Neil Losin

Equipment review: Think Tank Hydrophobia 70-200 Flash

Posted by Neil Losin at 8:23 am on April 2, 2013

Apr 022013

Day’s Edge Productions just returned from a 2-week filming expedition in the Solomon Islands with Dr. Al Uy of the University of Miami. Knowing that it was the rainy season, and not wanting the rain to cramp our style, we asked Think Tank if they would give us two Hydrophobia® camera rain covers to use on location. They kindly agreed and, as expected, the Solomon Islands gave us plenty of chances to put the Hydrophobias through their paces!

Think Tank Hydrophobia Flash 70-200.

First, what does this rain cover do? Basically, the Think Tank Hydrophobia allows you to operate your DSLR camera in the rain without having to worry about your camera or lens getting wet. It consists of a well-fitted waterproof fabric cover with holes in just the right places for your hands and the front of the camera lens. It’s also got a nice internal attachment loop that goes around the base of the lens and allows you to carry the whole setup by an external strap (rather than using your own camera strap, which is inside the cover). Both Nate and I got the Hydrophobia® Flash 70-200, which has an additional transparent flash cover that allows you to use a large professional flash, like the Canon 580EX flashes that we use most often, attached to the camera’s hot shoe.

Here’s what we liked, based on our use of the Hydrophobia covers in the Solomon Islands:

1) The Hydrophobias did their job, and did it well. We were never worried that our cameras were getting wet, even in the heaviest downpour that we encountered. The waterproof material is sturdy and the seams look like they’ll last a long time. These things look and feel durable, and we expect them to wear well.

2) The openings in the rain cover are well positioned to allow you to manipulate the camera controls — right hand for most of the shooting controls on the Canon 5D Mark II or 5D Mark III, and the left hand for focusing, zooming, and operating miscellaneous controls on the left side of the camera body. There’s enough room to move your hands around inside the cover, but not so much extra room that it feels baggy. The bottom / left hand opening also allows you to mount the camera to a tripod or monopod with the cover attached, which we did while shooting video in the rain.

Neil shooting video in the rain on Frigatebird Island with the Hydrophobia 70-200 Flash on his Canon 5D Mark III and 70-200mm lens.

3) This thing is really well thought out! There are lots of little details that make the Hydrophobia more functional, which we’ve come to expect from Think Tank. There’s a waterproof lens cap that you can quickly slip over the front of your lens hood when you’re done shooting. There’s a transparent flap, secured with Velcro, that you can use to cover the viewfinder when you’re not shooting (or when you’re shooting in Live View mode). The eyepieces (required for use; not included) are specific to each model of camera, and fit the cameras securely. The Hydrophobia mounts to these eyepieces very securely by means of a stretchy neoprene collar that grips the outer rim of the eyepiece. You can even keep an extra eyepiece in a little pocket on the outside of the Hydrophobia.

So overall the Hydrophobias are a pretty slick solution to a common problem: shooting in the rain. In a place like the Solomon Islands, particularly in the wet season, we couldn’t let rain limit our shooting options, and the Hydrophobias let us keep shooting in some pretty camera-unfriendly conditions, from downpours in the forest to rainy sea crossings from island to island in small, bouncing boats.

Nate using the Hydrophobia 70-200 Flash in heavy rain on the beach. The camera inside is a Canon 5D Mark III with an 80-200mm lens.

There were a few things that we found challenging when working with the Hydrophobias. First, as the name suggests, they really are made for 70-200mm lenses, and they’re best used with these larger lenses. We tried using the Hyrdrophobia with smaller lenses, and it can be done, particularly if the smaller lens has a decent-sized lens hood. The material covering the lens bunches up somewhat around shorter lenses, however — it was a bit tricky to access the focus and zoom rings of my 24-105mm f/4L lens with the Hydrophobia on. But it can be done, and having the option of using these smaller lenses definitely came in handy. Second, the Hydrophobia is at its best when you’re using the camera’s optical viewfinder. When shooting video (or stills with Live View enabled), the neoprene eyepiece collar and surrounding Velcro obscure the top edge of the LCD screen, so you won’t see 100% of the frame. That being said, we shot plenty of video with the Hydrophobia covers on, and we quickly learned to adapt. The clear plastic that covers the camera back can also get fogged up in very humid conditions, or with rapid temperature changes, but I was stupid and didn’t apply the (included) anti-fog coating to the plastic before the trip. I’m sure this would have solved the problem. Third, as someone with big hands, I found that there wasn’t quite enough room for me to reach in through the lower/left hole and adjust the zoom of the lens when the camera was attached to a tripod head like the Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead or Manfrotto 501 fluid head (a smaller tripod head, or smaller hands, would have been fine). Finally, if you’re not planning on using a flash very often, you’re probably better off with the non-flash version of the cover. The transparent flash “bubble” is a great feature, but stowing it away securely when you’re not using a flash isn’t trivial.

Conclusion: This is definitely a product we’ll be taking with us on our next trip to the Solomon Islands in June (with any luck, we can also try the Hydrophobia® 300-600 model to cover our supertelephoto needs when we’re shooting wildlife in the rain!). It’s a much more ergonomic and mobile solution for shooting in the rain than using an umbrella or rain jacket to cover your camera, both favorite strategies of ours in the past! We would recommend a Hydrophobia rain cover to anyone whose photographic work can’t wait for fair weather.

Equipment review: Think Tank Digital Holster™ and Harness v2.0

Posted by Neil Losin at 7:04 am on March 5, 2013

Mar 052013

For Christmas this year, my wife Liz got me the Think Tank Digital Holster™ 40 v2.0 and the Digital Holster™ Harness v2.0. I knew that the first months of 2013 would involve some adventurous photo and video expeditions, and I wanted a solution that would keep my camera close at hand, but also keep both of my hands free. Since I knew I’d be visiting the Rwenzori Mountains and the Solomon Islands, two very rainy places, I also wanted a solution that would keep my camera protected from the elements (this ruled out some popular camera carrying devices like the Cotton Carrier).

Here I am with the Digital Holster and Harness system, during our ascent of Mt. Speke. Photo by Nate Dappen.

So, now that we’re back from the Rwenzoris, how did the Digital Holster™ fare? Well, overall I was very glad that I brought the Digital Holster™ and Harness combination on this expedition. Here’s what I liked about it:

1) The Holster: The “Holster” itself is a solid little bag (not surprisingly for Think Tank, the build quality is excellent). Even though I shoot with a 5D Mark II and a 7D body, I opted for the Digital Holster™ 40 (which is designed to accommodate a full-sized pro SLR), because I like to leave my Really Right Stuff L-plates attached to my cameras at all times, and these make the camera body a bit bigger. I didn’t regret getting the larger holster (the other option was the Digital Holster™ 20). As it was, there wasn’t an abundance of extra room in the holster, and I’m not sure the 20 would have comfortably fit my camera with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens and the lens foot attached. Oh, and the zip-out extension for longer lenses is really convenient, accommodating my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens (with the hood reversed) with a bit of room to spare, but collapsing to a smaller size when I wasn’t carrying the big lens. When I wasn’t using the chest harness, the holster provided enough protection for my camera that I was confident stuffing the whole thing in my backpacking pack while we were climbing some of the bigger peaks.

2) The Harness: The Harness was very comfortable, distributing the weight of the bag evenly across my shoulders. Even when I was carrying the 5D Mark II and 70-200mm lens, the whole setup was quite comfortable, which was important since I was climbing mountains most of the day. I also appreciated the low profile of the straps – instead of cushioning the load with bulky padding, they spread the weight of your camera across your shoulders with wide, thin straps that even have breathable mesh in the back so you don’t get too sweaty under them. The harness attaches to the Holster with a system of six straps that’s a bit complicated and definitely confusing at first. But once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy to get on and off, and the harness holds the holster very securely against your chest.

Digital Holster™ 40 v2.0. Photo from Think Tank.

3) Bells and whistles: The Digital Holster™ has some nice extra features, the kind of details I’ve enjoyed in other Think Tank products that I’ve used. It’s got a nice integrated rain cover, which I used on several occasions in the Rwenzoris. My camera never got wet. There are a couple of nice little pockets, one outside and one inside the lid (I used the inside pocket for memory cards and batteries). There’s also a nice stretchy pocket on the front of the holster (the side away from your chest), which I often used to carry accessories like a Rode Videomic. There’s a nice attachment that allows you to attach the holster to a belt, and some accessory straps where you could attach an extra lens pouch or something on the outside of the holster.

Overall, I was very happy with the Digital Holster™ 40 v2.0 and the Digital Holster™ Harness system. That being said, there are a few small things that could be improved.

1) When the Holster is perched on your chest, the lid opens away from you (which is good), but this makes the zipper somewhat tricky to access against your chest when it’s fully closed, especially if you’re wearing gloves. I’m not sure what the best solution to this issue would be, but I didn’t find the zipper placement to be ideal for quick access to the camera.

2) The attachment points for 4 of the 6 straps of the harness are very small webbing loops, and it was sometimes difficult (especially with cold hands or gloves) to connect the clips of the harness to these little loops on the holster. Once connected, however, I didn’t have any doubt that they would stay connected. Rather than deformable webbing loops, maybe small metal D-rings or something would make donning and removing the harness quicker.

3) While I used the rain cover several times, and it did a pretty good job staying on the holster, I think some kind of attachment (maybe Velcro or a snap closure) to secure the top of the rain cover to the top / rear of the Holster (i.e. the top of the side of the Holster that rests against your chest) would make the rain cover more secure.

Digital Holster™ Harness v2.0. Photo from Think Tank.

Finally, one limitation of the bag that is not a shortcoming of engineering, but simply an unavoidable consequence of this kind of bag: I found that once we got into really gnarly terrain, where I needed to use my hands and feet to climb, I really didn’t want the camera on my chest any more. On steep rocks, your instinct is to keep your center of mass as close to the rocks as you can, so you just don’t want something like an SLR in between you and the surface you’re clinging to. When we were climbing rocks, I put the holster in my backpack, and I was much happier that way.

To summarize, I think the Think Tank Digital Holster™ 40 v2.0 and Digital Holster™ Harness make a great camera-carrying solution for backcountry trekking. The build quality, degree of gear protection, and level of comfort are all excellent. In my case, I used the Digital Holster™ to keep my most-used camera and lens readily accessible on the trail, while I kept other, less frequently used items in a larger photo backpack. Despite a few minor shortcomings, I will take this combination with me – without hesitation – the next time I’m on a photo expedition that requires extended hiking in challenging terrain.

What are Calories? (or The Snickers Challenge)

Posted by Neil Losin at 6:16 am on March 1, 2013

Mar 012013

Last month, Nate and I returned home after our Dos Equis-funded expedition to the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda. We’ve been editing some photos from the trip, so you can get a taste of what we experienced during our ascent to base camp, while climbing the high peaks, and you can get a closer look at some of the flora and fauna of the Rwenzoris. We’re also producing a short film about the expedition, and we’ll be able to share more details about that soon!

A portrait of our expedition cook, Augustine. Photo by Nate Dappen.

It was a physically demanding expedition – we hiked for several hours every day, often carrying heavy camera gear, and we summited five 16,000-foot peaks in the space of seven days. We expected to lose a few pounds during the trek, but thanks to the excellent (and abundant) food provided by Augustine, the expedition cook, we didn’t end up losing much, if any, weight.

We ate our fair share of snacks on the trail, of course, and that’s how our latest video project began. I stuck with classic fare – granola bars and peanut butter crackers – but Nate had packed some calorie-dense protein bars in his backpack. I said, “If you really want lots of calories in a compact package, you should’ve just gotten a bunch of Snickers.” That’s when the disagreement started. Nate claimed that a standard-sized Snickers bar only had 120 Calories, a figure that I knew must be incorrect. I guessed 300 Calories. To make it interesting, we made a bet. It was a gentleman’s bet – no money involved – but the loser would have to eat five Snickers bars in one sitting… Very gentlemanly.

Unsurprisingly, I was right. Or nearly so… the standard Snickers bar in the U.S. contains 280 Calories (not for long, however – they are downsizing the bar to 250 Calories by the end of 2013… keeping the price the same, naturally). But rather than let Nate serve out his sentence in the privacy of his home, we decided we should parlay his misfortune into something positive… educational, even! So we made a video about Calories – what are they? And what do they do? So here it is! It’s kind of like a double feature; you get to watch Nate eat five Snickers bars AND learn something in the process. Enjoy!

To borrow a John Stewart line, “Are you not horrortained??”

Where have we been?

Posted by Neil Losin at 8:09 pm on December 6, 2012

Dec 062012

It’s been a busy few months for Day’s Edge Productions – we’ve been just about everywhere except our blog, it seems! Luckily, there’s a good reason for our blog silence: there are big things in the works! In the first half of 2013, we’ll be heading to Uganda to climb the Rwenzori Mountains and document their fast-disappearing glaciers, and we’ll travel to the Solomon Islands to make a really exciting film about how new species arise! We’ll do our best to keep the blog up-to-date with news of our adventures. But aside from planning our upcoming expeditions, we have actually been doing some interesting things with tangible results!

In August and October, I spent a few days filming on Colorado’s Yampa River with a crew from National Geographic. We were covering a really interesting story – 2012 was an extremely dry year in the West, and several Colorado conservation groups came together with National Geographic to secure the water rights necessary to keep the Yampa River flowing at a healthy level. Most water leases are made in order to use water from the river; this one was made to keep water in the river. It’s an innovative conservation measure that just might have kept the Yampa River – and its inhabitants, like the native mountain whitefish healthy in a pretty bad draught year. Check out the video that resulted from this shoot, courtesy of the National Geographic Freshwater Initiative:

A male Anolis evermanni in Puerto Rico

Earlier in the year, Nate and I also sold some footage to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for their long-running nature series The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. They needed footage of Anolis evermanni for an episode on animal intelligence, “Mysteries of the Animal Mind,” and – wouldn’t you know it – we had captured some nice footage of this anole species during one of my research trips to Puerto Rico! Anyway, it amounted to a modest footage-licensing deal, but since this is our first broadcast credit, it’s still a bit of a milestone for us! Check out this short excerpt from the program, which features some of our footage in a segment about Dr. Manuel Leal’s research on anole intelligence (our footage was used in a couple of other places, but we couldn’t share the whole program!):

If you’re in Canada, you can probably watch the entire episode here, but if you’re in the United States you’ll have to settle for our excerpt!

Finally, we’ve been working hard on The Symbol, our book about the Ibiza Wall Lizard, and we’re making good progress. We’ve still got some work to do, but we can’t wait to share the fruits of our labor!

The Most Interesting Project in the World

Posted by Neil Losin at 10:17 am on November 16, 2012

Nov 162012

We’ve got big news, and it involves beer and science! Last night, Nate and I found out that we won the first-ever “Stay Thirsty Grant” from Dos Equis. This $25,000 grant is going to support our expedition to Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains to document some of the last tropical glaciers on Earth. (View our “pitch” video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7Rm9WRzwrg)

The official announcement was made by “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” the spokesman of a wildly successful Dos Equis advertising campaign, in a private event in New York, which was followed by a huge masquerade party. You can see us fraternizing with TMIMITW, as we affectionately call him, in the pictures below.

The winner was decided by a popular vote, so we have to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who voted for us and encouraged their friends to vote! We couldn’t have done it without your support! To learn more about exactly what we’ll be doing in Uganda, check out this piece we wrote for National Geographic Newswatch last month. We’ll be posting lots more about this project as our plans develop over the next couple of months, and we can’t wait to get to the Rwenzoris and bring back some amazing images to share with all of you! More to come!

"The Symbol" Video Update #3: Es Vedrà Trek

Posted by Neil Losin at 2:48 pm on July 28, 2012

Jul 282012

Closeup of an Es Vedrà lizard. The combination of a deep blue body and yellow back is not found in any other population.

We visited dozens of islands during our month-long expedition to the Pityusic archipelago to photograph the endemic Ibiza Wall Lizard (Podarcis pityusesis). We photographed lizards clad in brilliant blue, green, and orange, cryptic shades of brown, and even black. But right from the start, we knew our expedition wouldn’t be complete until we climbed Es Vedrà. Es Vedrà is an island shrouded in mystery – it is visible throughout the archipelago, a monumental 1250-foot-high pinnacle of rock rising abruptly from the Mediterranean off the southwest coast of Ibiza. But Es Vedrà is uninhabited and off-limits to the public, so few people have a chance to explore it, and fewer still reach the summit. The island has inspired countless legends through the centuries. More importantly for us, Es Vedrà is home to what may be the most spectacular population of Ibiza Wall Lizards in the entire archipelago.

The most conspicuous terrestrial animals on Es Vedrà are wild goats, descended from domestic goats introduced to the island by humans centuries ago.

In the final week of our expedition, we finally had a chance to face Es Vedrà. This film chronicles our trek to the summit. Nate had reached the peak once before, so we had a rough idea of what lie ahead. Still, we knew we would encounter challenges along the way! Early on our hike, the pouch that held our wireless microphones got torn off my backpack as I pushed through some dense brush, and we didn’t realize the mics were missing until we reached the summit. Unfortunately, that meant that we couldn’t record our impressions when we were there. But in case the video leaves you with any doubt… it was SPECTACULAR!

We retraced our steps on the way down, and – miraculously – Nate managed to find the mics! What a relief!

Our other objective on Es Vedrà was to capture a high-resolution panorama from the summit, so that our friends and project backers could share our experience and get a sense of what we could see from the summit. You can explore the high-resolution panoramic image below, or use the cool full-screen interface at the Gigapan website, complete with annotated “snapshots” within the larger image.

Exhausted but happy, Nate, Amanda and I stand atop Es Vedrà!

Farewell to Formentera!

Posted by Neil Losin at 8:25 am on July 13, 2012

Jul 132012

They say time flies when you’re having fun. And evidently it flies even faster when you’re working 12-hour days photographing lizards in an island paradise! Our time in Formentera is drawing to a close — we leave for Ibiza tomorrow morning, and we’ve got a busy schedule planned for the final five days of our expedition there. The local response to our project continues to be really encouraging… everyone we tell about our project seems excited that we are creating a book about their iconic sargantanas. And the local media have continued to cover our expedition as well; the total is now up to 2 TV interviews, 1 radio interview, and 2 newspaper articles about our work. The most recent addition to this tally is a really nice article (in Spanish) by reporter Carmelo Convalia in the most widely read newspaper on the islands, Diario de Ibiza. One of the nice things about this latest article is that it’s in color! We got the whole back page of the newspaper devoted to our project, with several color photographs. We took a quick picture of the newspaper (the front page is just for reference; the article about our work is on the back page), which you can check out below (click the image to enlarge).

On a side note, this is our 200th blog post on Day’s Edge Productions! We hope all of our readers will stick around for another 200!

By land, sea and air

Posted by Neil Losin at 11:44 pm on July 10, 2012

Jul 102012

Islands: they’re hard to get to. It’s why biologists find so much to study on islands, but it means they can also present major logistical hurdles… a blessing and a curse!

Things never go quite as planned on a field expedition. You have to roll with the punches and be ready to improvise. This trip has had a few unexpected hurdles (and, to be fair, unexpected opportunities), but one of our major unanticipated challenges has been getting to all of the small islands around Ibiza and Formentera. In the course of his research (starting in 2009), Nate developed a close relationship with the Natural Reserve office here in Formentera, and in past summers they have graciously provided him with a boat and driver whenever he has needed to collect data one of the many uninhabited islands near Formentera.

Javi (in the green jacket) skillfully navigates Formentera’s Natural Reserve boat toward Islas Negras, small islands between Ibiza and Formentera (Ibiza is in the background). Javi and Edu (in the red jacket) were a fun – and knowledgeable – team to spend a day on the water with!

Unfortunately, we arrived in Formentera to find that the situation had changed. Despite the Natural Reserve’s best efforts to help us, we’ve only gotten access to their boat for one day so far, and worse still, the boat is now out of commission for repairs, so we probably won’t get to use it again! But in the absence of our “Plan A,” we’ve improvised. We’ve swum to a few islands near the shore, towing our gear in a raft. We’ve used an inflatable kayak. And we’ve gotten help from the National Parks office in Ibiza as well – we’ve been out on their boat once already, and we’re looking forward to spending more time with them when we revisit Ibiza next week. In any case, we’ve learned that nothing is certain until we’re actually on the water, so we always make backup plans for photography here on Formentera… and we’re ready to hop on the boat at a moment’s notice when the opportunity presents itself!

We’ve only got nine more shooting days on the island! There’s still lots to do, of course (we’ll never get all of the images we want!), but we’re really happy with our progress so far, and we can’t wait to share the fruits of our labors with all of our Kickstarter backers and blog readers! More news soon, so stay tuned!

Boats aren’t just useful, they’re fun! Here Liz is enjoying the ride to the Bledes islands with the National Parks boat in Ibiza.

Nate and Amanda work together to inflate the “Explorer 200,” a small raft that we’ve used to float our gear to some nearby islands, as we swim alongside it.

Our field crew embarks for the Bledes Islands (with their all-black lizards!) on the Ibiza National Parks boat. Jorge, in the foreground, generously shared with us his considerable knowledge of the islands and their wildlife.

When islands are fairly close to the shore, kayaking is an option. Here, Liz paddles toward the island of Cala Salada with our photo gear safe and dry in the kayak, while we swim behind her.

Boats moored in the harbor at La Savina, the main port in Formentera. Thanks to the Natural Reserve office in Formentera, this is where we embarked for Islas Negras, with their orange-bellied green lizards.

The Symbol 6/23/12 – Arrival in Formentera

Posted by Neil Losin at 8:41 am on June 23, 2012

Jun 232012

We’re here in Formentera, Spain to begin working on our book, The Symbol! Liz and I arrived yesterday morning, joining Nate and Amanda in a small town called Es Caló, where we will stay for the first week of our expedition. We’ll call this the official “Day 1” of our photographic expedition. At this point, we’re all still recuperating from a couple of long travel days, but we’ve started to explore and document our surroundings already, and tomorrow will be our first full day of photographing lizards.

Nate and Amanda have spent quite a bit of time on Formentera before, but this is my first taste of the idyllic island. I had great expectations based on Nate’s stories about his fieldwork in the islands, and so far Formentera hasn’t let me down! “Spectacular” is no overstatement. We’ll have more stories to share in the coming days, but for now, here are a few quick shots from our first day together on the island. Enjoy!

Our team enjoys a beer during their first sunset together on Formentera. This little beach bar (generally called a Chiringuito in Spanish) is named Bartolo’s after its long-time owner. Nate’s been coming to Formentera for years now, and this is his favorite Chiringuito on the island.

Neil is a happy man after a sunset swim and some sangria.

Nate and Neil with Bartolo. Bartolo was born and raised on Formentera, and he has run his Chiringuito for years, as the island has changed from a quiet, remote island to a popular tourist destination.

Two boys fish at sunset on Formentera’s Migiorn beach. Sunsets are a special time here – hundreds of people gather at beach bars around the island to watch the sun disappear over the horizon.

New video: Monkey See!

Posted by Neil Losin at 2:53 pm on May 30, 2012

May 302012

Everything you need to know about our latest video can be summed up in one word: monkeys. Monkeys everywhere.

Actually, there’s a lot more to it than that. About a year ago, Nate and I learned about some really cool genetics research involving squirrel monkeys. And luckily for us, Nate was teaching a summer science program for middle school students at a place called Monkey Jungle in south Florida, which has a colony of captive squirrel monkeys. When I was in Florida last summer for my anole research, we had the amazing opportunity to film at Monkey Jungle for a couple of mornings. It was really fun to interact with the monkeys! I won’t say they didn’t make shooting a challenge, because they can be pretty mischievous little critters. But they sure made it more interesting.

With all of our other projects, it’s taken almost a year to turn this footage into a finished video! But we like the result. If you want to learn some very cool science, or even if you just want to see Nate serve as a playground for monkeys, check it out!

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