One Country, One Month, One Camera.

A sailor checks the rigging one last time at the end of the day in West Looe, Cornwall. Photo © Bob Krist with Sony RX100iii
A sailor checks the rigging one last time at the end of the day in West Looe, Cornwall. Photo © Bob Krist with Sony RX100iii

Every few years, Peggy and I save up and splurge on renting a cottage along the coast of Cornwall in southwestern England. It’s where the family roots of my mother, an English warbride from WWII, are firmly planted. Essentially, the area is a series of small fishing villages and great coastal scenery, and we just poke around, like the couple of fairly active senior citizens that we are,  and explore the various festivals, pubs, cliff walks, and scenic views the area has to offer.

This year, I piggybacked it on an assignment that ended in London, and I had my full complement of travel video gear with me, but since I had no plans to do anything serious (photographically) during this trip, I decided to see if I could indeed just use one, basic camera, the Sony RX100iii, for my vacation, and still make some reasonably satisfying pictures.

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Wireless on a Shoestring

The Sony A7s with tiny bluetooth wireless receiver in the Multi-Interface Hotshoe
The Sony A7s with tiny bluetooth wireless receiver in the Multi-Interface Hotshoe

There are a lot of times when a hardwired audio connection just isn’t going to cut it in a run and gun situation. And the first place most of us turn is to a good wireless mic setup. I’ve got an older version of this one from Sony, and it is rugged, reliable, with great sound.DSC01726

The problem with the pro wireless units is that they are fairly bulky (you wouldn’t be carrying it around full time in a camera bag, unless you are seriously doing only interviews) and at $600, rather expensive.

TSA inspectors don’t like them because they look like part of a detonation system. Overseas, customs inspectors don’t like them because they look like something you could start a revolution with.  They’re strictly for bigger, professional productions.

Wouldn’t be nice if there were a reasonably priced ($179), tiny, lightweight (2 oz.) wireless system you could throw in your bag on fulltime basis to use for those travel gigs where you will occasionally find a character you’d love to mic up for a quick interview?

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Dual Monitor Editing for Road Warriors

An 11" Macbook Air and an old first generation iPad becomes a nice little two monitor system for road warriors
An 11″ Macbook Air and an old first generation iPad becomes a nice little two monitor system for road warriors

If you’ve ever tried to edit a big folder of stills, or God forbid, put together a video while you’re on the road with your laptop, you’ll know the myopic experience of trying to work with 24″ inches of information on a little 11″  or 13″MacBook screen. Well, relief is in sight, and the good news is that it won’t involve trying to jam your  27″ iMac into an airline overhead.

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It’s in the Bag

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For me, a camera bag is a constantly evolving beast, especially these days as I complete my transition to mirrorless video maven. I’m teaching a couple of seminars on travel photography for National Geographic Traveler in the next couple of  months, and so it was time to update the pictures of my latest gear configuration for travel. Here’s a breakdown of what I take on travel gigs these days… Read More