I took a nice trip with my dad in the High Sierra earlier this summer. More than anything, I love scrambling in the mountains at dusk. Whether it be on an alpine climb or just running with my camera as the light fades, I fall into flow so easily and life is sweet!
I'm currently working on a camera holster/chest-pack design that's inspired by the Galen Rowell Chest Pouch, but made out of modern materials and slightly bigger to accommodate my decidedly bigger kit If anyone has a GRCP that they would be willing to share detailed photos of, I'd appreciate it. Planning to use XPac fabric with water-resistant Y2K zippers. Still deciding on what type of webbing I want to use for the straps. Full climb-spec webbing would be fun but generally overkill and harder on my sewing machine. Will post results of it once I'm done (in awhile).
I've got several variations to the first shot and also plan to double process it at some point. Interested to hear initial reactions to it though, mainly with respect to composition.
Based on that triangular shaped peak, I think I have an idea where this was. Definitely a wonderful, target-rich environment! :-)
As to chest harnesses, for more than a decade I've been using one of the large LowePro Toploader chest-mount bags. I can get a 5DsR with a 24-70mm lens in there, and stuff a wide zoom crosswise at the bottom, with room to put a filter or two, some batteries, and other odds and ends into various pockets.
The thing is a bit tricky to put on since it attaches to a full chest strap system (four straps) that goes behind my back, but once you figure it out it works well. (The trick is to disconnect one of the lower straps from the bag to put it on and then reattach that strap.)
I carry an additional 70-200mm lens in a padded case near the top of the main compartment of my backpack and strap my tripod to the outside of the pack.
There are two small minuses to be aware of with the chest bag approach:
1 — You'll sweat underneath it. Yeah, you knew that already.
2 — In very rough terrain (e.g. - class 2 or higher cross country) it is sometimes important to be able to see your feet, and the front-mounted camera bag can block the view. In most cases I can sort of look around the sides of the bag, but in really rough conditions I remove it and cram in into/onto my backpack.
There's also one plus. Once camp is set up I can attach the 70-200mm lens's padded case to the side of the chest bag and sling the whole thing over my shoulder and and head out to photograph more or less unencumbered.
I've seen folks carrying their cameras unprotected on the trail, but that feels too risky to me. It is all too easy to bump a tree or rock or to have a slip, and the wrong kind of accident could bring photography to a screeching halt. Oh, this bag also has a waterproof cover that can quickly be deployed in the event of rain.
Great set, enjoyed the B&W image, as well, but found photo #3 to be hot or slightly washed out on the left hand side, would have liked a bit more detail there.
The rest are lovely images, nice work.
Brian
roythegreat wrote:
They are gorgeous. I like them all. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers Roy!
keepclicking wrote:
I really like the last image, beautifully composed. Well done.
Thanks for the input, keepclicking!
gdanmitchell wrote:
Based on that triangular shaped peak, I think I have an idea where this was. Definitely a wonderful, target-rich environment! :-)
As to chest harnesses, for more than a decade I've been using one of the large LowePro Toploader chest-mount bags. I can get a 5DsR with a 24-70mm lens in there, and stuff a wide zoom crosswise at the bottom, with room to put a filter or two, some batteries, and other odds and ends into various pockets.
The thing is a bit tricky to put on since it attaches to a full chest strap system (four straps) that goes behind my back, but once you figure it out it works well. (The trick is to disconnect one of the lower straps from the bag to put it on and then reattach that strap.)
I carry an additional 70-200mm lens in a padded case near the top of the main compartment of my backpack and strap my tripod to the outside of the pack.
There are two small minuses to be aware of with the chest bag approach:
1 — You'll sweat underneath it. Yeah, you knew that already.
2 — In very rough terrain (e.g. - class 2 or higher cross country) it is sometimes important to be able to see your feet, and the front-mounted camera bag can block the view. In most cases I can sort of look around the sides of the bag, but in really rough conditions I remove it and cram in into/onto my backpack.
There's also one plus. Once camp is set up I can attach the 70-200mm lens's padded case to the side of the chest bag and sling the whole thing over my shoulder and and head out to photograph more or less unencumbered.
I've seen folks carrying their cameras unprotected on the trail, but that feels too risky to me. It is all too easy to bump a tree or rock or to have a slip, and the wrong kind of accident could bring photography to a screeching halt. Oh, this bag also has a waterproof cover that can quickly be deployed in the event of rain.
Thanks for these thoughts Dan. Certainly lots of impressive features in this area with interesting light as well!
I'll post up some photos once I've finished my bag, but I'm hoping to slim down from the classic toploader design. It will mean that there's a bit less protection for the camera in terms of padding, and there will be less compartments for accessories. What I'm going for though, is a hip-chest pack combo that I can take up to moderate 5th (when in the hip pack mode, in which case it will be swiveled around to my lower back). A design inspiration is the Patagonia Classic Hip Chest Pack, for fly fishing, that is discontinued. Some climbing photographers use this system with good results. I would purchase one of these if they were still available. Using XPac should lighten my load a bit, and depending on how I integrate the straps it could be quite modular.
Brian Woolf wrote:
Great set, enjoyed the B&W image, as well, but found photo #3 to be hot or slightly washed out on the left hand side, would have liked a bit more detail there.
The rest are lovely images, nice work.
Brian
Thank you Brian. That's a good point about #3 that I hadn't noticed. Will reprocess it soon Cheers!
Jeffrey wrote:
Too much chatting about your gear and you neglected to say what location this is.
Intentional neglect For anyone interested in more location details on my images, PM'ing is best. I find providing specific location information/geotagging, when done collectively, leads to places being over-loved. Does that generate elitism? Not sure.
Nice set of a gorgeous area. The last is my favorite - wonderful light and reflection. I agree with Brian's critique of some hot areas (in a few shots). If that last one was mine I'd pull down a GND from the top left corner to bring more detail into the clouds, but I imagine your version is very close to reality. Agree on the lack of geo-tagging location info.
Jim Dockery wrote:
Nice set of a gorgeous area. The last is my favorite - wonderful light and reflection. I agree with Brian's critique of some hot areas (in a few shots). If that last one was mine I'd pull down a GND from the top left corner to bring more detail into the clouds, but I imagine your version is very close to reality. Agree on the lack of geo-tagging location info.
Thank you Jim for the thoughts! It does seem like folks like the last one the most— funny as that would is my third or fourth pick haha. I’ll play around more with bringing the highlights down selectively, thanks.
If anyone has a GRCP that they would be willing to share detailed photos of, I'd appreciate it. Planning to use XPac fabric with water-resistant Y2K zippers. Still deciding on what type of webbing I want to use for the straps. Full climb-spec webbing would be fun but generally overkill and harder on my sewing machine. Will post results of it once I'm done (in awhile).
Cheers!
Dusy is also a beautiful place!