Gadling

As I type this, I'm about half-way through my trip to England. It's a whirlwind trip of visiting family, seeing long-lost friends, making new acquaintances and cramming in sight-seeing daytrips when I can -- not to mention fighting a rampant case of jetlag. But through it all (and as you may well imagine), I'm taking a lot of photographs ... which has got me thinking about how I choose the images that I choose to shoot. I mean, why do I take one shot over another? Is there a "right way" to shoot a vacation?

Obviously, the answer to that question is about as varied as the number of people who own cameras: the "right way" differs for each person. And in truth, the way I shoot for my own personal use (that is, to capture as many vivid memories of a trip as possible) is far different from the way I shoot for professional purposes. But I've heard time and time again from people who say "my vacation photographs don't move me as much as my own memories do," and I think that's really unfortunate. So I thought I'd share some of the ways that I shoot my vacation, in the hope that perhaps it will trigger something for you.

I'm one of those uptight folks who hates the idea of stealing anything: I've scolded friends for buying bootlegged CDs and DVDs. My husband, however, isn't quite as ridiculous as I am -- in fact, I cringe every time he comes home from a business trip, in anticipation of what hotel towel he's decided to bring home with him as a souvenir.

However, I think I may have found a hotel where we can go and I don't have to live in fear: The Hotel Fusion in San Francisco actually encourages you to steal their towels! Stay with them for three nights or more, and they'll let you take home a towel, complete with the words "I didn't steal my towel from Hotel Fusion," to assuage any fears of any over-concerned spouses. The offer is good for stays between now and February 28, 2009.

Now if I could just find another hotel that has a similar offer for a flat-screen TV...

I mentioned last week that I was getting ready for a trip to England -- and I was a bit panicky about the fact that I hadn't finished packing. The truth is, whenever I pack for an international trip, I pack with two "me"'s in mind: Me The Tourist (who, at all costs, needs adequate underwear and hair products) and Me The Photographer (whose head would explode if she forgot her camera charger or, God forbid, her camera). So since I've already written about what I pack on any trip abroad, today, I'd thought I'd talk about how I prepare from a photographer's standpoint.

In two days, my husband, 4-year-old daughter and I are going to be leaving for a two-week trip to visit my in-laws in England. And I am panicking: not because I don't like my in-laws (I do) or because I don't like the cold (I don't, but I'll deal) ...

... I'm panicking because I haven't finished packing.

I know some of you are thinking, "Dude, you have TWO DAYS. What's the rush?" And, in fact, you do have a point -- two days should be more than enough time to pack for a two-week trip. But the thing is, with a four-year-old little girl and a 39-year-old husband, who, if "Being Forgetful" were an Olympic sport he'd handily take gold, all of the "remembering what to pack" rests on my shoulders. Luckily, (1) I'm a list-maker, and (b) I like to share. So as I make my packing list right now, as I type, I thought I'd share with you the Top 10 Things I Pack First Before Going Abroad:

So, so far, we've discussed two things: how to pick a camera and what kind of lenses you might want to take with you on your trip. Today, I thought we'd talk about the exciting world of apertures, and shutter speeds and ISO.

Wait, where are you going?

Okay, I know that for a majority of you, you couldn't care less about these sorts of things -- you'd rather just pick up your camera, set it on automatic, and go. And I promise, going forward, we're going to talk about less dry subjects, like shooting techniques and using Photoshop and the like. But the truth is, understanding ISOs and apertures and shutter speeds can help give you a lot of power over your resulting shots. So trust me on this: it'll be worth it, even though the sketches that follow are a travesty to art.

Lest you think that President-Elect Barack Obama's political win is the only milestone event celebrated in the world this week, think again: South Korea is celebrating its first two female civil aviation pilots.

Shin Soo-Jin, 39, and Hong Soo-In, 36, recently qualified to fly the B-737 airplane for Korean Air.

Said Shin of this achievement: "I'm glad that I've achieved my longtime dream. Just as we did, junior female pilot-hopefuls will have to undergo tough challenges. I believe in their capabilities."

Congratulations to them both!

From the blog I Watch Stuff comes the news that Jack Black, comedic actor known for his roles in such classics as Nacho Libre and Tropic Thunder, has signed up for a new Twentieth Century Fox adaptation of Gulliver's Travels. Quoting from Variety:

"Twentieth Century Fox is moving forward with a bigscreen adaptation of "Gulliver's Travels," with Jack Black taking on the title role as his next project."

Should be interesting. If memory serves, the story is about a regular-sized man (in this case, a travel writer) who gets shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput, filled with tiny little people called Lilliputians. So, if IMDB lists Jack Black as being 5'7" ...

... how bleeding tiny are the Lilliputians going to be??

Thanks for all your comments on the previous post, "what kind of camera should I buy?" -- there were some really going points made, and some great feedback. Today, as promised, I thought I'd go through a quick guide on why there are so many lenses out there and why they differ -- as well as why you might want a particular one on your trip.

Generally, lenses are described by their focal length. A quick Google search of the term "focal length" returns some fantastically technical definitions -- my current favourite is, "The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly it converges (focuses) or diverges (diffuses) light. A system with a shorter focal length has greater optical power than one with a long focal length."

Mmkay.

When my husband and I got married, we were also on the verge of moving from London to the United States. As a wedding present, a number of our friends chipped in and bought us a huge world atlas. It seemed like a somewhat strange gift at the time, but it's surprising how much we've used our atlas, even in these times of Google Maps and other internet resources. There's just something so nostalgic about pulling out the giant atlas, flipping over its huge papers and pouring over the maps, and inadvertently learning something new (the GDP of Singapore is $168.7 billion, who knew?). And nowadays, we often pull out the huge book to teach our daughter about the various countries of the world, as well.

If owning an atlas (or giving one as an unusual gift) sounds good to you, you're in luck: Ben Keene, editor of Oxford University Press, has just posted his handy guide on how to pick an atlas. His tips include focusing on what you'll be using your atlas for, determining whether an atlas is outdated or not (or a collector's gem), and describes how an atlas' index is much like a search engine. He even gives a compelling argument about why atlases are still relevant in a GPS world.

Maybe you're about to take the trip of a lifetime: your passport's ready, you've bought all the latest guidebooks, you now have an entirely new wardrobe/set of luggage to take on your trip, and you want to make sure you capture every perfect moment for posterity -- but your camera skills are a bit lacking. Or perhaps you're tired of going on fabulous vacations, only to return disappointed that the hundreds of photographs you took don't really capture the brilliant blue of the ocean, the way the sun turned everything golden, the teeming humanity or the grandeur of the mountain ranges.

Well, today's your lucky day: welcome to Through the Gadling Lens, Gadling's newest weekly guide to ensuring you enjoy your travel shots for many years to come. I'll give you practical tips on how to frame your shots, how to use Photoshop or other photo editing software, how to archive your shots, where to find great online photography resources and other tools to help you capture your very best images. In fact, if you have any burning questions about travel photography that you'd love to have answered, be sure to shoot me an e-mail at karen.walrond@weblogsinc.com, and I'll be happy to answer them right here on the site.

In the meantime, let's get started with the basics: choosing a digital camera. Ask any photographer, and she'll likely confirm that the number one question she's asked is "what kind of camera should I buy?" This question, obviously, isn't easy -- besides the fact that there are literally hundreds of brands and types of cameras to choose from, the truth is that the answer depends strongly on how you plan on using the camera in the first place.