My Sony RX100 IV Travels to Camp Shelby, Mississippi

When I received orders to report to Camp Shelby, Mississippi for a week-long course, I had to decide on which camera to take along. I wasn't sure how much free time I would have to shoot photos, or what I would take photos of, but as the saying goes "Everything is a Picture".

I always travel as light as possible and despise checking in a bag, but this time I had no choice due to the amount of military gear I had to take. As a result, I also checked in my backpack, why carry anything at all since I have to wait at baggage claim anyway? With this in mind, I decided to bring along my Sony RX100 IV.

The Sony RX100 IV is so small, it fits easily and comfortably into ANY pocket. It's the perfect travel camera. The best part about sticking this mighty might in your pocket is that you don't have to sacrifice quality for size. The Sony RX100 IV packs a 20.1 megapixel sensor and captures the images with a BIONZ X image processor. The lens is impressive for a point and shoot, Zeiss 24-70mm f/1.8. The video this little camera captures is super good. I was searching for better words to describe the 4k video but "super good" works just fine. I recently shot an import car video, the majority of which I shot in 4k with the RX100 IV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6cLCBOiEt8

Now, about Mississippi. Coastal Mississippi is quite beautiful. I arrived early in the day, any picked up my rental, but myself and another fella had to wait for a third guy to arrive later that evening as we were all ride sharing. That left me and my new friend the entire day to explore Gulfport and Biloxi.

Once we checked in at Camp Shelby, there wasn't much to capture other than what was going on at my class, so you'll get a glimpse of a little military training, I also shot some pictures at the Mississippi Army Museum.

My little Sony RX100 IV remains one of my favorite cameras and is definitely my favorite travel camera, although, next time out, I am going to take my Leica D-Lux (Typ 109) and see if it can give the Sony a run for it's money.

My Sony RX100 IV sit atop a 19th Century era cannon at the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Camp Shelby.

The best BBQ I enjoyed all week was at Murky Waters in Gulfport. This bar and grill features live blues on the weekends and also features some fabulous photography by a local photographer named Neil Ladner. 

The images adorning the walls of Murky Waters are by Neil Ladner. They are quite impressive and add a distinct local flavor to the restaurant. See more of his work at his web site http://www.gulfportraits.com/

Fishbone Alley is a local spot for night life and features some colorful artwork and graffiti.

Murky Waters BBQ

I had the brisket and pulled pork. It was AMAZING!

Coastal Gulfport features some impressive colonial/plantation style homes. The homes pictured here are located directly across the street from the Gulf of Mexico and sit on high ground.

Head East on Hwy 90 along the coast from Gulfport and you'll end up in Biloxi, Mississippi. Home to Keesler Air Force Base. The base is home to a private dock where we took in a lovely sunset.

The deep South hosts some amazing sunsets. The Sony RX100 IV captured it in all its glory.

An M60 Patton Tank at the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum.

A view of the sunrise from inside Camp Shelby.

The barracks, my home for the week.

We did some good training and the cadre were nice enough to let me shoot photos for the day.

This training simulated a raid on a village. Our job was to evaluate the training.

Sony RX100 IV shown with optional red leather cover and Grippie hand grip.

Video and Photos - Custom 2016 Audi A6 Supercharged!

Those of you that know me well, know that I will never turn down a request from any of my life long friends, so when my friend of 15 years asked if I would edit a video of some footage that he shot of his awesome Audi A6, I did what I always do, I gave it my best effort. Matt had recently purchased a gimbal stabilizer for his cell phone and shot some video of his car along with our other dear friend Amir. But there wasn't enough good raw footage to make a decent video and I just felt an undeniable urge to get my ass out to California and shoot a proper video for him.

This was no small undertaking, it involved loading my Prius C with all my gear and driving from El Paso, Texas to La Quinta, California, a trip of 1400 miles round trip, 10 hours each way. With driving taking up 2 days, it left me only 2 days to scout locations and shoot as much raw footage as possible.

The Coachella Valley offers stunning views in every direction you gaze. The San Jacinto mountains are breathtaking, Joshua Tree National Monument is only 30 minutes away and is famous for it's colorful Southwest fauna, picturesque Box Canyon is found on the road from Joshua Tree to Salton Sea. I ended up shooting at all of the aforementioned locations and threw in a few shots of highway 74, which winds it's way up and down the mountains into and out of Palm Desert.

Matt's Audi is a 2016 A6 3.0T Supercharged, with customization by Boden Autohaus. The 21 inch amber toned, forged wheels are by Vossen and the air suspension system is supplied by a hard line AccuAir system. The end result is a gorgeous European luxury import that turns heads every where it goes.

The focus of the shoot was video, not photos, but naturally, I'd flip my camera out of video mode and snap a few shots. I hope you enjoy the video and photos of this marvelous automobile.

Cameras and gear used on this production:

Sony RX1RII
Sony A7RII
Sony AX33
Sony Action Cam AS100 and AZ1VR
Sony RX100 IV
Beholder MS-1 3 axis gimbal
CAME Steadi Cam Rig

2016 Audi A6 3.0T on the road leading into Joshua Tree National Monument.

Photo location: Hwy 74 scenic view, Palm Desert, Ca.

The air suspension system allows the car to be raised and lowered by remote control or smart phone app. The wheels recess into the wheel well and seemingly disappear. 

Mother nature lent a helping hand with a stunning sunrise on day two of the shoot.

One of the ideas I had for a scene in the video was to feature a classy and sexy female model to accentuate and match the stunning lines and curves of the Audi. We ended up only using two short video clips of the model in the final video edit, however, you'll be able to see more of her when I post the behind the scenes/making of video coming in a couple weeks. Stay tuned. (Model: Patrica Cromwell https://www.instagram.com/trishabean12/)

The crew: (L to R) Amir Afsar (FastLaneLaw.com), model Patricia Cromwell, car owner Matt Rifkin (GoSolarwithMatt.com) and photographer Felix Mena (me).

Special thanks to Matt for these behind the scene photos.

The sunrise sequence and time lapse required a 4am wake up plus a 45 minute drive out to the Salton Sea location. But the effort was well worth it as the sunrise was one of the most spectacular I have ever seen. 

Photography can be extremely rewarding and I feel fortunate to be able to capture and share.

Some of the best shots of the video were captured with my DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus drone. However, in the future, I will employ Matt's new DJI Mavic which has a ton of new, useful features.

View of the shoot from inside the car.

The sky was sort of blown out and dull at sunset during the model shoot but I had no choice but to make the best of it. Most of these shots did not make the final cut in the video.

Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you enjoyed the video. You can see more of these shots and some additional video clips from this shoot on my Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/djfelixg/

Landscapes of the Organ Mountains - What I learned

Organ Mountain Range, New Mexico. As viewed looking West from White Sands Missile Range.

Traveling from El Paso, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico last week, I opted to take a route through the White Sands Missile Range and military base. I chose this route for a couple of compelling reasons. Firstly, it is the shortest route to Las Cruces from my office and secondly, it takes me very close to the East facing slopes of the jagged peaks of the Organ Mountain range.

I have been in awe of the Organ Mountain Range since moving to this area and being an active duty military service member, I have access to the missile range, which regular ordinary civilians do not. And I always like to try and get some images that capture perspectives perhaps not yet photographed by others. I figured my somewhat special access to the Eastern side slopes of the Organs might provide me with some unique images.

I have been feeling sort of melancholy as of late and lacked any motivation to go out and shoot photos, but laying in bed yesterday afternoon, I said "enough it enough" and made up my mind to go back to the Organs and see if I could get a shot of the view I had taken in during my recent drive through. The time was 3:30pm.

Sunset was around 6:30pm, however, knowing I would be close to the mountain peaks, the sun would drop behind and out of sight well before 6:30pm, so I had to get a move on and hustle to get my camera bag packed and get on the road for a one hour plus drive.

For my camera, I decided on the Sony A7RII because it's simply the best camera in my inventory, and at 42 megapixels, gives me the confidence to shoot any panorama or composition because I won't suffer a decline in resolution if I have to crop a little. For lenses, I brought along the Zeiss 16-35mm wide angle lens and the Zeiss 24-70mm general purpose lens. I also brought along a variable ND filter and Cokin graduated filter.

HERE'S WHAT I LEARNED

Photography is an on-going learning process and what I learned today is to never take your knowledge and certainty for granted. For example, the ND filter I brought along is threaded for a 72mm lens barrel. I WAS CERTAIN that both my lenses were threaded for 72mm filters, however, that is not the case as my Zeiss 24-70mm f/4 lens is threaded for a 67mm filter! Had I bothered to simply DOUBLE CHECK I would have seen that and could have therefore put a 67mm ND filter in my camera bag. But alas, once I was on location and realized my error, I had to make due without the filter. The result is the image you see below. Shot after sunset, utilizing the in-camera high contrast black and white feature. Make lemonade out of lemons as they say, right?

Black and white high contrast image of the Organ Mountains. Captured with Sony A7RII and Zeiss 24-70mm f/ lens. ISO 100, f/22, Exposure 1.3 seconds @ 57mm.

Zeiss 16-35mm @ 35mm, f/22, ISO 100, Exposure 1/25 seconds.

There weren't many clouds in the sky, which is too bad, on the other hand, it gives me a reason to go back to this spot. Southwestern sunsets with clouds in the sky are often a gorgeous fiery red, orange and purple. Still, I managed to get a couple of decent shots. And as is usually the case, I enjoyed (and needed) the quiet solitude of landscape photography. There was a warm, stiff breeze blowing. Two cows grazed in the distance and I, alone with my thoughts, composed a few nice images, I hope you enjoy.