Costa Rica Trek. Pura Vida!

What a terrific trip to Costa Rica! The Mentor Series folks really know how to put together trip! I want to send out a special thanks to Michelle and Erica for all their hard work in putting together this Trek. I had the pleasure to work with super photographer Bill Durrence once again. Bill and I had the opportunity to work together on my first Mentor Series Trek to Death Valley.

We had wonderful tour guides from Swiss Travel Costa Rica, thanks German and Melody for making our trip so memorable. You took care of us like we were family. Service, service, service.

We saw all sorts of wildlife while traveling around the countryside. We visited the cloud forest, rain forest and the coastal waterways on the north end of the Caribbean near Tortuguero. Here are a few images from the trip, this will have to be a short post today as I leave for my next adventure on Tuesday.

If you have not been on a Mentor Series Trek before, your missing out. They're a lot of fun, you meet some really nice folks and you get to learn all sorts of new techniques working with the Mentors. My next Mentor Series Trek is to Newport Rhode Island in July. If your interested in joining me there, contact the Mentor Series. DT

Hackintosh.... I did it!

I am always looking to reduce the amount of stuff I have to carry on assignment and personal trips. I recently bought a Dell Inspiron mini 10V netbook, in order to reduce the size of my travel computer. I'm a MAC guy and it hurt me to buy a Dell for sure, however, my Dell is now a MAC!

All I really need from my travel computer is the ability to check email, surf the web, store images, and video conference with my wife and son via Skype. I typically don't process my images on the road, I really just need a way to view them and store them until I get home.

I ran across a wonderful web site that showed in detail, how to convert a Dell 10V into a MAC. The web site is called Gizmodo.com and the actual post which gives you the details to do this is here. I am so excited to have done this, I've been a MAC guy forever and just did not understand how the Windows system worked. I guess you just get use to what your use to? Anyway, I now have a min netbook MAC with OSX Snow Leopard running and I couldn't be happier.

Costa Rica - How I'm Packing My Gear

At the end of this month, I head to Costa Rica on my 4th Mentor Series Trek. I'm really looking forward to visiting Costa Rica, this will be my first time there. I thought I'd give you an idea how I'm packing for this trip.

Like a lot of you, I've owned a lot of different camera bags over the years. I own rollers, backpacks and belt systems to carry my gear. I choose the carrying method based upon the assignment at hand. On this particular trip, I'll be taking my new Lowepro Vertex 200 AW. I'd have to say it is one of the finest constructed backpack style camera bags I've had the pleasure of using.

As usual I'll be taking two camera bodies, my primary, a Nikon D700 and my Nikon D300 as backup. I'll also be taking along a new snap and shoot from Nikon, the CoolPix P90. I'm looking forward to play with that.

The lenses I'll be taking with me will include the following: My Nikon 14-24 f/2.8, Nikon 24-70 f/2.8, Nikon 80-400 f/4.5/5.6, Just to keep the weight down, I've opted for the 80-400 instead of the 80-200 f/2.8. I'll be also bring a cleaning kit, loupe, neutral density filters and a polarizer filter and my tripod. I'll be taking plenty of CF cards, a laptop to download images to as well as an external HD for backup.

Here is what the inside of the Vertex 200 AW looks like packed.

What I like in particular are these clever outside zipper pockets that allow me to arrange my various filters and CF cards. You'll also notice a nice tripod holder on in the center of the pack. I might also add that the pack is very comfortable to wear, it's harness system allows for a variety of adjustment to fit your particular body type.

I'm just amazed how much camera stuff we take as photographers when we travel and how important it is to protect it. Not only the protection offered by well made camera bags but also when your gear is in your hotel room. I've used a clever device called PacSafe for years. My PacSafe 85 is large enough to secure my Lowepro backpack safely in my hotel room. Basically, it is a high-tensile stainless steel locking mesh device that allows me to lock my bags to a secure fixture in the room ie. toilet.

During the Mentor Series Treks I'll be giving lighting demonstrations using speedlights. With that in mind, I'll be bring 2 SB-800's, a small Bogen light stand and Justin clamp. The modifiers I'll take with me will be the double folding 43" inch Wescott umbrella as well as my 33" folding Lastolite Tri-Grip.

Click Camera Club

This coming Thursday January 21, I'll be the guest speaker at the Working with Artists Camera Club "Click!", in Lakewood, CO. Social begins at 6 PM and my presentation starts at 6:30 PM. If your in the area, I'd love to meet you. They are located in the Belmar Arts District at 445 South Saulsbury Street, Lakewood, CO 80226. 303.837.1341 See you there.

Up date: Had a wonder time last night, thanks for making me feel so welcomed. As promised, here is a link to my SSBR B&H wish list of equipment.

Santa Fe Workshop - March 21 - 27th, 2010

For those of you that were unable to sign up for the sold out SSBR February 21, 2010 workshop, I have good news for you. We have just added an additional SSBR workshop!

The workshop will be held on March 21 - 27th in Santa Fe. I just love these workshops and I know you will too. Please contact the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops at (505) 983-1400 before they sell out again.

My VISA Has Arrived!

After several delays and a very frustrating process, I now have my VISA for Saudi Arabia. I'm headed out early next month shortly after returning from the Mentor Series Trek to Costa Rica.

I'll be teaching a series of private workshops for the Shadow & Light Photography Group. This will be my first time to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I'm really looking forward to this experience.

I'll post more about this later. DT