[at-l] photo thoughts

[at2002@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Gary Wright)]

I took over 1500 pictures on my hike.  I generally avoided
cameras prior to this hike and felt I learned a lot during
the six months.  Here are some photo-thoughts for
the class of 2003 based on my experiences last year:

- keep your camera accessible at all times (trail/town/etc.)
- take lots of pictures
- did I mention to keep your camera accessible?
- take lots of people pictures
- don't store your camera in your pack, keep it accessible!
- keep your eye out for candid people shots
- keep your camera...got the message yet?
- scenic view pictures are better early or late in the day
- use your fill flash when you have people in the foreground
   with a bright sky in the background
- if your camera has advanced features (shutter speed, aperture,
   manual focus, etc), learn how to use them, experiment.
- never use digital zoom on a digital camera.  You loose
   picture quality and you can do the zoom later on your computer anyway
- use the highest quality settings on your digital camera, it
   makes a huge difference in the resulting picture.  Carry enough
   extra memory cards so you don't have to worry about this.
- pay attention to the horizon when taking pictures.  I was
   surprised at how many of my pictures were rotated by 1-3 degrees.
   This is easy to fix afterwards on a digital camera, but it is
   good to keep in mind for any camera.
- double check your digital quality settings frequently.  I accidently
   took 4-5 days of pictures at low quality 640x480 mode and I
   regret it now, but it gives me a good excuse to redo some
   sections of the trail!
- keep your eye open for patterns and textures: leaves, trees,
   rocks, grass, flowers, shadows and so on
- take pictures of signs and places, great for scrapbooking,
   slide shows or movies
- take pictures of shelters, hostels, hostel owners, trail-angels
   and trail-magic
- think about including white blazes in your pictures
- take advantage of the movie feature of your digital camera
- take advantage of the audio feature of your digital camera
   I used this a lot when folks were playing a guitar or
   singing around the campfire
- experiment with the macro-mode of your camera for taking
   close up pictures of flowers, bugs, animals, and so on.  You
   can end up with lots of out-of-focus shots if you don't know
   how to do this correctly.
- keep a photo-journal.  It will be very difficult to identify
   all your photos post-hike.  I wrote up a photo-index everytime
   I swapped out my memory card on my camera.  Another option is
   to mark or underline some text in your regular journal when
   you know you took a picture.  This will help you match up
   photos with places later on.  I know of one hiker who got his
   pictures developed in town (1-hour photo), wrote on the back
   of them and then sent them home.  This is expensive but helpful
   in keeping track of what is what
- avoid using disposable point-and-shoot cameras.  They are great
   in a pinch, but they just don't have the quality of a standard
   non-disposable camera (film or digital)
- learn how to use the self-timer of your camera, use it
- carry extra film and/or batteries
- when planning your day, think about camping somewhere near
   a view for sunset or sunrise pictures
- take pictures in town!
- practice using your zoom lens (optical, not digital) to compose
   better pictures
- try to have something in the foreground when taking scenic view
   shots.  A rock, tree, bush, person, etc.
- don't always take pictures from a standing position: try getting
   low, or standing on a rock or picnic table to get different angles
   on your subject
- look behind you from time to time to get a different perspective
- take your camera with you to the outhouse: some of them are
   unbelievable structures, some of them have great views!

Have fun!

Radar www.trailjournals.com/gwright
AT2002,PCT2003?,CDT?