All Things Photography And Travel Gears | Best Of The Best Edition

I wrote an article like this a while back but it was time to update things.  I’ve found some new gear that I love and some gear that I’ve fallen out of love with that now makes my shame list(listed at the very end). I travel for shoots around 3 weeks a month, so this is a mix of my favorite photography gear along with gear for traveling, everything from cameras to clothing. In no particular order, here is my latest list.

QUICK NOTE

My blog does not have any direct sponsors so if you plan on purchasing any of these items  through Amazon.com please click the “Buy Now” within each item listed below to help support this site, thank you so much.

 

Canon 35mm L Series

My go to glass(the cool people call lenses glass), the Mark 2 is razor sharp, focuses instantly, amazing bokeh, and has its own special look to it.

Canon 5D Mark IV

I shoot everything from weddings, commercial, and editorial assignments, this camera can handle it all. It’s amazing in low light, it’s extremely fast, and the files are great to work with. If you just want one professional camera that does everything at a high level, this is it. Dive into all the details about this camera from Canon Asia’s website here.

Canon 1DX Mark 2

For those of you that need performance, this is your camera. It’s bulky yes, but it’s also durable and works well in all situations. Dive into all the details about this camera from Canon Asia’s website here.

Gitzo Tripod

Expensive but designed beautifully, lightweight, and function perfectly. The traveler is great for having a lightweight tripod on the road without feeling the burden of a tripod. Buy it here.

Hasselblad X1D

Read my full review here. This camera is not for everyone because of it’ price tag and it’s definitely not a performance beast. However, this camera is design piece of art and the files and color are incredible. I use this camera for my personal project and now it’s starting to enter my commercial work. Buy it here.

Canon 45mm TS

I use this lens a lot for wedding portraits and sometimes for lifestyle commercial shoots. I like the look of TS now and again and I looks a lot more natural than doing the effect in post-production.

Canon 24mm

I’m a huge fan of all the Canon L Series lenses for their quality and low light capabilities. After the 35mm, this is my most used lens.

Ricoh GR 2

Awesome pocket street camera. I love the built-in BW filter and I added a viewfinder because I hate looking through an LCD screen.

ThinkTank Bags

I’ve been using their bags since I started as a photography student back in San Francisco in 2004. I have a roller bag that I’ve been using for almost 7 years still in perfect condition and I have about 10 bags in total from them including backpacks, shoulder bags, rollers, and transport bags. They are always upping their game and listening to photographers and adapting to the times and our needs. My favorite is their Airport Accelerator backpack.

Wotancraft Bags

Disclaimer, yes, I am sponsored by them. But I chose to work with Wotancraft for a good reason though. First it started as being a pure fan of their stylish leather/waxed canvas handmade camera bags. Now it’s more than that: they are a cool company and they listen to photographers and each version of their bags improves on that last one. Great bags for street photography. Shop their full line-up here.

Filson Duffel Bags

Rugged twill bags that look cool and are super durable. See all their duffel and camera bags here.

Rimowa

They are pricey, but I travel enough to justify the cost. I use the Topas aluminum series, their biggest one for trips over 5 days and their smaller one for a few days. The hard shell is a plus for protection and I often lock my valuables in there when the hotel room doesn’t have a safe. Wait, why am I telling this to the world, scratch that I don’t leave any valuables in there ever. See their full line-up here.

Mavic Pro

The key thing about the Mavic is its incredible portability and its dummy proof to operate. If you want to step up your travel photography game, add the Mavic to your bag for those epic aerial shots.

GoPro 5

Touch screen, waterproof, 4K, what else do you want from me says the GoPro 5.  I use it for BTS and time lapses.

Timberland Boots

I have a pair of Timberland Heritage boots and I use them for assignments that involve mud, dirt, hiking, really any tough elements. They are all leather so you don’t have to worry about a funky smell and they are waterproof. See all their boots here.

Pelican Memory Card Cases

They are known for the rugged transport cases, but they also make nice durable cases for memory cards. They are larger than your average memory card wallet but they extremely durable.

Lulelomon Clothing

They are know for the yoga clothing but they also have some great everyday active clothing that is awesome to shoot in, super comfortable and great in warm climates. Explore here.

 

History Channel

They have the best reality TV show in the world, it’s called Photo Face-Off now filming season 4. Okay, it might be the only photography reality TV show and yes I’m partial because I’m the face of the show but check it out, it’s awesome. View here.

American Express

Excellent rewards for frequent travelers and access to priority lounges if you have the Platinum card. Sign up here.

 

SanDisk Cards

Fast and reliable, that’s all I want from a memory card.

Squarespace websites

I recently switched over all my websites to Squarespace, including this one. They are very affordable at $13 a month for the basics and they are super easy to use, great customer service and SEO friendly. They have so many great options for photographers for website and blogs, check out there templates here.

 

Headphones

I travel non-stop so a good pair of headphones is a must. I love my Bang & Olufson earphones, the sound quality is top notch.

We Create Content

A boutique content company out of Vietnam that specializes in producing great content and content strategy. I’ve worked with them on strategy for all my businesses and he’s really help me out with my strategy and growing my following. My good friend Ian Payton is the founder and he’s not only Vietnam’s rap battle champion, he’s the content king as well. Visit their website here.

 

Dropbox

We use it run the entire infrastructure of our business, back up on location, and to archive our work. It makes running your business remotely convenient and affordable. Sign up here.

 

Photo Mechanic

The fastest and easiest software for tagging and entering metadata. My work flow is tag my selects in Photo Mechanic, then import them for editing in Lightroom. Purchase here.

 

Photoshelter

They make great websites,archives sites for selling stock images, and they also do a great job with client proof pages. I don’t use them for my website but I do use them to manage my archive for selling images digitally and for client proofs. In addition to their great services they provide fantastic blogs and resources for photographers on everything from their SEO cookbook to information article about the business side of photography. Sign up here.

 

Lightroom

Powerful and super-fast editing software, if you’re not using LR you should be. Download here.

 

Askmott.com

Self-plug, photography tips for all levels of photography from a pro(me).

 

Petapixel

Great website for finding out what’s happening in our business. I’ve been lucky enough to have a few of my articles published there, wow they have a huge following. You probably know them already but if not check it out here.

 

Hasselblad Our World Blog

See what’s happening in world of Hasselblad  and Hasselblad Master photographers.  Great blog worth booking marking, click here.

 

Canon Snapshot Blog

A great website out of Canon Asia dedicated to learning about photography, gear reviews, fun stories content about pro photographers on real shoots, and much more. Bookmark it here.

 

LaCie Hard Drives

I use their bright orange rugged series for backing up on location.  I find them affordable, reliable, and the most importantly the cable does fray like I’ve found with other brands. Shop here.

Moleskine Notebooks

I like their red ones, easy to location and durable.

 

SunSeeker APP

We use this all the time for resorts shoots during our scouting. It tells us exactly when and where the sun will rise and set. Download it here.

 

Leatherman Multi-Tool

This tool does it all, knife, screwdriver, scissors, saw, etc., just make sure you don’t forget and try to carry it on by accident. Shop here.

 

Joey L

This dude has an awesome YouTube channel for lighting and retouching and some fun BTS on his professional shoots, check it out.

 

Profoto Lights

I use them exclusively, the cord free B1 is my hands down favorite light for location shooting.

Netflix Subscription

Those long layovers or free time in your hotel room Netflix makes the time fly by. I love their original series Chef’s Table.

 

Shame List (products that use to make my best list but have let me down)

 

MacBook Pro

I maxed out the latest MacBook Pro, cost me almost 4K and it’s barely faster than my old maxed out MacBook Air. The cable compatibility thing is annoying and the touch bar is a gimmick, I can’t see any practical use for it.

 

IPhone 7

Barely an upgrade from the 6, expected more. It’s also annoying as consumer how much they try to force you into things like constantly asking you to upgrade to iCloud, turn on locations, etc., leave the F alone apple.

 

Western Digital Hard drives

I used to big a fan of their drives but recently my cables started to fall apart, not good.

Steve McCurry

When I first started in photography I was a big fan of his work and perfection in composition. As I grew more experienced I also grew weary of him. When the scandal of his setting up shots and even worse his cloning out of major parts of his photos was revealed,  it was like being a fan of Lance Armstrong when he confessed to doping.

I was disappointed and I still am. He quickly changed his bio from photojournalist to visual storyteller and he’s never truly come out and addressed the issue that I’m aware of. He obviously went to great lengths to hide this and misled people in trying to come off like a true documentary photographer.  I also feel National Geographic should’ve(I still haven’t seen anything at this point but if they have I apologize and please link it in the comments section) come out and addressed this.

You can’t argue he’s a talented photographer, but not nearly as talented as I thought and I’m more impressed with his retoucher than I am him.

Read the full details of the scandal here.

 

Should You Buy the HasselBlad X1D?

A Working Professional’s Review

Before I dive in with my review, a tiny bit about me and my intentions for this camera. I work in several genres of photography; travel, editorial, commercial, and weddings. I bought the X1D for an ongoing personal project dedicated to capturing the beauty of Vietnam and my goals for the final images is to have them printed quite large. I was also hoping to justify the hefty price tag by using the system on commercial shoots, I’ll answer that question further down in this blog.

I stalked the Hasselblad X1D online for months earlier this year trying to gather as much information as possible on this gorgeous and groundbreaking camera system.  First, I must admit I was drawn to the sleek design, it’s a piece of art work and it helped that it’s portable. I’ve often day dreamed about medium format but the price and size always woke me up.  I rarely work in the studio and I like to travel light so the bulky medium formats that were on the market didn’t seem feasible to me.

The camera was released mid-2016 but it was extremely hard to find one in stock anywhere and even more difficult to find a professional’s review on the camera.  I found some of the popular gear review blogs and individuals with high traffic sites reviewing it but nothing of substance for me. I wanted to hear from a working professional who had used it on real shoots and in a variety of situations, not just a day shooting with it.

Even without a solid review out there I decided to take the expensive risk and pull the trigger on this new camera system. Once I made the decision, the hard part was finding one in stock. The camera was released mid 2016 but even in early 2017 it was extremely difficult to find it stock anywhere. I checked BH, Amazon, and local shops all around SE Asia, nothing. I buy a lot of gear from Cathay Photo in Singapore so I put feelers out there. I heard nothing for a while and then finally via Facebook I received a message from the nice people at Cathay that they had one in stock. I live in Vietnam so I took a little weekend vacation to get my hands on this beauty and after a couple months of using it for my personal project and a commercial shoot in Bali I decided to write a review.

I’m not a technical person and this isn’t a comparison article, I’m going to focus on the performance and quality on real shoots. I’ll list the specs for your tech heads, but you can also head over to Hasselblad’s website to get all the info you need.

Shot with Hasselblad X1D with Hasselblad XCD 40mm lens.
Moc Chau, Vietnam
As Above So Below (Personal Project)
2017 Copyright Justin Mott

 

Design/Ergonomics

She’s a sexy looking camera and yes, feels amazing in your hands. Sorry, that sounded a bit sexual, it wasn’t meant to be or was it.   It’s a relatively small camera and the lenses aren’t bulky either, it packs and travels very nicely.

 

Battery Life

It’s not great, if you shoot full days as a professional you will need about 4-5 total.

 

Speed

If you’re use to using professional or even prosumer DLSR’s the first thing you will notice on startup is how generally slow the camera is. It’s slow across the board, start up, fps, rendering images, navigation etc. I’m fine with that as I knew before I bought this camera it wasn’t meant to be a speed demon. This camera wakes up, yawns, grabs a coffee but once the coffee kicks in it kicks ass.

The interesting thing about this camera system is I wanted it to be slow. I’ve been shooting way too fast for years and I need to slow down and think more. You might think, well you’re a pro, if you want to slow down, just slow the F down. Habit is a funny thing; this camera has forced me to break that habit. I’ve been slowing down and I honestly feel that has made me frame more creatively, think more, and overall make me a better photographer.

Shot with Hasselblad X1D with Hasselblad XCD 40mm lens.
Moc Chau, Vietnam
As Above So Below (Personal Project)
2017 Copyright Justin Mott

 

 

Focusing

I shoot in a lot of high contrast situations and the focusing system I find to be a bit slow, you really must pay close attention and zoom to check to make sure you got your image sharp.

 

Quality

The files are simply delicious. The medium format sensor is huge, just look at it, and it delivers. The dynamic range is plentiful and zooming in you can see every amazing detail or not so amazing details depending on how good of a photographer you are J. I have printed my images yet but I have high hopes.

Check out the amazing detail still in the texture of the conical hate even with this extremely tight crop(same file).

Color

Hasselblad loyalist talk about the color being true, true is the perfect word to describe it. The color has its own look and skin tones are spot on accurate making it great for portrait and landscape work.

 

Conditions

I haven’t used it in cold weather but I live in Vietnam so it’s been through extreme heat and humidity. The camera got a little hot and I thought something was wrong with it but then I realized it’s made aluminum so it wasn’t overheating it was just normal.

Lenses

At this point I’ve got the 30mm, 45mm, and the 90mm. I haven’t use them extensively but they are all lightweight, feel nice in your hands, and perform well.  The 30mm is bit pricey but I need a wide-angle lens and overall I wish they had a 1.4 option for those extremely shallow depth of field shots.

 

Value

It’s expensive sure, but compared to the Phase One and Hasselblad digital backs that come in around 30K and more it’s great value. A few other companies like Fuji and Pentax have made cameras with comparable specs but they bulkier and nowhere as sexy as the X1D. Value is always a tough question to answer because there are a lot of variables like how much paid work you are getting or how much you earn, but for me it was great value.

 

Software

I’ve been editing my images on Lightroom, but I’m told Hasselblad’s Phocus software is the way to get to truly get everything you can out of the files for the X1D so my next mission is to invest some time in learning it.

 

Electronic Viewfinder

I’m not a big fan of EVF in general and this one is no different. I wish the EVF was higher resolution, this is probably my biggest complaint about this camera but again I haven’t met an EVF that I like.

Navigation

The navigation system is extremely user friendly and minimalistic, just the way I like it.

 

Shot with Hasselblad X1D with Hasselblad XCD 40mm lens.
Bali, Indonesia
Client | Intercontinental Hotels 
2017 Copyright Justin Mott

 

 

Camera Specs From Hasselblad

• 50MP 43.8 x 32.9mm CMOS Sensor
• Price $8995 USD Body Only
• 16-Bit Color, 14-Stop Dynamic Range
• Hasselblad Natural Color Solution
• Full HD 1080p H.264 Video at 25 fps
• ISO 100-25600, Shooting Up to 2.3 fps
• Central Shutter: 60 min to 1/2000 sec
• 2.36MP XGA Electronic Viewfinder
• 3.0″ 920k-Dot Touchscreen LCD Monitor
• Dual SD Card Slots; XPan & Square Modes
• Built-In Wi-Fi, USB 3.0 Type C

Conclusion

It might sound crazy loving an expensive and slow camera but I knew what I was getting into when I made the investment. This camera is for the photographer that can appreciate those extra fine details of a medium format sensor, fine craftsmanship/design, and a powerful camera that travels well.  I started using it just for my personal project and I fell in love with it. I hoped I could use it on commercial shoots as well and last month I tried it out and I’m thrilled. The camera made me slow down and shoot more thoughtfully and the results were more than I could expect. I can see this camera creeping into my commercial work in the near future.

 

Don’t Just Take My Word For It

Here are some links to other reviews of the Hasselblad X1D.

–CNET

–Bloomberg

–PetaPixel

–Ming Thien

 

Author Justin Mott

Since arriving in Vietnam over a decade ago, Justin Mott has established himself as one of the best-known and well respected photographers in Southeast Asia. He has shot over 100 assignments for the New York Times while a collection of his work in Vietnam has been featured on the BBC. Additional major editorial clients include TIME, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian among many others. His boutique visual production studio Mott Visuals specializes in premium commercial photography and video production. Mott is also familiar to TV viewers as host and resident judge of History Channel’s hit photography reality series Photo Face-Off now entering their 4th Season.

Mai Chau, Vietnam 2017

 

Follow Justin’s personal project “As Above So Below” HERE – all shot with the Hasselblad X1D and DJI Drones. 

Read Hasselblad’s feature about Justin’s project here.

 

 

My Favorite Street Photography Bag

I’m a huge fan of Wotancraft camera bags, well made and I just love how sexy they are. Here is a quick introduction and review of the Wotancraft Easy Rider Sling Bag coupled with their camera insert. I love this bag for street photographer, it’s practical and extremely stylish. Watch my review here.

To learn more about this bag or to purchase it please visit HERE.

DELICIOUS FILES – A PRACTICAL PRAISE OF THE CANON 5DS R

Full disclosure, Canon Asia is the sponsor of the TV show I’m on and I do a lot of work with them. However, they have never asked me to write any reviews of their products and I was a Canon user long before my TV show every happened.

I’m not a very technical guy so I don’t discuss much on technical specs nor will you find any charts, Bunsen burners, or lab coats in my reviews. I go off of feel, intuition and real assignment experience.

A little bit about me, I work independently as a photojournalist (most notably for The New York Times), I own a destination wedding photography business, and a commercial photography and video production studio. You can see all my work here.

For the sake of simplicity I made the review revolve around resort photography(even though I use it for all my commercial photography), but I’m sure you can see the benefits of it in numerous genres of photography.

Why I Bought It?
I purchased the 5DS R solely for my commercial business. We shoot a lot of luxury resorts all over Asia and beyond and I was looking for a high-resolution camera for these shoots. The 5DS R packs 50mp on a full frame sensor so you can see the appeal. I wanted a camera with great files because I’m always looking for more details and beautiful colors and when my clients need to print the images huge, I want those images to look stunning.

The Good
The best thing about this camera is the delicious files it produces. You still need to take nice pictures with your eye and brain but if you do get a nice shot you will be wildly impressed with the file, wow, just wow. The details and colors are like no camera I’ve ever used before, simply amazing.

For resorts I shoot a lot of inside out, meaning balancing light in a gorgeous room with the rooms view of the beach. You could always light the room and expose for the outside but I’m all about natural light and I try to avoid artificial lighting at all costs to maintain a sense of reality. The camera has a built in HDR mode, like a lot of new cameras, but I still prefer to get one middle ground exposure and then move the file in post production to get a more natural feel. The files on this camera can move a ton in post-production without compromising quality.

Here is a sample of a room shot we did for Intercontinental Pattaya, no artificial lighting at all we just ran the image through processing twice in Lightroom. This is all from one file, this isn’t a multiple exposure.

For cropping, you can crop in so close and the files still look amazing, see below. This comes in handy more than you think. This image was shot last week for Intercontinental Sun Peninsula Danang.

The Bad
It’s not as fast at processing as the Canon 5D Mark 3 or obviously the 1Dx series but I don’t need it to be. If you are firing off shots quickly the camera lags a little bit and takes that extra second to buffer. Put it up against medium format cameras and I’m sure it crushes them. If you are use to a performance action camera like the above mentioned the one extra second it takes will annoy you a little bit at the beginning but you’ll get over it.

The other thing is this camera is not a beast in low light. You can’t crank it up to 4K or 8K ISO like the 1D and expect the files to be crisp. It’s not horrible in low light but obviously it doesn’t compare to the Canon 5DM3 or the 1DX series.

This camera eats memory because the files are gigantic. It’s not a huge deal but get used to big files.

Ok this isn’t really the camera’s fault but I shoot predominantly with primes so I use a two two-body camera system. This camera destroys others with the files and I couldn’t match it up with others so went back to shooting with one camera at a time.

Some Advice
Buy the fastest cards you can get, I am a huge fan of SanDisk cards. Pay the extra money for the fastest cards, time is money.

I don’t recommend this camera as a one camera for wedding photography because the files are so huge and unnecessary but if you dial down the file size to Camera RAW medium then it becomes a fantastic number 2 camera, I use it all the time.

Who Needs This Camera
Obviously anyone working in commercial photography will love this camera, but it’s not just for professionals. Anyone interested in fashion, portraiture, pre-wedding, landscape, fine-art, food photography, basically anyone that loves color and fine details at any level will adore this camera.

Conclusion
I’d buy this camera again and again. Even when I shoot commercially I’m rolling around in the sand, dirt, trees, etc. so I’ve put this camera through the stress test and after over 100,000 shots and it still performs flawlessly. It’s a medium format camera packed into a DSLR body and not at a budget breaking medium format price. If you love gorgeous colors, printing your images, and fine details you will be hooked on this camera the second you load the files into your computer.

I use to hate when people say to me, wow those are nice images you must have a great camera. I have to admit that still annoys me but with the 5DS R I do have to give credit where credit is due.

Here are some of my favorite images, all shot with the 5DS R, from my commercial assignment last week for Intercontinental Hotels at Intercontinental Sun Peninsula Danang.

To see more images shot with the 5DS R please visit Mott Visuals.

5DS R Specs
• 50.6MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
• Dual DIGIC 6 Image Processors
• Low-Pass Filter Effect Cancellation
• 3.2″ 1.04m-Dot ClearView II LCD Monitor
• Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 30 fps
• 61-Point High Density Reticular AF
• ISO 100-6400; 5 fps Continuous Shooting
• 150,000-Pixel RGB+IR Metering Sensor
• User-Selectable Shutter Release Time Lag
• Anti-Flicker Compensation

Purchase Online 

Archiving Workflow and Field Testing the WD My Passport Wireless

I took the WD Passport Wireless drive on a recent assignment to the remote northern mountains of Vietnam.  Whenever I travel I take multiple hard drives along with my laptop. I taking backing up my photos very seriously, I have to. My clients invest a lot of money in hiring me whether it’s for a commercial, wedding, or editorial assignment.  Losing images would be catastrophic, so a good system is imperative. I can’t even imagine losing a couple’s most treasured moments from their wedding day or losing a take from a commercial shoot where tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars were invested in production.

My typical workflow for all shoots is to leave my laptop at my hotel room and take a memory card wallet full of cards. Every chance I have to get back to my hotel room I back everything up on a My Passport Pro because it’s super fast thunderbolt connection and the double redundancy of the RAID drive. I also back up that drive nightly to a My Passport drive. Those two drives come with me on every shoot and when I travel those drives always are in two different locations, for example one in my camera bag and one in my luggage. For bigger shoots I’ll carry one hard drive and my assistant carries another. Those drives are wiped only after the client has received their images.

Once we get back to the office we have an archive manager who’s responsibility is to get all the RAW files first thing when I return. We have a sign-in sheet for the RAWs to avoid any mistakes, I sign that they were given to her and she signs they were copied to a double redundant drive. Once that drive is full, one is kept in the office for storage and the other is kept locked in a safe.

Enter the new technology of WD – My Passport Wireless drive. The drive has built in power and can accept SD cards directly so no need for wires or power. I should add it does have USB 3.0 so if you want you can also use it like a typical wired hard drive.

It’s as simple as putting the card in, turning the power on, and pressing one button to copy the entire card. This comes in handy on shoots where I don’t want to take my laptop with me. Sure I can have plenty of memory cards on shoots and enough memory to cover me so I don’t need to dump cards but backing up throughout the day adds another level of security.

It’s also convenient when you don’t want to lug around or worry about your laptop. I can back up throughout the day, protecting me if I drop my card-wallet or drop a card somehow.  It’s a lot easier to lose a small SD card than it is to lose a hard drive.

We tested the drive on a weeklong shoot in the remote mountains and it performed flawlessly.

I wanted to work lightly for this shoot so I left my laptop back at my hotel and during lunch breaks I would back up the cards on the drive. It really came in handy for this type of shoot. I could also see it being awesome for weddings for an extra layer of security by backing up images throughout the day. The battery life is great, 6 hours of continuous video streaming and up to 20 hours of standby time.

I can also see us using the drive on commercial shoots or in meetings, with the wireless capabilities I could have multiple clients looking through a take on their preferred device. For example the client, art director, models, production team could all connect to the drive wirelessly and go through a sequence of shots on their phones, iPads, etc.

This workflow might seem like overkill but honestly I can’t afford to lose files one time, it just can’t happen and this system protects me from that.  I can’t imagine losing someone’s most treasured moments from their wedding or losing pictures from an assignment for someone like the New York Times.

The WD My Passport Wireless is definitely a welcomed edition to my gear and my workflow system.  For a professional it’s a fantastic piece of technology but I can also see it being useful to novices or even families to take with them on vacation to back up those once in a lifetime moments. The only thing I wish they did differently was I wish they added a slot for CF cards. Many pro-cameras have both options but there are still a lot of cameras leftover that only take CF cards.

Some information from the manufacturer:

INTERFACE

Wireless-N with MIMO

SD card slot

USB 3.0

OPERATING SPECIFICATIONS

Data transfer rate*

USB 3.0 up to 5 Gb/s

SD 2.0 up to 25MB/s

2×2 Wireless-N

Operating temperature: 0°C to 35°C

Non-op. temperature: –20°C to 60°C

A USB 3.0 host and USB 3.0 certified cable are required to obtain USB 3.0 speeds.

SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY

Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating system and Mac OS®X

Review of the Wotancraft Commander Backpack

I’m a bag for every occasion photographer and my assignments are extremely diverse so that adds up to a lot of different bags. I was given a pre-release version of theCommander backpack and was asked to field-test it by Wotancraft. I love getting my hands on their new products because they are always making improvements and all their bags are just so damn sexy.

I was commissioned by Asian Development Bank for a weeklong documentary project in the northern mountains of Vietnam. We would be traveling through treacherous terrain and rainy weather photographing some of their projects benefiting  remote ethnic minority communities.  We would be doing some hiking so a backpack is ideal for comfort on the long days, this would be a perfect test for the Commander.

I’ll start with the pure beauty of this bag, as with all their bags it has that signature stylish look with the vegetable tanned leather and their new lightweight water repellant canvas. Most bags take years to have that cool broken in look but Wotancraft bags come with that look already. It feels like cheating but whatever, the bottom line is they look great.  The bag doesn’t scream camera bag filled with expensive equipment, which is a blessing. It just looks like a rugged stylish backpack but of course it is much more than that. I packed the bag with the following;  Canon 5D Mark 3, Canon 6D, Canon 24mm 1.4, 50mm 1.2, 16-35mm 2.8, and a 200mm 2.8 and plenty of memory cards and extra batteries. That’s a lot of gear and I was nervous it would feel heavy but it felt great on my back and shoulders throughout the trip.

The inserts are quite interesting and unique in their set up. It has a top loading option and two side compartments. The side loading pockets took some getting use to but once I adapted I really loved the option to get my extra lenses from the side pocket. It has a natural feel when you take the backpack off to rest it on your knee and then bam, your side pocket is right there.

We tested the bag in the heavy rain and the only time my equipment got wet was when I couldn’t resist shooting in the rain, when my gear was in the bag it stayed dry and protected from the elements.

If I had to add an improvement for the next generation of this bag I’d say it would be nice to have a little padding on the body contact points on the shoulder harness but overall I love this bag. It’s great to see Wotancraft come out with its first backpack and now the more adventurous photographer can travel in comfort and in style.

Here are some specs on the bag from Wotancraft along with pictures from the assignment.

---

package include:
City Explorer “Commander” camera backpack x1
lightweight shock-resistant insert for camera & lenses x1
microfiber dividers (no cap) x1
microfiber dividers (with cap) x2
T-shaped divider x1
cotton dustproof bag with WOTANCRAFT Chinese insignia x1
“REMOVE BEFORE ADVENTURE” military ordnance tag keychain x1

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material:
vegetable tanned cowhide leather
waterproof W.A.L canvas
high-strength metal hardware
bronze YKK Zippers (with rustproof coating)
high-density foam padding (shock-resistant insert)

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Specs:
bag exterior — width 17 x depth 33 x height 44 cm
top insert interior — width 11 x depth 23 x height 19 cm
bottom compartment — width 15 x depth 28.5 x height 24cm
shoulder strap — adjustable between 60～87 cm
weight — bag with insert 2.6 kg

warranty:
3-year free repair guarantee, given intended usage of the product
(International shipping fee for repairs paid by sender)
write to us if you have any questions

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 select

vintage grey

USD 699
ADD TO CART

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And here are some outtakes 🙂 

Camera Phone + Instagram = A New Commercial Photography Market?

My left shoulder has a little more beef than my right, a result of always slinging my camera bag on my left side. I’d show you but I’m not quite ready to go shirtless on my blog at this moment, stay tuned. There was a time when I was more balanced, living a more simplified photography life. I spent 2008 doing all of my editorial assignments with a simplified kit; one camera,  a 35mm 1.4, and a 100mm F2 and it made me a better photographer.  

I diversified my business in 2009 and launched Mott Visuals resulting in more commercial jobs and yes a boatload of new gear which meant more chargers, wires, batteries, thingamabobs, thingamachiggies, and of course thingamawhatnots.

I work relatively simplified compared to most commercial photographers taking only a portable lighting kit (Profotos) and typically one or two assistants max and even they are pretty small(sorry Ngoc). In fact Ngoc(Mott Visuals Producer) weighs only a little more than the Profoto Batpac that she often has to haul around. All that gear takes a toll not just on your body but on your mind as well.

I needed a break from my lighting gear and needed to mix up my kit so my images didn’t get stale. Limiting your kit is a great way to spark creativity in your photography and recently I did the ultimate photography fast on a commercial client. 

My shoulder got a much needed rest on a very interesting project I pitched to Intercontinental Hotels, specifically the pilot project was done at the gorgeous Intercontinental Sun Peninsula Danang, Vietnam.

They already have a beautiful commercial image library but the idea behind this project was I’d spend one full day at the resort capturing the property and services with just my camera phone(Samsung Galaxy S3) and using only Instagram to edit the pictures. I wanted to capture the guest experience and make believable images.

I didn’t pitch the project to balance my body or to go on vacation but rather to balance my shooting style and more importantly offer my client something unique for their image library, reality.  I hear it on every shoot “can you just Photoshop it?” You can do amazing things in post-production but the downside is people don’t believe images anymore, they think everything is artificial and it’s hard to know what to believe is real anymore.

Who knows what will happen in the future but at the moment we still believe in camera phone images and yes Instagram uses filters but we aren’t removing things or adding things that weren’t there so the images have more trust from the viewer. 

The project made me lighter and simplified and my mind could focus on making thoughtful images rather than worrying about the safety of my equipment, where to place lights, is my assistant tipping over from the Batpac, etc. Like the camera phone, I was portable and that made me more patient and energized to experiment with light and compositions. 

Hotels and Resorts (all businesses really) need commercial images with lighting and heavy retouching but I also see potential for projects like this. These images can be used in social media and used properly and creatively can give their customers a view at reality and a sense of what it’s really like to be there. The viewer can feel like they could’ve taken that photo, resulting in trust.

I see an emerging market for this type of work and I now offer it to all my clients as an optional add-on service to my commercial and editorial photography. I work closely with my clients not only on the project concept but also on how the images can be used in creative ways in this social media world we live in. 

I set aside time every month to brainstorm new ideas with my team for our services and I’ve very excited about the potential for this one. We have to strive for new ideas for a new media market and it’s not just about the quality of the work you have to know how to sell your project idea and customize it for your clients.

Here is a link to the Intercontinental Sun Peninsula Danang work. 

Click Here

 

Here is a picture of all the gear I took on a recent commercial shoot for a resort alongside the gear I brought for the Intercontinental shoot.

Thank you to Intercontinental Sun Peninsula Danang for taking a chance on a project like this, I applaud their courage and creativity.

VIETNAM | THAILAND | BEYOND

Shot Kit | Resort Photography

I recently did a shot kit layout for Shotkit.com and since I was asked while I was on a shoot for The Datai Langkawi I decided to feature my kit for resort photography. One key missing feature is a collapsable reflector We depend so much on natural light that we can’t do a shoot without this.  We use the gold disc to give everything that sunny holiday look.

Our clients are looking to break from the norm with their images, wanting more of a story and more realistic images so I decided to showcase my all-natural resort photography kit J For these shoots we do everything for our clients from architectural shots, food shots, and lifestyle shots, we are there to build them a well rounded image library they can use for years to come.

To start with since I’m at a luxury resort I need to fit in and be stylish so I love my Wotancraft camera bag. I have a whole arsenal of them for all different occasions. Their bags are handmade and super stylish, a nice break from all the nerdy bags out there for photographers.

My workhorse and nucleus of my kit is the Canon 5D Mark 3 partnered with a series of Canon L Series prime lenses.  This camera can do it all from weddings, commercial work, and editorial.

I use the  17mm Tilt Shift for room interiors and resort hero shots, the lens is a beast but at times it scares me because of the bulbous glass.

For the lifestyle part of the shoot I love using the 24mm 1.4, the colors and the pop you get from that lens are unrivaled by any others. It’s lightweight and allows me to get close to my subjects and to shoot them in a documentary style approach.

I have to admit my favorite lens is the 45mm Tilt Shift. I don’t use it for the miniature effect, instead I use it with a slight tilt for that creamy and dreamy look and it fits perfect for luxury resorts.

I use the 100mm macro for detail shots and for food shots, it’s razor sharp. I try to use as much natural light as possible so when we need to keep the ambience I break out my Canon 50mm 1.2, this lens rocks on low light.

I shoot a ton, trying to get as many natural moments as possible when we have models on the shoots so for storage I back everything up with the WD My Passport Pro because it’s got a built in 2 times RAID system and it’s thunderbolt so it’s super fast.

We use the Canon Legria Mini X for behind the scenes footage, I love the audio on this and the option to not be super-wide for interviews is great. I like this over the GoPro because you can film yourself and it has a built in stand and audio jacks if you want to use an external mic.

With resort shoots comes plenty of sand so having a blower is a must, my whole kit has sand everywhere so at the end of the day everything needs to be cleaned.

For the beach shots I need my sunblock, trusty Paul Smith Scarf so people know I’m a photographer, and Espadrilles because you are constantly taking off your footwear and these are the fastest.

I need to be on time so my Bell & Ross watch never comes off.

Last but not least I can’t ever go on a resort shoot without my Digipac underwater bag.  This thing isn’t the easiest to use but it’s super cheap compared to the custom kits and it allows you to get amazing shots in the pool, ocean, waterfalls, etc.

VIETNAM | THAILAND | BEYOND