Chris and I are by no means professional photographers, but, that doesn’t mean that we don’t try really hard to take great pictures that will help us remember where we were on any specific day in time and it also doesn’t mean that we haven’t tried to provide ourselves with the tools with which to accomplish those very important tasks.  We use our cameras daily, and to date, I have over 63000 pictures in my Photos program on my computer dating back to 2006 in digital and then even further back, I have some dating back to as early as the 1930’s–pictures that I and other family members have scanned and that I’ve added to my library.  Pictures mean the world to me, they speak volumes when one can’t find descriptive words, they hold memories that sometimes may be fleeting but are conjured again when one gazes upon a particular picture.  They are one of the most important things in our lives, so therefore, we have utilized many cameras through the years; and as the years have passed the quality of digital cameras has improved drastically which makes for an even more pleasurable picture taking experience now-a-days.

When we embark on our travels we always take quite the array of cameras and accessories; our destination is what dictates what we take with us.  Since Alaska is one of our favorite destinations, I will show you what we normally take there so that we can try and capture the beauty and grandeur that is Alaska.  We normally will do 8 day cruises in Alaska, but, we do many excursions inland off of the ship that provide tons of photo ops…not to mention Glacier Bay a Unesco site that I never tire of and will go back to as long as we are able to do so.  We always say that we might take less cameras, but, we did that one time and I got frustrated because I have found that I like to have a camera with me no matter where we are or what we’re doing (especially on a cruise ship and especially now that I have this blog and am always cognizant of things that I want to capture so that I can bring them back home and share them with y’all!!) 🙂  The one time we went with only one camera…well, I about went batty! lol

All that said, here is what we normally take with us:

This is “my” camera…You see, I get Chris’ hand-me-downs…lol…And this beauty is now MINE.  I cannot tell you how much I love this camera, no honestly, I really can’t–I feel so grateful that I’m able to have something like this to utilize…and not just for vacation pictures…but also for everyday, run of the mill pictures…all of my family, dog, house, and crafting pictures are taken with this camera.  For those of you who might not know, my precious Mom passed away from Alzheimer’s a few years ago.  There are so many things that I miss about her, her gentle ways, her wise advice, having long phone conversations with her, well, so very many things. 😥  One of the things that I miss the most is the ability to ask my Mom where was this picture taken and who are those people in the picture–I never want my girls to have that problem, I want to provide them with all of the pictures and information that I can that will help them know and remember me (IF that horrible disease happens to catch up with me one day).  So you see, cameras are an extremely important and invaluable tool for me.

And when I’m on a cruise doing ‘scenic cruising’, *this* is my very favorite lens and I insist on using it…much to Chris’ chagrin at times. 😉 😉  Of course I’m just kidding, Chris is so sweet and he laughs at me because I insist on using this lens  🙂

Here I am heading to Hubbard Glacier on the Coral Princess last (2015) summer…*notice* the lens on ***my*** camera…:)  ***YES…SCORE!!*** 😉

This is Chris’ camera, and notice which lens he has on his camera when it is here at the house.  Admittedly, both of our cameras sit out on the kitchen table all of the time and I will grab whichever one that will take the best picture of whatever I’m working on at the time:

Since we both utilize this lens and have a real fondness for it, here are a few close-ups:

A few extra lens’ that Chris will take along with us on vacation are these:

This is a wide-angle lens:

Here is an example of a picture that Chris took with that ^^ wide angle ^^ lens:

The next lens is great for taking portraits…Chris calls its a 35mm prime lens…

Here are a couple of examples shots that he caught of a sunrise over Kauai and one of the Lion’s Gate Bridge as we were heading into Vancouver last April:

And then there is this wonderful zoom lens–not as expensive of a lens as our ‘favorite’, but my goodness gracious, wait until you see the shots that Chris caught with it at Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska last summer (2015).

First, here is a close up of that big zoom lens:

And here are a set of pictures of a calving event at Margerie Glacier that Chris captured with that lens:

Amazing shots!!!

Okay, there is one more little accessory that Chris takes along and this little gem will help to increase the zoom by 1.4x and it fits on both big zoom lens’:

We purchased a new, small Sony video camera before our Hawaii cruise last April (2015) and I’ve gotten a ton of use out of it, yes, while on that cruise to make a video of our Mini-Suite on the Star Princess … Here is a link if you are interested. Also, I’ve just recently used it to create all of the videos in my Video Home Tour series.  And I’ve set it up on a tripod and used it to video myself giving crafting tutorials–those can be found under Video Tutorials on my Home page if you are interested in taking a peek. 🙂

And just yesterday, Chris was a sweetheart and got me a new small camera to take on our upcoming Canada and New England cruise.  Okay, let me explain why  <sigh>.  I have gotten into the habit of having a camera draped around my neck at all times while on the ship and while on excursions.  I really love having fast access to a camera that is not my iPhone because I typically don’t carry that around the ship with me.

Here I am last summer in Alaska with my older small Nikon camera around my neck:

–I took that one to Hawaii and I wasn’t happy with its performance…especially when I took video with it in the Piazza–I have tons of pretty crappy quality video from our Hawaii trip, so crappy in fact, I never used any of them in my Hawaii Blog Series.  So Chris researched and researched and then purchased me this new small and very spiffy Canon Power Shot so that I can hang it around my neck on our Canada and New England cruise; it takes wonderful still shots and also fantastic video:

It has an adjustable screen that I can pull out and manipulate into different angles. for instance, when I’m in sunlight and the glare is hitting the screen…I can angle it a different way,  or if I’m in other situations where I might need to see the shot I’m trying to capture, for instance while taking shots that might be above my sight line, etc…:

It also flips all of the way up so that we can use it to take selfies if we so choose…haha. 🙂

I think it will be perfect for me to use on our cruise and beyond, I’ve already attached my Vera lanyard to it and am ready to put it around my neck and head off on our next adventure.

To finish up, here are a few other tech’y’ items that we take with us on our cruises.  This is a device charger–It will charge anything with a USB cord attached, great to have on the plane especially if there is no place to plug in…You can find one here:

This is a 256 gb SSD (solid-state drive) and it contains some of our favorite movies and such that we can watch on the plane via my laptop. OH yeah, btw, if you want to watch your own movies in your Stateroom, simply take a HDMI cable and hook your laptop up and take a little timeout to watch your favorite flick…works like a charm:

Speaking of a laptop, yes indeed, we always take a laptop, and yes, I do purchase an Internet package on board our ships–although, this time I won’t have to because we have moved up to Platinum level with Princess’ Captain’s Circle and we actually each get free internet minutes to use while on board…yay! Don’t judge me please, I am one of those people that does not enjoy being disconnected from the world. 🙂  Not only does the laptop provide me with a bit of contact with my friends and family, it also becomes the keeper of all of the pictures that we take on our cruises.  

We take several download cords as well:

AND one last thing….My Selfie Stick—LOL Yes, that is now a necessity and something that I utilize quite a bit. 😉 🙂

Chris carries all of our cameras in his carry-on bag and I carry the laptop, selfie stick, and smaller camera with me…It all works well for us and we know that we will be more than ready to catch any picture memory that may come our way while we are lucky enough to be out and about enjoying this great big world of ours.  We are so grateful to still have our health and that we can both put our feet on the floor in the morning and go through our days with only an ache or a pain here or there. 🙂

Next up and to finish up this series, I’ll discuss a few packing tips and tricks that I’ve discovered and have utilized…My goal for our upcoming and future 8 day 7 night cruises…ONE suitcase…I *can* *do* *it*— I think…;)

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

~Arlynn ❤

Here is a shot of me with the pups, Gracie the Golden, Sophie the Black Newfoundland, and Samson the ‘lap’ dog–also a Newfie.  All so special and sweet!! ❤