A week with a Fuji GFX 50s
Recently I rented a Fuji GFX 50s for one week. During that week, I had scheduled a photoshoot with one model and spent a couple days camping near the Golden Gate Bridge. My goal was to evaluate if the Fuji was a possible replacement for my Canon 5D MK IV. I have heard great things about the Sony Alpha 7 R II but when I used it, I did not like the view finder and the ergonomics. In contrast, Fuji came with a lot of expectations about the natural ergonomics and ease of use. Plus a 50 megapixels camera was very interesting to me. It is true, I was able to use the Fuji within a couple minutes without even opening the manual. Everything is right where you expect it, it’s like putting on an old favorite jacket (including finding loose change at the...
Glamping in the russian river in an Airstream
This weekend, we went glamping (short for glamour camping). I have been fascinated by the Airstream trailer forever. The aluminum-clad trailer with its mid-century modern look is incredibly beautiful, timeless and really expensive. A couple months ago, AutoCamp opened in the Russian River area. The concept is fairly simple, a luxurious campground where you can rent your own airstream on a per night basis. When I said luxurious, the shower is a no-step shower and has a rain shower head. The Airstreams are connected to all the utilities and arranged in a campground style. You don’t have to own the Airstream, you don’t have to tow it and you don’t have to park it, everything has been done for you. You just have to show up. Once there, you...
Short Trip Series: Spending the night on Angel Island
Angel Island is a California State Park in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. It has incredible views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the city of San Francisco and Alcatraz. In a previous post, I made a day trip there but this post is about spending the night on Angel Island. Depending on the season, the last ferry leaves the island between 3:30 and 5:20pm (make sure to check the schedule online) and unless you have your own boat that’s your deadline. But for a few hard core planners, it’s possible to secure a camping spot on Angel Island. In that case you will be sharing the island with at most 40 persons (including the park rangers, the kayak groups, and the large camping group). After the departure of the last ferry (which was 3:30pm in our case), the...
10 days kayaking in the Svalbard archipelago
In Summer 2011, I had the opportunity to go kayaking around the Svalbard archipelago. The archipelago is about 61,022 km2 or 23,561 sq mi and consists of many islands including the Spitsbergen, the largest and only populated island of the Svalbard. The trip was a full 10 days in complete autonomy with more than 3000 polar bears living in the area. Since I never went to the Arctic region before as the closest I got to the Arctic Circle was Iceland, I signed up for the Svalbard trip. Do you know where Svalbard is? Below is a map. The group of islands ranges from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude. One of the Svalbard settlements (Ny-Ålesund) is the public and permanent settlement (with a post office) closest o the North Pole...
Photo Spot series: Death Valley National Park (Racetrack)
Death Valley National Park is far away enough from cities that it requires a three day weekend to go visit. But that’s the point, Death Valley has some of the most amazing sky you will ever see. That’s because there is no light pollution, the air is very dry, no clouds, perfect for some night photography. Our plan was simple, leave Friday night from the Bay Area and come back Monday night, lodging was also simple: we would camp. We’ve been to Death Valley once before and specifically to the Racetrack, so we had a good idea of what to expect. This time I was interested in getting deeper into Death Valley by following some of the off road trails. In order to do that and being safe, we had two 4WD cars with high clearance and we would follow each...