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THE TREK
Day 1: At first, the trip proceeded no differently than any other photographic endeavor. I took a number of photos, downloaded and reviewed them without a problem. In addition, I was able to recharge my batteries at the single outlet in the “lodge” we were staying at.
Day 2: The next morning, I was rudely awakened to the reality of where I was. I turned the camera on, but it didn’t turn on. I thought maybe it was the battery, but switching batteries didn’t help. Then magically, it just turned on. My theory is that it just needed to warm up.
Tech Tip #3:
In really cold conditions, sleep with your camera.
From then on, I slept with my camera in my sleeping bag. This did the trick.
Day 3: Woke up before sunrise to take some pre-dawn photographs. In the dim light and cold conditions, everything worked properly. After reviewing my photographs and getting some breakfast I decided to take a few shots of the town I was staying. A new error message appeared on the camera, “Error Message 01”, and it wouldn’t go away.
Tech Tip #4:
Always carry your owner’s manual.
Fortunately, I carry my manual with me on long trips like this. I would never have guessed that “Error Message 01” required cleaning my lens contacts. A quick application of some cleaner to the contacts of both my lens and camera, and the problem was solved.
The rest of the day was uneventful. I downloaded and reviewed all of my photographs with the only event being the spectacle I made of myself in the lodge. Few locals have seen anywhere near the technology I packed.
Day 4: Hiked high into the Himalayas today, past any form of modern technology. The terrain and scenery varied greatly, causing me to change lens often. I paid the price. I needed to clean both the lens and the sensor in the camera. Cleaning the sensor was difficult with the low light of our “lodge”. I used a trekker’s head lamp to provide the necessary directional light to get the job done.
While I always thought interchangeable lenses gave great flexibility in taking pictures, the constant struggle with dust and dirt started to make me question whether it was worth it.
Today I also realized I was missing an important piece of equipment, a neutral density filter. I happened by an incredible waterfall. On automatic, the picture came out stellar. However, I wanted the waterfall to have a motion blur. When I slowed the shutter speed, the picture became overexposed (even with the polarizer).
Final notes on the day: I had to pay for electricity to recharge. Also, although the humidity is so bad that you can feel the dampness in the beds, it hasn’t effected my equipment at all.
