Backpacking with Large Format Story

[david_senesac]

Not many of we view camera users ever get much past road areas because the

logistics and weighty effort to do so have always been rather daunting. Those

who do venture beyond roads usually hoist one of the well known dedicated

camera backpacks on their backs and day hike out to what is invariably limited

to just a few miles distance. By time they reach their destinations, there is

often not much chance of working anything but more harsh midday light. So not

backpacking but rather dayhiking with a backpack. On this photo.net Large

Format discussion forum, one occasionally reads a post where someone actually

is backpacking with large format. That means carrying one's camping and

photography gear out in the backcountry and staying over night. There are

certainly a few of us that do so mainly in our western states. I'm one of

those folks and recently documented one of those trips in order to give others

some idea what that is about since it is rather obvious from the way others

comment on threads here or the lack of such stories in popular photo magazines,

that most LF users have little exposure to the nature of such adventures.

 

I've created the below story in html that includes a modest number of embedded

images both taken with my tiny 7mp Coolpix and those of my 4x5. Long before

backpacking with my 4x5 system, I did so for many years with a rather

comprehensive 35mm systems and later with a 6x7. Eventually I figured out how

to effiiciently bring the view camera system out there too which is all I bring

out backpacking any more. Although the story doesn't go into how I do that

since that is mainly specific to my own brand of gear, it does provide some

insights into what I do photographically on such trips, along with the

exertions and dangers one might face in such an effort. ...David

 

On the below link to my website homepage, select the following field. One

ought to have a broadband internet connection else turn off browser image

viewing:

 

"Shadow & Minaret Creek Headwaters Backpack August 2006"

 

http://www.davidsenesac.com/

[capocheny]

David,

 

I've just looked at a couple of your images and the stories behind them... well done!

 

Great stuff there.

 

Thanks for sharing! :)

 

Cheers

[frank r]

Nice images.

 

That is a lot of weight to carry! I haven't backpacked in years but a full load of LF gear on top of a full pack (plus a full size tripod) makes me wonder how you did it.

 

I just returned from three days in Canada with a hike along the Bruce Pennisula; your trip makes me look like a slacker.

[harley]

David,

 

I backpacked into Minaret Lake last summer with my LF gear. Did the route up and over to Ediza. Beautiful country. Got snowed on last August. You never know in the Sierras.

 

Thanks for the post and the story. Brings back fond memories.

[sheldonnalos]

Sounds like an amazing trip and a lot of fun! Nice pics as well.

 

I'm impressed that you're ambitious enough to be dragging a Gitzo 1325 and 30lbs of camera gear on such a long trip. Have you perused Kerry Thalmann's lightweight camera listings? I'd bet that with some careful selection, you could cut 15lbs off that pack.

 

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/lightwei.htm

 

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/toho.htm

[brian_ellis16]

Fascinating story and great images, thanks for the posting.

[bruce_watson1]

Some of us are in it for the photography. Some of us are in it just to be outside. Some of us are in it for the hiking. Some of us are in it for the wilderness experience. Some of us are in it for the wildlife. Some of us are in it for...

 

While yours is a way, I want to impress upon you that it is not *the* way. Everyone has different needs, opportunities, capabilities, and motivations. There is no one-size-fits-all as you seem to think.

 

I for one am in it for the photography. Crushing myself under a 70lb pack (which is what I calculated several years ago would be needed for solo treks of several days, and which is nearly half my body weight) would take all the fun out of it. It would become a contest of will to see if I could grind it out and make it to my destination. I would cease to enjoy the trip because photography would be amoung the first casualties of such an event. I can't do photography when I'm whipped. I can't do photography if I spend too much time looking at the trail and not enough time looking around me at the scenery.

 

I enjoy backpacking my 5x4 gear on dayhikes. I hope you enjoy your camping trips as much.

[david_senesac]

Thanks folks!

 

Hi Sheldon, there are certainly lighter ways to carry even a 4x5 system than what I do. I do have some information on my own gear and the way I carry it into the backcountry. On my homepage select the "Backpacking" field.

 

Bruce, I 'm sorry but I don't know where or what I've written that lead you to comment on "one size fits all". As I stated above, I shot the small format many years for just some of the reasons you gave. I've backpacked three decades and lugged camera systems up there with a tripod for two dozen. Early on I just didn't want the excessive weight to burden me down. It was only when I got older that I began being a slaving mule. Bringing 4x5 into the backcountry gave me a new challenge and reason to revisit the many places I backpacked to while younger. It certainly is not pleasant carrying such weight and few people will ever be able to do so with camera systems we now use. ...David

[gary_ferguson1]

David, great site, but unfortunately you'll find many of your shots appearing unattributed elsewhere on the net. They're a tempting target for someone looking for high quality landscapes for free.

[david_senesac]

Hello Gary,

 

I started a thread here about a year ago about that very subject although I would hardly describe such as high quality. The largest images on my site are the quality one could shoot with tiny $40 1mb digital cameras. My thread suggested given increasing bandwidths by average users that the old conventional wisdom of displaying only tiny web images was in question. That I would grate against the wisdom and display my images at larger screen sizes. I argued that anyone with reasonable graphic skills, especially with Photoshop could take any image that fits on a monitor screen and edit out any copyright text or watermarking. That an image of SVGA size of a bit less than 1k really can't be used for any high quality purposes besides web use which is really just chicken feed business wise unlesss someone can make an argument to me otherwise. For instance at 300 dpi that makes for a 3.3 inch wide print. My fine art prints for such images with the same level of detail are three feet wide. I of course do have up front copyright notices on my site making it clear that I will resort to legal action to protect my images including these small ones posted on my site. Thus someone that decides to screen capture and use the image for purposes of a screensaver might do so and I would never know but in any case would really not care. Someone else might snag an image and put it on a coffee mug. Big deal. However another with a legitimate business might put one in their stock portfolio as a image for web stock sales or sell it to other image vendor businesses for like. If I find out about that, there are lawyers who will bother to prosecute such and take a fee from the legal settlements. Likewise if some fly by night eBay vendor does the same, and are so identified, eBay will warn or will remove them from their business. In any case the internet is worldwide and it is possible anything one can display may end up being used in an unauthorized way. Unless one is a large business like a stock house with considerable resources, it is difficult to search and monitor, and prosecute the small thieving and usage. I can accept that a bit of that may occur I won't find out about. None of that ought to hurt my own fine art print business. If someone bought a large print and used a graphic arts camera to copy it and then tried to market such as a half sized print, that would certainly result in my inititiating legal action as it is at the core of what I am interested in protecting. Someone could copy my images and input them for critique right here on photo.net and I would not be aware of such unless others alert me. If I noticed this kind of thing with other photographers, I would be quick to alert them with the details as we small business really can't hope to do so ourselves. So I won't be rejoining the rest of you that continue to limit your displays to tiny 4 inch wide representations. ...David

[philippe_vandenbroeck]

Thanks for posting, David. I just did a trip in the Alps, more specifically in the Brenta

Dolomites, with 4x5 gear. Led by an experienced mountain guide, we did a 5-day north-

south traverse over a succession of "via ferrata". These are very exposed mountain trails

equipped with cables and ladders, leading you to places where otherwise only expert

climbers can come. I had my Canham on my back, Gitzo 1325, two lenses, and 40 Quickoad

sheets of Acros. I exposed 35 of them on the journey. This was my first foray with 4x5 in

extremely rugged outdoor terrain but I'm happy I did it and will do it again. See also the

latest postings on my photography <a href="http://bravo20.blogspot.com">blog</a>.

[Renato Tonelli]

I have been wanting to hike with my 4x5 as well but was always reluctant to try it beacuse of the weight. I am 5'10" (180cm) and weigh just under 140 lbs.

I have two very specific questions: how do you physically prepare yourself to carry such a load (about half your weigth) and what food and food gear do you pack. This is not mere curiosity.

 

Thanks and regards.

[david_senesac]

Renato, I weigh just 133 pounds. Average fit men can already lift weights I typically carry but would quickly find it quite painful beyond a short distance. Our human ancestors were often faced to become beasts of burden so we do have more capacity for doing such than we modern folk are aware of. Its a matter of gradually strengthening ones body over time. Backpacking with such weight for hours going up and down mountains, taking steps where one steps down several inches and forces become greater due to accelleration of gravity puts considerable stress on one's knees, ankles, feet, and wherever the backpack comes in contact with one's body. The only real way to build up strength to contend with those forces is by backpacking or mountaineering with a pack. Besides obvious leg strength one might build up with conventional exercises, one's torso muscels need to develop in ways to keep straight and upright while carrying a heavy pack. My own experience is one of backpacking several trips summer after summer for three decades which has built up my body to handle such gradually. The beginning of each summer I require an easy trip or two to regain strength enough to tackle more difficult trips.

 

What I would suggest is to start by carrying less weight on shorter trips then subsequently adding incrementally more weight and distance. One simply cannot hope to do so by taking one trip a year. For instance you might carry 50 pounds on a two-mile hike up 1000 feet. Then carry the same 4 miles. Then try 60 pounds doing the same. Trying to carry really heavy weights a long ways without building up strength would be a certain formula to destructively tear tissues and become sore. That ought to be avoided as much as possible in order to retain the best long term natural structure. As for food and gear, you can get such information from books. Far too involved a subject to discuss here. I have all that information on spreadsheets. I eat a lot. Maybe 1.5 to 2 pounds a day. On the trip on this thread, I carried 124 types of non-food camping items and 86 photography types of items. ...David

[tad doxsee]

David,

 

I very much enjoyed your web site, both your photos and your articles about how you backpack with your 4x5 equipment. A couple of years ago I moved up to 6x7 and must admit that one of the reasons I'm hesitant to move up to 4x5 is because I've taken many of my favorite photos while backpacking, and can't imagine how I'd carry the extra weight. Your photos and descriptions are inspiring, but your honest descriptions of "extertions and dangers" make me think that carrying my lighter weight gear may not be such a bad choice for me. :-)

 

Thanks again for your contributions.

 

Tad