Category: photos

my 2 travel tripods

On By Rick McIn cycling, photos, product endorsements, travel1 Comment

For 2020 I’ll travel with two lightweight tripods:

  1. miggo splat (GoPro)
  2. Joby GripTight PRO Video mount (camera)

In fact, I can use either for GoPro or camera.

If I want to cut weight and only take one on a hike, it will likely be the more durable splat.

splat with GoPro

 

GripTight PRO with phone

My phone clamps in the past have been plastic and untrustworthy. The GripTight PRO costs CAD$63 and looks super durable. I don’t want my phone falling.

The arm is for panning video up and down, or side to side.

Of course I also have GoPro mounts for helmet and bike.

my CURRENT travel camera system

On By Rick McIn Apple, gymnastics, photos, product endorsements, travel1 Comment

As of May 2019.

Two cameras. The iPhone can be remotely controlled by my Apple Watch 3.

I’m trying to use voice control as much as I can for the GoPro.

I have GoPro attachments on both bike helmet and bike handlebars as well.  All mounts can attach either GoPro or iPhone.

What’s lacking most is the ability to ZOOM with either camera. I MIGHT carry a small camera with zoom, as well. I like zoom for distant animal sightings. And for Gymnastics.

I have 54,000 photos on Flickr

On By Rick McIn photos, travelLeave a comment

I uploaded ALL my new Patagonia photos to Flickr. So I’m caught up. Most of those are Creative Commons licensed.

It costs me $50 / year, double the old price.

I’ve had about 8 million views since July 2006 when Warren Long convinced me to start with Flickr.

Check them out.

my first PANORAMA photo

On By Rick McIn photosLeave a comment

This is Laguna de los Tempanos and Glacier Vinciguerra, Ushuaia, Argentina.

Here’s my trip report from that hike. Made on my iPhone X.

click for larger version

click for MUCH larger version

Amal Hussain | dies of starvation age-7

On By Rick McIn ethics, government, human rights, photosLeave a comment

Most Canadians know very little about Yemen.

I’ve been there and left very discouraged. The Houthi rebels are terrible. The vastly stronger Saudi military brutal.

Little Amal Hussain was born into this disaster. She died a few days after this photo was taken.

She’s only one of about nearly two million children suffering from severe malnutrition in Yemen.

The only upside – U.N. sponsored peace talks.

Certainly Saudi Arabia and Yemen need to work this out. The USA should QUIT Saudi Arabia. All Americans are complicit in the role their government has in this war.

Listen to an interview with the photographer:

In the three years that Saudi Arabia, supported by the United States, has been at war with the Houthis in Yemen, very few journalists have been allowed into the country to document what’s happening there. The New York Times journalist Tyler Hicks is one. This is the story of how he came to take a photograph of Amal Hussain that drew international attention to the country’s plight.

The Daily podcast

ancient walls of St. George’s, Bermuda

On By Rick McIn photos, travelLeave a comment

As a kid growing up in ultra-NEW Calgary I became enamoured of a poster from Europe showing a faded, decrepit wall.

I found it very evocative.

Daily walking the lanes of St. George’s, Bermuda — the oldest English settlement in the new world — I appreciated these.

Ancud, Chile with an iPhone X

On By Rick McIn cycling, photos, travelLeave a comment

I rented a bike and rode out of Ancud, Chile in search of the best empanada.

Screen shot from Maps.me

boring empanadas cost $1. This EXCELLENT version was $5.

Since I’m carrying a dedicated camera (Elf) and dedicated camcorder (Vixia) I don’t often use my iPhone X.

As an experiment, all my photos on this post are from the iPhone.

seaweed drying

On my computer the iPhone original photos look better than the Elf pics. But do they look better once reduced in size for the web?

I’m not sure.

my miggo splat flexible camera tripod

On By Rick McIn photos, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

Over the years I’ve tried a number of GorillaPods.

Cheap ones break quickly. Higher quality versions are a bit heavy and bulky.

A salesman at the Camera Store in Calgary recommended this alternative. I love it. Cheaper than a GorillaPod and far more durable. It’s light and compact for travel.

I’m using it with my Elf camera and Vixia camcorder. It wraps around either in their travel cases on my hip.

Click PLAY or watch how it can be used on YouTube. That’s the very similar Octopod.