Photo Gear

Deciding the contents of the photographic backpack to take on this adventure proved more difficult than I expected. It was hard to know what conditions to expect, how close (or far away) the wildlife would be, how easy it would be to protect the equipment in a relatively unknown range of climatic conditions, and how easy (or difficult) it would be to keep batteries charged for cameras, flashguns and storage equipment.

Like a good boy scout I was prepared for everything, with the result that my backpack weighed in at nearly 15kg (thank goodness the airlines never checked the weight!). Based around the Konica-Minolta Dynax 7D dSLR (2 bodies), I carried a Sigma 50-500mm super-zoom (Bigma), a Minolta 200mm f4 macro-telephoto, a Sigma 18-125mm, a Sigma 12-24mm wide-zoom, a Sigma 50mm macro, a Metz MZ-54 flashgun, plenty of spare batteries and a Giga-Vu Pro 60GB storage/media player. A Pentax Optio WP went everywhere with me, including under water when snorkelling. It provided some images that would not have been possible with the 7D kit.

With the 7D I captured RAW + JPG. However, the jpg's were good enough for me to use them for 6x8 prints and this web site, with only a little post-processing in Photoshop for exposure and minor sharpening.

We were concerned about managing battery power, but it turned out be much easier than anticipated. Apart from having plenty of extra batteries (not a cheap factor, but clearly much less expensive than many rolls of films needing to be processed), we found power points at La Selva Lodge, at our Quito hotel of course, and even in our cabin on the GAP Adventurer boat.

Apart from moisture in the air, the biggest risk was the extremely fine sand on some beaches. This is derived from coral ground down over millions of years and has the consistency of whole-meal flour. It has a tendency to stick to everything, especially if a little moist, and seems to get through most fabric weaves. Regular cleaning of equipment with good air blowers was essential. All the gear appears to have come back home in excellent condition.

Communications with home were easily handled with the ubiquitous cyber-cafés in Quito and on San Cristobal and Santa Cruz islands. Appropriately for the jungle experience, La Selva has no guest communications available... hey, you're in the jungle!