The Things I Carry

After being inspired by another blog (which I highly recommend btw), I decided to do a posting of the contents of my camera bag.  This is mostly what I travel with, since my camera bag pretty much goes everywhere I go.

It doesn't seem like that much when it's in the bag but when its laid out like this, it looks like a lot.  So I'll start in the upper left hand corner and work my way around.  Do try to keep up.

1.  The manuals for my camera.  I don't normally need to look them up but when there is something different that I want to try, they are always nice to have.  Given that I just got a new camera (I'll get to that in a bit), there are some new features that I need to learn about anyway.
2.  A dog-eared copy of the 2012 Know Your Ships.  This is a nice little reference when asked about ships and there are other people around.  I have newer copies at home but the dog eared copy looks more traveled.
3.  A bottle of pain killers.  A few years ago, I flew to California and I had a cold.  I couldn't get any aspirin on the plane, so I figured it would always be good to have a bottle with me.
4.  A pair of wild flower identification books.  They will occasionally come in handy when I feel like identifying the wild flowers I take pictures of.  The lower one breaks them down into the various shapes.
5.  Some cleaning materials for the camera.  There is micro fiber clothe for the lens.  There are also tissue papers.
6.  The maps are Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania.  I know that maps may seem outdated in the age of the GPS but I still like to have them with me.  It is sometimes easier to get the idea of a location when I see it on paper.  However, if you look in the lower left corner, you will see my trusty GPS (or as I call it, the Yuppie Plastic Jesus).  Besides, the official state maps have information that a GPS will not give you.
7.  My 175 to 500mm lens.  This is pretty useful for taking football pictures and pictures of distant ships.  However when taking pictures of ships, sometimes they are hazy.
8.  Just below that lens is my Bomba.  It is very useful for blowing dust off my camera.
9.  Speaking of which, here is my first picture of my new camera.  It is a Canon 70D.  It is close enough to my old 50D that I don't have much of a learning curve but there are a couple things it can do that my 50D can't.  One of the new features that I like is the fact that I can connect through WiFi with my camera so that I can post quick pictures to facebook.
10.  Above the camera is a shutter release.  If you are going to do night pictures, a shutter release and tripod are very important because typically these use long exposures and both will reduce the amount of motion from the camera.
11.  To the left of the camera is a radio scanner.  I've avoided buying one for years because it is fairly easy to get information on the travel of ships.  However, since I've started to follow trains, it is much easier to track trains.
12.  Next we have M-Hat VI.  It pretty much goes everwhere I go.
13.  Below the hat, we have my other two lenses...the 75 to 300mm and 55 to 250mm.  Of those two, I am starting to like the 55 to 250mm more.  I think it is a little more versatile.
14.  I don't carry the Amtrak blanket with me everywhere, but I do prefer Amtrak to other modes of travel.

So there you have it.

Messing With Macro

Before I left for work this morning, I wanted to try out the macro capability of the new lens on my new camera.  I figured what better subject than my trains.

 Since it was out on the line, I decided to start with my BNSF train in Santa Fe colors.  I really like this particular engine.  But this shot doesn't really do it for me.

 So I tried to get a little closer to the front.  I don't think there is all that much difference between this lens and my other lens, but I think I may need to play with it a little more.

 So I moved over to my newer CN engine since it was in a spot easily visible.  I see that I need to figure out the lines on the camera.  One thing I liked about this new camera is that they incorporated the lines into the camera, so I don't have to get a new focusing screen.

 The Wolverine was sitting on the mainline, and I really like the lighting on this picture.

 The Union Pacific engine was in a spot where I could take pictures.

So I closed in just a little bit.

Based on last night and this morning, I think I'm really going to like this particular camera.  I discovered that I can upload pictures to facebook through my phone.  That should be cool, I think.

The Passing of the Torch

Well, I knew the day would come when I would have to get myself a new camera.  I was actually hoping to avoid this day because I like my old camera.  It was starting to behave wonky and as I was at the baseball game yesterday, I was starting to get a couple of wierd errors.  Prior to that, the Info screen would come on for no reason, so I was starting to look into a new camera.

I've had this particular camera for five years.  It was the camera that I started this blog with.  It has been on the Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Capitol Limited, Lakeshore Limited and of course the Wolverine.  It's been a few plane trips.  It's covered football and basketball games and a few other things.  It's not completely dead, so I will probably use it as my secondary camera during football games so that I don't have to swap lens.

If you look closely, you will see spots where the black paint has started to wear off.  That's not because I abused the camera but I used it alot.  So it will get to enjoy a sort of retirement.

My new camera is a Canon 70D, so it is a couple models up from this one.  It has a few more bells and whistles and there are some things that I learn.  I can only hope that it lives up to the camera pictured above.

Huron Camera

This one is not so much for the pictures but more for the thanks. As I said in my first post, I would say more later about why I had to go to Dexter. Actual camera stores are getting fewer and further between. So last night as my lens cap took a dive in the Huron River, I looked around at the various stores in Ann Arbor and I couldn't find a replacement. Best Buy had ones but not for the lens on my camera. Meijer didn't have any lens cap. Wal-Mart had some but again not for my lens. Target didn't have any. K-mart didn't have any. So I thought I would have to resort to the net for a lens cap but I remembered the camera shop in Dexter, so there I went and they were able to help me.The camera shop is on Main Street in Dexter and they've been in business in 1969. They have a pretty decent selection of photography related things and the prices seemed reasonable. I believe they also carry proper film if you so desire.

I kind of liked the sign. And 1 Hour Photo seems to be from a bygone era. If you're in Dexter, check them out.