KIGALI, RWANDA—From what I’ve seen of this country, like so many places in Africa, it’s beautiful with lush vegetation, rolling hills framed by mountains and active volcanoes. But there is also poverty and the burden of HIV/AIDS and the legacy of the Genocide.



Though much time has passed since the Genocide in 1994—that horrific time resonates throughout this country, as we make our way to the places that Dr. James Orbinski, the former head of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of MSF in 1999, had been. We meet with survivors and talk about his and their experiences.


Dr. James Orbinski visits a Genocide Memorial where the mummified remains of many who were systematically killed in the area, are kept in rooms as a ghostly reminder for the world to see.

Photographically, Rwanda is not an easy place to be in many respects. Given the history, the people are understandably edgy and suspicious when it comes to cameras, and often savvy enough to ask for money. The government also keeps a tight reign on foreign media.

I have brought with me my 2ghz MacBook Pro, with two GBs of Ram and 100GB drive. I had brought two 120GB pocket drives, one Smart Disk Firewire, the other a Western Digital USB-2 that I picked up for the bargain price of $105. I have also have a bunch of blank DVD’s and a few blank CD’s.

The above storage would have been enough for my three-week journey, until my Firewire drive went “missing” on day 1, (I may have left it in the airplane seat pocket- DUMB); but stuff happens.

So I had to re-adjust my strategies. I decided to shoot just raw, not raw and JPEG, which I have done in the past. With Aperture on this shoot, there was no need, especially with drive space being so tight thanks to my carelessness.

I started out ingesting my 12.2 Mega-pixel D2X raw files into a managed-Aperture library on the laptop. But it was clear after a few days, that space was quickly becoming a problem, as was finding time to edit and deal with a storage capacity quickly filling to the brim.

At first I decided to export my projects to the external drive, and delete the project on the laptop to make space. I kept each project to about 4.5gigs max, so I could back up to DVD, which worked—but if I wanted to see the stuff in Aperture, I would have to import the project back inside the library--which was time consuming and didn’t make sense.

So I brought all the projects back into an Aperture Managed library on the USB2 external drive, which took time, but was a one-time deal that gave me instant access to the whole shoot.

I have to say; I was pleasantly surprised with Aperture’s performance on USB-2 bus- powered drive. With all the talk about using Firewire drives for maximizing speed, I didn’t expect this drive to perform as well as it did.

I then finished editing. For this shoot, I had a three-pronged editing system. Losing a hard drive meant space was at a premium. So the first thing I did, which is normal in my workflow, was to identify the rejects and delete them. I was more ruthless than normal because of the circumstances, deleting a few more than I may have in a perfect situation at home.



Snapshots of victims are on display at the Museum in Kigali

I then rated the rest. One star was for the personal shots of the crew and people we met along the way. Two-stars were for shots of the crew and set-up, these production stills are an important part of this assignment. Three-star images were reserved for images of Dr. Orbiniski, which would be used for publicity, the DVD cover etc., as well as the photographs I would use for my own purposes.

I then created smart albums for each of the three different ratings, and the images in these albums were the ones I backed up to DVD, and backed-up again into a much smaller managed-Aperture library of selects on my laptop.

I created a new project called Africa 2007 3-Star Selects, went to the three star smart album, selected all 1258 selects and dragged them into the new project. I then exported the new project onto the desktop (about 20 minutes) and imported the project into the other managed Aperture library on the laptop’s hard-drive. I created new projects for the 1-Star and 2-Star Smart Albums and did the same to back them up onto the laptop’s managed Aperture library.

If space becomes an issue before the shoot ends, I will go back to my unrated images and delete more.

As far as workflow, my whole goal in the field was to edit as best I could, ingest with as much metadata and key-wording as time permitted; but most importantly—back stuff up. There will be time back home to finesse and add and correct metadata, but getting the stuff back safely is foremost on my mind. The trip is near the halfway point and my managed library is 61.62GB large.

In the old days, there was much anxiety traveling with bricks of film and bringing back the exposed film, worrying about security, X-Rays, loss or damage. In the digital age, there’s still some anxiety, but with prudent back up and care—there’s less worry.

I am really enjoying using Aperture on the road. The laptop, although not the latest, greatest, fastest --is working fast enough, particularly with a USB-2 Managed library! This was not the way I planned to work, but as Tony Soprano says, “you do what you have to do”. More on my African adventure next post.

It has been a mad scramble as usual to pack for my trip to Africa. I always fantasize about being a James-Bond-like-traveler; relaxed, in a tux with martini in hand, bored and checking my watch to see if it’s time to leave yet.

Of course the reality is more from the “chicken-without-a head” school, never enough time to do the 134 things to do on the list, high stress levels and very little sleep. That’s just the way it seems to work out mostly.

But now, the moment of Zen—the plane is in the air and I am tapping on these keys blogging for Inside Aperture from the crammed middle seat on a seven-hour flight to Zurich, en route to Rwanda. Whatever I didn’t get done doesn’t matter; I turn my attention to the assignment at hand.

I’m working as a stills photographer for a documentary team focusing on Dr. James Orbinski, the former head of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of MSF in 1999. We are going back with him, retracing his steps and seeing how things have changed.

We will be gone for about three weeks and I get to test out Aperture on the road for the first time. I like to travel light, but in the end, I never travel as light as I would like. Here’s my equipment list:

Camera and lenses: Nikon D2x Camera with 17-55mm 2.8 lens- my main combo. I love this lens and use it for the majority of my work. I like to be close to my subjects, which let’s me capture more intimate moments I wouldn’t get otherwise.

The Nikon D200 Body with 18-200mm VR lens is my backup. I love the smaller size of the D200 body. It’s important for me to have a back up lens, in case my 17-55 ever drops or goes away. Though I prefer not to shoot long; it is nice to have the “long lensability” in a short lens package. The 18-200mm has an incredible range and though this is the first time I will try it, I have heard great things. Extra camera batteries, the correct electric-plug converters and chargers all are in the bag.

I have learned to use flash less frequently, preferring to take advantage of the wonderful low light capture of DSLR sensors. I try not to raise my ISO above 400 generally—but when light is low and uneven, there are times when flash is the best compromise.

I have a Nikon SB 800 flash that I use off camera connected with a SC-29 cord, which allows me to use TTL flash in a much more natural way. I bought one of the Gary Fong light diffusers for it, and though it’s a bit big and clunky, it does a very nice job of softening the light—and when it’s in the backpack I can store extra batteries inside it.

I’m a firm believer in shooting after the sun goes down, capturing mood and atmosphere in the landscape. For this trip, I decided to try out the “Gorilla Pod”, a small, light bendable tripod that should prove to be a good anchor for longer exposures.

I fit it all into a smallish backpack. I vowed after turning 40, that all my shoes would be slip-ons and all my cases would have wheels, but I make exceptions when traveling to Africa. I don’t want to check my equipment as baggage so I make sure my backpack is small enough to fit under the seat, if it’s too big for the overhead compartments of a small plane. True to my shoe philosophy however, my Blundstone boots are comfy, slip on, look fancy enough for upscale occasions and are rugged and dry in the mud and the grass. I have a Kata raincover that lets me shoot in the pouring rain while keeping the camera dry.

This trip is taking us to Rwanda, Kenya and maybe Somalia and Belgrade—and there may not always be access to electricity. So having a Lexar 8GB 133xcard and two 4GB cards will allow me to shoot lots of raw images to bring into Aperture, without having to download as often. I have three 2GB 80X cards from my last trip, which I also brought.

I know the argument against putting all your eggs in one basket with larger cards, but I have had such great experience with the Lexar cards, that I’m ready to take a leap of faith with the larger ones. The last time I used my Epson P2000 Viewer for downloading in the field was my last trip to Africa, so we’ll see if I bring it into service this trip. It’s comforting to know that if the computer is out of power or something goes wrong, there’s still a way to clear the cards safely.

I have always taken a recorder of sorts with me on long shooting trips, but this time I have gotten serious. The last trip to Africa, the D2X memo feature, which allows you 60-second recordings and download as .wav files, came in handy for interviews, notes and collecting sound and music from the field. This time I will try out an Edirol R09 Recorder for gathering field audio and two Lexar 133x 1 GB SD cards to capture it all. From all I’ve read, this one is the photographer’s choice.

I had my camera’s sensors cleaned before the trip, and though I’ve never cleaned a sensor myself (I shouldn’t be afraid, but I am)—I have never had trouble with dust on the sensors, leaving my lenses fixed on the bodies all the time. But I did bring the sensor cleaning swabs and liquid in case of emergency.

A pocket USB Drive on a keychain can come in handy also to keep scans of my passport and vital information in case papers are lost. 32 Duracell Ultra Digital AA Batteries should be enough to power the flash and Edirol recorder.

North American cell phones can cost a fortune when used overseas, but the Motorola Razor V3 Phone can be used worldwide. Picking up a SIM card in many African countries means cheap cell phone rates and people back home can reach you on their dime.

I hope to have more on my computer set-up and using Aperture in Africa in my next couple of blogs, time and Internet connections permitting.

Strong Work

A powerful and riveting look at the war-torn African Republic of Congo, by Marcus Bleasdale.

http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2007/congo_bleasdale_multimedia/