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Post by nextridgeover on Jul 17, 2021 14:44:05 GMT -8
I'll be on a 13 day trip in the Winds and for the first time would really like to take some pictures and video. I am not looking for YouTube fame, I simply would like to have a light tripod suitable for outdoors. If it doubles as a selfie stick even better. I'm carrying my phone, a Samsung S21 Ultra.
I'm not much of a photographer I just want to better document my trip. I am open to any and all suggestion as everyone here is more than likely better at this than me. And not just equipment but exposure or filters etc..
Hopefully this is in the right place. I wasn't sure if this forum is appropriate or the gallery.
Thank you in advance for any guidance
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jul 17, 2021 19:19:48 GMT -8
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Post by nextridgeover on Jul 18, 2021 4:00:02 GMT -8
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jul 18, 2021 4:47:30 GMT -8
First using selfie sticks can be dangerous. There have been many incidents where people have died using them. Mostly falling off cliffs but I read one recently where a guy was burnt to death by falling in a lava flow. In my opinion you should be paying attention to the moment you are in and enjoying it. Selfie sticks are vanity to many in the hiker community to the point some of your fellow hikers will hate you seeing you using one. I do take the occasional selfie but I hike solo a lot and am usually sending one to my wife to show I am OK (if cell service allows).
So full time selfie stick is probably not a good idea.
I personally carry my phone in a pouch on the waist belt of my Osprey. If there is a chance of water (falling in as well as rain) my phone happens to be able to fit in a quart zip-lock just right. I can still take OK pics through the bag.
You can do some searching here. There is lots of info on managing power on the trail in several threads. Try "battery pack" or "charging" as search terms. I carry an Anker 10,000 mAh pack when needed. The battery management is important if you are also counting on your phone for mapping and possible emergency communications.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 18, 2021 5:48:41 GMT -8
I definitely encourage carrying your camera where you can access it without taking off the pack. Most of us who carry a camera keep it in a belt or chest pouch of some sort.
I carried a mini tripod for a long time, until I gave it to my son. It was light and fit in my camera butt-pack, and could be strapped to a tree or the like as well as being free-standing.
I’m not as harsh as Ernie on the selfie use for it (though I wouldn’t carry a selfie-stick because it has only that one use and isn’t even a tripod). I’m not currently backpacking alone (that will come), but without my husband to take photos of me, I wouldn’t have any pictures of me—and when I’m showing my photos to my mom or my friends, they want to see me out there enjoying myself, not just the landscape.
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Post by nextridgeover on Jul 18, 2021 6:26:01 GMT -8
Trying to hold my phone out to take my own picture and I'm nothing but fumble fingers, hence the selfie stick.
Please look at the link I posted. I'd appreciate your thoughts. It's a selfie stick and a tripod that weighs under 6oz. My biggest concern with it would be setting up on uneven terrain. I don't know why because everything is perfectly flat outdoors when needing a flat spot.
My phone fits in my hip belt pocket of my pack but wouldn't leave room for any mounting hardware. That should make it easy to take a lot of pictures all along the trail.
I've never been a selfie taker, nor duck lip poser. I'd just like some cool pictures of me walking in the outdoors and some video of the laughter and camaraderie around dinner time.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jul 18, 2021 7:04:45 GMT -8
I've never been a selfie taker, nor duck lip poser. I'd just like some cool pictures of me walking in the outdoors and some video of the laughter and camaraderie around dinner time. Maybe we should take a step back. Have you ever done a trip as long as 11 days before? If not then I would suggest going as light as possible on gear. How many people are going with you? If none then I can see the selfie stick (maybe). But if others are with you would all taking pictures/videos then sharing them after with the group be OK? On an 11 day trip I would guess that on many of the dinners people will be tired and just want to eat then sleep. Maybe raining then. Gear for capturing dinner times may not get as much use as its weight merits.
P.S. Sorry if I sounded harsh about selfie sticks. You have to take the gear you need to achieve your goal. I would suggest don't make the pictures higher priority than finishing the trip and living the moment.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jul 18, 2021 7:14:04 GMT -8
though I wouldn’t carry a selfie-stick because it has only that one use and isn’t even a tripod FYI the link the OP posted is also a tripod but honestly more for a table or floor. Even if you found flat it might blow over. Take a closer look at the Ultrapod. It is made for taking pictures on the trail. I used to carry a light point and shoot with a tripod mount hole. The Ultrapod connected directly to the camera and worked great under a large number of conditions. The phone mount is new but so far has worked well for me.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jul 18, 2021 7:32:06 GMT -8
Here is a pic from me in the Catskills last fall. It was crowded on the summit of Twin Mt. But this is just the phone in the mount with me holding the folded legs on the Ultrapod. Not attached to any pole.
There was cell service on top so I was sending this home along with catching up on txt msgs. Off the top no cell at all. My twin daughters each also gave me one of their stuffed animals to keep me company and an eye on me. They liked the view too.
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Post by Coolkat on Jul 18, 2021 7:33:53 GMT -8
One of the past problems for me was carrying a big 35mm camera, I would stop, dig it out of my pack take 5 shots, load it back up and go. It was such a hassle I never fully documented the entirety of my trips. I had great shots of very few places. I don't have time right now to read the rest the responses so my apologies if this has already been talked about. But because of the situation you describe above I'll be using this on my hike in August. Worth taking a look at...
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2021 13:57:54 GMT -8
I carry an interchangable lens camera, micro four thirds. To have easy access, I have a camera bag mounted to my shoulder harness at chest level. Works best well for me, but most probably wouldn't want the weight.
As for a tripod, there are several available that have a removable center post and it becomes a monopod. I personally just carry a tripod. As for taking selfies I figured nobody's going to want to see me anyway!
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Jul 18, 2021 15:44:52 GMT -8
What do you want to do that requires a tripod? Especially for a phone I have a hard time seeing a use beyond getting more of me posing in front of landscape than a selfie stick would. For general phone photography imho a tripod is unnecessary. The stick does offer the better selfies so if that’s a priority it might be best to just get a good one that’s not a compromise.
I do use my iPhone for landscapes alongside my dSLR and never feel the lack of a tripod for it. Versus the very real need for big telephoto stability in waning light. If you routinely use trekking poles perhaps there’s a phone selfie clamp available so you’re being efficient on weight? A quick search at B&H video pulled up some options.
A good waterproof case like an Otterbox could be worth looking into, a double ziploc works for a buried in the pack phone but not one you want to generally use.
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Post by nextridgeover on Jul 18, 2021 18:17:45 GMT -8
Maybe we should take a step back. Have you ever done a trip as long as 11 days before? If not then I would suggest going as light as possible on gear. How many people are going with you? If none then I can see the selfie stick (maybe). But if others are with you would all taking pictures/videos then sharing them after with the group be OK? On an 11 day trip I would guess that on many of the dinners people will be tired and just want to eat then sleep. Maybe raining then. Gear for capturing dinner times may not get as much use as its weight merits.
P.S. Sorry if I sounded harsh about selfie sticks. You have to take the gear you need to achieve your goal. I would suggest don't make the pictures higher priority than finishing the trip and living the moment. The trip will be 13 days without resupply. My goal is to come in at 51lbs without water. Yes I have done multiple 9-11 day trips. There is a group of 8 starting out. 3 drop off after 6 days, 2 more drop off after 9 and three of us for the full 13. We all plan to take pictures and that is a great point as all have shared photos in the past. Why a tripod? This is a group known for laughter and light heartedness. Some of the dinner time conversations should be their own HBO comedy special. I thought it would be nice to relive those moments on video. Some group shots would be nice and a little video of catching trout. I can't say how it would go as I've never done it before but none of us started out with the perfect gear. There's a learning curve to each aspect of a trip for future reference. I looked at B&H. There is some cool gear there for sure. I'm beginning to lean the direction of a small tripod and and phone attachment like Earnie posted. I could take a few selfies and set up a short tripod as well.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Jul 18, 2021 19:29:16 GMT -8
I’d agree for around the campfire sort of group shots a short tripod would be a great tool: given how big a view a phone gives, the lower angle shouldn’t be an issue (most people around a camp would be sitting down anyway. And it’d save a lot of weight. I’ve a smallish Slik that I’d previously taken hiking even for standard landscape shots: it’s probably ten inches tall set up: but to steady the camera is as good as my full size Gitzo at a fraction of the weight, at least fir a small camera, not my current dSLR rigs. Probably referred to as a “tabletop”. If I needed a higher viewpoint I’d place it atop a rock, or my pack.
How are you going to power this rig for such seemingly extensive recording? There’s threads on here about solar. You might need a solar panel and battery pack (a lot of phones get picky about their power and when a panels output drops when it’s shaded the phone shuts off accepting power and ignores when it gets back in range unless manually reset: which is trouble). A battery isn’t picky that way. Many charge the battery during the day; the phone off the battery over night. I don’t use my phone extensively enough to do that, I just carry a small Anker while my dSLR s use proprietary batteries I just carry multiples of.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Jul 19, 2021 3:32:02 GMT -8
The trip will be 13 days without resupply. My goal is to come in at 51 lbs without water. Sorry to go here, but it is a backpacking forum after all. 51#s?!? Even with some heavy camera gear, that is a huge load. I probably carried such a load in my 30s and 40s, but since then have tried to keep my packload under 40 #s. Do you know what your base weight is? Are you interested in reducing that weight? Reducing your consumables weight?
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