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 headlamp 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.

The story continues...