26/09/2008 – The Weekly Round Up : Bags-&-Regional Jets : Choosing A Frequent Flyer Program : Make Your Own Modular Bags : A Dead Airline Rises, etc

Web: www.fishfotoworldwide.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

26/09/2008 – The Weekly Round Up : Bags-&-Regional Jets : Choosing A Frequent Flyer Program : Make Your Own Modular Bags : A Dead Airline Rises, etc etc

Wow, this week has been insane with travel news in the airline industry, particularly within the SkyTeam airline alliance. For starters Alitalia, an airline I have been watching die for more than a year appeared to be fading into the history books with the bagpipes gently growing in sound in the distance. I hoped for the best, but was sure the executioner was sharpening the blade........as of this morning it looks like Alitalia might have a ray of hope to live on and continue serving as Italy's National Flag Carrier. Alitalia has a long way to go to compete with a fierce European market, but with some strategic changes they can push forward and become a serious contender in the international and intra-Europe market.

Before I move into the week in review, I'd like mention an addition to my Get Up & Fly Photo Boot Camps. I have had some significant interest in these workshops, yet seats remain available! Just to entice those of you are interested to jump onboard I'm adding this offer.......for those photographers who join me on the New York and Los Angeles Get Up & Fly Boot Camps, I'll be supplying you with one of my favourite bags for the journey! Before we depart I'll ship you one of the bags I have discussed repeatedly on Flying With Fish so you can pack it up and bring it with you! Why am I doing this? Because I think this bag is outstanding and an excellent took for photogs to use, work out of and help dictate a stripped down minimalist kit on the road. For more information on the Get Up & Fly Boot Camps visit: www.comeflywithfish.com

For those of you who read Flying With Fish on a regular basis you'll notice my first ad went up this week. On the right hand column is now an ad from Adorama. Why Adorama? Well for starters I purchase a lot of my camera equipment from Adorama. Secondly would be Jeff Snyder, quite possibly the worlds great professional camera sales rep, I followed him from his old place of business to his current position at Adorama. Need any camera equipment, click the advertisement and a portion of your purchase will go towards supporting the maintaining of Flying With Fish. Don't want to support Flying With Fish but just want excellent service? Drop Jeff an e-mail at jsnyder@adorama.com or catch him on AIM at JSnyderAdorama


This week I kicked off Flying With Fish with an article on how do deal with leaving your bag at the stairs when boarding a regional jet or turbo prop flight. No one likes being separated from their bag, especially photographers, but there are ways to pack and minimize any risk of damage to your bag and the kit you've packed inside it. Find out more here: 22/09/2008 – Leaving Your Bag At The Stairs On Regional Flights, AKA: Valet Check, Stair Check, Planeside Check

On Monday I discussed the almost immediate demise of Alitalia. I am very happy to report that as of this morning they appear to be diverting disaster and have the possibility of continuing to fly. I have some significant concepts on what Alitalia must do to attract and retain premium passengers, and continue to reinforce passenger loyalty, in order to turn around their perception in the minds of business travelers and the flying public, but I'll keep those details to myself for the moment. To find out about Alitalia's saga, visit here: 22/09/2008 – Watching An Airline Die A Slow Death : Alitalia's Almost Certain Failure

Last week I asked the readers of Flying With Fish to suggest an ideal frequent flyer program for photographer Mark Rebilas in this post, 15/09/2008 – Choosing A Frequent Flyer Program : Help A Photographer Maximize His Miles. This week I revealed my detailed answers for what two frequent flyer programs I believe would most benefit Mark in this post: 23/09/2008 – Choosing A Frequent Flyer Program Pt-2 : Fish's Suggestions For Helping A Photographer Maximize His Miles

Who wants to go to Baghdad? It may not be a tourist destination, but now it will be serviced by Turkish Airlines' mainline flights from Istanbul. These are the first 'mainline' flights to fly to Baghdad, although Royal Jordanian flies regional jet service and Iraqi Airways flies a limited international schedule. This is a definite sign of progress for international business to progress as Iraq emerges into the global market place. Find out more here: 23/09/2008 – Baghdad Gets Scheduled Flights To Europe With Turkish Airlines


Choosing a 1-stop-shopping bag system for short trips that require minimal camera gear can be a challenge. While looking at a variety of systems I decided to make my own out of a few Mountainsmith bags. Find out what I have done to meet my needs and cut down on carrying excess weight here: 24/09/2008 – Simple Baggage Solutions : Make Your Own Modular System

Earlier this month I discussed American Airlines putting WiFi back in this sky in this entry, 2/09/2008 – American Airlines Puts WiFi In The Sky. This week I discuss American Airlines repackaging perks that have offered to their 'elite flyers' and how the new announcements of these perks make the airline appears as if they are only roughly a decade behind their competitors in offering these perks. American Airlines might want to focus on customer service (other airlines can focus on this as well) before repackaging its frequent flyer programs and muddling the AAdvantage frequent flyer program. You can read more about AA's 'new' PriorityAAccess here: 24/09/2008 – American Airlines Adds Perks For AAdvantage ‘Elites’...just a few years behind all of their competitors

On Thursday the shareholders of both Delta and Northwest voted overwhelmingly in favour of merging the two airlines. There will be some turbulence in the skies as the merger terms are smoothed out and the two giant legacy carriers move to become one. Both carriers bring significant advantages to the merger, and combined they will be a massive global powerhouse that will need to be factored in by nearly all other airlines servicing international routes into the United States. You can read up on the merger in this post: 25/09/2008 – The Delta Airlines & Northwest Airlines Merger : The Shareholders Vote Today

Looking for a fun iPhone 'App' to help you building a new doorframe at home or lining up your tripod on the edge of the ocean? This week's iPhone 'App' Of The Week is "A Free Level." Learn more about this fun took you can install in your iPhone here: 25/09/2008 – iPhone 'App' Of The Week : A Free Level


That's it for this week.......but feel free to visit www.comeflywithfish.com and join me on an upcoming journey!

Happy Flying!

iPhone 'App' Of The Week : A Free Level

Web: www.fishfoto.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

25/09/2008 – iPhone 'App' Of The Week : A Free Level

This week's iPhone 'App' of the week, A Free Level, may seem whimsical at first, but for a photographer in the field this 'App' can be a fantastic tool!

Many photographers use tripods or heads with a level built into them, however on the road I don't know any ultra compact tripods that have a level integrated into them. To get around my hatred of an uneven horizon in certain architecture photos I downloaded "A Free Level" for my iPhone.

A Free Level is just that....a completely free 'App' that turns your iPhone into a level! Now whenever I am struggling to line up a straight horizon, especially when working with tilt-shift lenses, I whip out my iPhone, place it against the hot-shoe of my camera and get my camera straight and level.

This tool may not be ideal for general travel use, but you can always place it on the tray table in front of you and find out what direction the plane is leaning.

Happy Flying!
--Click Images Below To Enlarge--

Packing Your Cameras & Lenses Properly : Do Not Attach Your Camera & Lens

Web: www.fishfotoworldwide.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

16/09/2008 – Packing Your Cameras & Lenses Properly : Do Not Attach Your Camera & Lens

For some reason photographers like to pack their lenses attached to their camera bodies. For some even stranger reason photographers seem to pack their longer, heavier, lenses attached to their camera bodies. Why do photographers pack this way? I have no idea.

When you pack your equipment you should think of Sir Isaac Newton and his theory that an object in motion will remain in motion until something stops the motion. Another way to look at this is that that a force of impact on your camera will need to dissipate that force.

Newton's theory looks something like this:

So what does this mean for photographers when they pack their 70-200f2.8 attached to their Nikon D700 body? It means that if your bag should sustain an impact the force through your camera, or through your lens, will transfer from one object to the next, often damaging the weakest link. What is usually the weakest link between a camera and a lens? The mount!

If your bag is dropped, knocked, hit, or otherwise 'whacked' your camera body can be spun one way while your lens is spun another way. The result of this impact is you torquing the two mounts significantly damaging both your camera and your lens.

If you pack your body and your lens separately the twisting motion of the camera body and the lens are only felt by the body and the lens individually. The impact dissipates into the padding of the bag. Since neither your camera body or your lens is attached to the bag there is no damage to either the camera or the lens.

I have heard many photographers say, "If my camera is attached to my lens then I can act faster to capture the photo." I have news for you, if you need to put your backpack down, open the flap and remove your camera and lens kit..........you've already 'missed the moment.'

I have spent years covering news and fast paced situations and I can't think of a single moment where I thought, "if only my camera and lens were attached in my bag I might have captured that image."

Fleeting moments happen non-stop. You'll see photos all day long if you're looking, and if that is your intention you need to travel with your cameras out, on your shoulders, ready to shoot.

When you pack your equipment you need to pack it securely. Pack your gear relatively snug so it does not bounce. You need to maximize your space in small area of a bag, backpack or rolling case.

Not only does traveling with your lens attached to your camera significantly increase the chances of damaging your camera equipment while traveling, but it also decreases your packing flexibility. When you pack your camera body and your lenses detached from each other you increase the space in your bag to pack more effectively. By having each item separate you are no longer packing 'around a camera-lens combo,' you are free to stand lenses up, stack lenses, lay lenses down, adjust the location of our camera body within the bag.

All of these elements make for a safer and more practical way to pack your equipment.

Happy Flying!

29/08/2008- The Weekly Round Up : Fees Wipeout Surfers : Experimenting With Flying With Fish Video : iPhone App Of The Week

Web: www.fishfotoworldwide.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

29/08/2008- The Weekly Round Up : Fees Wipeout Surfers : Experimenting With Flying With Fish Video : iPhone App Of The Week

This week was a 'short week' for me, as I spent most of this week in the hospital having surgery and recovering from surgery. My posts this week were posted in my absence by others, thanks! I'll be on my back a few more days, unable to move my head up-down or side-to-side, but with a project on the calendar for Sunday I had better heal quickly!

This week was primarily filled up with experimenting with Flying With Fish Video. For a few days this past weekend I had access to a Flip Video Camera so I decided to see what I could do. Having never really shot video in the past, and never put together a video piece in the past; I figured "what the heck" and shot a few quick segments. Some people find video very easy, I found there to be a steep learning curve with video, however I may play with this medium again and see what I can do with a little more time, and possibly a camera with better audio.

This weeks' three Flying With Fish Videos may be viewed in these three entries
25/08/2008 - Shooting Long Lenses With No Tripod At Slower Exposures While On The Road

26/08/2008 - Choosing Your Cameras For Traveling

28/08/2008 - Choosing Your Lenses When Traveling : Your Shoulders Will Thank You

Aside from these three experimental videos, this week I kicked off Flying With Fish discussing baggage fees that affect surfers. While surfers make up a minority of the flying public, the fees they are being saddled with are out of line and should be redirected at other flyers who's baggage weighs more, using more fuel and who could bring in a more consistent revenue stream. You can read up on the fees affecting flying surfers here:
23/08/2008 - Airline Fees For Surfboards Wipeout Traveling Surfers?

This week's iPhone 'App of the Week' is "Currency.' Looking for a simple foreign currency exchange rate converter for travel or quick currency conversion during business discussions? This may be the 'App' for you. You can check out 'Currency' in this post:
28/08/2008 – iPhone 'App' Of The Week : Currency

Interested in discussing travel planning, tips, ideas and anecdotes with other travelers? Join Flying With Fish's "Travel_Planning" community on Live Journal. The community is free and easy to join and is open to first time travelers and seasons road warriors. The best information is shared information, which is the goal of the online Travel_Planning community.

That's it for this week...........Happy Flying!