Thought I’d share what my shooting kit is these days for a couple different scenarios. Panasonic Lumix has made me lean and mean. My favorite camera for travel and for hiking is the Lumix GX7. It has all the features I like and has an extremely low profile. The screen tilts up and down for low angles or overhead shooting. The screen is quite viewable even in bright sunshine, but just in case there is a 90 degree moveable viewfinder. The camera is capable of in-camera HDR or up to a seven stop auto-bracket, in-camera Panorama, and a host of other specialty settings I’ve been enjoying putting it through its paces.

Let’s start with the hiking kit as you see pictured above. 45mm Leica DG Macro-Element f2.8 Aspherical lens for going after those close up details like flowers. Added to that the Lumix Vario 12-35mm f2.8 for the medium to wide angle scenic landscapes and the  Lumix Vario 35-100mm f2.8 to help compress longer distance scenes or trying to reach a bit further.

Note the mini-tripod. I tend to hike more often traveling light which means no full size tripod but with the mini I can place on or lean against a rock, tree, car or fencepost to help steady the camera. Very handy indeed. Of course, a fully charged spare battery is always in the kit. The Westcott twenty inch Five in one which folds to a very manageable 8 &1/2 inches, rounds out the equipment list. So I’m covered from 24mm to 200mm – 35mm DSLR equivalent along with a MACRO and it weighs less than four and a half pounds.

Conversely, my DSLR weighs four and a half pounds with a single lens.

For travel I swap out the 45mm  Macro for the 7-14mm f4 Asperical lens which covers me from 14-200mm 35mm DSLR equivalent and the kit is still well under five pounds.

Both kits are supported by the Tenba Mirrorless Mover 20 bag which fits comfortably on my belt and holds all the lenses and gear including spare cards, cleaning cloth, etc.

Every Monday we do a guest post from one of Panasonic's LUMIX Luminaries. Just for something different I thought I'd start taking you to their Instagram pages. Just click on the image above and you'll be right in the heart of Dave Surber's Instagram gallery. Great images, a great photographer and great gear...there's definitely a theme here.

Dave Surber is a video, photo, and media production freelancer based in New York City. He has worked in the film and television industry for over a decade and is a graduate of both SCC's film and television program and ASU's film and media production program. He is also the founding member of Guerrillastar Productions which is a national-award winning film and video production company with crew members based in New York City, Los Angeles, and the greater Phoenix area.

It's been a kick to work with Dave over the past year or so. He's done several guest posts. One of my favorites was his post about street photography and the decisive moment. It's definitely an interesting read and he was even able to track down a short video about Henri Cartier-Bresson.
 
Looking to contact Dave or just see more of his work? Check out his website.

On of my favorite new features on cameras these days are the creative modes.  Mainly the black and white modes.

For the last few weeks I have been bringing my Lumix GX7 to both weddings and engagement sessions and leaving it in black and white mode. In the past when shooting digital it was easy to convert any image to B&W using Lightroom or Photoshop. Now with the GX7 set to B&W creative (Dynamic Monochrome on the camera menu) I can actual see in black and white while looking through the electronic viewfinder – how cool!

All I do is keep the compact GX7 around my neck while photographing a wedding or engagement session and every now and then use it to capture an awesome monochromatic image. I actually shoot in jpeg mode because the camera is unbelievable at getting the exposure spot on.

I have heard the term “preprocessing” used in discussions lately and this is precisely what I am doing – eliminating the need for any post production work.

Intro by Skip Cohen

I think we're going to change Dave Surber's name to "Dave MacGyver". Just the title of this post had me doing a flashback to the old TV series. However, once again Dave shows the diversity of Panasonic's Luminaries in this special guest post!

Interested in seeing more of Dave's work, check out his website.  You'll never be disappointed. Plus, you can follow Dave and all of the LUMIX Luminaries with a visit to the Luminary Lounge

Have you ever had a hard time capturing a smooth pan shot? Well a friend of mine showed me this production trick a few years ago that might help you out. I’ve used this trick on everything from cheap friction tripod heads to expensive fluid tripod heads with much success. So, whether you’re shooting with a crappy tripod, during an earthquake, or even if you had too much coffee this “rubber-band trick” is sure to help.

Here’s what you need:

1.     A camera and a tripod. Preferably a Lumix camera and tripod. ;)

2.     A rubber band.

3.     Here’s how to do it:

Take the rubber band and loop it around the handle of the tripod.  Now pull the rubber band as you would the tripod handle. The rubber band will absorb some of the shakiness of your pan. It will also smooth out some inconsistencies of panning speed should there be any.

Try experimenting with different types of rubber bands and/or different combinations of rubber bands to find what best suits your needs.

Here’s a short entertaining video on the process I found on YouTube:

Best Camera Trick Ever! Video by Brusspup

So, try it out and let me know how it goes! And to all those Lumix Intagram shooters out there, don't forget to hashtag your pics with #LumixLounge to be a part the Lumix Community Gallery!

Happy panning!