Use THOUSANDS in gear for under $100 | Stoke-Ness
We’ve turned a corner, or rather tilted the globe.
Spring is coming. It might not feel like it, but we are closer to green grass than we are to last Christmas. I am ready for it and already making big plans.
In this issue, I’ll share a warm location, a YouTuber that will get you excited to plan your summer travels and a song that feels distinctly fresh like a spring breeze.
Be stoked,
Isaac
New Places
Buttercup Dunes, Yuma, AZ
If you drive Interstate 8 from San Diego to Arizona you will see them just before you leave California. High golden dunes on both sides of the road.
It’s overlooked, probably because on the weekends it’s filled with RV’s and every kind of offroad vehicle that can rev an engine. I’m all for off roading but for photography it might be hard to find an untracked dune.
We stayed mid week just after a big wind storm and the dunes were perfect. You camp directly in the sand with the dunes just behind you. We walked barefoot for sunrise into the dunes. It was magical.
I’ve not been to the more popular North Algones dunes on Hwy 78, but from what I see they have more vegetation. I love how the Buttercup Dunes have no bushes or trees and make a perfectly clean pallet for photos.
See it on Google Maps Here
Gear
Renting Camera Gear
I’ve rented gear 10 times over the past year and have a few recommendations on where and how.
I’ve rented from Lumosity (now closed), Lensrentals.com and Borrowlenses.com. My go to now is Lensrentals.com. They have a wider selections of gear and are just as fast and good as Borrowlenses.com. They also have gimbals and other video gear that I didn’t find anywhere else.
I always get the additional insurance, but if you have photo gear insurance that covers rentals then you can get rentals for even cheaper.
I almost always rent for 7 days even if I only need it for a one day shoot. I like to use the gear for a few days prior to the shoot so that I’m not learning where buttons are or finding a quirk on the shoot day. I also don’t want to have to rush to send it back. It’s 100% protocol to bill the rental fee to your client on your invoice, just make sure you let them know you will be renting gear and including it in your bill.
Try before you buy. I have rented lenses for $60 that I was ready to spend $2k on and found that I didn’t like them. Renting them is the best way to get a feel for them before you drop major resources to get em. I also like to do back to back tests this way, Sigma vs Canon or similar.
I rent ridiculous things just to spark creativity. Rent a phone gimbal and make a short film smoothly or rent a 1000mm lens for a photo of a blood moon. It allows you to grow you experience for next to nothing.
Good luck and remember to keep the box for return shipping =)
Who I'm loving on Instagram
Wes Larson AKA GrizKid is the kind of account that makes Instagram such a great place. He is a bear biologist and crawls into holes in the ground to find bears in hibernation and study them (among other things).
His feed shares his unique adventures that only a specialized scientist could have.
Give him a follow Here
Music I'm Diggin'
Not Enough by Benny Sings
If you’ve been following this newsletter for a while, you know I don’t recommend to many tunes that fall on the Pop 100. But I do recommend tunes that will have your head bobbing and get stuck in your head.
This song is no different. It has a cool syncopated rhythm and a mid eighties Chicago rock feel that is perfect with a long drive.
Give it a spin on Spotify here.
Videos, Movies, and TV
Riding the Mae Hong Son Loop by Kraig Adams
Kraig has quickly become one of my favorite filmmakers on YouTube. His style is a mix between exciting, funny and beautiful. The pace of his videos is hypnotic making a 20 min travel film watchable more than once.
He is approachable and injects a realism in the Travel Adventure genre that is mostly filled with shirts off bros doing backflips and posing over epic vistas.
Give a video a try and if you don’t love it I’d love to hear why.
10/10 would recommend.
Watch it here
Reads
Bad Blood by John Careyrou
I am a big fan of the Michael Lewis books The Big Short and Flash Boys. I love the details about someone who found a scam and worked it until the law made them stop or it all crashed down around them.
When a friend recommended Bad Blood I was perked up. I’d seen some headlines about the start up Theranos and it’s troubles. It sounded like a book and now someone had written it.
The story follows the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her multi billion dollar startup. It’s fascinating. I kept waiting for someone to blow the whistle any moment.
9/10 would recommend.
If you decide you want to read it you can support me by buying the book at this link HERE
Or Listen for Free with your Library card HERE
Photo/Video Technique
Drone Photography with out the “drone” look.
I use my drone to take photos more and more often. One of my favorite reactions when I share my drone photos is the “how did you get that perspective, that can’t be a drone”.
While drone camera quality has come a long way, the way we tend to use drones makes the images have a similar feel. Here are a few things I do to keep my drone photography from looking cliche.
I like to imagine what it would look like if there were a big hill looking across and slightly down on my scene. This will give me a more natural and relatable perspective then flying high as if I owned a helicopter.
I also use my drone for closer shots. A easily relatable perspective is one of a tree, balcony or ladder. I really like to fly my drone 15’ off the ground and 30-40’ from my subject. This will give a unique perspective that is under used, especially with drones.
Shoot in low light with long exposures. This can be hard with any wind, but shooting something like a lit house or a campfire scene with 3 second exposure using the techniques I mentioned looks great. The drone is typically more stable than just holding a camera in your hands so can do longer exposures. I like to use very little ISO as it typically doesn’t look great with the drone images.
My goal is to connect with the viewers curiosity and make them want to see that with their own eyes. To that end I try to avoid perspectives that feel too “Google Maps” or “Video Game”. I think these tend to be hard to connect to real life perspectives which can cause a disconnect and make the viewer not emotionally engage with the image.
Try these next time you are out flying a drone, or better yet, if you don’t have a drone try to get these perspectives by climbing a hill or tree. You will find a new way to see your scene.
Guys, I’m still in the desert and, when it’s not snowing, the sun has been incredible.
I don’t have much to add here except that if you are reading this you are my favorite. Thanks for your support. I consider this a two way channel, so don’t hesitate to email me about anything. I’ll do my best to get back to you.
Be stoked and have a great month,
Isaac
