When we can go traveling again...

[raydm6]

Drove into Boston last week and noticed a lot of people walking around without masks. Felt the energy of pre-Covid times and that people are ready to start living and socializing again.

Massachusetts is dropping its mask mandate (with some exceptions) on May 29.

 

[raid]

I am glad that we took together the roadtrip Germany-Denmark-Sweden-Norway and back before we knew there was a pandemic, Robert.

There will be no international traveling for us this summer (again). We will instead take a short trip to San Francisco. I don't know what the winter will look like with respect to COVID-19. On June 1 the official Hurricane Season will start. This is also worrisome.

Raid

My wife and I dream of that roadtrip to north Europe we were planning to do before the pandemic, we already did one two years ago with Raid and his family. And it was a beautiful experience.

But I'm afraid it will be not soon...and we're not sure what our health will be like as time goes by...the age ...

So when reopening we plan a roadtrip through Italy staying away from large cities and visiting small villages. Which could be a good photo exercise.

And perhaps a trip to Wetzlar...why not? If Germany will be open and safe...

Which camera? almost sure the M10 with a 50 and the 28 Summaron in the pocket 🙂

 

[robert blu]

Raid, Simo wants to go back to Bergen and because I do not like the idea to fly so long covid is still around the only way is to drive !!!

 

[raid]

Ask Simo to wait for us for a car trip to Bergen again next year! [just kidding]
Drive to Bergen! Enjoy life.

 

[DownUnder]

An update. The second draft (I am a firm believer in Ernest Hemingway's well-known posit that a first draft of anything is usually sh*t) of my next post to this thread has been derailed by yet another Covid lockdown. Here in the (Australian) state where I live, we have been restricted mostly to home or short walks for the basics (exercise, food, medicines, mental sanity) for the next seven days - yet another government wild overreaction, but seen by most as necessary (I disagree) and about the only thing the bureaucrats can come up with to jolly along the dumber Aussies to get their vaccinations (I agree). So be it. I am at home with my internet and some good red wine for the next week. As they say in a certain book, ah! men.

This latest lockdown is restrictive but by no means as onerous as that imposed on some of our rangefinderforum friends in 2020 - especially the Italians who were mostly locked in at home for many months. We here are getting off easy by comparison.

I am writing this to the strains of pleasant flute and harp concertos on our stereo system and the luscious smells of good coffee brewing in the kitchen. So life here is okay for now if not exactly to my idealistic plans for 2021.

This weekend I will be emptying the camera cabinet and cupboard, partly to dust and clean, mostly to check cameras, remove batteries forgotten in a few of my film Nikons/Nikkormats, and (again) consider what I can dispose of after July 1 when the new Australian tax year click in and I have a new incentive to work with (my goal is to sell X amount of gear without impacting on my no-income tax/no pension deductions status, as we OAPs do).

With the new restrictions placed on our lives I am struggling with the urge to yet again postpone any plans to travel in the near future (overseas sojourns being now even more unlikely) or make new travel plans as a mental distraction to help pass all this free time I now suddenly have on my hands. Being me, I will most probably do both.

I will have more to say. I am considering even (for the first time) scanning and posting some of my travel images taken over the years, 1970s to 2019, to illustrate my comments. I have just finished scanning 12+ slide films of my 1970, 1972 and 1974 Bali visits and I am amazed at what I found in those yellow Kodak boxes...

As they say in Quebec, a bientot.

 

[Bille]

What camera and one lens only will you/would you take? It can be film or digital. Whichever.

(...)

For now, please post your own thoughts.

I have been following photography forums for maybe 20 years now and this is one of the questions that pop up repeatedly.

Is there any law anywhere restricting the number of lenses a person can take with them? Do you people buy camera bags for only one camera and one lens?

One camera: Of course I would take the oldest and weakest in my collection. No one needs a current and smoothly working camera on a trip.

One lens: Either the clunkiest I can find (5600mm Vivitar f9.2) or maybe I can a find a fisheye-superwide. I would never take a 50mm lens or a zoom with me on this fantasy ONE LENS TRIP.

 

[Archiver]

@ozmoose - I guess we're in the same state. Not that much traffic on the roads, and the general atmosphere simply has less 'activity', if that makes sense. I awoke this morning to a blanket sense of nothingness. Everyone is back in a mask. No one can go more than 5km away from home apart from compassionate care or getting vaccinated. Oh, the joy.

 

[robert blu]

...
This latest lockdown is restrictive but by no means as onerous as that imposed on some of our rangefinderforum friends in 2020 - especially the Italians who were mostly locked in at home for many months. We here are getting off easy by comparison.

As they say in Quebec, a bientot.

having experienced many weeks and months of strong lockdown I really imagine how you can feel.

Be strong and keep in mind that photography (as other creative activities like painting or playing music) are a good therapy to survive difficult times.

I managed during the first lockdown to make a small photo book reflecting my thoughts, my fears, my doubts. I made a thread about it here : https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172756

And yes, planning future travels (or photo projects) helps in these times even if we do not know when they will be possible

In Italy we say "grit your teeth and keep smiling" 🙂

 

[DownUnder]

having experienced many weeks and months of strong lockdown I really imagine how you can feel.

Be strong and keep in mind that photography (as other creative activities like painting or playing music) are a good therapy to survive difficult times.

I managed during the first lockdown to make a small photo book reflecting my thoughts, my fears, my doubts. I made a thread about it here : https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172756

And yes, planning future travels (or photo projects) helps in these times even if we do not know when they will be possible

In Italy we say "grit your teeth and keep smiling" 🙂

Many thanks for your kind post. For you all in Italy, it was many months of a harsh and restrictive lockdown. For us, it has been not so bad. This time, only for one week, or so we hope. The year 2020 was one most of us want to forget. I am sure, you more so than us.

We in Australia have had life in the past year so very easy compared to the great limitations you had forcibly imposed. With all those restrictions, you did what you had to do to not only survive, but keep your creative instincts alive and ongoing. You coped as well as you could and you managed to create good visual work in your time of crisis. Your excellent web site is proof of that.

The ability to just go out and photograph whet is all around you and otherwise not obvious to most, is surely the most creative aspect of all. In ordinary times, travel to an exotic destination and photographing colorful cliches is easy work. Making a memorable image of what is happening outside your door and on the street around you, takes true skill. Not the chocolate-box images or Velveeta landscapes, but the images that reflect true feelings.

 

[DownUnder]

Is there any law anywhere restricting the number of lenses a person can take with them? Do you people buy camera bags for only one camera and one lens?

One camera: Of course I would take the oldest and weakest in my collection. No one needs a current and smoothly working camera on a trip.

One lens: Either the clunkiest I can find (5600mm Vivitar f9.2) or maybe I can a find a fisheye-superwide. I would never take a 50mm lens or a zoom with me on this fantasy ONE LENS TRIP.

Respectfully, what strange planet do you live on? In the real world, no such law exists to limit the gear you can carry, possibly excepting a few Marxist dictatorships in Africa or North Korea where most citizens can barely afford food. By all means carry as many cameras and lenses as you want. Many of us like mini-bags for one camera and one lens. Others want to take everything, even the kitchen sink. Your, "the oldest and weakest in my collection" brands you as naive or a simpleton, neither of which I suspect you are. Take some sensible advice: dump the garbage gear and buy a decent camera!

 

[robert blu]

Thanks for your words ozmoose, appreciated. It was an hard time, now getting better (fingers crossed) 🙂

 

[DownUnder]

... It was an hard time, now getting better (fingers crossed) 🙂

May I say, yours is one of the most inspiring sites I have had the pleasure of reading (and I read it often) over the years.

You express yourself supremely well and (unlike me) manage to communicate in few words, true minimalism at its very best!

I enjoy the quiet strength of your creativity and your intellect in all you post.

I hope you will go on photographing and posting for us for a long time.