Camera kit for the Mongol Rally

It's that tiime again, the eve before another trip and the logistical nightmare that is packing all my camera equipment.

Squeezed into my LowePro bag and two additional camera lens holders are the following items coming with me on this trip:

Canon D30 Camera/Body
Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8 L IS USM Lens (plus hood)
Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS USM Lens (plus hood)
Canon EF 85mm f1.8 Lens (plus hood)
2 X 2GB Scandisk memory chips
4 x 1GB Scandisk memory chips
Canon Speedlite 430EX Flashgun
5 Camera Batteries
Battery charger
Camera cleaning kit

A Year in Tibet - Episode Three

Here is the third of five episodes on the wonderful documentary, A Year in Tibet. I trust you've all enjoyed the first and second episodes recently posted on here.
It's winter time in Gyantse, New Years day preparations at the monestary and poor "Osa" is seriously ill and his family fear for this life.

Again, this episode is split into six 10 minute segments for easy viewing. Check "Latest blog posts" to view the first and second episode. Happy viewing.

I will upload the rest of the episodes in due course - check back soon!

A Year in Tibet - Episode Three- Part 1/6


A Year in Tibet - Episode Three - Part 2/6


A Year in Tibet - Episode Three - Part 3/6


A Year in Tibet - Episode Three - Part 4/6


A Year in Tibet - Episode Three - Part 5/6


A Year in Tibet - Episode Three - Part 6/6

...and the winner is....

After some research and some much needed advice I am now the owner of the Canon 24-70mm f2.8L Lens.
Finally I got hold of a virtually brand new lens, in absolute mint condition all for the very resonable price of £550. Cheap in comparsion the the listed price of just under £900 and the average Ebay price of £650.

To finance (in part) the cost of the new lens I've parted company with my Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens.

The downfall of Chelsea....

I know it has nothing whatsoever to do with travelling, photography or backpacking and not the usual blog post on here.... but this is hilarious. Lets all laugh at Chesea!



U'Rsssssss

Canon 24-70 mm f2.8 L or Canon 24-105 mm f4 L IS Lens

Another trip beacons, so it's inevitable that I must purchase a new camera lens. It's what I do.
I've been looking for a new general purpose medium focal length zoom lens and have whittled the choices down to two possibilities:

Canon 24-105 mm f4 L IS Lens
Canon 24-70 mm f2.8 L LensRoughly the price difference is about £100, with the 24-105mm the cheaper of the two costing roughly £600 online.

I've read plenty of reviews, but I guess the best people to answer this are other photographers with one or both lens to point me in the right direction.

Thoughts, comparisons, recommendations - anyone?

KHAKEE - The best of Indian Bollywood!

When I travelled to India back in 2004, on one my many since trips to the sub-continent, I went to the famous Raj Mandir cinema in Jaipur to catch the latest Bollywood blockbuster.
So good was the film that four years on I managed to pick up a DVD of the movie from a recent trip to Southall.

If anyone is in West London anytime soon, I'd highly recommend asking one of the many DVD shops to source a copy. Failing that, a quick Google search and you will easily be able to order a copy (or ask me for mine!)

I've found a few clips from the movie to give you all a little taste for the movie and Bollywood movies in general. This, in my opinion the best I've seen to date.





About the Movie
DCP Anant Shrivastav (Amitabh Bachchan) has been assigned the mission to escort terrorist Iqbal Ansari (Atul Kulkarni) from Chandangarh to Mumbai. His terrorist organization are determined to obtain him again. The plan for this is led by Yashwant Angre (Ajay Devgan), a ruthless killer and a former police officer. Anant's team consists of Inspector Shekhar Sachdev (Akshay Kumar), rookie cop Ashwin Gupte (Tusshar Kapoor) and two more inspectors. Soon Mahalakshmi (Aishwarya Rai) joins them as she is the only witness to have seen Yashwant. The team are armed and ready to go but danger lurks everywhere as the terrorist organization are determined to make sure the officers do not make it to Mumbai. The trip turns into survival when the team are attacked at various times. Finally the team make it to an abandoned cottage in the forest but there is a shoot out and the team are heavily outnumbered. Shekhar tries to force an exchange but against Anant's and Ashwin's judgement. Finally Ansari, after weeks of frustration, reveals that the terrorists are also out to kill him. He reveals a corrupt world involving the police and politicians. The officers soon realize the enemy they have been fighting is closer to them...In the end, Shekhar is killed by Mahalakshmi and her associate Angre. This killing spites anger into Anant and he hunts down each one of the corrupt officers and in the end, captures Angre after a fight during which, Despite Anant needing his medication often, he wins, and Angre is successfully captured. The movie ends as Angre is tried and sentenced to prison, and is being carried to his sentence; when he decides to flee, as a nut is lose in the bar to which he is handcuffed in the police van. Angre has Ashwin on gun point using a constable's rifle, when Ashwin reveals that Angre's lose nut was a setup to allow the killing of Angre, and that the bullets of the rifle had been emptied. Ashwin then shoots Angre, and reports his death as murder in an encounter.