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European Trip Photo Mistakes and Correct Decisions

European Trip Photo Mistakes and Correct Decisions

I took my first trip to Europe, June 2014.  We traveled to Amsterdam, Germany and Austria.  The Germany and Austria part of the trip was with Trafalgar Tours.  I really was looking forward to taking a lot of pictures and short movies.  Being my first trip to Europe, I had no clue what to do and not to do with a whole lot of issues.  Here is my good and bad list:

Correct Decisions

  • I decided to buy a new Nikon camera body, D5300, instead of using my Nikon D3000 or buying a D7100.  The D5300, for me was a perfect vacation camera.  The pixel resolution blew the socks off of the D3000.  It also was perfect for quickly switching between still and motion picture.  The one problem I did have was that in motion picture mode, I learned that I had to t use still image to focus and then switch over to motion picture, otherwise, shots were out of focus.
  • I agonized over whether to take a telephoto lens.  My daughter and a friend recommended not taking one because if I shoot high resolution images I can very often crop which results in a zoom in with Lightroom.  This was a perfect decision because I found very few times that I really wanted to use a telephoto and the Lightroom crop seemed to work most of the time.
  • Taking a 64 GB SD card and never deleting any images off that card was really smart.  I also had a 32 GB SD card that I had to use because I shot over three thousand images in two weeks.  I also took a Macbook Air with an external 1 TB hard drive.  I downloaded all my images to both computer and hard drive so I would have three copies of each photo image.
  • The GPS feature supplied with the Nikon D5300 really attracted me because I just love new technology.  For some of my photo shoot I did turn GPS on.  It really drains the battery.  I now wished I had turned it on all the time.  The reason is that I am using Lightroom Photoshop 5.  This program has a Map tab which shows you approximate location for each of your images.  I took over three thousand photographs.  Let me tell you that I had a real mess on my hands trying to figure out where each image was taken.  The Map feature really speeds up the catalog process.

For Your Consideration

  • I purchased a SD card wallet and never used it.  If you decide to take a bunch of SD cards with you that are small in memory size, this might be necessary.  I put my backup SD card in my travel wallet.  An Australian friend that was on the trip with us had the view that you use small SD cards in case one goes bad, you are not out a lot of images.  I just did not want to deal with managing different SD cards so i went with 32 and 64 GB cards.
  • I had just purchased a Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 lens from a friend for a very good price.  This lens was for a full frame chip so it had a slight magnification factor.  This meant that it was not as wide angle as you would suspect.  The lens was faster than my kit lenses and a bit wider angle which really helps.  I really recommend that you take a wide angle lens that is fast, meaning it lets in a lot of light.  During any tour, you most likely will be in some dark places and most museums will not allow flash.

Mistakes

  • Turning on the date and time was a huge mistake on my Nikon D5300.  Make darn sure you set the time zone and set the correct time when you arrive in the country that you are visiting if you use date time stamp or not.  You really want the metadata to be accurate.  Then double check the time that appears in a test image with the local time.  If you need to turn date time on for some reason, really understand where the date time stamp will appear in your images and you can not easily remove it,  Seriously consider widen out your shots enough so this information is below peoples feet, below statues base, below the bottom of buildings enough so when you go into Lightroom, you can crop the date time stamp out of any shot.  My daughter found a Photoshop solution for removing the date and time stamp and she plowed through most of my images removing that flaw.
  • Not checking my images and movies at the end of the day was a serious mistake.  When shooting movies I held my lens cap with the same hand as the one cradling my lens.  The cap made a ticking noise when it hit the side of the lens.  I also had the tendency to not hold my camera level.  A good example of this can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9_ttkq22ig

The above video was shot full wide angle and I did not use the tilt screen but shot totally wild, meaning that I used NO viewfinders.  What was nice about this method  is most everyone that saw me with the camera did not know I was doing a video .
  • Not realizing that my Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 lens would not easily and smoothly zoom in and out during filming was a real disappointment.
  • Not taking pictures of each person on the tour and identifying them during the trip really added hours of research time when I got home.  When I got back, it took me days of looking at my images and blowing them up to read the name tags.   I still have not identified all the people on the tour.
  • Leaving my second camera battery at home was really stupid.  I had to buy a new backup battery in Germany.  Because I turned on GPS, shot a lot of images and took a lot of movies, a single battery was not enough.
  • I tried to take pictures of all the people taking our tour with us but some individuals really did not appear in most of my shots.  I really need to improve upon this in any future tour.
  • For some reason, I failed to understand the name of some of the places we visited.  I later found out that our tour itinerary did not adequately identify some of the places we stopped at.  I really recommend that you use GPS and shoot images of building names and street corner signs when possible.  My wife took really terrific notes and this helped to identify some of the places we visited and particular shots taken inside museums.
Amsterdam Restaurant: Greenwoods

Amsterdam Restaurant: Greenwoods

May 28, 2014 we dinned at Greenwoods Amsterdam restaurant.  It has excellent Internet reviews.  It is very small inside and very little room to move around.  The food was excellent.  I was utterly amazed watching the waitress and cook, only two people, work so hard to provide meals and drinks.

outsideThe image above shows the outside of this rather small restaurant.

mapThe map above shows the exact location which is Singel 103 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Phone is +31 20 623 7071.  Be advised, this place is very popular, small, and fills up early.  I strongly recommend that you make a reservation!  We arrived with eight people five minutes after it opened, without reservations, and were very lucky to be seated together.   It opens up at 9:30 am and closes at 5:00 pm.  http://greenwoods.eu/singel/

restaurant-insideThere is a very small dining area at the front of this restaurant and there is also some outside seating.  This restaurant is not that deep in dimension so not very far back is the kitchen area.  The two people you see in the image above are the only staff that were working the day we attended this restaurant.  I asked the waitress when they get a break and she replied, not until about four in the afternoon.  They were hustling quite fast the whole time we were in the restaurant.

kitchenThis young man is the only cook and he puts out some amazing dishes.  The kitchen is, in my opinion, extremely small.

Egg Omelet
Egg Omelet

The omelet above was the daily special (not on their menu).  My wife had this and said it was excellent.

Eggs Royal
Eggs Royal is poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce that rests on salmon slices.

In the image above is Eggs Royal  consisting of two poached eggs and smoked salmon on toasted English muffins, topped with Hollandaise sauce.  This was my breakfast choice and it was excellent.

Be aware that the bathroom is extremely small.  It is just behind the kitchen.  The outer door opens into a very small room that reveals the bathroom door.

I am still amazed that these two people can run this restaurant and put out such good meals.  I strongly recommend this place.

Amsterdam Buildings Shifting

Amsterdam Buildings Shifting

I came across a couple of men doing survey work in Amsterdam.  They were measuring the subsidence of Amsterdam buildings which can result in any building to tilt or pitch in any direction.  As you walk through this city you should take special attention to detect buildings that are not lined up correctly with buildings next door.

Building-Tilt

In the image above, you can see that the near building and next building are not lined up properly due to subsidence.

SurveyIn the image above, the near worker is using a survey transit to take site readings at the stick being held by the worker in the far right distance.  In the image below the worker is holding a bar code survey level rod, that rests upon a special bolt that is attached to the building.

Survey-Stick

The individual seen in the picture above places his survey level rod upon a bolt that is driven into the side of the building.

Wall-PinThe survey level rod is placed on top of the bolt in the image above.  Not every building has this bolt, just selected buildings.

Also, there is a mirror that is mounted on the building wall just above the survey stick.

MirrorAs you walk through Amsterdam, you might take note of gaps and tilting among some of the buildings.

For more information about this problem: http://earth.esa.int/fringe07/participants/559/pres_559_carocuenca.pdf

Amsterdam – Bad Experience With Tuliplu Umbrella

Amsterdam – Bad Experience With Tuliplu Umbrella

I had  a slightly broken umbrella while in Amsterdam.  I purchased a Tuliplu Falconetti by Impliva to replace the damaged one.  This Tuliplu umbrella is sold all over Amsterdam and surrounding areas.  This umbrella lasted less than a day.  In my opinion, the construction is cheap and of poor design.  I do not recommend that you waste your money on this item.

City Of Amsterdam Impressions.

City Of Amsterdam Impressions.

This was my first trip to Amsterdam.  I would like to share some impressions of things that stand out from my perspective because they sort of shout out at me how different this city appears to be from my experience living in Southern California:

  • The city is so different (obviously) in its physical construction:
    • Small tall buildings that stand next to the next building shoulder to shoulder, meaning that one building’s wall rests next to the next building with no air space in-between.
    • Every building has multiple floors.
    • Each building has a different look to it.
    • Not all but most buildings are slender, meaning they are taller than wide.
    • Canals.
    • The curbs are three inches or less and at times hard to discern from the rest of the walking and traffic surface so take care that you know you are on a sidewalk or not.
    • The traffic lanes for people, bicycles, motorcycles, trollies is at times a challenge to discern.
    • It is a guess of mine but I feel that their trades people are pretty darn good at what they do.  Our hotel construction inner spaces shows a level of craftsmanship that is quite good.
  • Vibrant.  If you have visited New York and never visited Amsterdam, let me tell you that this city is the opposite from sleepy.
  • People are interesting to look at:
    • They are all young looking.  This is no exaggeration!   My son who is 25 years of age made this observation within hours of arriving.
    • Most every person in Amsterdam is slender build.
    • The people of Amsterdam dress with fashion.  This is not to mean that they dress to impress but rather look like each just stepped out of a fashion magazine because this is what they do.
    • They love bicycles and rows upon rows of them line the streets and people ride them all over the city, even in the rain.
    • I am rather surprised at seeing young sleek, attractive women riding down street bicycle paths.  Because most all the women I see riding bicycles are slender, rather tall, light hair, and extremely attractive and easily could model for a magazine I get the impression that these women are being paid to give the city some sparkle.
  • The Amsterdam traffic is quite interesting to experience and a bit challenging at first to keep from getting hit.  There seems to be very few places one can park a vehicle.  Some of the streets are narrow and the side walks are very slender.  Parking a bicycle or scooter on some streets requires you put your vehicle on the sidewalk.  To get a better sense of this, view this short movie I made called Amsterdam Traffic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9_ttkq22ig

Sorry but I had just purchased a Nikon D5300 a few weeks prior to taking this trip to Europe.  I made a long list of mistakes with this camera, so many I will put up a separate blog post of self shame.  One mistake you will hear in the audio is  a plastic tapping sound.  Like an idiot, I am holding the lens cap against the lens, not realizing it was tapping.
Daughter’s Top 3 Amsterdam Picks

Daughter’s Top 3 Amsterdam Picks

After more than two hours of research (Nov. 29, 2013) looking at about 15 hotels, my daughter came up with her top 3 choices.  We removed much of her research comments such as prices, reviews and any other information that is time dependent.  The comments below do not show our hidden requirements of location near the Dam and the central location close to sight seeing locations.

Radisson Blu Hotel, Amsterdam:  Free Wifi; 6 min. walking distance from Dam Square; 17 min. walk from Anne Frank House.

Hotel Estherea  (on canal) Has internet (wired) in room, when booking, we can get a discount on breakfast.  Cancelations are free of charge up to 24 hours before arrival.  “Special gifts” available if staying more than 3 nights. 4 night gift is a custom canal cruise.  6 min. from Dam Square; 10 min. from Anne Frank House

Inntel Hotel Amsterdam Centre
No Free Wireless internet in room.  ?6 min. walking distance from Dam Square; 13 min. walk from Anne Frank House

November 29, 2013 we booked a stay at Hotel Estherea.