6 Alasan Mengapa Liburan tanpa Socmed Perlu Dicoba

Perlu dicoba biar kita lebih mengkhayati liburan 

Pernah mikir nggak kenapa orang-orang jaman dulu, ya sekitar 5-10 tahun lalu deh, bisa tetep fun dan nggak bosen menjalani liburan tanpa punya gadget dan social media. Sementara kita, ngebayanginnya aja udah takut. Takut ketinggalan update, takut nggak diajak temen-temen liburan, takut kehilangan momen-momen yang kalau difoto di IG bisa dapet banyak likes dan takut nggak bisa pamer ke temen-temen di timeline.

Pahadal eh padahal,  liburan tanpa socmed itu bisa banget loh kita coba. Dan pastinya bakal menghadirkan sebuah pengalaman yang baru, sensasional, aduhai, dan wow! 

1. Kita Akan Lebih Mengkhayati Liburan 

Kalau kita udah bener-bener keluar dari dunia virtual kita bakal mengkhayati apa yang ada di liburan. Kita bisa puas-puasin main air di pantai, nyicipin semua kuliner dan berkunjung ke toko-toko keren sepanjang kota tanpa keganggu momen foto-foto bin update status bin ngabarin (baca: pamer) ke groupchat. Udah gitu kalau sibuk sama socmed dan gadget bisa jadi tiap satu dua jam liburan kita harus di-pause dulu untuk ngecas gadget. Ahh. 

2. Banyak Berinteraksi Dengan Sekitar

Misalnya nih kamu pergi bareng-bareng temen naik kereta ke Yogya. Nah, kalau tanpa socmed kita bakal manfaatin banget waktu selama di kereta itu dengan hahahihi, curhat, saling ceng-cengin bareng temen-temen. Kita nggak sibuk mantengin Path, Instagram dan tetep ngikutin obrolan di chat group.

Dan ya, liburan tanpa socmed bakal membuktikan kalau kita nggak sedih-sedih amat dan tetep bisa fun walaupun ngapa-ngapain sendirian. 

3. Banyak Cerita Yang Akan Didapet 

Karena lebih mengkhayati, fokus dan berinteraksi dengan sekitar, kita bakal lebih banyak dapet banyak hal dan cerita seru selama liburan. Fotografer yang liburan cuma modal kamera doang sama yang punya gadget berinstagram juga hasil fotonya pun bakal beda. Yang cuma modal kamera bakal getol nyari momen dan punya kesempatan mengemas foto menjadi esai bercerita sementara yang sibuk instagraman cenderung mikirnya instan dan motret objek atau pemandangan yang kira-kira bakal di-Likes banyak orang. Ya, orientasinya kuantitas 

4. Kadang Kita Butuh Bener-Bener Sendiri 

Sadar nggak sadar kita butuh yang namanya quality time untuk diri kita sendiri lepas dari hiruk pikuk gejolak pergaulan anak muda: memanjakan diri, melakukan apa yang bener-bener kita suka dan pastinya, merenung menyelami diri kita sendiri. *sedeeeeep*  . Nah, kalau ada socmed, sesendirinya kita, update status orang-orang dan notifikasi chat masih terus menggerayangi kita. Nonton film seharian, jalan-jalan keliling kota, atau baca buku seharian dan sendirian itu seru loh. 

5. Nggak Gampang Terpengaruh

Kalau ada socmed, tiap kali liat postingan temen lagi liburan dikit kamu bisa jadi iri. "Ih si Doyok liburan ke Kuta. Asik banget. Jadi pengen.", "Bikin iri banget nih si Acong backpacker-an sama kakek-neneknya ke Semeru.", "Enak juga kalau punya rumah kayak si Lukman, ada kolam berenangnya, bisa mancing tiap hari." Ya, dengan socmed kadang waktu kita habis mikirin liburan orang lain dan pengen nyobain apa yang dilakukan orang lain. Akhirnya, liburan kita jadi nggak beda. Kita liburan hanya karena orang lain liburan. 

6. Nggak Boros Pulsa 

Uang jatah pulsanya pun bisa kita pakai untuk maksimalin liburan kita. Yoi banget, man, pulsa untuk ngenet sebulan itu bisa untuk naik kereta Ekonomi ke Malang loh. Dari Malang kita bisa ke Bromo atau Pulau Sempu. Sedaap! 

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8 Tips To Help You Take Better Landscape Photos

Ever take a photo of a mind-blowing landscape only to be disappointed by the photographic results? We all have. Landscape photography isn’t as easy as it may seem, but the tips below will help you capture the land’s true beauty.

Maximize Your Depth of Field

By adjusting the aperture on your camera, you can make sure the whole scene is in focus, from mid-ground to background. So how do you adjust your aperture? The aperture is that little number beside the shutter speed. It’s usually something like 2.8, 5.6, or 16. Use your aperture priority mode to bump it up to 16, 22, or even 32.

Use a Tripod

Because you just maximized your depth of field, the shutter speed on your camera is going to be really slow. That means if you hand-hold your camera, it will be near impossible to get crisp, focused photos. A tripod will eliminate that. Use your in-camera timer to ensure there is no camera movement when you take your shot.

Follow the “Rule of Thirds”

The “rule of thirds” applies to composition. It states that you should imagine your image with two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines running through it. These lines will divide your image into nine equally sized rectangles or squares. Compositional elements should fall along these lines or at the intersections of these lines. This creates tension and is more visually pleasing than having things centered. In the case of a sunset image, a classic rule-of-third composition would place the horizon at one of the two horizontal lines and the sun at one of the spots where a vertical line intersects with a horizontal one.

Find a Focal Point

Having a focal point is incredibly important in landscape photography. Focal points can include buildings, rocks, trees, or waterfalls. Without one, viewers won’t know where to look and you’ll end up with a boring shot of an otherwise amazing landscape.

Look for Lines

When composing your image, think about where the lines of the image are directing the eye. A good composition will effortlessly direct your eye to the focal point. The more time you spend thinking about your composition, the better your images will turn out.

Pay Attention to the Foreground

A good landscape image generally has foreground, mid-ground, and background components. The foreground is often the one that makes an image really stand out. Consider getting some grass, rocks, or even a tree in the foreground to strengthen your shot. Even if it’s out of focus, it will make your image that much more powerful.

Get Good Light

Photographers often talk about the golden hour—that magical duration of time when the sun is either going down or coming up and the light is rich with colour, casting amazing shadows on your landscape. Good light is your best friend when it comes to photographing landscapes.

Don’t Dismiss Overcast

Although a great sunset is tough to beat when it comes to landscape photography, don’t be afraid of overcast days. The clouds act like a giant light diffuser and will cast even light throughout the landscape. This eliminates spots that are too bright or too dark for your camera and evens everything out.

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Eight Tips to Stay Safe While Traveling

Eight Tips to Stay Safe Will Traveling

Traveling around the world can be one of life’s greatest joys, but when you travel, you also open yourself up to pick pockets, identity theft, and other dangers.   Knowing what to do, before you go, will make your trip happier and safer.

1.  Use Chip Credit Cards:   Anytime you open your wallet, you also open yourself up to pick pockets and identity theft.  Be smart about using money and credit cards while traveling,  especially internationally.  Use credit cards that have chip and pin or chip and sign technology.   Traditional credit cards use a magnetic strip on the back of the card, which stores all your personal information.  Anyone with a magnetic strip reader can obtain that information and use it to defraud you.  Chip cards add an extra layer of security to your credit card transactions, because a chip credit card is harder to copy or scan.   A chip and pin card uses the credit card chip to begin validate credit card transactions, then the buyer uses a pin to complete the transaction.  A chip and sign card is similar, but instead of a pin number, the buyer needs a signature to complete the transaction.  Also, call your credit card company before your trip and advise them of the countries you will be traveling to, so you do not have your credit card frozen mid-trip.

Pac Safe Waist Wallet (Affiliate Link)

2. Use A Neck/Waist Wallet:  Would you wear a shirt that says  “steal from me” when you travel?   Of course not!  However, when you use a back pocket wallet or a traditional strap purse, this is exactly what you are telling pick pockets.   A back pocket wallet can easily be snatched, without you even knowing it is gone, and a strap purse can be sliced and grabbed by a fast-moving passerby.  Instead, use a neck or waist wallet you can hide under your clothing.  With an under-clothing wallet, you can discreetly remove cash or credit cards while out and about, without pick pockets grabbing it, because it attaches securely around your waist.  If you  use a backpack while traveling, make certain to use one with reinforced straps and a waist clip, so clever thieves cannot cut and grab your pack.

RFID Passport Protector (Affiliate Link)

3. Use RFID Jamming Technology:  We live in a world with many innovations and advancements in technology, but the bad guys use that technology to steal from us.  Every piece of identification we carry has data stored on magnetic strips or RFID tags, which is used to identify us.  Thieves around the world capitalize on that technology by using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) scanners (or skimmers)  to steal our information from credit cards, drivers licenses, library cards, grocery store reward cards, and even our passports.   Thieves can walk past us with the scanners, up to 2,000 feet away, and can obtain names, addresses, social security information, credit card pin numbers, and more!  They can even sit at that pretty side walk cafe and scan your ID’s while you nibble a croissant!  Scary, isn’t it?  Protect yourself from RFID scanners by purchasing RFID blocking waist wallets, passport holders, and credit card sleeves.  Sometimes even store-bought RFID blocking technology is not enough, so make yourself a wallet made of aluminum foil and duck tape to keep scanners from getting your data.  To secure a RFID-blocking wallet, take a purchased waist wallet (with RFID blocking technology), line it with two layers of aluminum foil, and secure the foil with a layer of duct tape.  It might not be pretty looking, and no method is 100% fool-proof, but use of RFID blocking wallets and a layer or two of aluminum foil and duct tape will keep your data more secure.

TSA Approved Lock (Affiliate Link)

4.  Use Travel Locks:   When you travel, how do you keep your suitcase packed valuables safe?    Depending on your travel circumstances, there are several products to keep jewelry, tablets, laptops, and other valuables safe.   To keep your suitcase safe in transit, use a TSA-approved locking device.  The lock can keep your suitcase secure, but if TSA needs to get into your suitcase for any reason, they have a universal key that will open the lock without destroying it.  You can even get a lock with technology that will alert you when TSA opens your lock.  A lock is also a  handy way to keep your back pack safe while walking  or using public transportation.  You can use a lock to secure your back pack zippers and the valuables inside.  Another handy device is the anti-theft lock down bag.  Place your valuables into a lock down bag, made of slash-proof material, then close and secure the bag to a heavy immovable piece of furniture with the attached cable and lock.

5.  Know Your Destination/Tell People Where You Are Going:   When traveling to a new destination, it is smart to learn the “lay of the land” before you arrive.  Look over maps and guidebooks to learn the safe areas to travel, places to avoid, construction areas, and road conditions.  Plot your itinerary and learn safe public transportation routes and schedules. First, you’ll know the safe areas to travel to, and second; it allows you to look more like a “local” and less like a tourist.  If you stand on the sidewalk looking over maps, you are an easy target for pick pockets and thieves.  Be sure to share your itinerary with someone from home, and plan to check in with them every few days, so they know you are safe.  Another measure of safety while traveling internationally would be to register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEM) with the US State Department.  By registering, your travel will be recorded with the US embassy in the country you are traveling to, in case of natural or terrorist disaster.  You will also receive travel alerts and advisories for your destination (s), to keep you abreast of any unusual circumstances in the areas you are traveling to.

Pacsafe Day Pack (Affiliate Link)

6.  Pack A Day Pack:  If you will be traveling by plane, train, or motor coach, you may have less chance to stop and get something to eat or drink during the day, or there may not be a restaurant or grocery along your route.  Pack a few protein bars in your day pack, as well as a collapsible water bottle you can refill at a moments notice.  If you have fresh fruit available at the hotel you are staying at, grab one or two for your day trip.  Bring Dramamine for bumpy rides, as well as any daily medications you may need.  You never know when you could encounter a delay and not be able to get to your hotel and regular suitcase.  You may not always have games on your phone available, especially with no WiFi available, so pack a deck of cards or a pen and paper for impromptu Solitaire or Hangman games.  Also make certain you have backup copies of your passport, credit cards, drivers license, etc. in your day pack, in case your wallet gets stolen.  I recommend scanning a copy of your passport into Turbo Scan, an iTunes app for scanning important documents.  Lastly, make sure your day pack has slash proof straps, and zippers that lock into place.

7.  Hotel Safety:   When checking in, make certain the registration agent does not say your room number out loud.  If they do, ask for a different room and tell them to write down the room number.  When leaving your hotel room, make certain your valuables are put into a safe or in one of the anti-theft lockdown bags I mentioned above. Leave the tv on and put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door when you leave your room, so would-be thieves will think you are in the room.  Do not give your room number out to that friendly girl or boy flirting with you at the museum; they are most likely professional thieves setting you up.

8.  Be Aware of Scam Artists:  Scam artists have become quite clever in their methods for getting information and distracting travelers so they can make off with your valuables, and make you more vulnerable.  One way they do this is to ask you to sign a petition or sign up for a “free” gift or hotel stay.  They may ask what hotel you are currently staying at, and ask you to fill out a form with your personal information.  Don’t do it, it is most likely a scam, so they can break into your hotel later, and they have your personal information from the form you willingly filled out.  Another scam is to hand you a brochure or flyer to unfold.  While you are distracted opening the brochure, they may have time to reach into an open backpack and make off with your iPad, phone, or wallet.

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5 Reasons Why Lombok is Better Than Bali

Everyone goes to Bali. And yes, Bali is awesome. But you know what? Lombok might just be better. Here’s why.

STORY BY:

CAMILLE WILLEMAIN

FOLLOW: @thisamericagirl

TAGS

• Bali
• best beaches
• Indonesia
• Lombok
• Sizzling Hot Spots
• Surfing
• Traveltheweb

For years Bali remained one of the most coveted islands in the world. With gorgeous rice terraces, epic surf breaks and a unique Balinese-Hindu culture, Bali has captivated tourists for decades. However with booming tourism and many expats planting their roots, the stunning nature and fascinating culture is becoming increasingly wiped out.
Lombok, just next door, has plenty of exhilarating surf breaks, stunning nature and a peaceful kind culture—without the crowds, scams and hefty price tag. Here’s why Lombok is so much better than Bali.

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Lombok is Still Natural

Looking at images of Kuta, Bali, just 30 years ago may cause your jaw to drop. Bali has become victim of rapid development, and much of the coastline in the south is covered in resorts. While Ubud once enchanted travellers with gorgeous rice fields, today it feels like a hectic city. Contrastingly, much of Lombok remains pristine—coastline stretches for miles with no development at all. In just a few minutes on the back of a bike you will find yourself in rolling hills with nothing more than a few huts and workers in the rice fields. The centre of the island has a sprawling national park and gushing waterfalls, and is full of wildlife.

Lombok is Not Congested With Traffic

Bali may be a small island, but it can take hours to move just a short distance. Traffic is congested and motorbike accidents are quite common, making it a dangerous place to drive. Lombok still has little to no traffic, making it the perfect place to learn to ride a motorbike, and an exhilarating place to zoom around for those with experience. Taxis and shuttles can go from one side of the island to the other quickly and significantly less expensively.

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Lombok Has Less Tourists

Bali has been on the tourist trail for decades and, consequently, it is full of travellers. In Lombok you can still surf waves in complete solitude and find beaches without another soul for miles. Without the crowds, you can truly soak in the magic of the incredible nature and culture.

Lombok Has a Local Vibe

With significantly less tourists, Lombok still maintains its local culture. In Seggigi and Kuta, the main tourist towns of Lombok, locals and travellers surf together in the ocean, eat in the same small warungs, and dance together in the same bars. In the capital city of Mataram, classic nasi campur food stalls line the streets and you can shop for traditional handicrafts.

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Lombok Comes at a Lower Price

With fewer resorts than homestays and more warungs than fine dining, you can enjoy Lombok on a much lower budget than Bali. In Mataram, cheap food stalls sell delicious local food for under $1, while on the south coast in Kuta, Lombok, fresh grilled fish in an international fusion restaurants costs less than $5, compared to restaurants charging $10 and up in Bali. Guesthouses cost around $10 to $20 for a double room per night, about half the price of low-cost accommodation in Bali.

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11 Tips to Make Your Travel Photos Better

Another illustration of point 7 about looking for interesting lines. But mostly I put this photo here just because I like it.

I’ve been consciously trying to improve my photography the last few years, and by that, I mean paying a lot more attention to how I’ve been doing things. The nature of the traveling we’re doing means that, by default, I’ve been shooting a lot more landscapes and other static scenes. Here are some tips I’ve gleaned from looking at the work of other photographers, taking a couple of seminars, and my own 50,000 or so exposures I’ve made over the past three years.

1. Use a tripod (or at least a monopod.)

The main thing using a tripod does is make you slow down and think more about what you are looking at. Mostly, it’s a composition thing. But, there are plenty of other implications for the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed you’ll be using, and those are important as well.

2. Get as much depth of field as you can.

Photography 101 tells you that to get your foreground and background in sharp focus, you are going to need to stop down your lens. Perhaps all the way to f/22 or however far it goes. If you do that, and focus properly, everything from the foreground out to infinity will be sharp. Of course, if you are stopped all the way down, and are also using a slow ISO of 100 or thereabouts, you’re going to need a slower shutter speed to get the correct exposure. That’s where the tripod comes in. If you are hand holding at that ISO and f-stop, you’re going to have camera jiggle, and that’s just going to make your lens sharpness irrelevant. In fact, the sharper your lens and the bigger your file size, the more jiggle will be magnified. So, even if you are using a tripod, use mirror lockup and/or remote shutter release or timed shutter release. There’s no point of introducing your clumsy finger on the shutter button to add jiggle.

At England’s Exeter Cathedral, the detail and depth of field come from using a tripod and a slow shutter speed.

3. Focus on something, not everything.

Pick out the main subject of your landscape and compose your shot around that. It could be a building, a mountain, a road, or a rock in the foreground. What it is doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you have chosen something as the main subject. You might also want to remember the “Rule of Thirds” here and place your chosen focus point at one of the intersections of the imaginary lines you’ve drawn dividing your frame into thirds from top to bottom and side to side.

There’s a lot of framing going on here by various elements, but there’s no doubt what the main subject is: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto.

4. Think about the sky.

Is that what you’re really shooting, or is it the foreground? If there’s nothing special going on in the sky, leave it out or minimize it. Normal composition guidelines suggest you put the horizon one third from the top or bottom, but if the sky is not important, you can get rid of it. Conversely, if what you are shooting is a spectacular cloud formation, sunset, or whatever, a thin sliver of earth might be just what you’re looking for. But, you should choose one or the other. If you make the photo half sky and half ground, i.e. put the horizon in the middle of the frame, you’re going to get a middling picture every time.

The sky is adding nothing to this shot of Chile’s Atacama Desert, so leave it small.

At Cradle Mountain, Tasmania, the sky was the shot, so the little tree tops just are there to let you know where you are.

5. The foreground is important for scale and for framing.

The reason you see so many photos of a mountain in the background framed by leaves of a nearby tree is that it just works. It draws attention to your main subject as well as gives scale to a distant object. Of course, it adds three dimensionality and perspective, which also serves to emphasize your focus. Also, a shot which features a foreground object and yet leads your eye off to the horizon puts that object into a context that makes it more emphatic.

The foreground at Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland is plenty interesting here, especially since it leads your eye straight to the mountain which highlights the scene.

6. Less than ideal weather is ideal.

There are two things that tend to kill the dramatic light that makes a great landscape shot: a cloudless sky with bright sun and complete overcast. I hate them both. Work with the clouds and be patient. Sometimes they are dramatic in themselves and provide a nice frame or even the main subject of your shot. Other times, they cast defining shadows, and when you’re patient, spout that one ray that hits your main topic and illuminates it beautifully while bathing the rest of your scene in a softer light. Like I said, be patient and wait for the light to do what you want. If it doesn’t happen, try changing angles or come back another day.

We were hiking up the vocano Pinchincha near Quito, Ecuador. It was a sunny day, which made the shooting pretty boring. But as sunset approached, the clouds rolled in, and voila. A nice shot, but we thought better of climbing through the clouds in the dark.

7. Utilize lines which emphasize perspective.

A road winding toward the horizon, a stream wending its way toward you, a roof line leading down a street. All of those give depth and movement which impart interest to your shot. And sometimes, those lines are also patterns which, in themselves, are the interest point of your shot.

The ceiling of the library at El Escorial in Spain is amazing. But you get a sense of the scale because the emphatic perspective from a low angle leads the lines off to the horizon.

8. Get up early or stay late.

The color and angle of the light at sunrise and sunset imparts a quality to your image that you can’t otherwise get. Also, there are often dramatic shadows that add your your composition. Those times of day are not as bright as midday, of course, so to get your depth of field and shutter speed you want, you’re really going to need that tripod.

Sunrise makes this shot. The color, and especially the oblique light which highlights the edge of the lilypads. An hour later, and this is nothing special.

9. Watch the edges of your frame.

Often–and I’m guilty of this on occasion–two things go wrong at the edges of your frame. Problem one is some stray element like a phone wire, a leaf, or a tourist creeps in at the very edge. You’re so concentrated on your main subject, you don’t notice them until it’s time to look at the shot on your computer. Yeah, you can maybe clone or crop them out with Lightroom or Photo Shop, but it’s a lot easier to just make a slight adjustment and get rid of them in the beginning. Problem two is your horizon line. How many times have you looked at the shot on the computer only to realize the whole thing is tilted five degrees? There’s an easy fix for this: just align the horizon line with the top or bottom of your frame in the viewfinder while you’re composing the shot. Again, you can fix this in post processing, but why not just get it right to start with?

10. Take your time and take lots of exposures.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spent twenty or thirty minutes fussing over one shot, doing all the things I’ve mentioned above until I get it just right, and then packing up my gear, walking 10 meters down the road and seeing a composition of the same subject I like much better. It happens all the time. All I can say is, take as much time as it takes to get something you love, not something that’s just “good enough.” Sometimes, that’s holding the camera over your head, or even bringing along a ladder. Sometimes, it’s getting down on the ground, or even lower. (Ever heard the famous story of Orson Wells digging a four foot hole in a concrete studio floor just for one five second shot in Citizen Kane? I’ve wanted to do that on occasion.) Sometimes it’s an odd tilt; sometimes it’s getting closer or further away. Sometimes it’s including a stray element that’s right in front of you, but isn’t part of the main scene. Sometimes, it’s leaving and coming back, and sometimes it’s walking around the back and looking at things from a totally new angle. (One time, I drove into an entirely different state to get another look at the Grand Teton Mountains.) Like I said, there’s no hurry. Take your time.

I’ve seen a million shots looking up the Snake River in Wyoming toward the Grand Teton mountains, but I got this one by driving over to the Idaho side and hiking in the national forest there. Same mountains, further away, but a different scene.

11. Bonus tip: Come back to your favorite spots again and again.

I heard this one from a famous photo teacher: “The average number of times a great photographer will go back to a spot to get the best landscape photo possible is 25.” For non pros, that’s not usually an option. But keep it in mind when you happen to luck into that photo on the first try. Luck matters, too.

Clouds out our front door in Cantabria, Spain. One of about a hundred exposures I made of the same scene on different days.

Another shot of the same scene. This time, the fog’s in the valley behind the shed. A different, and more dramatic look.

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