California has many things I love. The beautiful west coasts, majestic mountains, and artistically rich cities make California one of the top travel state. For these reasons, I started my digital nomad journey at Santa Monica, California. I spent most of my time working remotely. When I am not working, I go out and explore beaches and mountains nearby.

Recently, people often ask about the cameras I used. That’s not a question I can give good answers to because any decent camera today can produce images on my blog. So instead, I will write a bit about my process in addition to the cameras.

Venice Beach

I don’t like crowded cities like Los Angeles. When I landed at LAX, I got out and stay at Santa Monica. I was able to walk to Venice Beach from my room. The beach is very clean and beautiful. It has unique characters because of its close proximity to the second largest city in the US.

When I go a beach, I often expect tourists. But in Venice Beach, I get to see how ordinary people live along the beach. I was envious of how these people can just wake up in the morning and just go surf. But then I remember how much upkeep these people have to pay to stay here.

Los Angeles is one of the most diverse cities in the US. I can see this from walking along Venice Beach. For pictures of people, I emphasize on candid. Most modern M43 cameras can shoot silently using an electronic shutter without any loss in picture quality. This feature combines with the compact size of the cameras make me less visible. People are themselves when they are not watched.

A Skater at Venice Beach, Los Angeles A Smoker at Venice Pier, Los Angeles A woman fishing at Venice Pier, Los Angeles A Family at Venice Beach, Los Angeles A Cyclist at Venice Beach, Los Angeles

In one afternoon, the wind was very strong such that the sand flies in the air. I had to cover my face and eyes to stay safe. The camera I used (Olympus E-M5 II and 12-40mm f2.8 Pro lens) worked flawlessly in tough environment.

Travel Photography

I do my best to capture all the images that tell stories about my travel. When traveling, I can run into beautiful landscapes, stunning architectures, exotic wildlife, and interesting people. I need a camera system that captures all these subjects well without being too large and heavy.

The kit I usually carry includes a professional grade standard zoom lens, a telephoto zoom lens, a bright normal prime lens and two camera bodies. With traditional DSLR cameras, the weight and size of this kit would be heavy and big to lug around all day. But with M43 cameras I can carry it all everywhere I go. These cameras are not as good as full-size cameras, but they do the job for my use cases.

The cameras I used for this post are:

Olympus E-M5 Mark II Olympus E-M5 mounted with Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Voigtlander 17.5mm f0.95

Many people do not consider weight to be a factor when choosing cameras to travel with. For me, weight is the biggest burden. When I carry less weight, I have more energy to keep exploring and take more pictures. Plus, traveling light is always more fun than traveling heavy. It’s like being in shape as opposed to being fat.

Santa Monica Mountains

While driving around Santa Monica Mountains, I found a trail that leads to one of the peaks. I wasn’t sure how long it was but went with it anyway. I started very early in the morning to catch the sunrise from the peak. The trail was very winding and I was not able to guess when I’ll be at the top. But when I made to the top, I didn’t feel tired carrying all the cameras.

Santa Monica Mountains, California Santa Monica Mountains, California

Nature does not always work on photographers’ side. But this time, it did. I made it to the top just before the sunrise above the mountain range.

I can only see mountains covered with fog around me. The weather was just perfect. I can’t believe such a place exists not far from Los Angeles.

Conclusion

Santa Monica is a special place that has a little bit of everything. I didn’t have time to explore the city and nightlife as much since I enjoy nature and solitude more. This is one of the places that has something for everyone.

I hope this post is useful for those looking to visit Santa Monica as well as those who are looking to take photography more seriously.

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