Trip to Virgin Islands

yea so i posted about this in general a few weeks ago and got 0 responses. I was wondeirng if anyone has been there and what their experience was. i have mixed feelings on what to take for the trip. I am going on the cruise before Christmas on my break to St. Barts, St. Maarten, Dominica, Barbados, and St. Thomas. im mostly going to stick to landscape stuff, with the exception of some rare parrots and other bird species which live on Dominica. Im going to take most of my gear (excpet the 300 2.8) in my big bag and have it on the ship all the time, and then probably use my minitrekker or another smaller bag for day trips. probably ill only take my 20D on every day stuff. but on dominica ill probably leave my 400 on one body waiting for the birds, and a WA on the other to get the landscapes. i am looking to pick up a few things before the trip. one being possibly a UWA. i was thinking the 10-20 sigma, that way if i need to put it on my 1D and use it zoomed in past vinegetting range (which i hear is about 12mm) ill have the option, and its less $ than the 10-22. I also would like to pick up a macro for floral stuff, probably the 100mm canon, although i would love the 150 sigma.

my other option is to just get a nice compact like the G7 or Pro1 for daily shooting and keep the big guns on the boat for the islands i have photo tours on (Barbados and St. Thomas) and Dominica, and live with the lenses i currently have, which wouldnt be such a bad thing.

anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated. ESPECIALLY any info on the islands im going to, since ive never been to the virgin islands

Dude I know you do some birds so take whatever you want for that. When I went I mainly did wider and didn't shoot birds. I took a underwater cam for snorkeling which is great there. 10mm-100mm should cover most everything except birds on the 20d.

Thanks, i would love to get good housing and a strobe for a P&S if i had the money for it, but im afriad that would be out of budget.

thanks for helping confirm this is mainly a landscape trip.

Hey Bill,

I'm currently living in the (British) Virgin Islands and I just got back from Barbados the other week. You're sort of coming at a bad time for flowers, but really there's always flowers here so the macro lens probably won't be to much wasted space.

When you're in Babados, MAKE SURE you get to the wild life reserve between 1 and 3pm, as it seems to be when they do their feedings and there's loads of monkeys etc to photograph. When I was there I had my 70-200 2.8 IS, and with the canopies and spotty light I needed all the help I could get...even wide open I was getting 1/60th shutter speeds which is slow for my shakey hands

I poseted a few photos from the trip here http://www.kevinleitch​.com/gallery/album56, there's quite a few "tourist snaps", but some decent wildlife ones as well. (yea, I know you said landscapes...but come on...Monkeys!!)

Edit - PS: Dominica is amazing, but I've done quite a few very long hikes up into the mountains there and I've only ever seen 1 parrot (and even then it was just the "end" of it as it was flying away). It's possible I was in the wrong places, but I wish you luck! There's also a lot of good opportunity for portraits if you go to the Carrib Territory there...the ladies selling their baskets etc seemed to love having their photos taken (provided you buy a cheap basket or 2 I imagine )

nice shots. interesting wildlife stuff. thanks for the first hand info.

Bill, if you're considering a P&S, think about getting one of the "waterproof" ones for snorkeling. Not the full manual, or glass, of the pro1 or G7, but good to about 15 feet or so, and I'm sure you're going to have plenty of water time on the islands.

be sure to go to Boolchand's in St Marteen or St Thomas. I bought my 30D and several lens there. good shop and good prices.

crn3371 wrote in post #2226539
Bill, if you're considering a P&S, think about getting one of the "waterproof" ones for snorkeling. Not the full manual, or glass, of the pro1 or G7, but good to about 15 feet or so, and I'm sure you're going to have plenty of water time on the islands.

ohh yea, i forgot to mention those. yes, a friend of mine has one of the olypmus ones, pretty slick little gadget. i am considering it.

bmwbikerider wrote in post #2226668
be sure to go to Boolchand's in St Marteen or St Thomas. I bought my 30D and several lens there. good shop and good prices.

thanks, i had heard that stuff is cheaper down there. how complete of collection do they have. heck st maarten is my first stop i could buy the stuff for the trip there

We got a UW housing for our P&S Canon for like $140 good to 100 ft

morehtml wrote in post #2226937
We got a UW housing for our P&S Canon for like $140 good to 100 ft

yea unfortunatly canon doesnt make them for the Gseries or Pro1, so you have to get the really expensive variety. i could get canon housing for my old S500 though

I just did a cruise through those same islands a month ago, and was my second time in the USVI. I have a gallery of the cruise - http://litpixel.com/ee​/list.php?exhibition=2​0.

You can take whatever gear you can get on the airline reasonably. In the stateroom there's a very small safe - large enough for a couple of wallets and watches. I had all my gear with me and felt very safe though.

As for the ports, each is a little different. Obviously they're tourist traps. But if you're venturing out, you'll have no worries about all the hustle and bustle of downtown. I walked around with a 1D2N and 24-70mm without issue, but it was funny to see the reactions of the people in the electronic shops of St. Maarten.

You definitely want a wide angle, a CPL, a good walkabout lens and maybe something longer like you had mentioned. I went so far as to pack a tripod in the suitcase, heh.

bmwbikerider wrote in post #2226668
be sure to go to Boolchand's in St Marteen or St Thomas. I bought my 30D and several lens there. good shop and good prices.

I got my Extender 2x II there! LOL... St. Maarten in Philipsburg.

Double Negative wrote in post #2227399
I just did a cruise through those same islands a month ago, and was my second time in the USVI. I have a gallery of the cruise - http://litpixel.com/ee​/list.php?exhibition=2​0.

You can take whatever gear you can get on the airline reasonably. In the stateroom there's a very small safe - large enough for a couple of wallets and watches. I had all my gear with me and felt very safe though.

As for the ports, each is a little different. Obviously they're tourist traps. But if you're venturing out, you'll have no worries about all the hustle and bustle of downtown. I walked around with a 1D2N and 24-70mm without issue, but it was funny to see the reactions of the people in the electronic shops of St. Maarten.

You definitely want a wide angle, a CPL, a good walkabout lens and maybe something longer like you had mentioned. I went so far as to pack a tripod in the suitcase, heh.

airport hahaha. luckily i get to skip that step entirely. my butt is walking strait from the car to the boat with my Nature trekker on my back, so no worries there.

thanks for info, ill check the gallery out to see what to expect

Oh duh, you're right in Miami... Nevermind.

What ship are you taking? I was on the Caribbean Princess out of Port Everglades. Do you have a balcony room?

you know thats a darn good question. i dont know, i have the link somewhere, my parents booked it all, all i know is i didnt have to pay for it. its not one of the big name companies like carnival, its more of a smaller private cruise experience with a lot less people, one of those suit and tie affairs (some nights anyway), but ill live, doubtless. the obvious upshot of this photographically, is that provided we dont get there at the same time as the "fun ships" there will be a whole lot less people on the islands. either way i made sure to book every trip that involeved a lot of hiking and staying away from the socalled must see sights, taking all trips for the "physically adept" hopeing to stay away from as many other people as possible.