How did all you thru hikers manage the logistics of the photographic record of your hike?
Did you process film as you went and send it home? Stop at walmarts and drug stores? Send it home to be processed? Digital? Negatives? Both? Negatives and discs? Photo albums? If you shot digital, did you get a bunch of prints for an album to show people?
Any advice would be appreciated. --thnx.
Tyger
I would really recommend using a Digital Camera if you can, as it is infinetly cheaper in the long run (savings for film development etc.)
I had (2) 256mb memory cards. I would shoot my pictures on one, when it was full I would mail it home and my parents would upload the photos on computer. They would send back a blank card for me in my maildrop. I just rotated cards like that and it worked great.
At night when I was journaling, I would cycle through the pictures I took during the course of the day and write down the location, etc. of the picture. That way I had everything cataloged by day, and what the pic was of.
It worked out great for me. I have over 1500 pictures of my trip and know where and when each was taken.
Rowboat
I thought about this as well. Although its not applied experience this is what i plan to do. I didnt want to use a expensive digital camera becuase i know i would rash in on the trail so, i plan to use disposable ones. Each time i snap i shot i annoate the info on paper. When i get to town and either have a new camera in a drop or buy one i send the used one back with the info that goes with it. When i get back it will be easy for me to organize it. I am sure there a million diffrent way to do it but, this is what i think will work best for me.
Anthony
was it easy to keep the digital camrea clean a working…any specail care? i can see my self droping it a stream or leaving it out in the rain.
Anthony
From a different perspective, I used a regular point and click cam with Advantix film. I sent home the roll when it was full and had my folks develop them. I had to scan them all on afterwards which took a lot of time. I’ve got a ridiculous memory for names, places, etc. (seriously ask people i hiked with, its disgusting) so I was able to remember most everything. The ones I was confused on, I was able to go back and figure out based on the order they were in (chronological) using the data/handbook.
Sounds like the digital way is easier, but I wouldn’t buy one if you’ve got a perfectly good point and click.
A-Train
I carried the Cannon Powershot A80. I swear, that thing stood the test of time! I dropped it a couple times, it got soaking wet, to the point that when the lense open up, when I turned the camera on, water dripped out. And it got banged around and everything. I kept it attached to the hip belt on my pack.
I am not sure if it was by luck, or quality construction of the camera, but I had no malfunctions or problems with it.
Except for the couple times I forgot, I always put the camera in my pack during rainstorms. Overall humidity and cold should have minimal effect on the performance of a digital camera.
Rowboat
Like A-Train I had a clear memory of most of the 700+ 35mm pictures I took during my thru-hike. I sent all my exposed film to my parent. They developed the film and enjoyed the pictures of my hike but I intentionally asked not to see any of them until I was finished (I got a quick look during a short family visit while in Bear Mt NY). Post hike I spent two weeks relaxing at a beach house in York Maine and spent much of that time putting detailed captions on the backs of the prints.
celt
We asked our local photo store for a camera at was weatherproof, would work at high altitude and in cold conditions. The recommended camera was a Olympus Stylus Zoom. On the PCT (and CDT) we mailed exposed film to a friend who developed it a Longs and a CD. She posted shots of her choice on our web site so people could view photos as we hiked. Long’s Drug Store made good quality prints and CD’s. We did lose 2 exposed rolls when we mailed out at an Oregon resort. Now we know to pay for a tracking #.
On the AT we used the same camera and mailed (free in a mailer) to Snapfish.com who developed prints and a CD and mailed them to our home. Friends could access, with permission, and view our photos immediately on Snapfish. We would look at them when we found internet access along the trail. Again, we got good quality prints and CD’s and no exposed rolls were lost and, incredibly, one roll of Colorado CDT shots showed up with the AT shots!
Also on the AT Ken carried an Olympus digital and mailed the flash memory home to a son who posted Ken’s photos. We were concerned about losing a card in the mail so we used tracking #'s and smaller cards.
The digital photos and the CD’s were used for “slide shows” and resolution is good enough for projecting onto a screen.
A check book register makes a good log for recording photos. A few pages at a time fit in with the camera and there are columns for roll #, date, time, weather and place or people.
I checked out a book from the local library that explains how to take interesting and well composed photos. It was worth doing even though I don’t stand around waiting for the light to be perfect or hike off trail too far for the “perfect” shot.
Marcia
When you get your film developed just ask for a CD, it costs a couple of bucks more, but you can load them easy on your computer and have a archive record of you trip.No need to scan! Oo
Onlyone
I had great luck with my Canon S400 and a 3-card rotation. I’d have one or two in the mail to/from my fiancee and carry the other one or two.
The camera never failed, the cards worked great, in fact the only time I was unable to take photos was when I left the camera at home after a visit!!!
Bonus of the digital camera is that the files are essentially date stamped as you take them. All I had to do in order to figure out the photo contents was look at the date stamp and compare that to my journal afterward!
I took 1200+ photos (all 2272x1704 pixels), culled 'em down to 800 photos, renamed 'em with details of the photos, and posted them in an online gallery.
Now everyone I met on the trail and many others can share my experience…
Squish
As with Squish, we used a Canon S400. Digital is superior in almost every way, shape, and form (IMHO). We carried a 512MB card and just dumped the pictures on a CD and send the CDs home. VERY easy. There are lots of places on the trail you can do this. Also, as was said before, the pictures are all time - date stamped. Most digital cameras now have a feature where you can attach a voice memo to each picture (the S400 can do this). So I have a voice recording for every photo. Digital is also FAR cheaper. Plus, you can check your photos you’ve taken to make sure you got that shot that you’ll never have the chance to take again.
Dave and Miranda
While I agree with the digital crowd, in the end, unless you are carrying a digital slr, you can’t beat film for QUALITY. I carried a 5 mega pixel Nikon on the PCT this summer and overall I was happy with my choice. I shot maybe 2500 pictures and boiled it down to about 275 I was happy with. Not a bad ratio, but I know that I could have had better luck with film. Taking into consideration the weight, cost and size, I think the digital is a better choice for a thru hike. Don’t skimp on the camera, though. Most people I knew who were semi-serious about their pictures (and bought cheap digiatls) were disappointed with the results. If I had it to do again (and I will!), I’d drop the extra cash on a digital slr and deal with the extra weight and still have the convienence. The new Canon Eos’ are only a few hundred bucks more than what I paid for my Nikon and I can use all my 35mm lenses. As far a memory cards go, I just collected them over the year prior to my hike. Whenever I had a few extra bucks, I’d buy a new 256 card. On the trail I usually carried three and had 2 in rotation. I had 2 extra batteries, but found it easy to manage battery life and usually only carried one and kept the others in my bounce box in case I entered an unusually photographic area.
fitz manly
Digital has great advantages but film does also. Digital has the advantage of being able to collect many photos and ust loading them on a CD or inside a computer and is much faster to send, view and share photos. The clear advantage that film has is that it is clearer (in lower film speeds) and the negtives will be able to reproduce pictures at anytime without much measurable loss in quality. All digital forms of saving photos have a limited shelf life and lose pictue quality that has yet to be solved. If you know or plan to be taking great pictues then the film option is worth the hassle and then put the on a CD. It cost a little more but can be worth the effort. I use film for those areas that I want to be around for a very long time an digital if I want a “good” record of my travels.
Mark
Digital has great advantages but film does also. Digital has the advantage of being able to collect many photos and ust loading them on a CD or inside a computer and is much faster to send, view and share photos. The clear advantage that film has is that it is clearer (in lower film speeds) and the negtives will be able to reproduce pictures at anytime without much measurable loss in quality. All digital forms of saving photos have a limited shelf life and lose pictue quality that has yet to be solved. If you know or plan to be taking great pictues then the film option is worth the hassle and then put the on a CD. It cost a little more but can be worth the effort. I use film for those areas that I want to be around for a very long time an digital if I want a “good” record of my travels.
Mark
I’ve been using a Minolta Dimage Xi (Xg is the current version) for several section hikes with good results. It is one of the smaller digital cameras and is unique with a totally internal lens and zoom mechanism. I carry it in a small belt pouch for convenience in a moisture resistant slip-case. In real wet weather I put it into a zip-lock. I’ve been real pleased with the results but know it is not much more than a good quality point-and-shoot. I get about 140+ photos on a battery charge with very limited use of flash but display panel on. A 256Mb card will store 200+ photos at “fine” quality JPG compression. (Don’t use lower levels of JPG compression - too much quality degradation.) The voice memo feature is nice, too, for quickly recording the names of people or other details that might be forgotten.
Dioko
Times they are a changing. In 2001 & 2002 I carried a Olympus Stylus zoom camera and used 35 mm slide film. I carried a couple of rolls with me, and had additional rolls shiped to me in mail drops.
I jotted down the photo number and description in a journal as I went along.
The end result is that I have a great slide show on the AT.
Now, the camera has taken a beating, and no longer gives me the quality pictures that I once got. I will look into digitals before my next major hike. Incidentally, slide film is getting harder and harder to find. Need to go to a real camera shop to find some.
Peaks
I took pictures with throw away cameras and then di one hour development in town. After that I would write on the back of each a discription and the number of order taken. Then I would mail them to my brother who would post them.
Virginian