Had I known this would come up, I would have packed something flashier with me when I left for my trip to Seattle. But there is actually a reason why my bag is like it is.
First the bag itself. I bought it from Florence, Italy, in 2008 because, well, I needed a nice bag. I didn’t want to buy a Mark VII British Gas Mask Bag because that would’ve been too obvious for a movie fan to carry around, the leather bag was a great substitute for that and takes an A4 paper nicely.
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The camera is a Canon G16 which I bought about a year ago to replace my old Ixus 60. The reason I ended up with the G16 was that, after reading some reviews it seemed like a fine travel compact, it is also reasonably close to Canon SX280 camera, which I know works really well with miniatures. I have used it quite a lot and it has replaced my big DSLR as the camera I take along to most, if not all my travels.
Then we get to the the black sunglass case, it is not for sunglasses, as you might have guessed, it’s for my traveling companions.
As I left home I grabbed some of the little guys with me, I got two Lego Batmans, a Snowtrooper and the collector series’ Werewolf. The IG-88, or Iggy, has been with me on many trips, got into the spotlight on just one of the trips so far. Then there is the Tardis, purchased from Chris McVeigh, and, yes, it’s Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) custom, built by the kid.
There is a story why I took the good Doctor with me. In June 2005 I was in New York and I had a toy with me (yes, I have been doing this for a while now), I took a picture of it on the top of The Empire State Building as a surprise for the kid, he didn’t know I had the toy with me. I wanted to reprise that surprise with the Lego Tardis, it being a time and space travelling machine and all, but the kid got onto me, figured out what I had in mind and insisted I took the Doctor with me as well. The Doctor is a custom he built because we really liked to watch the tv-show with Peter Capaldi. I took some shots of the Tardis and the Doctor on top of the Seattle Space Needle, but they didn’t turn out that good. But perhaps there is a pattern here, the next time when I’m in a city with a tower, I know what I must do.
There wasn’t much more in my bag, except a bottle of water, not even a spare battery, which I bitterly realized one day out of town Seattle. There is a reason for this spartan selection, other than the fact that I didn’t want to carry my big gun, that is (the Canon 5DMK2 with extra lenses, it’s really heavy!).
I happen think that it is very dull to always use the regular tools, it just feels too easy, like… I don’t know, don’t you ever want to draw with a straw and ink instead of oils all the time? I do.
I wanted to challenge myself into learning to push the G16 a little, I don’t know it so well but I knew I hadn’t reached the end of it’s capability by a long shot. It’s controls still feels awkward and it just takes me a lot of time to find my way around with it. It was something I wanted to learn while I was on the trip.
Also, I didn’t want to carry too many toys with me, I have often carried just one and forced myself to make do with that alone. It doesn’t always work but it is a nice excercise, trying to manage with what you got. This time I took the most I’ve ever had along with me, I think, it’s still veeeery little compared to what Shelly and Boris carry around.
In the end I got better with the G16, for sure, but I probably outwitted myself miserably this time. There were moments I truly hoped I had taken the big camera, the things I saw were just too amazing to capture with a point-and-shooter, I really missed my 16-35 mm zoom lens and I missed the resolution of a full sensor camera. I was so focused on trying to find a new angle to the small subject that I missed the big picture.
Next time I will carry it all!
Ps. Writing this gave me this annoying earworm from 1985. You are welcome.
Full time illustrator, part time photographer. As such, I created blizzards with Star Wars Lego and had an influence on how The Lego Movie looks like.
I won’t say I wasn’t a little envious of your point and shoot on more than one occasion while you were visiting. In fact I have been flirting with purchasing one to take to Italy with me. But after reading this I am going to stick with the big guns. I might bring more lens and do a Boris instead. weight be damned. There is nothing more frustrating to me than not being able to get the shot. Thank you for sharing, the good, the bad and the disappointing.
You should definitively take the big gun to Italy. The light over there is incredible, you need every bit of dynamic range your camera can muster to catch it. These small cameras are really good, but when you already have the big one, you can feel this one is lacking. I love how it allows you to go to places you can’t with a big lens, though, it’s rare when that happens, but it’s very nice. And it’s different to the usual, which is also nice.
That camera’s in my bag too!
-Paul
It’s a really good camera and I have not been disappointed with mine, it delivers everything it promises, and then some, but it’s a point-and -shooter, different to a full sensor DSLR. I wish I had brought them both with me.
Thanks for reminding me of the days when I only had a compact. When I started upgrading to DSLRs I re-shot some of my favorites and after that kind of forgot the originals. Now I want to go back and compare, a sweet little rainy-day-project.
Shooting with compact makes the photos a bit different, I’d say. Not inferior, just different. It must be interesting to revisit those old shots now, it sounds like a sweet project indeed.
Can’t believe you didn’t go for the British gas mask bag! But then I am wearing my Wested Leather Raiders jacket right now :)
I may yet go for the gas mask bag. I already have a bullwhip, so the bag won’t be that big a deal next to that. :D