Busy Busy Busy

I recently returned from a trip to Eastern Europe where I spent five weeks travelling. It was a blast!

We visited the following countries in no particular order:

• Germany
• Czech Republic
• Poland
• Slovakia
• Austria
• Hungary

We saw many things, but what shocked us the most was the sheer age of everything. In North America you are lucky to find buildings more than a 120 years old. There we visited churches that were celebrating their 950th birthdays!

We saw numerous castles most in ruins, but a couple which were still in pretty good shape. We also saw many Churches, Cathedrals, Basilicas and Chapels. We even visited a Synagogue and an Ossuary. I am not a religious person, but the sheer beauty of these places was beyond belief.

In Budapest I met up with a colleague from work who was visiting with her daughter. We spent a fantastic evening wandering the city and then having a great dinner at a local restaurant.

We also went to see an exhibit at the National Museum in Budapest celebrating the centennial of the famous photographer Robert Capa. He was an amazing war photographer. He died in 1954 by stepping on a land mine while photographing in Vietnam. I would highly recommend this exhibit if you are in the area.

The biggest hurdle now is that I have to download, process, backup and export all the images I took. With over 5000 images on 8 SD cards it will take quite some time to go through.

Stay tuned for more images and stories.

What's in My Bag

Well, I haven't posted in a while due to preparations for an upcoming trip. My wife and I are headed to Eastern Europe for five weeks. It's going to be a lot of fun. We have been looking forward to this all year.

I thought I would run down the "What's in my Camera Bag" thing like other people have done, just so you get a sense of all the crap that I carry around with me. While I might not have all this on me for a single outing this is what I am carrying on the plane.

1x Nikon D800 camera
1x Nikon 16-35mm f4.0G lens
1x Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens
1x Nikon spare battery

1x Fuji XE-1 camera
1x Fuji 18-55mm f2.8-4.0 lens
1x Fuji spare battery

1x Samsung Chromebook
1x Western Digital 1TB USB external drive

1x Nexus 4 phone + earbuds
5x 32GB spare memory cards
1x Gorilla pod with ball head
1x Manfrotto 390 tripod
1x cleaning cloth, fluid and tissue

4x chargers (phone, chromebook, nikon, fuji) + wall adapter
1x money belt, passport, papers, etc.
1x combination padlock
1x towel and bathroom essentials
1x misc drugs (painkillers, allergy, etc.)

1x Lonely Planet Eastern Europe book
1x The Name of the Wind book

NOTE: any other clothes and misc. things will be stuffed into the red bag (seen at right). I have a small day bag that will carried on the plane.