Off the beaten path Los Angeles: The Watts Towers

When traveling, I've found my journeys can be significantly enriched by going beyond the usual “top attractions” list found in tour books. Visiting locations and people “off the beaten path” can often tell us much about the area and its history and people. The Watts Towers of Simon Rodia is such a place in Los Angeles.

Would I advise first time visitors to LA to skip the Getty Museum, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), the La Brea Tar Pits, the Huntingdon Library and Botanical Gardens, a stroll down Rodeo Drive, the Sony Pictures Studio Tour, and other iconic Los Angeles sights, on a first time visit to Los Angeles? No. They're top attractions for good reason.

Yet there are wonderful sights in Los Angeles beyond its “top attractions.”

Photography Exhibition: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Bruce Davidson - East 100th Street

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, periodically has terrific photographic exhibitions. Bruce Davidson – East 100th Street is definitely such an exhibit.

This exhibition will run through September 8, 2013

Photo Equipment Backpacks Part IV: My Favorite Backpacks

In Part I, of the Photo Equipment Backpack series, I discussed making sure the backpack was properly fitted to ensure the gear inside could be carried comfortably.

In Part II of the series, I discussed the competing needs of in-transit and shooting backpacks, and why those needs have prevented “cross-over” backpack design success, to date.

In Part III of the series I discussed how to ensure photo backpacks will have the required capacity, and what features are essential in quality photo backpacks.

In this conclusion of the Photo Equipment Backpack series, I'll discuss my five favorite backpacks, and why I like them, as well as explain why one of these backpacks is likely the precursor to a truly workable “cross-over” backpack, able to handle both in-transit and shooting uses.

Photography Exhibition: The Getty Museum - In Focus: Robert Mapplethorpe

The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, regularly has extraordinary photographic exhibitions. In Focus: Robert Mapplethorpe is no exception.

This exhibition will run through March 24, 2013

“A tastemaker and provocateur, Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the great photographers of the second half of the twentieth century. His highly stylized explorations of gender, race, and sexuality became hallmarks of the period and exerted a powerful influence on his contemporaries.

Photo Equipment Backpacks Part III: Sizing for Equipment & Features

In Part I, of the Photo Equipment Backpack series, I discussed making sure the backpack was properly fitted to ensure the gear inside it could be carried comfortably.

In Part II of the series, I discussed the competing needs of in-transit and shooting backpacks, and why those needs have prevented “cross-over” backpack design success, to date.

This week I'll discuss how to ensure your photo backpack will have the capacity you need, and what features are essential in quality photo backpacks.

In order to size your backpack, make a list of potential destination types and locations you wish to photograph: cities, seashores, seas, mountains, rural areas, national parks, historic sites, religious buildings, wildlife, architecture, sporting events, family get-togethers, etc. Then determine what equipment you would use for each. Finally determine what combination of destinations, locations and photo shoots, you'd likely visit in one journey. Once you've completed those lists you'll know what equipment your backpack(s) will need to carry, and therefore the size backpack you'll need.

TSA policy change affects Tripods in carry-on

TSA Administrator John Pistole, speaking at a conference in New York on March 5, 2013, announced a major policy change for carry-on items beginning April 25, 2013. While it doesn't name tripods themselves, it clearly implies a change in attitude toward them being taken into airplane cabins in the US.

The details of the policy change were detailed in a statement on TSA's website. In the statement on Changes to the Prohibited Items List it says,

“Through TSA’s layered approach to security, and to align more closely with International Civil Aviation Organization standards, effective April 25, 2013 TSA will allow knives that do not lock, and have blades that are 2.36 inches or 6 centimeters or less in length and are less than 1/2 inch in width, novelty-sized and toy bats, billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs as part of their carry-on baggage. This is part of an overall Risk-Based Security approach, which allows Transportation Security Officers to better focus their efforts on finding higher threat items such as explosives.”

Photo Equipment Backpacks Part II: In-transit vs. Shooting Use

When advising photographers about backpacks, I've often found they've neglected to consider how well the backpack fits when making their choice.

I'm constantly saying, “A photo equipment backpack, first and foremost, must be designed as a great backpack, with a well designed harness, and must fit its user properly.”

In Part I of my “Photo Equipment Backpacks” series I discussed the importance of having a backpack fit well to ensure one's photo gear can be carried in it comfortably.

How it's used, is equally important. The two major uses of photo gear backpacks, are in-transit and shooting.

In-transit backpacks are designed to maximize the amount of photo and related gear they can carry, often including laptop computers and tablets. In-transit backpacks need to carry the photographer's total kit chosen for each journey. When out shooting, the in-transit backpack provides safe storage for gear not needed that day.

Shooting backpacks are designed to carry the photo gear needed for a day's shooting, while simultaneously carrying the non-photo gear needed for the day, including food, drink, clothing and emergency items. Photographers' daily shooting needs can change substantially, as one visits different venues with divergent shooting opportunities.

Let's look at the competing needs of in-transit and shooting backpack designs.

Photography Exhibition: Philadelphia Museum of Art - Treasures of the Alfred Stieglitz Center

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has become one of the foremost exhibitors of fine art photography in the nation. Treasures of the Alfred Stieglitz Center: Photographs from the Permanent Collection is an exhibition worthy of the Museum's outstanding international reputation for photographic art.

This exhibition runs through April 7, 2013.

The exhibition showcases highlights from the Museum’s photography collection, tracing the medium’s history as a visual art form.

Photo Equipment Backpacks Part I: Avoid choosing the wrong backpack

I've found that serious photographers understand the importance of careful, meticulous, product research, before they purchase new photo equipment. It's not surprising, considering the cost photo gear these days.
For backpacks, photographers seem to typically investigate capacity, flexibility, zippers, flap pockets, tripod mounts, rain protection, axillary handles, security, and other features.

Unfortunately, by the end of the first day using their new backpacks, despite their research, far too many photographers, immediately relegate them to a closet, learning the hard way, the one attribute they never considered was whether the backpack would fit them well, allowing them to comfortably carry their gear hour after hour, day after day.

Regardless of its capacity and feature set, a photo equipment backpack has to fit the photographer's body well. A poorly fitted backpack, will result in sore shoulders, and/or a sore back. It can turn a great photo hike/walk into misery and exhaustion.

A photo equipment backpack, first and foremost, must be designed as a great backpack, with a well designed harness, and must fit its user properly.