Thru hike camera and downloading question

[jbrecon2]

I was wondering how thru hiker with a digital camera add their pics to trail journals while on a thru hike. I am not very technically savvy and i'm sure there is a simple answer. I am also looking for any simple camera suggestions. I've read alot of threads on here, but am just looking for something simple under 200 bucks. Should I buy a big memory card? Or do you generally download your pics than clear the camera?

[white_russian]

For uploading it is best to have someone at home do it for you. You don't want to tie up the computers and waste your town time doing it as you go. So to do this you need to get the pictures to them somehow. Some folks do this by mailing memory cards back and forth between home. Some folks do this by taking the card to a place like a CVS/Walgreens/RiteAid and having them burn the pictures to a CD that they can mail home.

[jbrecon2]

very helpful, thank you

[Don H]

I was thinking about having 4 batteries and 2 large memory cards.
I'd leave the charger at home along with 2 batteries and a memory card and swap out as needed.

[Lyle]

For uploading it is best to have someone at home do it for you. You don't want to tie up the computers and waste your town time doing it as you go. So to do this you need to get the pictures to them somehow. Some folks do this by mailing memory cards back and forth between home. Some folks do this by taking the card to a place like a CVS/Walgreens/RiteAid and having them burn the pictures to a CD that they can mail home.

Please, depending on how important your pics are to you, make at least two copies of the CD. Can probably get one made at Walgreens or where ever, then copy that at a library or hostel. I would then mail them home separately, a day or two apart. That way, you will reduce your chances of having them lost in the mail, even if there is a truck or plane accident, your two copies will be in separate shipments. Am I paranoid? Maybe, but I would hate to loose my photos. Once you erase your SD card, you have only the one copy. I wouldn't wholly trust it to the mail without taking precautions. YMMV.

[jbrecon2]

has anyone figured out a way to log or mark the pics so that you know where and when they were taken? I often wonder about this when i see the pics on trail journals. if they are going back in way later, how could they possibly remember where they were?

[Ramble~On]

I did two things.
One. I carried one huge memory card and downloaded when I could.

Two. I took photos with my phone and sent them to a support person who uploaded them to my trail journal.

[Johnny Swank]

has anyone figured out a way to log or mark the pics so that you know where and when they were taken? I often wonder about this when i see the pics on trail journals. if they are going back in way later, how could they possibly remember where they were?

I take photos with both my camera and iPhone. The phone automatically geotags the photos, so I can get a decent idea of where they were taken. I most often just send pictures directly from the phone to my website instead of trying to upload anything from the field.

+1 on being paranoid about making copies of the photo CD and sending them separately. It's a small price to pay for knowing you'll (probably) still have all your photos.

I've been shooting more video lately, and that eats memory for breakfast. Still don't have a decent way to back that up other thank just carrying more cards and hoping for the best. I'd almost consider bouncing a netbook every couple weeks and plan on spending a half day doing nothing by photo/video backups.

[Miner]

I sometimes took a photo with my cell phone. My journal allowed me to post an entry with an attached photo via a photo text message. Additional photos taken with my camcorder were added in town and had internet access by using a USB card reader.

You can send you cards home to someone to copy them and then mail them back to you while you use another card. As I was carrying a flash memory camcorder and had huge memory requirements for the video, I carried an external USB harddrive in my bounce box that I would copy photos and video to when I had computer access.

[bigcranky]

has anyone figured out a way to log or mark the pics so that you know where and when they were taken? I often wonder about this when i see the pics on trail journals. if they are going back in way later, how could they possibly remember where they were?

When you look at the photo on the back of the camera, it will show a unique file name -- something like IMG1234.jpg. It's easy enough to write in your journal that file name and a brief description of the place, or just the range of filenames that you shot on any given day. (So my journal page might say "April 5, 11 miles from Hot Springs to Spring Mountain Shelter, images 1234 through 1289.") If I write down the names of specific places or people I see along the trail, I might write the filename next to them. This is a lot easier to do the same day, rather than weeks later, if your memory is anything like mine.

Some cameras allow audio tagging -- recording a short audio snippet that is permanently attached to the photo file. This is a regular part of my workflow at work -- it's a lot easier than writing caption info in a notebook -- but my point and shoot camera makes this difficult and so I never remember to do it on the Trail.

[Franco]

If geotagging (automatically) is important to you , look at the Sony GPS-CS3KA . There are other similar units on the market.
Franco