Introduction
So the Arndt family will be taking a much needed trip down to cape town in 10 days to visit some old friends and see some of the local sites, and hopefully do some photography as well while we are there. We will be staying in Bloubergstrand and taking a few excursions around the area as well. This will just be a weekend trip from Friday to Monday, and most of it will be catching up with old friends. But we will discuss in the post below about what our plans for our holiday to cape town, what photography gear we will be taking and what things to do with the family we will be experiencing.
Our Equipment
We recently were gifted some new equipment thanks to my mother in law and wife. We are now using a Fuji XS-10 which came with a Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS Zoom Lens. We got it at a discount as well as the local Foto First shop had it returned from a different customer, but there was nothing wrong with it. The reason I went for this camera was more functionality than name. I previously had a Canon DSLR, but wanted something smaller for travel photography, with the advanced capabilities of a better camera than a bridge version. Bridge cameras sit between the point and shoot and mirrorless/DSLR world, giving more features, but no lenses and smaller sensors. This camera had In Body Image Stabilization, which for me was a must. I have had shaky hands due to a overactive thyroid for years already, and learnt that the stabilization for me was the difference between a useless photo and something I can work with.
While this camera is not a full frame, it is good enough for my needs currently and thanks to our multitude of ebucks and discovery miles available, I will soon be adding a wide angle lens, The Tamron 11-20 F2.8 Di III A-RXD Lens.
Dont let all those letters fool you, they are not that complicated. the Di III Means it is a lens made for use with crop sensor cameras, such as the one we are using currently. The 11-20 represents the mm of the focal length, but as this is a crop sensor, it is actually a 16.5 to 30, as a APS-C Sensor has a crop of 1.5. So its not the lens that actually changes in anyway, it still works as a 11-20mm, but due to the sensor being smaller in the camera than a full frame( which is 35mm in dimensions, or 24mm x 36mm ), the final image is more zoomed in than on a full frame. So what essentially happens is that your APS-C sensor removes some of the area round the photograph you wish to take, so instead of having all the photo of a full frame, it only gives you a certain portion of it. This only really matters in certain types of photography. Wildlife photography is not always impacted by this, as the animals tend to be further away, but anything that is close up photography, landscape photography to a extent, macro photography, portrait photography, and low light photography, could be affected by this. The reason why low light photography is included is that because the larger sensor allows for more light, which improves image quality. But there are more factors this.
For supporting the camera during the low light and long exposure photography, we will be using a tripod for stability. Low light photography requires a longer shutter speed or a lower f stop to allow more light to come onto the sensor. The longer shutter speed means it can also pick up any movement that occurs during the time it takes to take the photo. This can also be used in daylight, but then you need to balance the aperture( F-stop) to account for this. You could also use a higher ISO, but this does degrade image quality under most situations, and so working with shutter speed and aperture is preferred. So we will be getting ourselves a tripod such as the K&F Concept 78 Inch Tripod. It is a monopod and a tripod, weighs 1.5kg and has a max load capacity of 10kg, which is more than sufficient for our needs. We will also be getting ourselves some bags to carry all this equipment around in. We are looking at two bags currently, one for the everyday walking around and one for carrying all the equipment. For the everyday walking we will not be needing to carry all the equipment, so a smaller bag with a few lenses and accessories will be fine. for this purpose we will be getting the Cwatcun camera single shoulder bag, or at least the south african version of it, the Caden single shoulder backpack. Then for carrying all the equipment around, we will be getting the K&F Concept Travel bag. With its large store capacity and ability to carry a 15.6 laptop, tripod, 3 lenses, flashes and spares, not to mention its waterproof and has space for water bottles. It is the perfect bag for the on the go photographer who needs to carry all the accessories for that out there photoshoot.
Our Travel Plans
So for our trip we will be flying into Cape Town from Johannesburg on Lift airlines. The reason for selecting them was two fold:
We needed some little extra assistance with getting a seat for my son, Connor, who is 19 months at this point. He is a active child and so getting him his own seat was preferred and suggested by other parents as well. Their system did not allow this normally, so we had to reach out and their social media support helped us out a lot.
The second reason was that we get better discounts with that airline through the ebucks platform from FNB. The 40% discount on the flight was appreciated, just remember it did not include taxes etc., just the airlines portion of the cost. I like to consider myself a expert of ebucks and discovery miles and how to make it work for you. We will be staying at the infinity apartments in blouberg, in the two bedroom apartment on the ground floor. This is because Connor has just moved to sleeping in his own bed and so we are booking all our accommodation with this in mind, and no more travel cots required. Instead we purchased a portable guard rail from our local baby store. Its quick and easy to setup, and can fit a variety of bed sizes. Videos and photos of the accommodation will soon follow. For our car rental, we will be going with a Toyota corolla quest or similar. We did not need a large car for this trip as its just the three of us with one bag and some smaller bags but otherwise the car will do just fine for the trip. Rather save the cash and put it towards a excursion.
Our one planned excursion while we are there is to do the dyer island cruises. We will be doing the marine big five cruise, and they have varying prices for their various options.
So whether you are looking to do a shark cage dive or just cruise. They can assist in whatever you choose to do.
See there options here.
We will be uploading more photos and videos of the entire trip once we are done. So you can expect the results on our social media channels and more once completed. in the meantime, view our photography from our other trips and days working on the game reserves here. View our Products available as well.
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