Other

My gear

I regularly receive emails about the gear I use, so I thought I’d write about it here, so I don’t have to retype the same email over and over again :)

Camera

I’ve been using Canon 5d Mark II for the last year and a half and I absolutely love it. It is large and heavy, but being able to shoot with the full frame sensor makes it so worth to carry around. Taking photos has been even bigger pleasure since I’ve got that camera. I still have my previous camera body as a back up (Canon 40d), but I haven’t been using it at all since I got 5d mark II.

Lenses

Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8 USM. That’s my most used lens. I think at least 90% of my photos are currently taken with that lens. It’s sharp, it focuses reasonably fast and the 24mm end is wide enough for me to not need a wide angle lens (at least not yet ;) ). Together with the camera body it weights almost 2kg, so it’s definitely not the kind of gear everyone would be happy with. But I love it and if there was just one lens I had to use for the rest of my life, it would be that one.

Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II. It is probably the simplest and the cheapest fixed lens Canon has ever made. But despite its simplicity it is pretty awesome. I don’t use it much, but when I do, I am always pleased with the quality this small, plastic toy-like lens delivers.

Canon EF 70-200mm f4.0 L USM. This is my least used lens, and I only carry it with me if I am absolutely sure it could be useful. I photograph people, daily life, cultures and events, so telephoto zoom is not the kind of lens that works best for this kind of photography. But it is still an amazing lens that I use from time to time.

Light

Canon Speedlite 58oEX II. This is the latest addition to my collection. I only got it three weeks ago and I am still far from being able to use it with confidence. I never used flash before, so this is a brand new experience for me.

Yongnuo Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2. This allows me to use my flash off camera. Similarly to my 580EX II, I only got it a couple of weeks ago and I am still learning how to work with it.

Storage

When at home, I store my photos on a dedicated external hard drive, but when travelling, I use HyperDrive Colourspace UDMA 460GB. It is awesome! The drive is very light and small and reads most types of cards. When my memory card is full, I just put it into the card reader of the drive and it takes less than 5min for 8GB of photos to be transferred from the card to the drive. All the photos can be previewed on the driver’s screen, which is a bonus.

Another equipment I use from time to time includes a medium size tripod and a cable release (those two get to be used for night photography).

That’s all my gear. As you can see there is not too much of it. I like simplicity (and I hate heavy camera bags), so I never carry all of it with me. I just pick and choose what I think would work best for the stuff I am going to be photographing. So far, this approach has been working for me quite well. I’d rather stretch myself with just one lens, than carry a heavy bag and waste time on switching lenses and worrying about all the gear I have on me.

The above photo was taken with an iPhone, so apologies for the poor quality.

Archives

June 27, 2011 by Magda

My online portfolio is live

After almost two years of thinking about putting together an online portfolio, I have finally done it. It took me very long to figure out which photos to include and how I wanted to present my work. At the end, I decided to take minimalistic approach – I wanted this portfolio to be only about photographs and nothing else. You will notice there is hardly any text there, and that’s the way I like it (I hope you like it too).

You can see my portfolio HERE

You can also like my photography on Facebook

Archives

June 1, 2011 by Magda

Travel Photo Roulette Round 18: Transportation

I must say that it was not an easy decision. I had to do a lot of thinking to decide which photo should be a winner in this round. It’s because all the photos fantastically illustrate the subject, but at the same time are so different. So after pretty long consideration I made my decision.

And the Winner is… Jeremy from Living the Dream RTW!

Congratulation to Jeremy! I love the photo for soft colors and for the contrast between the vast landscape and small car. Well done Jeremy!

Jeremy will now host the next round of the Travel Photo Roulette.

First Runner up – Jaime from Breakaway Backpacker

Second Runner Up - Peter from Hectic Travel.

The previous Travel Photo Roulette was hosted by Jason at Travel Junkies and I was very excited to see that my photo of Petronas Towers won. So it is now my turn to host the next round. I had a good think about the theme and I decided to go for TRANSPORTATION. Transport is an integral part of travel. We move from place to place using all kinds of transport – buses, trains, boats, ferries, bikes, planes, horse carts, rickshaws, cars and many other. Look through your travel photos and I am sure you will discover some interesting shots that represent this topic. Below is my interpretation of this topic. This photo was taken inside moto rickshaw somewhere in Delhi, India.

Please try to get as many people as possible involved by sharing this page by using the Facebook and Twitter buttons at the bottom of this post.

Contest Rules

The rules of the game are simple. The hosting blogger is the chosen winner of the previous week’s (7 days) game. The new host chooses a generic keyword or phrase that other travelers submit photos to during the course of the week. Phrases can be as generic as ‘signs’ all the way to abstract thoughts like ‘religion’ and everything in between. At the end of the week, the hosting blogger chooses their favorite photo that fits the chosen phrase and moves it to the top of the post as the winning entry with direction to the new host’s site for the next round.
Readers can attempt to sway the author into picking a certain photo via comments, but the author (that’s me!) can ignore comments as they see fit. The game is repeated with the winner hosting the following week’s game and choosing a phrase for new photo submissions.

Previous Photo Roulette Hosts

The following is a list of the previously played rounds of the game and the hosting blogger for each. This list also doubles as a winner’s table as each topic host won the preceding round! Click the host’s link to go directly to that entry to see some stunning photographs from the chosen term/phrase!
And a big kudos goes out to Jeremy of Living the Dream who started this whole thing. What an amazing idea to allow us travel bloggers to share our photos with others.
1. Nov 4–10, 2010 Living the Dream – “Animals”
2. Nov 17–24, 2010 Skinny Backpacker – “Road Signs”
3. Nov 29–Dec 6, 2010 Dream a Little Dream – “Street Art”
4. Dec 8–Dec 15, 2010 Flashpacker HQ – “Festival”
5. Dec 17–Dec 24, 2010 Over Yonderlust – “Landmarks”
6. Dec 26–Jan 2, 2011 Don’t Ever Look Back – “Beaches”
7. Jan 5–Jan 12, 2011 ThePlanetD – “Portraits”
8. Jan 15–Jan 22, 2011 Travel with a Mate – “Motion”
9. Jan 26–Feb 3, 2011 Johnny Vagabond – “Water”
10. Feb 8–Feb 15, 2011 Ken Kaminesky – “Urban”
11. Feb 21–Feb 27, 2011 Travels of Adam – “Friday Night”
12. Mar 7 – Mar 13, 2011 Itchy Feet Chronicles – “The Journey”
13. Mar 19 – Mar 25, 2011 Brendan’s Adventures – “Changing Seasons”
14. Apr 4 – Apr 10, 2011 Shutterfeet – “Storytelling”
15. Apr 13- Apr 21, 2011 10timesOne – “Piousness”
16. Apr 26 – May 4, 2011 Beached Eskimo – “Learning”
17. May 21 – May 27, 2011 Travel Junkies – “Architecture”

Extra Criteria to Keep in Mind When Submitting a Photo:

One submission per Blog (so sites that have 2+ authors only get one entry).
No photoshopping allowed unless specifically called for! Cropping and correction for red-eye or camera flaws are ok, however. I don’t mind Photoshop as long as the image looks natural. Therefore, no HDR.
Abstract submissions welcomed as long as it fits within the interpretation of the chosen phrase. Remember, the hosting blogger chooses the winner, so if they cannot understand the submission, you might not win!
Keep phrases general so that all bloggers can participate. Specific items like “Eiffel Tower” should be avoided but rather made open-ended like “monuments.” For variety, it is ok to say focused things such as “monuments at night” in which most of us have pictures of.
Abstract thoughts are appreciated, but keep it within the realm that all readers will understand. No “Kafka-esque”, but “Overlooking Creation” is able to be interpreted by all.
No obscene pictures or phrases allowed. Suggestive phrases and photography can be accepted, but please keep it within reason.
After a sufficient period of time, phrases can be reused, however new photos must be submitted.
Keep the ideas and photos fresh!
Pictures from your entire portfolio are fair to submit. You do not have to take the photo within the week of the contest period to submit it.
Most importantly, ALL PHOTOS MUST BE YOUR OWN.

To Submit An Image

To enter in the Photo Roulette competition simply leave a comment below with a link to the image (whether Flickr, Picasa or your own site) and I’ll upload it to this post. Don’t forget to provide a brief description or caption for the photo so the viewers can get a little background as to what’s happening.

Check back here through the week to see all the entries as they come in – feel free to comment on them. The contest runs for 7 days, with the submission date being now until Tuesday, the 7th of June 2011 . I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, 8th of June, and he or she will host round 19.

One last rule, since this is a competition for bloggers, we need you to be a blogger to be declared a winner. Sorry!

Entry 1 Brendan from BrendansAdventure. I love how my transportation in Antarctica is dwarfed by the immense scenery.

Entry 2 Monsun from Scientka. he most awesome travel/transportation experience of my life was riding on top of a truck in Uganda a few years back. The rainy season had already started and as a result of that all roads turned into almost impassable mud. It took us over 10h to travel 30km and we had to push/pull the truck every few minutes.

Entry 3 Nancy from Family On Bikes. One of our favorite moments while riding our bikes from Alaska to Argentina was when we stumbled into this market in southern Peru. So colorful and full of life!

Entry 4 Matt from Matt Koening Photography. This is a pedestrian footbridge in Eugene Oregon that allows pedestrians to cross over a very busy highway to get to the local mall as well as bike paths along the Willamette River. Before this bridge pedestrians and bicyclists had to navigate a busy intersection so it’s a critical transportation piece that has cut down on the number of vehicle vs. pedestrian accidents.

Entry 5 Jaime from Breakaway Backpacker. My photo comes from inside a very popular mode of transport in Central America the CHICKEN BUS. Here you can grasp how full they fill up these babies while going long distances.

Entry 6 Nathan from As We Travel. This was Georgetown’s answer to the ‘ice cream truck’.

Entry 7 Amanda from Dangerous Business. This photo was taken on the TranzAlpine train, a rail journey that takes passengers through the mountains from Christchurch to Greymouth, New Zealand. The ride is said to be one of the world’s great scenic railway journeys, and I think I’m inclined to agree!

Entry 8 Torre from Fearfull Adventure. Taken on the Annapurna trek in the Himalayas, this photo captures the mountains’ main transportation system: human legs. These women are pausing to rest on their grueling upwards climb, carrying heavy supplies — like Pepsi! — to service the wealthy tourists who flock to teahouses after a day of trekking.

Entry 9 Ordinary Traveller. Taken at sunset at a lagoon in Cabarete in the Dominican Republic.

Entry 10 Jenna Gmakowski. This photo was taken in Zadar, Croatia. In a place where cars cannot go.

Entry 11 Anthony from Possitive Travel. This photograph was taken whilst in Tulum Mexico. The use a sort of rickshaw to get around and offer people lifts at a reduced rate compare to a taxi.

Entry 12 Peter from Hecktic Travelers. This was not an easy capture as we were both traveling around 100km/h though the windy roads on Vancouver Island, Canada. One last chance for this couple to get the convertible out and enjoy the fall sunshine. It took a steady hand and a straight away to get this shot.

Entry 13 Jeremy from Living The Dream RTW. Riding a Jeep in Wadi Rum, Jordan is exactly like it is pictured – wide open spaces going very, very fast. Watch out for the cop hiding behind the boulders, however, as our driver was quite literally pulled over in the desert.

Entry 14 Mike and Luci from 1000flights. If I were to chose my preferred mode of transportation, it would be a Lipizzaner stallion from Lipca, Slovenia.

Entry 15 Tretos. Emptiness & Fullness – Tibet.

Entry 16 Madhav. A lazy afternoon in Delhi.

Entry 17 Rebecca from Travels At 88mph. Typical commuter rides in Sydney, Australia.

Entry 18 Lilliane from Wanderlass. As long as it transports us…

Entry 19 Dina and Ryan from Vagabond Quest.

Here’s a great example of a diablo rojo, literally “red devil”, the flamboyant chicken buses that clog the streets of Panama City. Your 25 cent fare buys you colourful flashing lights, disco sound system, pimped-out paint job and a manic daredevil driver who leans on the horn and cuts across traffic at high speed any time he spots someone by the road who might want a ride. The city government is busy buying out the diablo rojo drivers and retiring the buses, replacing them with a modern, clean, and dead boring city-operated fleet, so if you want to see the diablo rojos you’ll need to get to Panama soon.

Entry 20 Ian from Mallory on Travel. The speedy scooter boys of Marrakech.

Entry 21 Manyu from Shutter Feet. The ubiquitous yellow cab seen everywhere in NYC.

Entry 22 Slice from iBackpacker Travel. Batman took us around Siem Reap and Angkor, Cambodia.

Entry 23 Jason from Travel Junkies. A common mode of transportation in Nicaragua is the horse cart. This photo was taken in Granada when we were there just last month. I really miss Central America!

Entry 24 Cam from Traveling Canucks. Elephant transportation in the jungles of Nepal.

Entry 25 Dee from Dream A Little Dream. One of the many ways to cross a river while traveling in S.E. Asia. (Chiang Pai, Thailand).

Entry 26 Cekngiz from Riding Out The Economy. A look at how awesome Saigon is.

Entry 27 Operation Backpack Asia. We had one self-imposed rule that we quickly adopted with a shrug as we bounced and bumped our way over the non-roads of Mongolia: “We don’t question the Dogie.” (our driver, who often operated his beloved Jeep in mysterious ways, such as randomly opening the door and leaning way out to look under the car…while we were driving full-speed over the very bumpy rutted dirt roads – but always seemed, strangely enough, to know exactly what he was doing). This was one moment maybe we should have broken that rule though. There’s nothing quite like the moment you realize your trusty Jeep driver bit off more than he could chew this time, and before you know it, there’s water up to your knees and fish swimming around your ankles…while you’re still sitting in the backseat of the jeep!!! On a 25-day expedition through Mongolia, there are no roads, no rules, and no guarantees except for one: it’s going to be the most incredible, crazy, memorable and awesome experience of your life! :)

Entry 28 Claire from Beachedeskimo. My entry is from my experience of taking the train in Uzbekistan. Taking the train feels like the way to do Central Asia, and you also get up close and personal with the people. Great fun!

Entry 30 Subir from Extraordinary Travel Experiences. This is a scene from rural India showing an important event. The bride leaving her village and going to her groom’s village. Since this is Rajasthan, a camel carriage, modest given the background of the bride, is what the bride uses. Her friends and family gather to say goodbye, not sure when they’ll see her again.

Entry 31 Stephen from Bohemian Traveler. A boy riding a water buffalo in northern Laos.

Archives

February 11, 2011 by Magda

How to improve your travel photos in 5 easy steps

You don’t need to have art degree and expensive equipment to take good photos. Having so called eye for photography (or a talent) definitely helps, but there are ways to take better pictures even if you are just a regular person with point-and-shoot camera, not knowing much about all the photography stuff like aperture, shutter speed or ISO. It’s a bit like with cooking – not everyone can (and want to) be Jaimie Oliver, but pretty much everyone with the slightest interest and willingness can learn how to cook decent dishes that other people can enjoy. This mini-tutorial is for this kind of people.

I don’t consider myself travel photography expert (or any other type of photography expert for that matter), but I think that over the years I have picked a few things that have helped me to take few decent photos. And I want to share some of those things. These are just the basics, but it all starts with basics, doesn’t it? I guarantee that if you follow those steps your photos will get better. It will probably take a little bit of time and practice, but once you figure it all out, following those steps will become a routine. And your photos will become more interesting.

So let’s get started!

Step 1 – Define the subject

The whole point of photography is to record something. In case of travel photography it can be many things – a person, a building, an object, a landscape. The key is to photograph it in such a way that it’s clear what the subject is. Each picture should have only one principal topic, idea, center of interest and this is what should grab viewers’ attention the minute they look at the photo. .So if you are photographic a person, make this person key element of your photo. If you are photographing Machu Picchu try to e.g. eliminate people in the first plan. If you are shooting a lady selling flowers on the street, try not to put surrounding people in the frame. Make it easy for viewers to understand what it is that you tried to capture.

Let me show you an example. I found this photo on Flickr and I can’t be sure what the subject is. Is it the Opera House? Is is a lady in green dress? Or maybe it’s a fence? I’m guessing that a person who took this photo tried to capture Opera House, but it’s been done in such a way that it’s not obvious. Opera House is not a center of interest in this photo. There is too much going on. The next three points will show you what you can do to avoid photos like the one in the example.

Step 2 – Try a few different angles

Sometimes moving just a step to the front/back/side can make a huge difference. Of course there will be situations when you won’t be able to try different angles (like when you are shooting a street scene that only lasts a few seconds), but if you are photographing a static or semi-static object do take time to explore few different options. Not all photos need to be taken while standing. Try to kneel down, climb the wall or maybe simply shoot from the side instead of up front. Move around your subject a bit and you will surely find some interesting angles. It really doesn’t take lots of time, but can make your images so much more interesting. Nobody is going to look at your photos for very long if they all similar in a style.

Step 3 – Use the rule of thirds

Rule of thirds is probably the best well known rule of photography. It’s also one that’s the easiest to follow, and one that can instantly improve your photos. All you need to do is to think for 2-3 seconds before you take a photo. In this time imagine breaking an image down – horizontally and vertically – into thirds, and as a results having 9 equal parts. The idea is to place the subject of your photos (or anything that you want to emphasize in the photo) in such a way that it sits along one of those imaginary lines or at the point where they cross. This helps to add balance to your photo. If the rule of thirds sounds complicated, don’t worry – its’ not. Read more explanations and see some examples here. With little practice it will become a natural thing for you to compose your shoots using this rule.

Step 4 – Think before you press shutter button

If I was to give only one photo advice to people who don’t know much about photography this would be it – think before you press the shutter button. Take a few seconds and check if you got your horizon straight. Scan the frame and see if there are any undesired elements within it. If you are shooting a portrait you don’t want somebody’s else back or hand in the frame, or if you are shooting landscape you don’t want an electricity pole in the frame right in the first plan. As I mentioned before, sometimes it’s just a matter of moving a tiny bit to the front or to the site. Don’t rush it. Spend 5 seconds examining the frame. I know in the digital era it’s cheap and easy to keep pressing the shutter button constantly, but if you are after quality (and not quantity) than it pays off to slow down.

Step 5 – Do some post processing

Photoshop is a modern day darkroom and don’t let people tell you that using it means cheating. It could be cheating if you use it to significantly alter your photos (like adding or removing objects ), but if used wisely, Photoshop can do magic. One thing to understand is that camera can’t see the world the way human eye can, so photos need some help to better reflect the original scene. You don’t need to be a master of Photoshop and spend hours editing your shots. All you need is about 30 seconds per photo (edit only those that are the best) and the ability to use the curve tool. There are many other tools available in Photoshop that can improve an image, but I believe that curves is the best and at the same time pretty easy to use (it’s the only PS tool I use). I won’t go here into explaining how it works, because David from Chromasia has done an excellent job explaining it. Just go to the link and open the sample tutorial called “Tonal range and the Curves tool“. It’s free of charge and I guarantee that if you apply this knowledge to your images they will look much, much better (if you only have Photoshop Elements – which is free of charge – you can still apply lots of the information from this tutorial).

And that’s it! 5 easy steps and your photos can be so much more interesting. Now go and try it for yourself. Let me know what you think. Maybe something needs more explanation. Or maybe you have other tips that work well for you. Share them with us!

Good luck with your photos!

Archives

January 26, 2011 by Magda

The value of money or why I think you can afford traveling

But I could never afford it! That’s probably the most common excuse people have to not travel. At least some of those people I’ve come across.

What a bull#^*&!!!

I’ve got a very simple message for them. Here it is*:

$1 small chocolate bar = huge masala dosa for breakfast in India

$5 Starbucks coffee = delicious dinner for two in Malaysia

$8 take away lunch = unforgettable ride on a bamboo train for up to 8 persons in Cambodia

$10 bottle of wine = double room with air-con, wifi, cable tv and breakfast in Vietnam

$12 movie ticket = sand boarding at sunset in Peru

$15 packet of cigarettes = elephant ride in Thailand

$25 bestselling book = scuba diving at the reef in the Philippines

$40 2-week cable subscription = two-day slow boat trip on Mekong River in Laos

$150 pair of Levi’s jeans = 10 days of budget stay (including accommodation, food and transport) in Bolivia

$360 Xbox = return flight from Quito in Ecuador to the Galapagos

*the dollar prices are those in Australia. The same items could cost something different in your country, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you can find the money if only you are ready for some sacrifices.

Archives

January 20, 2011 by Magda

My career break fact sheet

I’ve mentioned my career break trip on this blog quite a few times, but I haven’t really said much about it. I guess it’s time to do something about that.

Why

Sometimes around mid 2007 me and my then boyfriend (and now husband) decided it was time for us to move back to Europe. After living in Australia for a few years we wanted to try something new and be a bit closer to our families. And since in order to do that we were going to quit our jobs and sell all our stuff, we thought we might as well travel. We always wanted to do it, but there never seem to be the right time. This opportunity was perfect and we were going to use it as well as we could.

When

19 December 2008 was our last day at work. I remember this day very clearly, as it was one of the happiest moments of my life. I knew very special chapter of my life was about to start. We left Australia a week later. What was originally suppose to be a tree-month trip ended up lasting six time longer.

The trip officially ended on the 2nd of September 2010.

Where

There were three phases to this trip. We started with a semi-overland trip from Australia to Poland that took us about 8 months to complete. I call this phase semi-overland, because we did take a few flights. New Zealand was the first country we visited and the Philippines followed. From there we traveled pretty much only overland until we reached Poland – we went to Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Russia and Ukraine. We chilled out in Poland for about 5 weeks, visiting family and friends.

The second phase of out trip – South America – was suppose to be our cheap way of learning Spanish. We wanted to live in Spain and it made sense to work on our language skills first. Doing it in Spain was way too expensive. So we went to Ecuador, where we attended the language school and than we traveled through Galapagos, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Easter Island for about six months.

At that point we were suppose to return to the ‘normal’ life. But we just couldn’t do it. Traveling bug was so well developed at that stage, that we couldn’t just ignore it. Instead, we went back to Poland, spent another few awesome weeks with families and friends, and left for Nepal and India for tree months of adventure.

How

It was a typical backpacking, low-cost adventure. We stayed in cheap places, ate where locals did, used public transport, but we never tried to save money on things we really wanted to do (like going to Galapagos or Easter Island). We did not work on the road. We decided we hadn’t left one job to get another, but to travel and travel only.

What’s next

Somehow our move from Australia to Europe ended up being a move from Australia to… Australia. The dream of living in Spain had to be abandoned, as the global economic crisis affected Spanish economy really badly. There was no point going to a country with 20% unemployment rate. For similar reasons we didn’t want to live in Poland either. So the decision was made to give Australia another shot.

So here we are in Sydney, working full time jobs again, but we are very different people now. We know those full time jobs are just a phase. We want to travel. We want to live in Argentina, Thailand, Indonesia and Mexico for a bit. We want to keep discovering the world. We have a few ideas about how we could achieve that. And we are working on making them the reality. It will take some time, but I’m sure we will eventually live our dream lives :)