Shooting Photos in Dangerous Countries   by Kayes Preslar

in Technology    (submitted 2012-02-03)

drafted by: Keith Taylor

Right after many years of hassle free traveling my wife and I appear to have hit a bit of a snag this week. We're catching a bus to Myanmar (or Burma, once you prefer) on Thursday, and this appears like we can experience difficulty taking our photographic equipment with us.

Nobody needs to travel light (the understatement of the year). Us usually carry two SLR bodies each, and then a variety of flash units for both on- and off-camera use. The range of accessories, spare batteries, SD cards and lenses barstools2u . com carries would take hours to list out.

The situation we're facing stands out as the Myanmar government. You might be aware of the possibility that they're... well, during the most diplomatic words I often find, they are not the nicest pair of folks. I'll leave the political commentary to the who happen to be interested, but my issue the Myanmar government's policy towards photographic equipment. They're famously oppressive, when i don't doubt for just a moment that the cases of equipment would cause comment within the border. Since barstools2u . com carries plenty of gear I can not risk anything happening for it, so we will need to make some difficult choices.

Not too long ago I visited Uzbekistan in the hope of shooting this city of Bukhara, nevertheless was stopped along the border and compelled to sign a document promising never to shoot commercially. While i refused, the border guards confiscated my equipment and would only send it back once i left the world. The fact that got through was my trusty Canon SX200IS, an expedient little 12MP compact digital camera I personally use for framing shots once i shoot film.

So, here's my solution. As we leave Bangkok on Wednesday I will leave almost all of my gear here. Whatever i needs is my SX200IS, a Canon NB-5L battery or two, a few SD cards, my vintage Leica iiF and several rolls of film. All this will undoubtedly be compact and lightweight, and I'll hide it in the bottom of my bag with my clothing.

The Leica is definitely a pummelled old camera that can produce great shots, i really should be able to shoot photos I'm able to sell. The SX200IS can be ideal for framing my shots and shooting to keep things interesting, as well as the Canon NB-5L battery has to be a joy to place, since it's only half the burden of this batteries my SLRs take.

Is important to journey to a rustic ruled by an oppresive regime any time soon you might need to follow. With no a press visa an overzealous border official in many cases can confiscate your equipment, along with many countries you can not always make use of ever seeing it again. Just lost my Canon 7D I'd be distraught, even so the confiscation of one's compact digital camera and a Canon NB-5L battery is going to be nothing more than a taxing inconvenience. I wouldn't similar to it, but I'd notice it being the price I purchase the privilege of seeing Myanmar rolling around in its current state. This regime won't last forever, and once it finally falls the country can be the warzone or perhaps tourist nightmare. Anyway, it is now time to arrive at.

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