip like that one day. I can't wait to hear all about it.
So you're to arrive 4 hours early for the strip search through security, good for you. Youknow with some of your equipment they may have, umm , questions. Like the Mac Air.
Either way enjoy yourself send back plenty of pictures and video we want to see everything possible, including a dingo.
Later, mate
PS bring me back a keychain with my name on it (Cassandra) I'll pay for it and shipping. Thanks.
I'd be interested to know what you are going to use for a high speed connection when in outback Tassie? 3G coverage in Tasmania is pretty much limited to Telstra (NextG service) and even that only covers about 60% of the island.
Leo,
Have a great trip. Look forward to seeing the pictures.
Be on the look out for the Tasmanian Devil. You may want to bring your best Bugs Bunny defense - a female Taz costume and dynamite.
:-)
(I know, I know, but I enjoy regressing into my childhood from time to time.)
Have a safe trip, great show today!
I guess by now you would have realised that none of the shipboard airline branded stuff contains a "U".
Love to meet up with you in Hobart, Leo. I'm sure there has to be more twit's than me down here.
Have a nice trip. Love to meet you but I live in Melbourne. Doh!
Hey Leo. It would be fantastic if you make it up to sunny Queensland! Weather is great at the moment here. Enjoy your stay in Australia. Hopefully you like it so much you move the family here. :-)
Hey Leo, have a great trip, I'm expecting to see lots of photos from you.
Pity you can't make it to Melbourne, would've loved to go to a meetup.
ps.
Qantas, not 'Quantas' :)
I hate to break it to you, but there is no Starbucks in Sydney Terminal 2- the Starbucks is in Terminal 1, which to enter you need a flight ticket + go through security.
Unless you mean the Starbucks in Terminal 2 in Melborune
There's a Starbucks in Hobart. Elizabeth Mall. Collins Street end. What time and day Leo?
PS Internet Access in Tassie is woefully slow and 3G is very tempermental. Good Luck.
Another Hobart twit here. Hope you enjoy your stay down here.
I'm in Hobart as well, a meet up would be cool!
Hey Leo, I hope you packed your winter warmest! It's on the cool side here in Tassie at the moment.
@Nathan - I'm a Hobart TWiT too... wouldn't say no to a meet while Leo is here!
Hey Leo, hope you have fun in Tassie, haven't been there myself, but my parents have they they said it beautiful. I agree with the other Queenslanders here, wish you where coming here. Next trip you will have to come to Brisbane. Have fun though.