Many thanks for watching my site!
Please ask if you would like a review of some item, if you want to know more about a location I mention or show in a video or image, or should you like to contribute to my site in some way. Contact me by e-mail at benjaminlafayettesisko@gmail.com, or phone (951)-255-9568.
If you are interested in one of my wilderness, landscape or video workshops, please let me know.
Again: I’m grateful for your interest and have a safe, exciting 2013…………..
William
the front door of the mobile office
Black Diamond Megalite shelter, less than 2 1/2 pounds
Room with view, no rent
First chance to head out with the <2 pound, 70 liter Golite Jam pack
Love the La Sportiva Batura boots!
Today there were spring-like conditions, and I had a good time preparing for the Sierra trip in 8 days
4 snowshoers, Left to right: Raul and Joann Loo, Adi and myself
The view approaching the South Notch, Long Valley, CA- you can see to Baja from here
I demonstrated use of a hanging stove in an ultralight hybrid snow shelter/ teepee-style tent (Black Diamond Megalite), use of wands and GPS navigation, and basics of constructing snow blocks for caves and igloos in 20’s F weather with approx 25 mph winds and blowing spindrift.
Here’s my finalized equipment list for the outing. I’m extremely impressed with certain items in my inventory for winter including the <2 pound Jam 70 pack, ❤ pound Megalite tent,the WM Vapor jacket, MHW Mithral hard shell jacket, and WM Antelope sleeping bag- these are highly recommended!!
Little Lakes Valley Eastern Sierra Winter Camp/ December 2012
Equipment Planning-William Hooks (final draft)
My personal gear:
Camera body: D600/ Kata weather cover, wired remote, spare batteries, SD cards, GP-1
Carrier: LowePro Toploader 75/ chest harness
Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor
GoLite Jam 70 pack (modified*) w mini-carabiner, pack cover
Western Mountaineering Antelope +5F, 850+ fill down sleeping bag/ REI Minimalist biv sack
Therma-Rest NeoAir XLite air pad*
BD (AAA) -LED headlamp
Freeze-dried food and drinks, Titan mug, spoon, trash bag, OP sack; packtowl, snacks
WAG bag in OP sack; snow collection bag (for melting)
GU/carrier, and other snacks
Smartwool shirt/leggings
Marmot Scree soft shell pants, WM Vapor (Windstopper) 850 down jacket
Mountain Hardwear (MHW) Mithral hard shell jacket
La Sportiva Batura boots, full mtg socks, liner socks
U-reservoir
1-liter Nalgene Lexan bottle, 1 water bottle parka; 1LPlatypus flexible bottle; Potable Aqua ClO2; REI storm matches
MHW (XL) SubZero Parka
toiletries, sun protection= sunglasses/carrier, Croakies, sunscreen, goggles, lip balm
Marmot Alpinist semi-mittens, MHW Altitude gloves w liners; MHW Ozone thin gloves
Sleeping clothes= MHW pile hat,1 pr socks, REI pile shirt, Icebreaker leggings
Leki trek poles, MSR Lightning snowshoes
REI Snoqualamie eVent hat, midweight balaclava, neck gaiter
TR closed foam sit pad
GROUP GEAR:
Permit and map , compass/inclinometer, Garmin GPSMap62
Micro-light table tripod with attachment to axe
2 Jetboil stoves w hanging kit, fuel canisters, matches; option- MSR Reactor stove
Rx (bandages, antibiotic, decongestant, XS Tylenol..)
Snow gear=2 snow saws ,2 shovels, 70 wands/ 3 pockets, av probe pole
Black Diamond Firstlight, Megalite, and/ or TNF Assault 22 single-wall 4season tent/ footprint, snow stakes
Optionals:
[Alpine climbing gear= hardware, helmets/helmet liner, ice axes, rope/s, pickets, crampons]
[carbon fiber or basalt ultralight Gitzo tripod/QR]
[whistles, transceivers]
Apparently full support does not (at least yet) include tethered capture for my camera. No word yet as to how much longer the wait might be… so I’ll use Camera Control Pro2 from Nikon and head east to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway tomorrow with my film crew to resume winter preparations- for the third segment of ETERNAL GRANITE. Temperatures expected in the 20’s F with significant wind, perfect for snow shelter demos and shaking out the crew’s gear for the High Sierra after Xmas.
It would be nice if winter came in late October or November the way it did here in the 1980’s…
I’m unhappy to report that this software renders a large number of older Nikon camera models unusable for tethering with CCP2.
I just completed tests with my D600 and the functionality includes ability to remotely shoot movie files, as well as all of the customary still features. I had no technical problems with the straighforward download, nor with the images or video. For how many years the D600 will be supported, who knows?
Please refer to the information I included directly from Nikon USA below:
Modifications enabled with version 2.12.0
Modifications that apply to both the Windows and Macintosh versions
•Support for the D600 has been added.
•The D2X, D2XS, D2H, D2HS, D200, D100, D80, D70, D70S, D50, D40X, and D40 are no longer supported.
We ‘re planning to do the dramatic film production next weekend, 10-11 November, at City Center Motel in downtown Los Angeles.
The third, final chapter of ETERNAL GRANTITE is currently planned to be shot 29-30 December in Little Lakes Valley, south of Tom’s Place off HWY 395. I’m enjoying the edit of the project so far, and we are excited to get into some real winter conditions.. I will be using a Kata weather cover for the Nikon D600 on that trip, as it makes working in snow and rain very easy.
During a timelapse in cold at altitude over about 90 minutes, I was impressed with the endurance of the D600 and its battery. You can view the timelapse at my Facebook site, and see many more still images at Joann Loo’s FB site as well.
I feel confident taking it into full winter in December in the eastern Sierra, when we shoot the final third of this project.
This combination of items has permitted simple, accurate geotagging of both stills and video to Google Maps while online. I must add that the altitude measurements have proven less accurate than the location coordinates, in my experience.
I really like that the GP-1 is so small, compact and light and derives power from cameras- no additional batteries or chargers, and of course the camera can be run on AC-DC converter. Startup for satellite acquisition varies with conditions, but I’ve been satisfied overall on this front.The ports for USB and MC-DC2 wired remote are reliable and I very often use the latter, especially since it allows remote video ON/OFF. With the supplied attachment to the camera strap, this frees the hot shoe of the camera for a microphone or flash, monitor,etc. Am I glad that I kept the 4-pin cable connector for the GPS unit when I sold my D90 or what?
The tight integration between LR4 and Google Maps makes it easy to even retrospectively geotag images and video.
So what?
For me, geotagging is becoming a standard feature for inclusion in my workflow for documentaries, slideshows, and location scouting. I can directly show the audience where the action (or lack of) is taking place. It’s much simpler to organize shots by location at times for editing.
For a multicam shoot, a Giottos tripod is used with its own QR plate and a Weifeng fluid head to run the B camera. Both tripods work with either of my floor dolly models.
The splitter is located on one of the tripod legs in the lower left. The director or talent in front of the camera can view on a separate monitor, at the same time as both the camera operator and the focus puller with this system. The camera, both monitors, LED lighting, and wireless lav microphone can all run from an AC outlet as shown here. All of these components are easy to use with independent batteries, as well.
It would be nice if sound could also be reviewed with no adjustments… but I can still listen to it, simply by disconnecting the splitter from the camera. After all- I’m on budget.
First: Looped HDMI out. This means that one can retain the camera’s monitor image while sending it simultaneously to a second monitor- allowing a DP or other director to evaluate files, at the same time or after they’re shot by the camera operator. I’ve made the adjustments on my Marshall 5″ monitors so that the displays match those on the camera.
Second: The amount of additional image detail in video attainable with uncompressed HDMI on an Atomos Ninja is significant! (I can’t fork out the $1K for one yet)
Third: A major side benefit to headphone monitoring of sound on-camera is the ease with which you can assign optimal microphone settings, especially for ENG.
Fourth: The beep function has been expanded greatly since D7000, allowing audio cues for self-timer countdown and remote control actuation among other items.
Fifth: Adding the lock for the left top function wheel is much appreciated. This greatly reduces settings errors in actual use of the camera. I do miss the absense of exposure setting lock which has not been around since the D3s…..PLEASE put these in a firmware update if possible??
William Hooks
maximpactphotography 