El Salvador - Day 4

This was our last day in El Salvador. Patrick caught an early morning flight, so Dustin and I spent some time in San Salvador (the capital) seeing some awesome churches before heading to the airport by 10:00 AM. We went by Estadio Cuscatlan, Parque Cuscatlan (to see the wall, Catedral Metropolitana De San Salvador, Palacio Nacional, Iglesia El Rosario (with no artificial lights), and the Basilica Sagrado Corazon. A quick stop to the supermarket for some 100% segura and we were done.
Click on the picture to see the slideshow . . .

El Salvador - Day 3

First thing this morning (after coffee of course) we headed to the beach. Only an hour away from San Salvador, we got to see the beautiful black sands on the Pacific. After that we went to La Palma, a colorful village in the mountains to see the artisans make their colorful crafts . . . and then continued up the mountains to have lunch at a Hostal.

El Salvador - Day 2

Today was our first full day in El Salvador. We started the day leaving Holiday Inn in the Zona Rosa in San Salvador, driving past the fortified US Embassy before going to Mr. Donut for breakfast (and not getting donuts). We then headed out to see some Mayan ruins, volcanoes, and running down a mountain on a zip line.

The picture on the left is my buddy Dustin shooting a picture of some old Mayan pyramid (not as big as the Egypt ones).

Full slideshow can be found in El Salvador - Day 2. I never did take that Tamrac backpack I ordered, and just took my gear in my old Think Tank shoulder bag. The search for the perfect photo backpack continues.

El Salvador - Day 1

Dustin, Patrick, and I took a short trip to El Salvador for a "Photo" trip. Basically the only reason we went there was to take pictures. We hired Robert from Nahua Tours to take us around our whole trip, so he picked us up from the Airport when we landed, showed us all the sights of El Salvador our whole trip, and took us back to the Airport when we left.

So instead of the typical cookie cutter tours, we got to pick where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see during our stay.

Since we arrived late on Saturday night, we only got to drive around San Salvador at night, and have some dinner so these pictures don't show much of anything exciting. Take a look at the pictures I have for El Salvador - Day 1

Tamrac Expedition 6x Photo Backpack

Well I ordered a Tamrac Expedition 6x from Amazon to take my gear with me to El Salvador tomorrow. I went running to Camera Co-Op and Houston Camera Exchange to see the different backpacks and this is what I decided on. Everything will be a tight fit, but considering I will be carrying the camera and main lens in my hand, it should work out fine. There was even a space for my laptop. So here is what I am bringing:
-Nikon D700
-Nikon 50mm f/1.4G
-Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G
-Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G
-Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR
-Nikon SB-400 Speedlight
-Nikon SB-900 Speedlight
-Apple MacBook Pro 13"
Everything fit in the bag I tried out just fine, a little tight. What I like about it is that it is water resistant (only Lowepro has waterproof) so I don't need the rain coat that comes with Think Tank or Lowepro AW bags. Padding on the straps seemed very comfortable and seemed lightweight when carrying some photo gear (laptop and some of the stuff will stay at the hotel). It should be delivered tomorrow, just in time for Saturday's trip!

10.09 - Well I decided to return the backpack, a little too big for my liking.  The search for the perfect photo backpack continues.

Waiting for Snow Leopard

Well I am waiting for my Apple Snow Leopard disc to come in today from Apple so I can do a clean install tonight. Last night I started a backup of my 13" MacBook Pro to an external drive. Having about 440GB of data to back up takes a long time! I checked this morning before I went to work and it was still backing up!

Anyway, it should be done by now. Hopefully all will run smooth and I will be able to have it ready for me to take when I go out of town tomorrow to visit Dell in Austin, TX.

Playing at iTZ

Today we went to iTZ to have some fun and games for Chase for having such a good first week at school. The pizza was gross, but other than that, it was pretty fun. Chase knocked me and Courtney good on the bumper cars!

It was a swell time according to Chase

Patrick's Arcade

Last night, Courtney and I went to Joystix Classic Games and Pinball to celebrate Patrick's birthday and had a blast. The Shiner Bock was ice cold and the games were awesome, with the exception of Courtney smoking me on Air Hockey! I wish I had taken pictures of the jock strap koozies I got Patrick, but maybe next time.

Happy Birthday brother!

Phil's Brisket

Today we went to Phil's church (St. Philip the Apostle) to pick up a brisket. The Knights of Columbus was doing the smoking for the church and they smoked it up nice and good. Thanks Phil!

Review: Gitzo GC1201T Series 1 Travel Tripod Carry Case

Without a doubt, Gitzo makes the most lightweight tripod in the business. When I bought my Gitzo GT1541T Tripod ($575) it came with a soft slip case. That has worked perfectly for me for a while, but I find I keep my tripod in the trunk so I can always have it with me and I always worried about damaging the carbon fiber legs by some box or junk in my trunk.

I decided to get a protective case for the tripod and I turned to the Gitzo GC1201T ($69) Series 1 Travel Tripod Carry Case. I ordered mine from Amazon when they had 1 left in stock (now a 1 - 2 month wait). Since I was unable to find any pictures of how this fit with my tripod, I ordered it blind. I hope my inclusion of the pictures will help others decide if this is right for them.

The case is as small as it can be to fit the tripod and a head. I use a Markins Q3 T ball head, so I can confirm that it fits perfect, but it is a snug fit.

Take a look at the slideshow below to see all the pictures.

For Sale: Markins Q3 Traveler Ball Head

The Markins Q3 Traveler ($289) is is the current tripod ball head I have on my Gitzo GT1541T Tripod ($575). I have posted it up on fredmiranda.com in the Buy & Sell forums for $220 with all original accessories.

If you are looking for a great tripod head, give me a call. Keep in mind you will need to buy camera/lens specific plates to mate your camera to the clamp. I highly recommend Really Right Stuff as the place to go get your goodies. They sell for $55 per plate, and are camera body specific.
So if I love this head so much, why sell it? The reason for the sale is to buy a new one that does not have the clamp installed. When they are ordered new, they have loctite on the threads to keep them from getting loose and reduce vibrations, but if you use the red loctite, it becomes nearly impossible to remove. You need to apply heat (maybe a blowtorch) or hit it with a hammer. Since this is a precision ball head, I decided rather than ruin the head, I would order a new one and use the blue loctite that can be removed. When the new one arrives, I will be putting on a Really Right Stuff B2 LLR II Quick Release Clamp ($120). Say that three times fast!

Buy my Markins Q3 Traveler

Chase at Chuy's

We went to Chuy's for lunch and apparently Chase learned how to cross his eyes his first week of school.

What are they teaching them nowadays?

Anyway it was some of the funniest pictures of Chase I have ever seen

What Can Brown Do For You? Lose Your Package (And Find It)!

So last Tuesday (Aug 18), I shipped out a Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens to a fellow photog up in New Jersey and was happy to have cash in my hands for my beautiful DX lens. I did what any normal person would do, I let BROWN handle the delivery. Here is where the story gets interesting . . .

I got a call from Xin (the dude that bought my glass) on Monday (Aug 24) this week, and he told me that he has no lens, and no tracking information is online. I immediately went over to the UPS Store by my pad to give them a WTF, and they were closed (missed it by 15 minutes). Nevermind the fact that my car wouldn't start and I needed to call Honda for Roadside Assistance to deal with it (it's all cool now) . . . the bad thing was that when I dropped off the box the week before, I did not wait for any receipt that they took the package from me. So for the last week (after refunding Xin's coin), I have been dealing with the fact that I am out $900 for my bad.

Fast forward to today . . .
I get a call from Shelia @ UPS "Lost and Found" and was told that they located my lens. As a security check, she wanted me to identify the color of the lens . . . IT'S BLACK!
So after finding it's way to Missouri (its not really on the way), it is headed back home to Houston. Maybe the UPS driver will give me a thumbs up and a six pack of Shiner for my trouble.

Nikon Lens Thursday . . . f/2.8 Zoom Trifecta

This morning I decided it was time to do some lens upgrades. I had been pondering doing this for a little while, and decided to take the plunge. So let's see what I picked up today.

The first lens I bought was a Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 ($1799.88) from J&R. This is a super wide angle that should pair very well with my Nikon D700. I wish I would have had this on my vacation at Pensacola Beach 2 weeks ago . . . but oh well.

This lens is geared for landscapes or indoors where you need the wide perspective. I must say I am rather excited to get this lens (probably next week sometime) and see what it can do. The front element is curved, so no filters can go on this baby, but it is supposed to be as sharp as some of Nikon's prime lenses in this range (and cheaper than buying a 14mm, 20mm, and 24mm) separate.

The second lens I purchased is a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 ($1849.88). Now I already own this lens, I picked it up from Zane Reed . . . fellow photographer from Nikonians (brand new), but I decided if I was going to pay this much for a lens that I was going to use as my "everyday" lens, I was going to get one with a receipt in my name to take advantage of the 5 year warranty.
This lens was out of stock when I ordered it, but it will show up within a month or so. Not a big deal as I still have my 24-70mm which I will sell when the new one arrives. I called Oscar (ext 1016) after making my order and he was cool enough to drop the price to $1799 for me.

The last lens I ordered is the newly announced (but not released) Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II (2,399.95). Now this lens won't ship until November, but this will be a hard to find lens when it is released. I already have a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR that I bought from Tom Stovall (another Nikonian), but this new lens is supposed to be more optimized for Full Frame (FX) over the old one. Hopefully this will arrive before the holidays . . . and yes Oscar @ J&R took $50 off too. Thanks man!

Tripod Tuesday

Well today was all about the tripod. I currently have a Gitzo GT-1541T (Traveler Series) Carbon Fiber tripod paired with a Markins Q3 Traveler. The problem is that I have started using the tripod more and more, and the screw on the clamp is somewhat annoying. While I don't miss the weight of my old Manfrotto 488RC2 ball head, I did miss the quick release. So I decided it was time to replace the clamp, but unfortunately I can't remove the one on my ball head because they put some red loctite on the head. So a trip to markinsamerica.com and $300 later got me a new Q3 Traveler with special instructions to "not use loctite". I can probably pawn off my old head with the stuck clamp for $225 ish, so let's just say I am out $75 right now on this. This is how I justify it I guess.

Now time to get a Quick Release clamp. A trip online to Really Right Stuff, and I was grabbing a B2 LR II Quick Release Clamp. Since I got a new camera for my birthday, it is time to get a new plate. I have been using the plate for my D90, but I wanted a fitted plate for my MB-D10 grip on my D700. So I ordered a BMBD10 plate for the grip. I decided to add a FA-CS3 coldshoe plate for my SB-900 flash as well while I was at it. So add another $200 to my total today for Tripod Tuesday.

Finally a nice case for my tripod to complete my Tripod upgrades today. I settled on the GC-1201T case from Amazon as I have some gift certificates from my birthday. I got to use up a Gift Cert from Aaron, Kim, Zach, and part of one from Courtney. Thanks! That saved me $68 bucks!

Hopefully everything will get in by the weekend for some fun shots.