Goruck GR1 Backpack Makes the Grade

I'm digging the Goruck GR1 backpack. I got it a couple months ago for a photo trip to Yosemite, and I've used it ever since for everything from hiking to business trips. It's now my go-to bag for traveling and anything outdoors. For business trips or other travel, it carries enough clothes for a 4-day trip, plus a MacBook Air and everything else I need, and it's small enough to fit under a seat in an airplane. For walking or hiking, it carries my pro-sized DSLR with several lenses, a tripod, a jacket, food, and water.

Did I mention that the GR1 is tough? Made of 1000D Cordura, it's practically immune from abrasions, and it's water- and mud-resistant, too. I walked in the woods during a steady rain for over an hour today, using it to haul a small camera and tripod along with a 1.5L water bottle and whatever else I left in there from my last trip. As you can see from the photo above, the outside of the bag was fairly drenched towards the end of the trip, but the contents remained dry and well protected.

At $295 plus shipping, the Goruck GR1 isn't cheap. But it's a tough bag that's comfortable to wear. It looks great, it holds a ton of stuff, and it's made in the USA. For me, it's just about perfect.

How to Use Flickr to Host Photos for Your Craigslist Ads

I love Craigslist. In most markets, it’s free to list your unwanted stuff for sale, and the site gets so much traffic, most things sell pretty fast. The downside is that Craigslist only allows 4 photos per ad, and they are small and poor quality. And that's too bad, because quality photos help buyers see what they're getting.

Enter Flickr.

With Flickr, you can host high-quality versions of your images and display them in your Craigslist ads for free. Just follow these steps:

1. Upload your product photo(s) to Flickr (sign up for a free account here).
   

   Note: If you don’t want your product photos to show up in your Flickr photostream, mark them private. They’ll still show up on Craigslist when you follow these instructions.

2. In a new browser tab (CTRL+T on most browsers), create your ad on Craigslist and enter the description for the stuff you want to sell.
3. From the Flickr tab, open the product photo and select the Grab the HTML/BBCode option from the Share dropdown menu.
   

   

4. Choose the image size you want (I usually select an image size of 640 pixels on the long edge) and click the HTML selection bubble.
5. Select the Flickr-generated code and hit CTRL+C on your keyboard to copy the code.
6. From the Craigslist tab, place your cursor inside your description where you want your product photo to be, and press CTRL+V to paste the Flickr code into your Craigslist ad.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 for each photo you want to insert into your Craigslist ad.
8. The last step before saving your ad is to upload one of your photos directly to Craigslist. That way, your photo will appear next to your listing as well.
9. Save your Craigslist ad and verify that it appears as expected. If the Flickr images you used were marked private, you can log out of Flickr to confirm that they still appear properly in your ad.

Happy selling!

Yosemite Trip Day 4 (Last Day)

On the last day of my photo tour with Lloyd Chambers, we explored the June Lake Loop area, not far from the eastern entrance of Yosemite National Park. While the June Lake area isn't exactly off the beaten path, it was an area that I was interested in exploring because I'd heard that it was a great place to go for shooting fall colors.

Lloyd and I met at the north entrance of the paved loop at sunrise, and we pulled off the road as soon as we saw our first good-sized group of brightly colored aspens. With temperatures in the mid- to upper-20s (F), we layered up and ventured up a nearby hill to shoot the trees as the sun rose over the horizon and warmed us.

Morning on June Lake Loop (1/180 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200 with Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 lens on Nikon D3s)

Later, we returned to our cars and drove down the road a bit further. With the sun higher in the sky and temperatures rising, we saw a lot of roadside photographers practicing their craft. And to be honest with you, I drove past the first dozen or so feeling just a little bit superior. After all, I'd been hiking well off the road the past few days! But it wasn't long before I saw such a pretty spot that I pulled over myself, shooting shoulder to shoulder with the other tourists. What can I say? It was a nice road!

There's a Bee Near Me (shot roadside, feet on the pavement, 1/90 sec at f/8.0, ISO 200 with Zeiss 100mm f/2.0 Makro lens on Nikon D3s)

I love reflections. Everywhere I go, I find myself looking for reflections and thinking about whether they might make a good photograph. Lucky for me, June Lake Loop afforded many opportunities.

Golden Pond (1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200 with Zeiss 100mm f/2.0 Makro lens on Nikon D3s)

The photo above was taken just a few steps from the spot where I shot the photo below. It's rare to find a spot where there are good photographic opportunities in multiple directions!

Reflections on Fishing(1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200 with Zeiss 100mm f/2.0 Makro lens on Nikon D3s)

Our last stop gave me an opportunity to explore a bright stand of roadside aspens with Lloyd's awesome Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 lens on my camera (I liked the 25mm lens so much that I bought one when I returned home from my trip).

Autumn Tree Carving (1/500 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 with Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 lens on Nikon D3s)

Upon reaching the south end of June Lake Loop, Lloyd and I parted ways and I headed toward Reno to catch my flight home. The trip was a fantastic adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed. I learned a lot and I think the experience made me a better photographer. In fact, I'm sold on the idea of hiring a good guide for this type of trip. I can't wait to figure out where I'm going next!

One-click Keyboard Shortcuts for Flickr

Did you know that you can see a context-sensitive list of keyboard shortcuts from any Flickr page by simply pressing the slash / question mark key ('/' or '?') on your keyboard? Flickr added a lot of great keyboard shortcuts a while back, but I just noticed the shortcut dialog today.

Yosemite Trip Day 3

The third day of my photo tour with Lloyd Chambers began inside the park boundaries, just after sunrise, with plans to explore some of Yosemite's highland meadows. With nighttime temperatures dipping into the 20s, we followed a meandering creek bed in search of frost and ice before the sun rose and melted it all away.

Frozen Star in Creek Bed (1/1500 sec at f/3.3 handheld, ISO 800 with Zeiss 100mm f/2.0 Makro lens on Nikon D3s)

While the meadows and creeks were interesting and scenic, Lloyd and I discussed moving to a lower elevation in search of fall colors. We had both noticed large groups of blazing aspens on our trips up and down Tioga Pass, so we decided to travel back outside the park for a closer look. The valley road to the old Poole Power Plant offered a close up view of these beautiful trees.

Aspen Near the Creek (1/2000 sec at f/1.4, ISO 200 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 lens on Nikon D3s)

Lloyd took great care of me by giving me plenty of time and space to explore the roadside and shoot as many photos as I wanted. I used the time to practice some of the techniques he'd shared with me and to simply enjoy the scenery. It was a beautiful spot.

Colorful Creekside (1/350 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 with Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 lens on Nikon D3s)

Honestly, I think there was enough potential subject matter around Poole Power Plant to keep me busy for two or three days. However, the mountains rose so sharply from this narrow little valley that there are probably only five or six hours of direct sunlight each day. Besides, we wanted to check out nearby Lundy Canyon before it got too dark. We had to move on.

We drove to Lundy Canyon by following the main road north from nearby Lee Vining, but Lloyd told me that it was possible to hike there from Saddlebag Lake, which we had visited the day before. We really hit the jackpot with Lundy Canyon - Lloyd said the fall colors there were the best he'd seen in a long time. The fall colors around Yosemite are a lot different than the ones we have in the Appalachians, but I was still very impressed by the bright colors we saw in the Sierras.

Aspen Near the Trail (1/20 sec at f/11, ISO 200 with Zeiss 100mm f/2.0 Makro lens on Nikon D3s)

It was Lundy Canyon where we took our only "group photo" of the trip.

Self Portrait of Matt Hyatt with Lloyd Chambers

With only one more day left on the trip, and with me still feeling pretty high on the fantastic fall colors we'd seen, we made plans to visit the June Lake Loop the next day. I had heard from several locals that June Lake was bristling with colors. Boy, were they right. I'll post photos soon!