I leave for Scotland soon.  Luckily, I have gotten pretty good at packing so I can do so in about a half an hour.  The biggest change for me is the film I will be shooting with.  I normally bring a bunch of 35mm black and white.  However, on the last trip, I finished up my bulk roll of HP5.  I know it isn't hard to go out to the camera store and get myself another box, but I seem to be really bogged down with stuff this summer that makes me not want to deal with smug adult people  And the people at the camera store can be quite smug to females and I am not mentally up for that right now.  So, I am bringing the one roll I have left of bulk loaded HP5 and shooting that on my Yashica Partner, a sleek plastic camera that I can shoot with and no one seems to notice.  The rest will be shot on 120mm.  I am bringing my vintage Diana and several rolls of Kodak - ISO 100 and 400 and a roll or two of Portra.  I like the fuzziness of the Diana and hope to get cool images of gloomy, moody Glasgow.

I am also bringing the T1i and one digital addition.  I am bringing my cell phone.  I am going to see how this works.  I pride myself on not being addicted to this thing.  I have received alerts already and did not jump to look at them.  I am doing OK so far.  I have to get to know the camera a bit better though.  I do not like the low light capabilities - or I should say non-capabilities.  Where I live, I can see all the stars on a cloudless night.  Last night, I tried to shoot with the phone.  Nothing.  But I can shoot low light indoors.  I guess the camera is not as sophisticated as I thought.  I need to return to the manual to get to know the functions better.

I also want to use the phone to shoot bands when I cannot bring a DSLR into the venue.  I have one show I am going to alone in October.  I am all tingly about this one - a 30 year dream come true - and I want some images.  I doubt I can bring the DSLR there.  Then there is another October show I hope to get tickets for this morning.  I can bring the DSLR there, but the crowd will be rough and not conducive to bringing out a fancy camera.  And my point and shoot can only capture the stuff so well, and not that well.  So I must study this device and perfect my use of it.  I guess it also helps me know how to advise my students with their phone cameras as well.  Up to this point, I have been clueless.  I just wish I could bill the school for this.