360Photography

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  • Hy6 rises again as DW Photo tries to break from tangled history

    Some ideas are apparently too good to let die. DW Photo of Braunschweig, Germany, has become the latest company to attempt to produce the Hy6 645 medium format camera. This follows the collapse of DHW Fototechnik, which itself took over responsibility from the defunct Franke & Heidecke, which grew from the remains of Rollei.

    The company will produce the Hy6 mod2 version of the camera, originally released in 2012 and use manufacturing facilities at the former Rollei factory. The camera will cost €5950.

    German photo site Photoscala also has a fascinating look at how the camera, once sold under the Leaf, Sinar and Rolleiflex brands, came into being and how its collaborative development following the fall of Rollei has created a legal tangle for anyone trying to bring the camera back to market. Even in Google Translated form, it’s well worth a read.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Microsoft launches new generation Surface Pro

    Microsoft has left its Surface Pro line of Windows 10 tablet/laptop hybrids pretty much untouched since 2015 but today announced the latest generation device which is simply called Surface Pro. It comes with slightly rounder edges than the predecessors but looks otherwise very similar and is only 8.5mm thin. 

    It also offers 50% more battery life (up to 13.5 hours for video playback) than the Surface Pro 4 and the Kickstand can be adjusted to a 165 degree angle which according to Microsoft is ideal for drawing and design work. The 12.3″ PixelSense display with 2736 x 1824 resolution and 3:2 aspect ratio can be controlled via the new Surface Pen which, at 4096 pressure levels, offers double the sensitivity of the previous version. In addition there is a new optional Type Cover with LED illumination and a glass trackpad.

    The new Surface Pro comes in platinum, cobalt blue and burgundy colors and can be pre-ordered from today starting at $ 799. The device is available with Intel’s 7th-generation Core processors, with specifications starting from 128GB SSD and 4GB RAM up to 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM. Shipping is envisaged for mid-June.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Maintaining a legacy or building for mirrorless, who benefits?

    If Canon makes a full-frame mirrorless camera, should they forego some of the potential size benefits to maintain full EF-mount compatibility? And just how compatible would it be?

    More than ever, rumors are circulating that Canon and Nikon are finally going to take mirrorless seriously by building full-frame mirrorless cameras. These rumors, which may well turn out to be nonsense, all seem to suggest that these cameras will be built around the companies’ respective DSLR mounts.

    It’s an interesting quandary: develop a new, space-efficient mount or stick with your existing system?

    I’m going to argue that the right answer is much clearer for a manufacturer than for the end consumer. And I think I can guess which option we’re likely to see.

    Supporting your legacy

    The benefits of supporting your legacy mount seem obvious: the manufacturer gets to keep selling their existing lenses and the consumer ends up with a huge range of lenses to choose from. Surely there’s no conflict there?

    The advantage of all (or most) of an existing system’s lenses being compatible from day one seem overwhelming. Plenty of choice, the ability to sell mirrorless cameras to existing lens owners and no reputational damage. Everybody wins, right?

    “There’s a risk of building a system that prioritizes backward compatibility over maximizing performance”

    The problem with building a mirrorless camera with a full-depth mount goes deeper (pun intended) than all of your mirrorless models being bigger than necessary. That said, even people who prefer larger cameras are usually referring to grip depth and spacing of controls, rather than demanding their camera has a big box of fresh air in the middle of it, for no functional reason.

    A question of focus

    No, the bigger issue is that most DSLR lenses aren’t designed for mirrorless. I’m not just talking about some designs being larger than necessary, I’m talking about the use of focus motors that are great for DSLR phase detection but that are woefully clunky when driven using contrast detection AF. Secondary sensor AF, as used and painstakingly optimized for DSLRs is very effective at telling the lens where it needs to move its focus elements to. The ring-type ultrasonic motors used in most high-end DSLR lenses are great at responding to such a command.

    Contrast detection asks very different things of its lenses. Instead of racing to a particular point, they need to smoothly scan through their focus range then perform a series of back-and-forth movements to find perfect focus. The result tends to be more accurate but requires a lightweight focus element and a very differently type of focus motor.

    The K-01 used a full depth Pentax K mount which gave instant access to lots of lenses. Unfortunately, none of them had really been designed with contrast detection in mind…

    The alternative approach: on-sensor phase detection, is in its relative infancy. It may be able to make better use of existing lenses with ring-type motors, but it’s still not clear how well it can interpret significantly defocused scenes.

    Also, at present, most on-sensor phase detection information is fed into what are more precisely described as ‘Hybrid’ AF systems: they get very close to focus using phase detection then perform a CDAF hunt to confirm the optimal position. Perhaps this will change, hopefully without the loss of the precision that mirrorless AF tends to excel at, leaving us just with the size disadvantage.

    It’s notable that, when it’s trying to build fast-focusing lenses for its mirrorless E-mount, Sony doesn’t tend to use ring-type focus motors. In the case of the 16-35mm F2.8 GM, it uses twin piezoelectric actuators.

    Alternatively, of course, there’s a risk of building a system that prioritizes backward compatibility over maximizing performance. It’s noticeable, for instance, that Sony makes very little use of ring-type focus motors in the lenses its developing for the E-mount, despite having experience of using them for its DSLR A-mount.

    ‘It fits’ isn’t the same as ‘it’s good’

    Either way, there’s a risk that we’ll be offered something that fits but doesn’t necessarily work as well as it could.

    As an enthusiast photographer with limited lens-buying resources, one of the things that has always irritated me is seeing camera companies produce high-end lenses for their full-frame customers and carefully marketing the idea that this benefits all their users, so they need not develop anything good for their APS-C users. It’s a situation that leaves APS-C users with poor choices and the arguably false impression that by buying these poorly-suited lenses, they’re making progress along an upgrade path (a fallacy that benefits the camera makers more than the photographers).

    The decision to adopt a new mount or continue with a legacy one risks the same thing: the appearance of lots of choice when what you’re actually being offered is compromise, and a situation with limited incentive for the manufacturers to dedicate their efforts towards the needs of their mirrorless users. Instead they can produce a lovely picture of their mirrorless camera flanked with 30 years’ worth of lens development and watch as brand loyalists insist that ‘their’ system has the most lenses, regardless of performance.

    And this wouldn’t necessarily only apply to existing lenses. Let’s say Manufacturer X needs to develop a new fast 70-200mm F2.8 and the focusing design that would work best for mirrorless turns out to be slower than the one that suits the company’s flagship sports DSLR, which version of the lens do you think we’d see?

    Precedent

    There is something of a precedent for this. Canon got its reputation badly burned by abandoning its FD mount – something it took some photographers a long time to forgive –whereas Nikon and Pentax pressed on with progressively trying to modernize their 1950s film mounts.

    Taking the hard decision arguably left Canon in the better position: the long-term benefit was a wide-throated, all-electronic mount. With the introduction of its latest ‘E’ lenses, Nikon’s venerable F-mount has finally caught up: with autofocus and aperture operated by the lens, but with a complex series of compatibility issues cropping up along the way. And, while they are still using a somewhat restrictively narrow mount at the end of it, they’ve benefited from not having to burn their users on the way (though they arguably handed-off responsibility for understanding the complexities of the F-mount’s development to every user looking to buy lenses).

    So what’s the alternative?

    Olympus expressly made the E-M1 to provide continued support for its legacy system but also developed the ‘PRO’ range of high-end lenses to make full use of the capabilities of Micro Four Thirds cameras.

    The other way of doing things it to develop a dedicated mount and dedicatedly support it. This is the approach that Olympus took with the development of Micro Four Thirds and, to an extent, which Canon has with its EF-M mount. Olympus, along with Panasonic, took the brave step of designing a mirrorless-optimized mount when they developed Micro Four Thirds, rather than trying to press on with Four Thirds. They then offered an adapter to use the older lenses and, with the E-M1 and E-M1 II, developed cameras expressly with the intention of maintaining support for the older, outgoing system. This meant existing customers didn’t get too badly burned and new Micro Four Thirds customers got an increasingly impressive range of native lenses designed for them.

    It’ll be interesting to see if Sony takes any pointers from this, as they decide how to support both E and A mounts.

    I hope to be proven wrong

    Perhaps I’ll be proved wrong in the end. Maybe Canon’s EF-M/EF cross-compatibility will end up reducing the incentives to develop interesting lenses for M series owners, in the same way that I worry sharing a mount would. Equally, perhaps Canon’s Dual Pixel AF (and Nikon’s on-sensor PDAF experience gleaned from its 1-Series cameras) will mean that there ends up being no AF compromise to sharing a mount. It may partly be overcoming this challenge that has led to its camera taking so long to arrive. At which point, using the existing mount would just mean carrying around a camera that’s a little lumpier than it needs to be.

    Time, I’m sure, will tell. But, in the meantime, don’t necessarily take at face-value any promises that backwards compatibility is an unalloyed user benefit.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Video: Journalist survives ISIS sniper attack, his GoPro does not

    In the terrifying video above, Iraqi journalist Ammar Alwaely narrowly escapes a sniper’s bullet, which takes out his chest-mounted GoPro. From the YouTube description:

    Journalist Ammar Alwaely, was working in Mosul Iraq, when a sniper’s bullet hit his GoPro camera. The camera, which was a gift from one of his co-workers, almost certainly saved Mr. Alwaely’s life. Ammar received treatment for minor cuts, but was otherwise unharmed.

    Ammar and his companions seem to be setting up for a shot and in good spirits right before the bullet rips across the screen. The sniper’s fire clearly catches the group off guard. At about the 0:33 point in the clip, the English-speaking individual filming asks where the bullet came from (caution, strong language).

    We’re not sure that the GoPro actually saved his life, but Ammar did live to tell the tale (we wonder if his micro SD card survived as well). The attack took place on May 13th and the video was post on the 17th – at the time of publishing it has been viewed nearly three quarters of a million times.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Photo Gear News shows you how to make a DIY lapel mic

    Professional microphones for video are expensive, and even if you have the means, some cameras don’t offer the correct inputs. In this video, for Photo Gear News, Daniel Peters shows you how to make a DIY lapel microphone using a smartphone and a pair of earbuds.

    Check out PGN’s YouTube channel for more

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Leica announces plans for ‘peeling’ CCDs in M9 and Monochrom

    Owners of Leica M cameras that suffer from ‘peeling’ CCDs will be able to claim a free repair in the future so long as the camera was purchased within five years of the fault becoming apparent, the company has announced. The plan has been set out to address what happens after the 16th August this year when the ‘regardless of camera age’ offer is due to expire.

    After this date Leica will still replace faulty sensors in affected models that have been in use for more than five years but will ask owners for €982 towards the cost. Alternatively, owners may wish to take advantage of ‘even more attractive terms’ on a trade-in for a new Typ 240 class model. Quite what those attractive terms are though remains unclear.

    Cameras that have an issue with a peeling layer on the CCD sensor are some M9, M9-P, M Monochrom and M-E cameras. The issue was recognised and acknowledged by Leica in 2014, and this announcement intends to begin to put a close to the free repair program.

    Cameras that need to have their sensor replaced will also get a free 7-point service and overhaul as a good-will measure, which includes cleaning of numerous mechanisms and some repairs to the viewfinder and the multi-function wheel.

    For more information see the Leica website.

    Press Release

    Latest information concerning the CCD sensors of the Leica M9 / M9-P / M Monochrom and M-E camera models

    Following the successfully begun and largely completed replacement programme for corroded sensors that affected M9, M9-P, M Monochrom and M-E camera models, we would now like to inform you about how this programme will be handled in the future.

    Until 15 August 2017, we will continue to offer free replacement of sensors for these camera models if they are affected by the corrosion problem. This will also apply after 16 August 2017 for the models listed above, but only in cases where the cameras have been purchased as new products within the last five years.

    From 16 August 2017, and until further notice, we will offer our customers the following new programme for all camera models mentioned above that were purchased longer than five years ago. Here, the customer pays a share of the replacement costs for the affected CCD sensor amounting to 982 euros (825 euros plus 19% VAT). Included in this programme is a free general overhaul of your Leica M camera and a one year warranty on the same terms as for new products. This offer expresses our commitment to conserving the value of your camera.

    We have also revised our upgrade offers with more attractive terms for our customers. Instead of a sensor replacement, we offer our customers the alternative option of sending us their camera affected by sensor corrosion in part payment for the purchase of selected Leica M camera models of the Type 240 generation at even more attractive terms. Leica Customer Care will be pleased to inform and advise interested customers about the terms and conditions of the upgraded offer.

    With regard to the above, we would like to remind you that the replacement of CCD sensors and the upgrade offers apply only to cameras affected by this concrete problem, and only to the models of the Leica M-System we have listed above. Preventive replacement of sensors is not included in this programme.

    The general overhaul of the Leica M camera includes the following items:
    • Cleaning and overhaul of the shutter cocking mechanisms
    • Cleaning and maintenance/repair of the multifunction wheel
    • Cleaning of the main switch and shutter speed dial
    • Adjustment of the baseplate locking system
    • Refurbishment of engravings
    • Renewal of the protective film on the baseplate
    • Maintenance/repair of viewfinder displays

    Q&A:
    How can I find out whether my Leica M is more than five years old?
    The date on which you purchased your camera as a new product applies. The sales receipt serves as proof of the date of purchase. If you no longer have your sales receipt, the age of the camera will be determined from its serial number. In this case, the date on which it was supplied to the dealer applies.

    Which point in time is used for determining whether my camera is within the period designated for the full goodwill arrangement?
    The date on which the defect was reported to Leica Camera AG applies. In each concrete case, a check of the camera by Leica Customer Care is required to prove that the problem is due to the corresponding sensor defect. This check can be made by sending the camera or a suitable test exposure to Leica Customer Care and subsequent checking of the camera by specialist personnel at Leica.

    What can I expect to pay if I decide to take advantage of the upgrade option instead of having my camera repaired?
    Leica Customer Care can provide concrete prices for your upgrade wishes on request.

    Can I also upgrade to a Leica M10?
    Due to the extremely high demand for the new Leica M10, this model is excluded from the upgrade programme. Only the direct successors of the Leica M9 listed below are available as options in the upgrade programme:
    • Leica M (Typ 240)
    • Leica M-P (Typ 240)
    • Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246)

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • MIT previews autonomous tracking drone

    Despite camera drones becoming more and more intelligent, high-quality aerial tracking shots normally still require a large degree of human input. A research project at the MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) is aiming to change that. The team has developed a drone that does not require any human control for recording tracking shots. 

    Users can specify a viewing angle as well as the position and size of the target’s face on the screen and the drone will remain locked onto its target while also avoiding any obstacles in its flight path. Tracking parameters can be changed in-flight and the drone will adjust its position accordingly. Users can also attach a weighting to parameters, so the drone can prioritize in situations when it’s impossible to maintain all specified parameters. 

    The MIT drone and tracking system will be presented at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Singapore at the end of the month. You can see the MIT drone in action in the video below and find more information on the MIT website.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • What gear do filmmakers rent most often?

    Filmmaking can be expensive, so it’s fairly common to rent some of the equipment you need instead of buying it. Thanks to today’s sharing economy, that often means renting your equipment from other filmmakers instead of established rental houses.

    Just what equipment are people renting? Brent from ShareGrid rounds up the 10 most common products rented through the service in 2016, including the prices people are charging to rent each item. Some of the top products may surprise you, and it’s entirely possible that you already own some of the tools others are looking to rent. 

    What do you think? Would you rent your equipment to others to help subsidize the purchase cost?

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Electronic shutter, rolling shutter and flash: what you need to know

    The rolling shutter effect is usually seen as a damaging defect but even this can be used creatively, with enough imagination.
    Photo by Jim Kasson, Fujifilm GFX 50S

    Click! goes the camera and in that fraction of a second the shutter races to end the exposure. But, although it’s quick, that process isn’t instantaneous. Whether you’re syncing a flash, wondering why banding is appearing in your image or deciding whether to use your camera’s silent shutter mode, the way your shutter works has a role to play. This article looks at the different types of shutter and what effect they have.

    At their most basic, cameras capture light that represents a fragment of time, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the mechanism that defines this period of time can play a role in the final outcome. It’s not nearly as significant as the exposure duration (usually known as shutter speed or time value), or the size of the aperture but, despite great effort and ingenuity being expended on minimizing it, the shutter behavior has an effect.

    Mechanical Shutters

    There are two main mechanical shutter technologies: focal plane curtain shutters and leaf shutters. The majority of large sensor cameras and nearly all ILCs use focal plane shutters while the majority of compacts use leaf shutters.

    Focal plain shutters

    Focal plan curtain shutters are what you probably think of when you think about shutters. At the start of the exposure a series of horizontal blades rises like a Venetian blind and, to end the exposure, a second series of blades rises up to cover the sensor again.

    The first curtain lifts to start the exposure, then a second curtain ends the exposure. The shutter’s movement is shown as the blue lines on the graph. The time taken to open and close the curtains (red) is defined by the shutter rate, the exposure time is shown in green. 

    These blades move quickly but not instantly. We’ll call the amount of time it takes the shutter to move across the sensor the shutter rate. This is not the same thing as shutter speed, which is the amount of time that elapses between the bottom of the first curtain lifting and the top of the second curtain passing that same point.

    Leaf shutters

    Leaf shutters work slightly differently. These are built into the lens, right next to the aperture, and usually feature a series of blades that open out from the center, then snap shut again to end the exposure. Because each blade doesn’t have to travel so far, these shutter rate can be much faster.

    Leaf shutter still take a small amount time to open and close but they’re very fast. And, because they’re mounted so close to the aperture, they progressively increase or decrease illumination to the whole sensor, so there’s no difference between the slice of time seen by the top and bottom of the sensor.

    However, since the same blades that start the exposure also end it, the maximum possible shutter speed is more closely linked to the shutter rate (because you can’t end the exposure until the shutter is fully open).

    In addition, the distance the shutter blades need to travel depends on the aperture you’re shooting at (on some cameras, the shutter acts as the aperture). Consequently, it’s not unusual to encounter cameras that can’t offer their maximum shutter speed at their widest aperture value.

    Electronic shutter

    But why do we need mechanical shutters at all? Unlike film, digital sensors can be switched on and off. This reduces the number of moving parts (which both lowers cost and obviates the risk of shutter shock) and means you get a totally silent exposure, so why not use that?

    The answer is that you can. However, there is a restriction: while you can start the exposure to the whole sensor simultaneously, you can’t end it for the whole sensor at the same time. This is because with CMOS sensors, you end the exposure by reading-out the sensor but, in most designs, this is has to be done one row after another. This means it takes a while to end the exposure.

    Fully electronic shutter

    This need to read out one row at a time has a knock-on effect: if you have to end your exposure one row at a time, then you have to start the exposure in a similarly staggered manner (otherwise the last row of your sensor would get more exposure than the first).

    Electronic shutter tend to be comparatively slow in terms of shutter rate (red), leading to rolling shutter (note that exposure for the top of the sensor has already finished even before the bottom of the sensor has started. This is despite the use of a faster shutter speed (green)

    This means that your shutter rate is determined by your sensor’s readout speed. Lower pixel count sensors have an advantage in terms of readout: they have fewer rows and each of those rows has fewer pixels in it, both meaning they can be read out faster.

    Smaller sensors also have an advantage in this respect: less physical distance to travel means rows can be read-out quicker. This is why we saw 4K video in smartphones, then compacts, then larger sensor cameras and why cameras such as the Canon EOS 5D IV struggle with rolling shutter, even when only using the central region of their sensor. However, newer sensor designs are constantly striving to reduce the read-out time (and consequently increase the shutter rate).

    Note from the diagram that even an exaggeratedly slow shutter rate doesn’t stop you using fast shutter speeds. In fact, the beginning and end of the exposure can be controlled very precisely, allowing super-high shutter speeds.

    However, although each part of the image is only made up from, say, 1/16,000th of a second, the slow shutter rate means each part of the image is made up from different 16,000ths of a second. Essentially, you’re capturing the very short slices of time that your shutter speed dictates, but you’re capturing many different slices of time. And, if your camera or subject have moved during that time then that distinction becomes apparent. This effect, where the final image is made up from different slices of time as you scan down it is known as the ‘rolling shutter’ effect.

    The same thing happens with any shutter that isn’t immediate, which includes focal plane mechanical shutters. However, these tend to be fast enough that the rolling shutter effect isn’t usually noticeable.

    Electronic first curtain

    Electronic first curtain shutter is an increasingly common way for cameras to work. As the name suggests, these work by using the fast mechanical shutter to end the exposure and then syncing the start of the electronic shutter to match its rate.

    An electronic first curtain shutter avoids the risk of shake from the first curtain’s movement but avoids the downsides of fully electronic shutter.

    This requires a mechanical shutter where the second curtain and be operated independently of the first curtain. But, in those circumstances, you get many of the anti-shock benefits of electronic shutter while retaining the speed benefits of a mechanical shutter.

    Global electronic shutter

    Sensors do exist that can read-out all their rows of pixels simultaneously to give what’s called a ‘global shutter.’ However, while these are great for video, the more complex technologies used to achieve this add both noise and cost. The added sensor noise limits dynamic range, so they are not yet common for those video or stills applications where image quality is critical. 

    Find out about flash sync and working under artificial lights

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • ‘It’s about being prepared for whatever is thrown at you’: Q & A with William Vazquez

    NYC based photographer William Vazquez on one of his earlier assignments.

    New York City based photographer William Vazquez, travels about 30-50% of the year. From Cuba to the mountains of Nepal, Vazquez has worked in more than 54 countries on more than five continents, often arriving first on the scene of a humanitarian crisis to document recovery operations for NGO’s and the companies that provide support to the areas affected by natural disasters.

    While his documentary humanitarian work may be the most dramatic in context, Vazquez’s portraiture brings us closer to other cultures, whether it’s a flamenco dancer outfitted in a brilliantly colored red dress in Cuba or a black and white portrait of a woman cloaked in a burka in a clinic Afghanistan captured with a Speed Graphic on Type 55 Polaroid film.

    You may find him trekking in the mountains of Nepal, wandering the streets of Cuba, or watching a baby being born after a devastating a typhoon in the Philippines. But, no matter where he is, Vazquez’s images bring life to the stories of the people and places he’s been.

    You can see more of Vazquez’s work at his website and on Instagram.

    How did you get your start in photography?

    Vazquez’s warm personality and genuine interest in people elicits wonderful reactions in the portraits he makes around the world, including the photo of this woman in rural India.

    Photography started as a hobby when I was a teenager. My first camera was a used Rollei 35 S, which I still have. But I had never considered photography a profession and didn’t know anything about professional photography until 1985 when I met a New York City based still life photographer named Jeff Glancz. He hired me one Christmas season to deliver gifts to his clients. At the time, I was studying electrical engineering at New York Institute of Technology but when Jeff started calling me to assist him on jobs at his NYC studio, I would cut class to work for him.

    Summer break came, and he was looking for a full-time assistant. I agreed to work the summer and then go back to school when fall came around. But I never went back. I had found my calling: shooting 4×5, processing black and white film, and printing. This is where I wanted to be. I worked for Jeff for about a year when he told me I need to finish my education. I got a scholarship to Parsons (School of Design in NYC) in1986 and returned to school.

    During and after Parsons I worked for a wide range of photographers in advertising, catalog, fashion, location, portrait and travel. I did it all, and travelled the world on assisting gigs. I learned things during this time that I still use in my work. It was an amazing experience! I learned how people worked business wise as well as photographically. I think that assisting pros is where I got my real education in photography.

    I assisted for about 5 years with a 3-year transition period. Then my first big job came in. I did the 1995 Pfizer annual report. It was a global book with locations spanning the globe including Milan, London, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong, Tokyo and a number of locations in the U.S.

    When I first started as a pro, I did product photography for magazines like Martha Stewart Living, This Old House, GQ, and others. After a while I realized that I was not cut out for product photography. I am too impatient, and I liked being out of the studio. So I started doing more portraiture, and chasing down portraiture work.

    Tell us about your current work.

    The circle of life continues with the birth of babies despite the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

    Right now my work is a blend of commercial, and humanitarian projects. I create photo libraries for my corporate clients such as Abbott, Pfizer, and Samsung, just to name a few. These assignments can be anything from lifestyle, portraits or industrial shoots. For example, one day I might be making pictures to illustrate middle class lifestyle in India; another day, I’ll photograph people working in a production plant.

    An important part of my work is photography that illustrates CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) efforts of large corporations around the world. This is how I got started in humanitarian work. Companies want to document the support they give to NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) so they hire me to work with these non-profit groups. Once I connect with the NGO, we develop a relationship, which allows me to work for them directly.

    ‘It’s tough work… But that’s just a minor inconvenience compared to what the people who lived through the disaster have endured.’

    The work I do for organizations like Americares, Direct Relief, and Project Hope, for example, varies from in-depth still or video stories on their humanitarian projects or documenting emergency relief operations such as those after Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, or the earthquake in Nepal. When documenting relief operations, I’ll fly in with the first people on the ground. It’s tough work—rough sleeping, bathing out of a bucket, low quality food, no electricity, etc. But that’s just a minor inconvenience compared to what the people who lived through the disaster have endured.

    I also work with much smaller organizations as personal projects. These small organizations need quality images and video in order to help with fundraising, so it’s a good thing to do. Sometimes my expenses are paid or I tack it on to a paid project in the same country or close by. It’s one of my ways of giving back.

    What equipment do you usually bring with you? Any tips for traveling overseas?

    On his way to the day’s location in rural Shirdi India, this young man swinging from the vines of a banyan tree caught Vazquez’s eye. Captured with a Sony a7R II and a 24-70mm F4 lens.

    If I have to just do still photos, and I don’t have to be dragging my gear through a jungle, I bring my Canon 5D Mark III with a variety of lenses, and accessories. I like working with the Canon 5D Mark III – it’s responsive and tough.

    If I have to keep a low profile or do a combo of stills and video, I use my Sony A7R with a variety of lenses. The Sonys are great for keeping a low profile – they are small, lightweight, and less obtrusive. People get relaxed faster when you don’t have a huge machine with you. I also like the Sony a7S and the Sony a7R II for video because of the features and the dedicated accessories that help make the process easier for a one-man show, particularly for sound.

    One of the things I am in love with at the moment is the DJI Osmo RAW. One of my biggest problems is getting usable video when working handheld, and when things are moving fast. The DJI is great for following people, shooting from a car and for grab shots. I end up with much more, and better, footage with the DJI and it still allows me to shoot loose.

    I work alone in most of my projects, so I try to travel light. Sometimes I am able to get a local person to help carry gear but most of the time I’m on my own. Also, what I bring depends on the nature of what I need to accomplish. I usually try to keep it to one bag of gear with some additional items such as tripods, etc. that I carry in my suitcase. If I am working in an urban environment, I use a rollercase. If I’m going to be out in the countryside, I use a backpack. I have a mix of Thinktank and Tenba bags. Sometimes I use belt packs from Thinktank and leave the backpack in the car. When I start photographing, I’ll put my bag down and walk away from it when the action moves on, so I need to keep my gear attached to me.

    ‘There is always something new
    to make life difficult.’

    One of the issues I am facing these days is that airlines are really cracking down on the size and the weight of carry-ons, particularly on short hops within a country like India. So I use a photo vest that I pack full of gear to make sure the bag weighs as little as possible. I’ll sometimes use the photo vest when I’m forced to check in bags or I’ll use a backpack that fits in a Pelican case, and check that in.

    I’m really excited about my upcoming trip to Nepal. However, I’m am not excited about what I have to do to deal with that electronics ban when traveling through the UAE. There is always something new to make life difficult.

    I tend to fly though one of the UAE countries on most trips east, to Asia and Africa. They have the best fights to those places and good prices. I always carry my gear with me on the plane. But now with the restrictions banning electronics larger than the size of a cellphone on the way back, I have to pack my cameras in a Pelican 1510 case to carry on board, take a backpack in my suitcase to carry the gear when I work, then pack it back in the Pelican and check it in.

    As for backup drives I invested in Samsung 1TB T3 SSD drives that are half the size of an iPhone so I can carry them on the plane with me. I’ll bring a smaller Macbook so I can pack more essential equipment. I usually don’t need a powerful laptop on the road – just something to copy files. If I have to process a few files, I can do that, too. At the end of the day, I just need is to make sure my images stay with me. Cameras can be replaced.

    At this point, though, the bigger issue is the uncertainty of it all. What about batteries? Can I take them? Which ones? The list goes on and on. It’s about being prepared for whatever is thrown at you but, at this point, there’s little real information out there.

    One of your favorite assignments in 2015 was documenting the rebuilding efforts after the earthquake in Nepal. Tell us a little about that experience.

    Crammed into a tiny hut without electricity in Nepal waiting for a storm to pass, people turned on the lights on their cell phones so Vazquez had enough light to take pictures.

    Nepal is one of my favorite places to visit. It’s stunningly beautiful and the people are very friendly and open. I have traveled there many times on assignment and for personal projects and I have a deep love for the place, and its people.

    I went there right after the devastating earthquake in 2015. Seeing how the Nepalis were able to overcome something really traumatic, and still take the time to stop what they were doing to offer me hospitality, is something that will stay with me forever. I remember traveling with Americares up in the mountains to visit some people who were hurt and a freak storm rolled in. We had to take cover in the patients’ home. It was five of us and what felt like half the village crammed into their tiny hut.

    It was pitch black in the hut and as I contemplated how I was going to photograph in the dark, someone turned on their cell phone light, then another, and another. I had lighting! Tea was served as we sat together waiting out the storm. Despite the hardships the people endured, they still thought of me. It was a magical moment.

    How do you prepare for overseas humanitarian assignments?

    “In the mountains of Nepal,” says Vazquez, “you are always climbing up or climbing down.” When he offered his hand to help the woman behind him—one of a group of social workers for Americares—she laughed and reminded him, “we are mountain women.” After thinking about it for a minute, Vazquez realizes “She could probably carry me up and down that hill—in sandals, no less!”

    Anytime I am going anywhere I always do research on who I am working with, and where I need to go. It is important to have a sense of the geography I will be traveling through so I can gauge how far out in the woods I will be, travel times, etc. Plus it’s important to get to know who I’ll be working with on the ground.

    I also look into the types of places I will be staying at so I know if I need to bring any specialized gear. Things like battery packs, solar battery chargers, a hammock, sleep sack, satellite phone, GPS tracker, water purifier, lighting, mosquito netting, what type of footwear, medicines – the list goes on and on.

    I am my own best travel agent. I have a good grasp of geography, I know the airlines I like to travel on, and the places I don’t want to get stuck in. I organize my travel to and from places and take care of some hotel reservations. If I am going to be way out in the field, the local NGO I am working with handles the local logistics, like accommodations, and transport or I may hire a fixer to help me with translation and getting around.

    ‘If all else fails… Google Translate!’

    When working with the NGOs they have people on the ground who know where things are, as well as speak the local language. But speaking even a few words of the local language goes a long way. I speak Spanish so when I was in the Dominican Republic after Hurricane Matthew, I was treated like family. In Nepal, many of the younger generation speak English, so you can always find someone to communicate with. Once you have done lots of traveling, it gets easier figuring out what people are trying to say. If all else fails… Google Translate!

    I do use a travel agent when it comes to booking multiple cities and airlines. It makes it easier and if you run into problems, you have someone to reach out to. All I have to do is email my travel agent and she takes care of it. Try doing that with Expedia.

    What’s a typical day like when covering a humanitarian assignment?

    One of the first people on the ground after Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Vazquez photographed these massive ships that were forced ashore during the storm.

    Working on humanitarian assignments usually means really long days. Get up early and go for a long ride in a beat up car, in the heat with no air conditioning on a bad road. I get up early, eat whatever there is for breakfast, and get on the road. I always make sure I bring plenty of water and something to eat for the day. Most undeveloped places or places in crisis won’t have any food or water to buy.

    ‘…I sometimes have to put my camera down and lend a hand’

    Then you make your stops at whatever the story is about. In my case it’s usually clinics or temporary places set up to distribute food and medicine with lots of people needing help—whether it’s food, or medical care. It’s amazing how overwhelming it can be. So much so that I sometimes have to put my camera down and lend a hand in unloading a truck, opening boxes, and handing out food. Then you get back to wherever you’re staying, clean up, eat, download cards, back images up, check out the day’s work, upload to my social media channels (if there’s an internet connection), then plan for the next day.

    I have stayed in everything from a tent, to a home with a tarp over it, slept in a truck, slept in a communal room with lots of beds, and snoring people—again, minor inconveniences compared to those who have lived through a disaster. In the course of day I can see a baby being born in a tent, ride in an ambulance with someone in distress, witness an operation, and everything in between.

    You meet a lot of people on your assignments. Do you stay in touch with some of the locals that you meet?

    These schoolboys were more than happy to smile for Vazquez’s camera when he was on assignment in India.

    One of the best things about what I do is meeting people. I do my best to stay in touch with them. Facebook makes it much easier, in some cases. There are many times I end up coming back to a country for a different assignment, and I make it a point to see the people I’ve met before.

    When on assignment I usually spend a lot of days with the same people. We are together 24/7, eating together, traveling together, drinking together, laughing together and hanging out together. Much of what is experienced on some of these assignments is very emotionally charged, so we often form a tight bond.

    I photographed a young woman in India, and her photo was used for the cover of the publication I was working for. The next year I returned and I saw her again, and I had some copies of the publication. She was so amazed she was speechless. She was so thrilled that she showed the magazine to everyone in sight. That’s one of the reasons I do what I do. That my work can perhaps inspire that type of response.

    Also, I make it my business to get to know the people I am working with, which also helps for future opportunities in working together.

    What are some of the challenges when working in remote locations? How do you overcome those challenges?

    Ongoing humanitarian missions include the donation and distribution of medicine. Here, horsemen prepare to escort dignitaries celebrating the 100 millionth dose of antibiotics to reach the population of Ethiopia’s Amhara Region to combat malaria and trachoma (a disease that leads to blindness).

    Working in remote locations is tough for many reasons. If you forgot something or a piece of critical gear breaks, you can’t get a replacement. You’d better be a flexible eater, too, because bush meat stew can be all there is to eat for days. If you get sick, you should be prepared with any medications you may need, because there is no medicine.

    ‘…with a multitool and duct tape you can fix
    almost anything’

    There will probably be no internet or even cell phone service. I have a satellite phone that I use for emergencies, and a satellite GPS tracker that I can send messages with so my wife knows where I am. Be prepared for no electricity too, but I have battery packs that I can charge with the sun or in a car. And, with a multitool and duct tape you can fix almost anything.

    At the end of the day research where you are going, think of what the challenges will be, ask anyone you know for firsthand advice, invest in having the right gear, make sure you have all the insurances you need like evacuation insurance, and think carefully about what you are taking. If you take too much, getting around is a problem. If you don’t bring enough, you may not have what you need to get the job done. It’s all about bringing the right stuff.

    You taught yourself how to shoot and edit video about 4-5 years ago. How often do you add video to your assignments?

    Whether he’s shooting stills or video, Vazquez will put his cameras down to help distribute supplies when needed.

    Almost all my assignments right now include B-roll in addition to stills, and sometimes more involved video work. I have tried different cameras, and setups but I prefer the Sony A7 series cameras because they do great video, are great still cameras, have advanced features, and have accessories that can make things work together instead of having to Frankenstein them together. I work by myself with lots of distractions going on, so I need to just have one button to push to make everything work.

    Last year you did the Rickshaw Run to raise money for orphanages in India and Nepal. What’s your fundraising project for this year?

    To raise money for orphanages in India and Nepal, Vazquez and fellow photographer Greg Kinch did a “Rickshaw Run” for more than 2500 miles through India in this colorful but cramped auto rickshaw. Getting stuck in the mud, dealing with burned out pistons and a carburetor that needed regular disassembly and cleaning were part of the adventure.

    In my assignment work, I see so many great organizations and people that need support. I always want to do more. So besides providing free photography and communications advice I fundraise. I found the best way to fundraise is to do something that people will pay attention to. It’s been working. I also couple it with personal challenges that I want to do, and to inspire me.

    My life revolves around my photography work so I have to constantly feed it with investment and inspiration. I feel that is what keeps my work relevant these days. Being able to combine my adventures to help people less fortunate makes it perfect.

    Last year I did the Rickshaw Run. Fellow photographer Greg Kinch and I decided to drive an auto rickshaw (also known in some countries as a Tuk Tuk), 2500 miles through India to fundraise for an orphanage in India and an orphanage in Nepal, including Kids of Kathmandu. It was an amazing thing to do. It was tough, but a great personal achievement, and we raised about $ 5,000 – money that goes a very long way in that part of the world.

    This year I am trekking to Everest Base Camp and taking a group of people who will also fundraise for the education fund of Kids of Kathmandu. The organization does amazing work in Nepal—they support an orphanage and rebuild schools up in the mountains that were damaged by the earthquake. All donations go straight to the organization and are tax deductible.

    We’ll also be stopping at schools along the route to deliver solar powered lights donated to Kids of Kathmandu by Mpowerd. Electricity is scarce in this part of the world and kids often can’t read or study after the sun goes down, so these lights will help tremendously.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)