On My Way: Bali!!!

I'll shortly be on my way to Bali to lead my Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition™, which officially starts on August 1 to August 15. I'm in London for a short stop over, then on to the Thai Airways flight from Heathrow to Bangkok and onwards to Denpasar.

I'll spend a few days before the start of the photo-expedition in Ubud where I'll work on a short two-day assignment, renew my friendship with this delightful small town, and with Bintang beer.

I will be joined in Ubud by 8 photographers, but this is my last photo~expedition with such a high number of participants. Those who follow my blog know I've recently decided to limit my forthcoming trips/workshops to 5 participants, and to further enhance their photo-journalism component and multimedia story-telling.

I've tried cramming all my gear in my Lowepro backpack (a non-roller), but found it too uncomfortable to carry...not only was it very heavy, but also sort of awkward. Consequently, I will use my small Domke F-8 and the no-name messenger bag combination. This way, I'll be able to spread the gear over two bags....one for each shoulder when I need to. And this configuration is easier to get through any pedantic check-in agent. However the 70-200 2.8 will have to travel in my checked-in luggage.

It still allows me to carry a Canon 1D Mark II along with my 5D Mark II, a 28-70 2.8, a 17-40 4.0 and a 24 1.4, my Marantz audio recorder, and a couple of hard drives and my Macbook Pro 13". The rest of the electronic paraphernalia will travel in my checked-in luggage. Better that than risk a dislocated shoulder.

Oh, and no room for a Holga...but my Panasonic GF1 is trotting along with me, so we'll see how it performs in Bali as a walk-about camera.

Since internet access is ubiquitous in Bali, I will try to post some updates on the trip but there will a hiatus for a few days.

In the meantime, for those missing out on joining my photo expedition and workshop on this lovely island, I leave you with this short movie commercial for a new Sony Handycam filmed in Bali.