capturing the landscape

Different types of photography, by their very nature, dictate the need for different accessories and one such necessity for landscape photographers is some type of flashlight.  As with all things in outdoor photography, it is important to evaluate what feature best address our photo requirements.  With respect to landscape photography, we need something that is small (I already carry too much stuff); something waterproof (I’ve been know to fall into both still and running water); something robust (things fall from my vest and pockets all the time); also, something with various brightness levels and long run times (I’ll explain later…). It would also be nice if this were free or at least cheap – somehow that specification however, never materializes (drat).

I have used and owned a number of flashlights and there are a number of good sites which even specialize in only flashlights – one in particular I highly recommend is BrightGuy.

NovaTac's Storm

Of all the lights I’ve used and had any experience with, the one which I believe meets all the objectives is NovaTac and particularly the Storm.  The Storm is really small – weighing in at 3.1 ounces with battery and will fit anywhere at merely 3.3 inches.  Anything smaller and it would be too hard to hold.  It’s waterproof down to 66 feet (beyond that, I’ve lost it anyway…).  Robust? NovaTac builds to military specifications.  It’s made of Aerospace Grade Aluminum and has a hard anodized finish with a limited lifetime warranty. Now the importance of various brightness levels is that this light runs for 30 minutes at 120 lumens, really bright!, 2.5 hours at 42 lumens and an incredible 14 hours at 10 lumens.  10 lumens is useful when you want to check the status of your camera without getting everyone around you upset at the brightness of your flashlight – it’s a very low light but just enough to get the job done.  Additionally, this light has a disorienting strobe which I’m sure will come in handy should you surprise a bear at night – or you could throw your flashlight and run, hopefully faster than your nearly departed friends.

So what are the detriments? Well, price for one – the Storm retails for $99.  You could search the Internet and get a better deal and as I’ve already concluded, you get what you pay for.  Another possible drawback is the use of CR123A lithium batteries.  This is common with technical flashlights since they hold a charge for much longer periods than typical batteries thus you generally get a bigger bang for the size in term of light and longevity.  It is however, more difficult to replace when traveling so you need to ensure that you have backups.

NovaTac has more flashlights and if the Storm doesn’t meet your needs, there are other very good alternatives. In any event, the Storm is one very technical and competent flashlight which could meet the needs of many landscape photographers.

{ 0 comments }

If you came here thinking this post’s title “Horology” was a XXX lesson, shame on you!  Horology refers to the art and science of timekeeping.  Now, there are a number of things that you need for landscape photography in addition to the obvious camera, lens and tripod – if nothing else, this may be good justification, to the higher authority, (read wife).  One such important piece of gear is a good outdoor photography watch. I thought though, that this would be a good time to get a real understanding of watches, since most only understand Rolex and Timex – and to that they only know one is more expensive.

We can generally divide watches into two major categories – mechanical and quartz (eg Rolex and Timex).  Now, as a parallel, one could assume that mechanical would be like a typewriter and quartz would be like a computer with word processing.  But life doesn’t always work in parallel.  Quartz watches, although generally more accurate, are also generally junk – with some exceptions which we’ll discuss.  No offense, but there are very few, high quality quartz watches.  They are substantially cheaper and outside of a very few manufacturers show up as one time productions to meet the Christmas rush.  Even so called name branded watches are just the same old cheap watches that others sell without the brand.  I didn’t mean to pop any bubbles there but once I get into the specifics of what comprises a good watch, you’ll understand.  Now, if you’re thinking “I can buy five Yugos for the price of one Mercedes” – you’re missing the point and need to go to the back of the line……

mechanical movement

A mechanical watch is essentially the same spring and gear mechanism which was invented reportedly as early as 1250  – only with better materials, processing and other innovations.  The guts of the watch – the part with springs and gears – is know as the movement.  To many who appreciate watches, this is the most important element.  Patek Phillippe, whose watches are totally hand made, are some of the most prized movements available and actually appreciate in value.  Now a mechanical watch can be manually wound or automatically wound.  Most are automatics which mean that they have a balance level on the movement which winds the watch through the movement of your wrist.

Let me discuss some of the features of a watch:

The transparent cover or crystal on the watch is normally made of plastic, glass or synthetic crystal. Obviously this is the range of cheaper to better.  The synthetic crystals can be mineral crystal or sapphire crystal, sapphire being very close in hardness to diamonds. This is another of the distinguishing features of why a good watch costs more.

The crown or winding mechanism is use to wind and set the watch and will actually screw into the case of the watch to provide water proofing.

The case can be made of any number of materials from plastic, stainless steel to gold and platinum.  Within any of the metal the finish may be smooth or satin. This becomes a personal preference, but to me, the brushed or satin finishes look better and doesn’t scratch quite as easily. In cheaper quartz watches, the metals used are often plated and deteriorate quickly – again, another reason good watches cost more.

The strap can also be made of various materials, again from rubber to leather and from stainless steel to gold or platinum.  In addition to an obvious price spread, the practicality of the various bands need to be considered.  Leather may look good but tends to absorb body moisture,  stretches and needs to be replaced often. For outdoor use, gold and platinum are out of place both because of price and because it looks weird to run around outdoors photographing in gold and platinum – I don’t know, your call…  Rubber and stainless steel are best for sports use, with rubber taking an edge because of it’s lighter weight and resistance to scratching.

The buckle on the strap needs to be understood.  The typical tang buckle which involves a pin (the tang) and buckle work great with rubber straps.  It will however, quickly destroy a leather band and a far more practical deployant clasp should be considered for leather and other straps.

One of the other feature, critically important for outdoor use is visibility. Watch faces look great in the store or during the day.  Much of landscape photography is done in low light conditions and without proper luminosity are worthless. Additionally, since you usually travel to shoot landscapes, a watch which can be seen in the night is extremely useful. Very few watches have enough innate light to be truly useful.

Putting this all together, I highly recommend two watches for outdoors photography. The first is a Luminox Navy Seal 3001 which has a carbon reinforced case with Mineral Crystal, security gasket crown, rubber silicon strap a Swiss Quartz movement and great luminosity.  For around $180 on the Internet, it’s hard to beat this watch.

Luminox Navy Seal

Ball Fireman II

The second watch costs more at around $1,000 is all stainless steel with sapphire crystal, an ETA mechanical automatic movement, screw down waterproof crown and unbeatable luminosity – the Ball Fireman II.

Both watches are available on the Internet (although the Ball is more difficult to find) and are really best in class for the purpose of landscape photography.

The watch you get should be selected much like your camera and lens – with a specific purpose in mind.  If you want a dress watch, you would obviously use a different selection process.  For landscape photography however, you want water proof, durable and ease of reading during low light.  These two watches can certainly double for sport or even some dress wear and they represent a range of value for inexpensive to moderately expensive.  Your interests may vary and there are a wide range of watches available all the way to collectibles but it’s hard to beat these two recommendations.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

It’s hard to be creative when your freezing as you think of nothing other than how you’re feeling.  Landscape photography is by it’s very nature you against the environment and what works for home and the office doesn’t work outside. You need to completely revamp your wardrobe.

Begin by eliminating cotton – down to your skivvies.  Regardless of weather conditions, physical exertion results on moisture, which cotton, instead of breathing, clings to the body and in certain instances reduces body  temperature  resulting potentially in deadly hypothermia.  As a best case you’ll feel clammy and uncomfortable.  And yes, jeans and the typical underwear are cotton.

Dressing in layers can be really comfortable if done correctly. First of all layers are now being offered in polyester (also known as Capilene by Patagonia) and good old fashioned wool (the non itch kind to which I’m not fully convinced).

Patagonia ziptop layer

The secret to layering is to go as light as possible. A really thin top and light light down jacket (aka sweater) will keep you comfortable down to below freezing. A few tricks on the top – consider a zip mock turtle neck.  This  really helps in regulating you body temperature in any number of weather conditions.  Additionally, ensure the cuffs are tight around the wrists.  If they’re loose, cool breezes will quickly lower you body temperature. (Patagonia has a light weight layer which meets all the criteria and works well.)

The same thing goes for bottoms – a light, relatively tight fitting poly work extremely well. I’ll write later on other layers but this really covers the first layer.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }