With the download of the HD version of VJ17earlier this week, I have now copies of all Video Journals from no. 14 onwards.
I generally like these VJ, otherwise why would I buy them, but I am not completely satisfied about the information available in those segments describing workshops, travel to exotic places, etc.
For instance, VJ17 contains two segments about the Antarctica trip in 2005; the combined time of these segments is about 1h. We are definitely been bombarded with very beautiful pictures, amazing colors, a lot of things the ‘normal’ photography enthusiast or even professional may never see or experience in their life.
But there is a lot of information that I think would be very interesting to know that is not mentioned at all – and the reporting about Antarctica is only an example; I have been missing similar information in segments about Bangladesh, California, …, you name it:
1) Where exactly did you travel, how long was the trip, how long did it take you to get from point A to B, where were you on a given day?
It would have been very easy to include a map of the region showing where you traveled. Most people have at least a general knowledge where to find the big or not quite so big cities in the World, but I doubt that many know where xx Bay or yy Strait in the Antarctic are located - at least I have no clue.
2) And there are a lot of other questions I would like to ask:
What photographic or other equipment was taken on the trip, what was actually used, what was found to be good or bad under these special conditions, what was found to be the preferred equipment, what was found to be absolutely necessary, how did the equipment cope with the unusual climatic conditions, how many people were in the group, how did Michael arrange and manage the trip, how were the locations to go to chosen, …,?
It is too late to answer any of these questions for the current VJ17, but perhaps it could be part of a post on the LL-website.
Cheers,
Achim