backpacking

[Joseph O'Neil]

reading the thread on the Luminouse landscape article, cconcerns about hauling batteries and the like around with you, the thought came to me - how many people actually do backpack?

For me, I backpack my 4x5 everywhere, litterally from downtown Toronto to the mountians of Colorado. My two graphics - 4x5 - they alternate "living" full time in my Lowepro backpack. I very seldom drive anywhere with my monorail.

Also, I learned the hard way 25 years ago when I bought my first "real" camera - a Nikon - that very cold winter temperatures can kill a battery real quick, a spoil a day of shooting. Murphy's law and all that.

Ever since then, in any format I ever shot, it was always a mechanical, manual camera - Nikon FM series, Mamyia C330, and then LF. That backed up with one of a handfull of hand held light meters that are pwoered by light - no battery. In fact, the only thing I use today that needs a battery is my Pentax spot meter .

So just curious, how many people do haul around thier LF cameras backpacking, is is ther more LF work done by people in studio, or driving to a site, etc?

joe

[Scott Rosenberg]

i hike with my 4x5 all the time.

i hike with my 8x10 some of the time.

technika when great distances or overnighting in the wilds, f-line when i don't need room for food/bag/tent/etc.

[Bruce Watson]

The only camera bag I've got is my backpack. Total kit weighs about 16-17 Kg with water. I mostly day hike these days, but I'm at my happiest and most productive on a 15+ Km trek.

[Michael Gordon]

If you own the appropriate gear for the job, hauling around the right 4x5 kit is no different than carrying a multi-lens MF or smaller kit. Almost all of my photographs are made some distance from a car, whether it be day-hiking or overnight. I'm perhaps still too young, so my daypack weight is irrelevant, and it wouldn't concern me if I carried 40lbs of kit (although I do not). My average backpacking kit is about 17lbs (everything, including three lenses, a few filters, tripod, and film). I can trim a couple or three pounds off of that for more difficult terrain or greater elevation gain.

[Juergen Sattler]

I backpack with my 4x5 and my 8x10 - both are reasonably lightweight (Canham and Wehman). I hardly ever shoot from near the car - I like remote locations. When I go on a really long trek I backpack with my Mamiya 645 and two to three lenses - a long trek would be more than 12 miles or an overnight hike.

[William Mortensen]

My 8x10 kit in a big f/64 backpack weighs 45-50 pounds, including 5 lenses, 7 filmholders, lf condiments, and water. Add a tripod (the big ol' Ries or Bogen 3021), and it's 60+ pounds...

I tore the meniscus (it ain't just a lens!) in my right knee landing a hang glider last summer, (http://www.sahga.com/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=58). It's not back all the way, so I'm good for about a mile or two day hike. But it's not so much the distance as the speed; when I'm photographing, I move slowly because I'm looking all around, pausing to examine, and if I set up the camera, it's a 10-20 minute break. Not gonna cover much ground at that pace...

[Brian Sims]

I backpack with my 4x5 all the time. Three to four days. 30-40 miles, often 3,000 to 5,000 feet ov elevation. 25-30 lbs of photo gear depending on how much film and whether I take a third lens. If I don't have kids (teenagers who are stronger and faster hikers than I) then I leave the stove and fuel at home and just take finger food (I take chocolate espresso beans to keep the DTs under control). I've got a very lite bag and tent...so the total pack is about 50 lbs. So, when I solo, I just take it slower--more rests stops.

I've noticed that my best shots are after I've been out there a couple of days. For those of you who climb or hike for multi day trips, do you seem to see more clearly after you've been out there a while?

[Robert Skeoch]

Yes, I back pack with my camera. This fall I spent four days on the north east end of Algonquin solo hiking.
I walked into high falls area with my tent and kit, then in the morning hiked back to the car and grabbed the 8x10 and gear. I shot in that area for three days then made the two trips out.
Lot of work....... but it was great to get out.
-Rob Skeoch

[Bill_1856]

"If it's more than 100 yards from the car, it ain't photogenic." (A well-know quote by one of the Westons -- probably Brett.)

[Scott Bacon]

Count me in as an LF backpacker. These days, with a growing family and shrinking free time, I still try to get into the backcountry for at least 2 overnights per year, 2-4 nights each. LF in the wilderness is one of the joys in my life!