living earth impressions

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<p >Packing for an extended self-sufficient hike in the wilderness, in the end, comes down to personal preference and unfortunately that really only comes with experience. As written above there is no substitute for good research on the area you are going. Three main factors that immediately spring into mind would be 1) availability of water ( for East Coast USA this shouldn't be a problem) 2) The possibility to re-stock on food along the way 3) knowing the climatic ranges you could have to deal with.<br />Camera equipment aside, these 3 factors will play a large role in determining how much weight and equipment you will need to carry.<br />For food a good rule of thumb is to calculate roughly 1 kg (2 lbs) of food per day (dry weight). You can get by on less if you have specialized food like freeze dried meals and high energy snacks like powerbars, trail mix and the like. 2000+ calories per day is the absolute minimum and you will be burning much much more than that. Freeze dried meals are an excellent choice for other reasons as well: should your stove strike you can still add cold water and after 20 minutes or so the meals are edible...this beats chewing on uncooked rice or pasta any day ! I always try to bring enough food for an extra day (or more depending on the overall length of the trip) In an emergency you can always ration the food out somewhat but having a little more than you plan on needing is wise.<br />No matter how available water should be I always carry a 10 liter collapsible bag to carry water. Sometimes the most dramatic campsites are away from the water and being able to hike down to a stream and grab all the water you need for a day is priceless. The bags are light and take almost no space when empty. If you have the option, get a black one. Filled with water on a sunny day the water warms up within a few hours and the bag can be hung on a tree to be used as a shower, perfect for a rest or acclimitization day.<br />In an earlier post someone reccomended leaving the toilet paper at home. Leaves do work in a pinch, so does your hand with a jug of water but toilet paper is hard to beat and also handy for blowing your nose, catching small spills, wiping your hands on etc. For the minimal weight and size involved it is hard to argue against bringing a roll with you! (a small wash cloth for spills and drying hands/pots/pans is also very handy)<br />In the same post it was reccomended to leave the rain fly for the tent at home as long as the weather promises to be good. You might well decide to leave the toilet paper at home but DO bring your rain fly! Weather changes fast especially in the mountains and being there with your camera equipment you need to be able to keep yourself and the gear dry no matter what happens. A rain fly doesn't weigh much, and for the security it offers to you and your gear it is very light.<br />A couple of waterproof stuff sacks are also priceless to keep your essential gear dry. They don't weigh much and take up virtually no space when empty but they do offer a lot of security for you and your equipment.<br />Be prepared for the worst weather you could possibly encounter. A waterproof jacket is essential. Synthetic t-shirts are also worth their weight in gold. Cotton t-shirts should be avoided in the mountains. They are great for warm weather but when the sun hides behind clouds and the wind picks up the damp cotton will cause you to lose body heat quickly. Synthetic t-shirts dry quickly while you are wearing them, keeping you warm and dry.<br />A Camel bak or similar water carrying system is excellent as you can replace fluids more often as you don't have to take your pack off everytime you are thirsty. Taking smaller sips more frequently is much kinder to your body than guzzling every hour. As carrying water is so essential to a good trip, having a second water bottle is highly reccomended. The aluminum Sigg bottles are almost impssible to beat. They are virtually indestructible and in the mountains that quality can be called upon often.<br />Aside from having a spare should one bottle get a leak, another plus in having a second botlle os being able to have one bottle to treat with iodine (takes ca. 30 minutes) while having another bottle to drink from.<br />Trekking poles or walking sticks might look a little funny but they are excellent additions to your equipment. Whether you are going up or down you can help your legs and knees considerably with the use of these. It took me a while to realize this but I haven't made a trip in over 10 years without them.</p>

<p >For the camera gear: what to take is a toughie. Just one camera body is a bit of a gamble but due to weight issues it is certainly something to consider. Lens choices are even more difficult but personally 2 or 3 zooms that cover WIDE to tele are always in my bag regardless of weight. Primes are lighter of course and a great option if you have a selection of lenses to choose from. In the end it depends on how large a roll the photography plays in your trip. If you are there to cature the beauty then you will want to have the right tools. If you just want to enjoy the nature and the images are a lagging second, one body and a standard zoom would serve the purpose just fine. <br />Extra batteries are essential and if you are going high into the mountains where the temps are cold the batteries will work less efficiently and you will get less shots per battery than in warm weather. For a week's hike 3-4 batteries would be reasonable. This also depends alot on if you will be spending a lot of time reviewing the days images at night. This eats up a lot of battery power. Generic batteries are much much cheaper than the originals and, in my experience, every bit as good. (although I have never bought the absolute cheapest batteries, even with the generics there are brands that are more reliable than others)<br />I like to have my camera out and ready for anything that might happen but still protected from dust, sun or light rain. For this I use the Lowepro Toploader. It is a chest harness and the larger versions can take the camera with a large zoom as well. you can add a lens pocket to the side for changing lenses on the go. For me being able to make a shot without getting into my pack means getting a lot more shots. The same goes for being able to switch to a wide angle or tele: sometimes I am too lazy to drop the pack and dig out the lens (especially later in the day!) but having it on my chest means I am just a few seconds away from getting the shot. <br />This is a huge subject and there is much still left unsaid. After each trip you will be that much better at knowing what you like/need to have with you. Whatever you take try not to be too optimistic with the distance you can cover each day. Some spots are so beautiful you might want to linger longer and sometimes having all that you feel is necessary can make your progress a lot slower than you planned. Being under pressure by having too little time or food can make the trip miserable and is also dangerous. <br />Aside from good maps, good equipment, and enough food , perhaps the most important things to bring along are<strong>good sense and a deep respect for the power of nature</strong>. Underestimating what Nature is capable of, and overestimating what our bodies can handle are perhaps the most common reasons for a miserable trip (or worse!)<br />Good luck and have a great trip!</p>

<p >Matt<br />www.livingearthimpressions.com</p>

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<p>Hi, after just making the switch from CRT to TFT I can second the suggestion for the HP and for IPS panels. I have the 22" version, the HP2275w. It is a widescreen IPS panel and offers wide gamut color. I think close to 94% of Adobe RGB can be seen. The TN monitors were just to tricky for me to trust. Moving your head or adjusting your chair can make an image a touch too dark or a touch too light. If you are particular about how your images look in a print, on the internet, or on someone elses computer, I think you might not be satisfied with a TN panel. For what they do, the bang for buck ratio with either of these HP models is almost impossible to beat. <br>

One sidenote with a wide gamut monitor: if you don't use a color managed browser like Firefox or Safari (and turn the color management on, it is off by default on Firefox) the colors from the web look like day-glo cartoons. The big plus with the wide color gamut, in my experience anyway, is being able to see over-saturation that otherwise is only visible in print. <br>

best of luck!</p>

 

<p>ps. I am guessing that some of these problems came about with people making images out on the deck and then returning back to the warm ship without taking simple precautions against condensation. Antarctica in the summer is no worse than Europe or parts of North America in the winter. The 5D II is now almost through its first winter season and this is the only report of camera failure that I have heard about. It seems that if there were a serious problem with the camera there would be countless reports of failures from Canada to Scandanavia to Northern Japan. </p>

<p>For what its worth, I have used my 5D (Mark I) on 5 trips to Africa, shooting for extended periods by the ocean, near waterfalls, on the frigid summit of Kilimanjaro (-18 celsius) , in light rain, in humid rainforests (over 90% humidity), dusty safari tracks and in the Sahara etc.<br>

I have had it with in Greenland on the Ice Cap, in snow and freezing conditions. Also on 3 trips to the Himalaya to altitudes over 6000 meters in adverse weather as well as countless trips through European and North American forests in all kinds of weather. Of course I try to keep the camera as shielded as possible from the elements but my main priority is to get the shots and the 5D, without weather sealing, has yet to let me down.<br>

The camera may well be designed for the studio and "gentlemen amateurs" but I have been (much!) less than gentle with the camera and I am happy to say that it has taken the lickin' and keeps on tickin'!<br>

Based on my experience with the mark I , the lack of weather sealing on the Mark II would not deter me from buying it. However, if I didn't already have 5 digits worth of Canon lenses I would be seriously considering the Nikon D700, mainly for the AF and to use that sweeeeeet 14-24mm 2.8 lens.</p>

Hello,

 

After about 4 weeks of research I settled on the Nikon 5000 and am very pleased with it. While most of my better images will be scanned one at a time I went ahead and got the Nikon SF-210 auto slide feeder that can take around 50 slides at a time. This was the only scanner that I found with this option. Probably not what you want to use with the A1 images but if you have a large number of slides to digitally archive it certainly makes things easier. Load it up, make your settings and spend the next couple of hours (if multi-sampling) doing something else. The slide feeder is rather expensive (440$) relative to the cost of the scanner (950$) but if you have thousands of slides it will save you a lot of time.

Hello,

 

I am working with the same question at the moment. According to "Nikon Scan Tips by John Shaw", in order to offset the softening effects of digital ICE (on normal setting) the unsharp mask (on the scanner) can be set to 20-10-3 (intensity-halo-threshold). These were given as starting figures. Whether or not applying this before going into PS for editing is truly benificial remains a question. I have found many sources that recommend doing the sharpening in stages...but it seems the longer I look the more conflicting information I find !

So there's my 2 cents worth, actually more of a question than an answer. If I find anything more conclusive I'll paste the link.

good luck!