Yes, I would like to see what is going on too--what speeds, apertures, and ISO's you are getting (and how you get them). Some shots are just not practical in realistic terms. There are four ways past the dilemma of low, high-contrast situations. None of them allow you to just snap away like a day in the sun--they all limit us.

One, you can get past slow shutter speeds by bracing the camera and waiting for the decisive moment when the subject is between movements. This reduces the number of shots you can get, and requires a sense of timing. A table top tripod can also brace the camera against a post, wall, etc.
Two, you can get past shallow apertures by selecting one plane at a time for a shot. This reduces the focus to select, narrow subjects.
Three, you can get past grainy ISO effects by setting your tolerance for ISO first, then the others accordingly.
Four, get a very fast lens. I have never had (or needed) an f1.4 lens, but if you want to make a habit of dark bars, remember that an f1.4 instead of an f2.8 gives two added stops to shutter, aperture, or ISO. An f1.8 (or about f2) is the starting place for a career in this sort of photography. An f4 zoom is even harder.

These may sound simplistic, but they are real life a solutions--other than adding light. If you can rig infrared flash (or floods), you can (with experimentation) get pictures, but you won't see what you saw live. I assume that flash is, in general, not wanted or allowed. Stage lights, on the other hand, ought have at least one spotlight that permits a certain amount of practical photography. If you cannot somehow accommodate low light, you cannot get the pictures you want in that light.

Well, stop jumping up and down, "I'll be back!!!" (Stop booing, it will not make any difference either)

Now this is not about what I will take but what I will not.

Laptop - Out.
Dual camera - Out.
Two lenses - The rest out.

Load is lighter (a side reference to another thread) but the point is that I do not need the 'stuff'. I'll be seeing friends, family and other things NSFW - for the prudish American that is.

Request for information on what to see , do and capture... OUT!!! Yes, I 'know' some of Europe countries but the other areas I have no clue. Quite honestly all my 'discoveries' are accidental by going places where no sane tourist go, not the result of 'you should...'.

Meeting a guy on a terrasse that goes 'Ah bon!', 'Ah bon?' or 'Ah bon...' every time someone says something is more fun than running to catch a sunset or sunrise or anything else for that matter.

A successful trip is one that gives me memories in my head, not in a recording in a microchip. Also more often than not I am taken by what is going on around me and the camera is a useless weight and the end of my arm.

So, the expert in traveling out in UHH...

Any opinion on 'real travel'?

I am old school/dinosaur and worry about putting things in the cloud or off site sources. guess I have to get to new times.

Is your concern that someone may steal your pictures, or that "the cloud" is unreliable? If the former, do you beleive that hackers are using their time trying to steal pictures instead of bank account/credit card and SSN info? If the latter, do you beleive that your $100 hard drive or $20 SD card is more reliable than multiple copies of your data in professionally managed data centers with redundant power, servers and storage? Just a couple of questions to ponder as you decide how to provide off-site backup and DR (disaster recovery) for your images.

For reference, for $5.63 per month, I keep a copy all my data including documents, pictures (raw and JPEGs), music and downloads (everything I need to restore my computer in the event of a disaster) in Amazon S3 cloud storage. My children and spouse have login and password information in the event I drop dead tomorrow, and I sleep well at night knowing that our family archive of 100GB of music and 11,000 photos (not to mention important documents) won't be lost in a disaster and can be downloaded/reconstructed from anywhere with internet access.

Hello all, I have been following this site for a few weeks now and finally took the plunge to register and join in. I like taking pictures but have a lot to learn about the craft and how all the pieces work together, lens, aperture, bodies, etc. Currently I have a several year old Canon Rebel EOS digital. I have been pretty pleased with it and have gotten a few shots I am happy about as well, but I have been mostly using it as a glorified point-and-shoot. I am about to retire and am looking to up my game. Here are my questions. In June I will be in the southwest and driving through some of the national parks in Utah. I am thinking about getting a lens with more zoom than the 55-250 that I have now. Any suggestions? Also, I read somewhere about renting equipment. Is that really a good idea and if so, do you have any recommendations for a trusted site for this?

Thanks!

I am doing a European trip in July. Would love to bring back some great and unusual photos. I will be in Prague for two-three days and have the option for the same in Budapest. My travel camera is a Nikon D810 with a Nikon 28-300 f 3.5. Generally just take that and it seems to work. Use a good monopod with quick connect since I am generally on the move. Also have an Olympus TG3 that I use if the weather is wet. I have a Nikon AF-s Nikkor 17-35 f 2.8 which I rarely use except for some landscapes and interior shots, but good for low light and wide angles.

My question first, is an extension for Budapest worthwhile from a photographic standpoint and what to see in both towns from a photographic standpoint. Any must visit spots for each town, any concerns in either and what gear is a must for this event.

Thanks.

Some one here has to have done it. I plan on taking a hike there in late May. Searching on line I cannot get a feel of what the hiking trails are like. I was in the park last May but driving only so I have some idea of what is going on terrain wise.

This will be a day long hike, no overnights.

Of course carring camera gear is part of the trip. I have been thinking and planning along that line and pretty much narrowed down how much gear to carry. Fully loaded my back pack weighs 28 pounds. That is not going to happen, to much "stuff". Got it down to camera and two lenses and a monopod along with binoculars, water. Maybe the Canon 250mm kit lens, it is small and weighs nearly nothing.

What are your experiences? Trails to hike before the snow is clear above 8000 feet? Any other gear ideas?

Ken

How many people? Where will you take the pictures?
Why get a better camera - yours will provide 12.2 mp images, and if the lighting is decent you'll get great shots. You don't need nor want an ultrawide lens, unless you don't mind taking crap from the people at the left and right edges - who will be "widened" because of the wide angle distortion sometimes referred to as volume anamorphosis or volume deformation.

Better to use a longer focal length lens and shoot a pano and stitch it in post processing. You'd overlap each image by about 50%, to ensure a smooth stitch.

Another thing to keep in mind is that people may be picking their nose, not looking at the camera, blinking, etc - The most successful way I have to ensure that I do as few takes as possible is to tell everyone to close their eyes, and open them on a count to three. Their attention will be focused, they will be looking at you, their eyes will be open, and they will have a sweet, relaxed smile of genuine amusement that would be difficult to get by any other means.

Here is one guy's approach to a large group pano"

http://www.rogerodoherty.com/2013/04/large-group-pano.html

He shoots the component images in landscape mode - I would not suggest you do that. Better to use portrait orientation and have 2 or 3 more images. You will end up with a very large, very high quality image - lots of megapixels - and space to crop at the top and the bottom to get the image you like.