A photographers guide to trekking

Dusty pass, very high up in the Bolivian Cordillera Real

During our round-the-world trip, we did a lot of treks. Mostly we did high-altitude treks in the Andes and the Himalayas, but also a few in the jungles of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. During these treks, I always took my camera and a few lenses along in the hope of capture a few good photographs. Here are a few tips I learnt along the way. Hopefully they'll help you out!

Keeping Your Gear Powered

Unless you're planning on shooting with a film Leica (which doesn't need batteries) it's crucial to make sure you've got enough power for your camera. There's nothing worse than being in the most beautiful place in the world and having a dead camera.

Chances are, if you're trekking into the wilderness, you won't always have access to electricity, so make sure that you're not caught out with flat batteries.

• If your camera uses AA batteries use rechargeable NiMH batteries rather than non-rechargeables. NiMH batteries will last up to four times longer on a single charge than an alkaline. The only exception to this is if you're expecting to use your camera in extremely cold weather, in which case you should use lithium batteries.
• If you do take non-rechargeable batteries (alkaline or lithium), don't dispose of them during your trek. Keep them until you can recycle them properly.
• Recharge your rechargeable batteries as close to the time of the trek as possible, as they'll run down on their own if left charged for a long time. For li-ion batteries, the discharge rate is only 1-3% per month, but with NiMHs this can be as high as 30%-50% per month.

Cold temperature performance of batteries

• At below freezing, a popular myth is that you should keep your batteries inside your sleeping-bag at night to prevent damage from the cold. For lithium-ion batteries, permanent damage will only occur from -40ºC. If it's that cold inside your tent, you've probably got bigger problems than your batteries being damaged! The only exception to this is if you expect to use your camera immediately after waking, in which case you'll want them to be warm.
• As temperatures drop below zero, battery performance drops rapidly. In other words, the colder the battery, the less charge it will be able to supply at that time. Lithium batteries have (by far) the best performance in the cold, then Lithium-Ion, then alkaline batteries. NiMH batteries perform worst in cold weather.
• When taking photos in very cold weather, keep your batteries warm by keeping them inside your jacket.

More detailed information is available here: http://www.climber.org/gear/batteries.html and http://batterydata.com/

Annapurna Base Camp at Dawn. Cold!

Keeping Your Gear Clean and Dry

One of the biggest problems you'll face while trekking is keeping your camera gear clean and dry. In deserts and at high altitude, the ever-present dust can be almost as fine as talcum powder and it will get into everything and especially onto your lenses and sensors. I've come to accept that I'll have some dust spots in my pictures, but these are easy (if not particularly fun) to clean up later in lightroom or photoshop. Here are a few tips to keeping your gear as clean as possible:

• Avoid changing lenses if possible, but if you have to, do it in as wind-free and as dust-free an environment as you can find.
• Turn off your camera while changing lenses. While your camera is on, the sensor is charged and will attract dust particles.
• If you're sleeping in a tent, put your camera and lenses inside lightweight foldable drybags to prevent condensation collecting on your gear while you sleep.
• Before you leave for your trek, collect some silica gels packets and keep these inside your camera bags and lens pouches to cut down condensation.
• If you've yet to purchase a camera, choose one with a built-in sensor cleaning function. These work fairly well at getting less stubborn dust particles off your sensor.
• Make sure you take a lens-cloth and/or a lens-pen to clean your lens.
• This may seem obvious, but always protect your lens from dust with a UV filter. It's amazing how many people don't.

More information about sensor cleaning is available here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/sensor-cleaning.shtml

Machapuchare, Nepal

Protecting Your Gear

By protecting I mean from bumps and knocks, rather than anything to do with security. For our treks we've either used a porter to carry a backpack with our overnight gear or hired mules and a horseman for the moving our luggage . During the day, we carried smaller day packs with water, food, warm clothes and of course camera equipment.

If you're trekking with a DSLR, lenses and filters, you're probably considering using a camera backpack. I didn't — opting instead for a set of ThinkTank's modular lens pouches, a holster camera bag and a normal backpack. Each lens has it's own pouch, and I kept my camera in a ThinkTank Digital Holster 50. This has some big advantages over a camera backpack:

• You can select a backpack which is specifically designed for trekking and is comfortable for all-day-long use. Most of the camera backpacks that I've tried wouldn't be very comfortable if you had to wear them all-day, every-day for 11+ days while hiking over high-altitude passes. Also, they lack many features which trekkers consider useful, like camel packs, good waist support, back airflow systems, etc.
• Using lens pouches means you have the option of moving some of your lenses out of your day pack and into your main luggage. For example, if it's particularly cold and you need space in your daypack for an extra fleece, you can move some of your lenses into your main bag that's being transported by mule. Or, if you're expecting the day's hike to be particularly difficult and you want to lighten your load, you could do the same. If you're using a camera backpack, your lenses won't be in pouches when you move them into your main luggage and therefore won't be protected.
• Fleeces, outer-shells, gloves, water, food all take up a lot of space and many camera backpacks don't have enough space for non-camera gear.

Additionally, the ThinkTank modular bags come with built-in rain-covers, which provide excellent protection in case it starts raining.

• One more way of looking after your lenses: use a hood. Obviously the main reason to use a hood is to prevent lens-flare, but they're also great at protecting your lens from knocks. The hood on my main lens bears many scars from knocks which would otherwise connected with the lens itself.

Been trekking recently? Can you think of any other tips? Leave your comments below!

Machu Picchu. Beware of Condensation