What's in your bag, Derrick Story?

Once again I sailed through security at Oracle Arena with the Walking Man Shoulder Bag and just my essential gear. Everything in the bag is easy to see and inspect, so there's no wasted time or awkward moments upon entry.

What's cool about last night's game is that Frederick Van Johnson met me at the arena with his new Google Glass. He wanted to test the video recording capability of the wearable device, so we decided to make a video about what's in my bag.

This was quite a test for Google Glass. Oracle was loud, the lighting was not optimal in the stands, and quarters were tight. We shot it anyway. 

So here's the movie, What's in your bag, Derrick Story?

Hope you enjoy seeing the Google Glass experiment, and how I pack as a spectator at sporting events.

-Derrick

Size Does Matter

Tonight I'm meeting my friend Frederick Van Johnson at Oracle Arena to watch the Golden State Warriors play the Toronto Raptors. We have great seats, Row 16, so it's a tempting photo shoot as well as an exciting sporting event.

Based on the nerve-wracking trial that Mikkel Aaland endured a couple weeks ago where he had to check his backpack of expensive Nikon gear, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss cameras with Frederick before the event.

This is a situation where mirrorless cameras are so handy. It's not so much that the bodies are smaller. There's no real rule limiting how big your camera is. It's the size of the lens that's important. You can't bring glass longer that 3" into the arena unless you have a media pass.

My Olympus 75mm f/1.8 is exactly 3" long. That gives me an effective reach of 150mm with a very fast aperture. Frederick is bringing his Panasonic Lumix GX7. I have so wanted to shoot with that camera.  (I invited him to the game before I knew he had this cool camera.)

We'll get all of this great gear through security because it's small. After that, it's game time. When you're a photographer and a spectator, size does matter. There's not getting around it.

-Derrick

Saving on Older Models - Canon S110 vs S120

Not every snapshooter needs the latest camera. And price reductions for last year's gear can be substantial.

A perfect example is the beautiful little Canon PowerShot S110 that's currently available for $219 vs $399 for the newer S120. That's a big difference. So I decided to compare the specs.

Bottom line is that you get 922,000 dots on the touchscreen LCD for the S120 vs about half as many on the S110 (which still has a touchscreen). Other improvements include a faster burst mode, a wider variety or resolution choices, f/1.8 vs f/2 max aperture, and a little faster performance. And to be honest, that's about it. Both have WiFi, RAW, and terrific image quality.

If I were to buy a top notch compact camera for an enthusiast photographer as a gift, I could swing $219. But $399? Probably not.

I enjoy covering the latest and greatest technology. As far as jobs go, I have a great one. But when it comes to spending my own money. Last year's models are often the true bargains.

-Derrick

Free Shipping

Prior to launching the Nimble Store, I've never had a shop before. So this is my first Black Friday as a seller. It feels a little odd.

I've had friends ask me, "So what are you going to offer for Black Friday?"
"I don't know," I replied. "I hadn't thought much about it."

But the more I kicked it around, the more I wanted to do something.

One of the things that I learned during my stint with O'Reilly Media was that people love free shipping. So I decided that's what I'm going to do for Black Friday running through Cyber Monday.

If you visit the Nimble Store and add at least $49 to the cart, then you can use coupon code: blackfriday2013
By doing so, you'll get free shipping Priority Mail USPS for any deliverable address in the US -- on everything in your cart.

It's not Macy's or Amazon. But I do feel like I'm doing my part as an online retailer... even if I am more of a neighborhood shop.

-Derrick

Hotel WiFi

One of the scariest aspects of travel for a writing photographer is hotel WiFi.

The drama often unfolds along familiar plot lines. When I first log-on, everything seems OK. I might even remark, "Oh, this isn't too bad." A few web pages load, I check email, and the world seems right.

Then it's time to get some work done. Suddenly the pipes are clogged, and I can't get anything through. Things are particularly grim if I have to upload something, like a few photographs... or heaven for bid, a podcast.

This is what happened to me yesterday morning. I had a 17MB TDS Podcast to share with the world, and no way to get it on the server. I tried Plan A, Plan B, and was searching to figure out my Plan C, which became me leaving the room and brainstorming with personal at the front desk.

"How about one of the conference room networks?" one offered.

"Hmmm, a whole network with no one using it?"

This was too good to be true. I logged on and my podcast was on the server within a minute. The morning was saved.

When it comes to working online while traveling, it pays to be creative. Otherwise, we'll never hear from you.