Learning at the University.

Going through the ads…

About a kilo of Semmelknödel. Self-made of course.

Behind Heidelberg’s theater curtain…

Playing with aged color casts in post processing.

Basil. Growing on my window sill. Waiting to become pesto!

The only reason I’d ever visit that electronics reseller with the idiotic ads. 60 for 40.

Love that shot! =)

New images for my kitchen wall and for friends.

Traveling through Heidelberg, mostly by tram since I was sick most of this week :/

Christoph.

Franzi, through my new lens.

My new lens ^^

Going by tram again.

Download…

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Heidelberg main station on a rainy 26th December evening.

Black olives, lots of garlic, roasted pignolias. I added paprika and dried tomatoes later on.

Screenshot.

One of the rare instances I’ve been using the tram instead of my bike.

Cooking with Katja =)

Fillet of pork with white mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms (not too sure about the translation here: braune Champignons und Kräuterseitlinge), Brussels sprouts and green pepper.

More shots from last weekend…

Photoshopped license plate for privacy reasons, only realized later that I produced a 666.

Cycling through Heidelberg, on route to Katja.

Cycling to Tina, with Katja and Julia.

Baking and cooking at Tina’s place.

Shot by Katja.

Feuerzangenbowle

Birthday party of a friend.

Next day.

I’m way behind with updating the blog, updating my iPhoto library takes up most of the time I can spare for photography. And creating this thing below kept me busy for a few hours as well ^^

That’s it for now, still got about 75 images waiting.

Now these are the interesting shots of this weekend, taken on the trip back to Heidelberg. I went by train, with stops in Bielefeld and Cologne. While most of these shots were taken handheld, even while walking, some of the shots from Cologne were taken supported by my new traveling tripod.

Jahnplatz, Bielefeld. Not really a nice city.

Passing by.

Hauptbahnhof, Bielefeld.      

In the train.

Exiting the train at the main station in Cologne.

This one I’ll have to shoot on tripod some other time, with more consideration.

Domplatte, Köln.

Quick shot from the tripod. I was in a little hurry, didn’t want to miss my train so I didn’t spent too much time fine tuning the framing of these images.

Back in the main station.

Entering the train.

On route to Mannheim.

Finishing with some random shots from yesterday…

Every new lens that is added to one’s camera gear causes a problem – transportation. How to carry around all that stuff is a tricky business that isn’t easily covered, especially not by one single solution.

There are quite a few different criteria to chose a bag or a backpack by and focusing on one of them usually comes with a tradeoff on another one. To me these criteria are (in no apparent order):

• Space
  How many lenses and camera bodies can one fit in the bag/backpack? How many does one need?
• Accessibility
  I accessing the things stored in the bag/backpack easy? Can one do it standing, without putting the bag down?
• Safety
  How well is the gear protected by the bag/backpack, against weather and blows as well as theft?
• Ergonomics
  Is it possible to carry the bag/backpack for longer periods of time? Does it slow one down? Can one sit on it?
• Location / Occasion
  What is the environment in which the bag has to perform?

• Build Quality
  How long will it work, how sturdy is the material?
• Looks
  Does it look like a camera bag or backpack? Most do, but they shouldn’t!

I am on my third bag, bought my second backpack just this morning and thought I might share some impressions I collected on the way.

Until a year ago I just bought a new bag when I couldn’t fit my gear in the old one any more. I ended up with a huge Tamrac Pro 12 bag, a monster of a bag that takes almost all of my gear! If I take this bag I don’t have to compromise on lens choice, everything is right with me. This however comes at the cost of slower movement and a little pain in the shoulders/back the day after. Sizing up bags isn’t a solution, getting different smaller bags or backpacks for different occasions seems to be a better way. I still use the huge Tamrac Pro 12 bag, but mainly for storing my gear and transporting it from A to B.

Today I bought a Jack Wolfskin ACS Photopack 24 backpack to replace the Tamrac Adventure 9 that I have been using for more than a year now. In fact, I’m not sure yet whether it is a replacement at all, it may very well be a backpack for a different occasion. While the ACS Photopack trumps the Adventure 9 in almost all of my personal criteria (which may differ greatly from your criteria) it has a small drawback that might be important: fitting a camera body with battery grip and a lens attached in there is simply not possible due to the lack of depth. Certainly not a deal breaker for me, but it may be prudent to keep the Adventure 9 for now.

So far my experience has led me to the conclusion that a single bag won’t ever match all needs. The more diverse your photography interests are, the more bags you might need. For shooting nature, macros, at weddings and other gatherings I usually prefer the bags, for shooting at sport events, on longer hikes and when I’m cycling I prefer the backpacks. If you need to carry a SLR and some lenses for it there isn’t an easy solution out there and I must say that even though the choice of bags and backpacks is quite large, the diversity and innovation by the producers doesn’t seem to be.

So much for the overview, I will try to write up reviews on the Tamrac Pro 12, the Tamrac Adventure 9 and the Jack Wolfskin ACS Photopack 24 in the next few days and weeks.