Hi everyone,

I am off for the Breakaway European Focus tour in 6 weeks or so. I travel and photograph everywhere I go but I have never been on a trip like this before. Maybe someone who has been on a Trafalgar Tour could help me out about a few details of what to expect...

I am curious how many rolls of film I should bring on this 15-day trip...on a nice day with good subjects I can usually shoot through 2-4 rolls per day (bracketing of course), but I wonder...are there enough stops during the bus travel days to take a fair amount of decent shots? I'm hoping that during the breaks there will be 10 minutes or so to run around and take a few shots in an interesting location (who needs washroom breaks). Also...I have a sad feeling that much of the sightseeing will be from inside the bus...are the windows tinted or can photos be shot out of them? I think I might try to bum a video camera off of my brother for that though.

Another concern...going to be a stupid question I'm sure, but when crossing European borders by bus, do you go through x-ray machines? I don't my film to get fried from the number of borders I will be crossing!

Well those are the questions on my mind, right now it is a question I must ask myself...do I take slide or print film...I had decided on print film but then I shot 2 rolls of Kodak Elite 'extra colour' film this week and I was amazed with the colour and grain. Hmmm I have some serious meditating to do on that subject. Ah the joys of travel.

Thanks for any advice!
Chris
Toronto, Canada

Chris:
I, too, shoot about 75-100 frames a day. There are plenty of stops and I shoot scenery through the window. Tip: sit next to the window and put the lense as close to the glass as possible in order to eliminate reflections.

You go through x-rays only at the airports.

Glenn

Cool! Thanks Glenn for the tips and quick response. Do you really get a choice of seats? I figured that because everyone would want the window seats they would assign seats...either that or pit everyone in some kind of battle royale for seat choice. Either way!

Chris

Chris:
Usually (there are some weird TDs) everyone finds a seat the first day and then you rotate each day after that: one side forward two seats and the other side back.

If you're traveling with a partner, give him/her the aisle. If not, grab a window the first day and you'll have it the rest of the trip,

By the way, while the front seats are usually the best for viewing, they are the worst for shooting photos.

Glenn

Sometimes when I know spectacular scenery is coming up outside the front window (Cappadocia in Turkey is an example) my TD's are usually kind enough to give me their seat right down the front. Then I can get the camera/video up against the windscreen to avoid glare. May be worth keeping in mind

Dave

Chris-

I'm off on my first Trafalgar tour this afternoon, but I took a cruise with Holland-America last summer and have been to Europe many times. I shoot plenty of film! On the cruise, we shot well over 500 pictures which I digitized and put on CD. Recommend using a photofinisher that can save your photos on high resolution CD. Mystic Photo is just one of many. You can then send pictures to whoever you want on the internet, print copies with your inkjet printer and set up slideshow using software such as Flip Album CD-Maker.

Have fun.

Herb

Wow, thanks everyone for the info.

Glenn, what makes the front windows bad for shooting through? I sure hope I can claim myself a window seat! I'm staying in my own hotel in London the night before the tour leaves and have to tube it to wherever the tour departs from...I better be early!

Dave, thanks for the tip...I plan to make it my photographic enthusiasm early in the trip so maybe I can have the same advantage shot that you've gotten! Should be easy to make my interests shown with my big SLR camera and tripod with carrying case...

Herb, the lab I deal with offers that option but I have found it too expensive. I do have a film scanner at work that takes film and slides, and I plan to use that afterwards. I think it makes more sense considering that I usually only get 2-3 shots per roll worth scanning for my portfolio and the personal Photo CD/Website that I'm building. Someday soon it will be ready and up-to-date...I'm through scanning half of my photographic past already...which actually only spans 5 years...

Chris:

The front windscreen is tough to get your lens up against to avoid reflections. In the front seat (excluding the TD's seat), your still a couple of feet away. When it rains, the windscreen gets a lot more than the side windows.

If you want to set up photos to be viewed on the web before you set up your website, try these two sites: www.webshots.com www.photos.epson.com

Leave the tripod at home, use faster film instead. By the time you have the tripod set up, the group will have moved on. It becomes a bear to carry.

I, too, scan negatives and slides. I use Corel PhotoPaint to manipulate the images, what do you use?

Glenn

[This message has been edited by gsrunyan (edited July 06, 2001).]

Glenn,

You answered my post fast...and I will too!

I didn't really expect to shoot through the front windscreen, just through the side windows. I guess for certain shots though it might come in handy.

Actually I do have 2 websites up with my photos, but they haven't been updated in years and they contain lots of small photos...in my new one I'm being more selective, and scanning in much better resolution. If you're interested, http://members.nbci.com/chrisman_2
and my older one, http://www.globalserve.net/~chrisman
They've got lots of shots of my trips to New York, San Francisco, Vancouver and other places.

Well the tripod I'm really going to mainly use for my week in London beforehand, and the nights that I'll have to myself during the tour. I absolutely love taking night and sunset photos, and a tripod is pretty much neccessary during those times to take decent shots. One shot I must get...the Tower Bridge in London at dusk...

I use PhotoShop 5.5...I have access to great equipment at work...I just have to stay after hours to use it!

Chris

I tried what Glenn suggested and posed some of my photos on Webshots. I put on 10 photos from my trip to England last year, although this is not a Trafalgar Tour...merely my own travels.
http://community.webshots.com/user/seejayem

Let me know if you like them!
Chris

Hi Chris,

I'm a professional photographer and took a Trafalgar Tour last summer. I ended up shooting about 700 images over the course of a ten day trip. Although I use medium format in my business, my 35mm SLR was great for the photographs of my tour.

The answer to your question about xray machines is... it depends. They are supposed to xray everything at the airport, but I found that if I took all of the film out of it's boxes and canisters and then put it all in a zip lock bag I had no problem getting them to hand inspect it instead.

Regardless of what you've heard, airport xrays will fog higher ISO films, so if you can convince security to hand inspect it, do.

I also found that I had plenty of opportunities to photograph along the way. However, my very favorite image from the trip was taken through the coach window and you can't tell it. Just be careful of reflections.

Hi Chris, I think you'll find that as you sit with the same person as you rotate around the bus, that the person you are sitting with will expect to alternate having the window seat with you each day (everybody usually wants the window seat).

quote:

Originally posted by chris77:
Wow, thanks everyone for the info.

Glenn, what makes the front windows bad for shooting through? I sure hope I can claim myself a window seat! I'm staying in my own hotel in London the night before the tour leaves and have to tube it to wherever the tour departs from...I better be early!

Dave, thanks for the tip...I plan to make it my photographic enthusiasm early in the trip so maybe I can have the same advantage shot that you've gotten! Should be easy to make my interests shown with my big SLR camera and tripod with carrying case...

Herb, the lab I deal with offers that option but I have found it too expensive. I do have a film scanner at work that takes film and slides, and I plan to use that afterwards. I think it makes more sense considering that I usually only get 2-3 shots per roll worth scanning for my portfolio and the personal Photo CD/Website that I'm building. Someday soon it will be ready and up-to-date...I'm through scanning half of my photographic past already...which actually only spans 5 years...