Stay in Charge of Your Batteries

The Achilles heel of digital cameras is that they need power—lots of it. But what do you do when you're in the middle of nowhere and you want to keep shooting?

I'm going to start out by saying that you should always have an extra battery on hand. Digital cameras are power-hungry beasts that behave only as long as you feed their insatiable appetite for electricity. Once the juice runs out, they're about as useful as the box they came in.

When you're traveling, be sure to take your charger and extra battery with you. Each night, put the battery you've been using all day in the charger and put the spare in the camera. Then, when you take off the next morning, pull the freshly charged battery out of the charger and put it in your camera bag. Continue this rotation throughout the trip.

If you have a particularly demanding shooting day, that extra battery will be as welcome as the Calvary when the first one fails. Just remember to charge both once you return to the room.

• Car Chargers for Road Trips

The previous routine should work great for 90% of your travels. But what do you do on extended road trips and hikes in the backcountry, when an electrical outlet isn't right there beside your bed at night? You could take enough extra batteries to last the entire trip. If you figure one cell a day, you're probably safe, with a little discipline. My problem is that I always want to review my images at night, and that uses battery power. So I find that the one-cell-a-day regimen is a little stringent for my diet. Not to mention that most rechargeable Lithium batteries cost US$50 or more each.

Car travelers have a great alternative. Almost every camera manufacturer makes a cigarette-lighter attachment for their chargers. Your charge-and-use routine is a little different when using these tools. Instead of recharging at night, while you sleep, you charge up during the day, while you're driving. The trick to car chargers is to use them while the engine is running; otherwise, you'll drain your car battery. Running out of juice for your camera is one thing, but a dead car battery is a whole new level of distress.

Once you get your routine down, you can span the entire country with just two camera batteries and your car charger. If, for some reason, your camera doesn't have an optional car-charger accessory, all is not lost. Every electronics store carries DC to AC inverters that will also do the trick. You plug the inverter into your cigarette-lighter socket and plug your regular battery charger into the inverter. Yes, this system is a tad more bulky than the dedicated car charger, but it works just as well.

• Solar Chargers in the Middle of Nowhere

If you plan on spending some extended quality time with Mother Nature, you'll discover that it's much easier to recharge your mind, body, and soul than it is to recharge your digicam. This is the most challenging scenario.

Solar cells have become more efficient and definitely more portable in recent years. One impressive example, the Brunton Solarroll 14, rolls up to a 12" 3" cylinder for easy travel. It weights only 17 ounces but produces 14 watts of power. When it's time to charge your camera battery, just roll out the mat, attach your battery charger to the solar cell, and put Mother Nature to work for you. Solar power might be free, but the Solarroll isn't cheap. It costs about US$399.

Certainly, there are cheaper alternatives that you can construct yourself. Solar World (http://www.solarworld.com) is a great resource for build-your-own solar projects. They carry a variety of modules that you can custom-configure for your needs. Just make sure you have enough cells to recharge your camera battery in a six-hour period. Otherwise, you might not be able to keep up with your camera's appetite for power.

For every power challenge you might encounter on the road, there's a solution. The key to success is planning ahead and gathering the right equipment so that you and your camera can stay charged and shooting for the duration of the trip.

Double-Strapping on the Trail

Tired of your camera bouncing around during your hike? Strap it into place, for comfort and for fast access.

Here's the hiking photographer's dilemma: do you stash your camera in the backpack so that it doesn't bounce around and possibly get damaged, or do you leave it around your neck so that you're ready for the next shot, no matter how uncomfortable it is?

I can tell you right now that I'm a big fan of finding ways to keep your camera handy. Great outdoor shots present themselves with little warning, and they are usually gone within seconds. Your camera might be safe and sound in your backpack, but it also won't have nearly as many exciting pictures on it. You might miss the shot of a lifetime!

That said, my gosh, it's aggravating to have a camera swinging every which way as you try to navigate the up-and-down terrain of trail hiking. I've even encountered situations, such as crossing a stream on a log, when my swinging camera just about threw me off balance. Falling in the stream is not good for one's morale, nor is it healthy for the life of your digital camera.

If you've followed the evolution of outdoor and backpacking equipment, you know that things are pretty high-tech in that world too. Flashlights have multiple LEDs for illumination, camp stoves are feather-light and burn with welding-torch-like intensity, and the array of straps and pouches available provide lots of options for toting your gear. The shooter's belt by Cameras Up (http://www.camerasup.com), is perfect for photographers on the go.

One of my favorite setups involves using one Op/Tech USA (http://www.optechusa.com) strap around my neck and adding a second stabilizer strap around my midsection. This arrangement holds the camera snugly against my body, while providing quick access when a shot presents itself.

I prefer the Op/Tech stabilizer strap because it is made out of a rugged neoprene material that acts as a shock absorber as you move about. The camera actually feels lighter than it does with other types of straps. Plus, the Op/Tech strap has quick-release buckles that enable you to detach the camera from the strap at a moment's notice.

Op/Tech also makes a Bino/Cam Harness that enables you to slide the camera up and down the straps without actually having to detach it—very nifty.

You can create your own strapping system with basic nylon straps and buckles purchased from any camping store. Just remember to get quick-release buckles so that you're not fumbling with your straps when Big Foot goes strolling by.

T-Mounts and Other Threaded Tricks

Digital SLR users can connect their camera bodies to a variety of bargain optical attachments by using one of the most enduring adapters of all: the T-mount.

The best camera for photographer-hackers is certainly the digital SLR (DSLR). From outward appearances, these cameras look just like the 35mm single lens reflex (SLR) models that photographers have been using for decades. SLRs are distinguished by the ability to remove the lens from the body and replace it with another type, which makes them extremely versatile. The other advantage is that you view the picture through the same lens you use to take the photo, so what you see is what you get. DSLRs work the same way. The only difference is that they have an image sensor instead of film.

DSLRs are a lot of fun for hackers, because when you remove the lens, you can attach just about any optical accessory to the camera body, including microscopes, telescopes, slide copiers, and much more.

At first, you might hold the microscope in one hand and the camera body in the other and wonder how the heck these two items can work with each other. Generally, this happens via some type of adapter. For example, telescopes have an adapter that replaces the eyepiece, and you attach your camera to the adapter. The same goes for microscopes and other optical goodies.

But you still need a way to connect your camera to the adapter. If you don't want to shell out the big bucks for a custom adapter made by your camera manufacturer, you can make this connection by using a common photographic tool called a T-mount.

T-mounts are simple devices, really nothing more than a thick metal ring. On one side, there's a bayonet-styled mount (like the one on the base of your camera lens) that attaches the ring to your camera body. Inside the ring, you'll notice there are threads. These are a standard size that most adapters in the universe screw into snugly.

So, all you have to do is screw the optical adapter (as for a telescope) into the T-mount, tighten it, and then attach the unit to your camera body. You're in business! Now, your camera will mount on whatever optical lens the adapter is designed for.

It's a good idea to find a T-mount that works with your digital camera. Once you do, just about any optical adapter you find in the bargain bin will now mount on your state-of-the-art camera. For example, my slide copier is over 20 years old, but it works great on my state-of-the-art DSLR because I have a T-mount to hook the two together.

• Adapters Made by Scope Manufacturers

Many spotting-scope and telescope manufacturers provide camera adapters for their products. For example, Kowa (http://www.kowascope.com) makes a photo and video adapter (TSN-VA1); you simply slide the camera lens into the adapter, tighten the mounting screw, and connect it to a Kowa spotting scope. If your camera has a filter ring, Kowa's TSN-DA1 adapter will screw into it.

Many other scope manufactures make similar adapters. If you plan on buying a telescope or spotting scope, be sure to check the accessory line for camera adapters.

• The Simple Reversing Ring

T-mounts have a first cousin called the reversing ring. A reversing ring looks similar a to T-mount, but instead of having internal threads to attach a variety of optical accessories, it has external threads that screw into the filter ring on the front of your lens. This enables you to literally reverse your lens so that the front optic is mounted to the camera and the back optic is pointed out to the world.

Why the heck would you want to do such a thing? Well, when you turn your lens around, you increase its magnification. So suddenly, thanks to this little round piece of metal, you can get closer to your subjects for some serious macro photography.

Some camera makers, such as Nikon, make special reversing rings for their electronic cameras, with delicate contacts near the lens mount. Make sure you get a reversing ring that's suitable for your camera; otherwise, you might damage its electronics.

• Extension Tubes

If you don't like the idea of having your lens turned around, there's another economical way to increase magnification for close-up photography. Extension tubes are "spacers" in different widths that go between your camera lens and its body. The more you increase the distance, the higher your magnification will be. Kenko makes automatic extension tubes for a variety of camera models that are readily available at many retail camera stores.

Extension tubes have the advantage of retaining some or all of the camera's functionality, such as adjusting the aperture, because they have the same contacts as your lens. Reversing rings don't provide that functionality.

The major drawback of extension tubes is that the farther you move the lens away from the camera body, the darker the image becomes, and the more light you need for a good exposure. When using tubes in low light, it can be hard to focus on your subject.

Most people invest in DSLRs so that they can change lenses more easily. But the less obvious advantage is that, by using a few of these simple adapters, you can mount your camera to just about anything with a lens. And that opens up a whole new world of photography.

Convert Your Digicam to a Digital SLR

Shading the LCD monitor for easier viewing during replay is one thing, but why not go all the way and use the monitor as a virtual SLR viewfinder for shooting images too?

Shading your LCD monitor makes viewing the picture in bright sunlight much more enjoyable. But with a little refinement, you can adapt this technique for taking pictures too, creating a virtual digital SLR.

One of the major attractions of single lens reflex (SLR) cameras is that you see the picture through the same lens that records the image. It's WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") photography. In contrast to SLRs, most compact digital cameras provide one lens for taking the picture and another (often referred to as the optical viewfinder) for viewing the image.

One of the problems with optical viewfinders is that they're offset from the picture-taking lens, so the composition you're looking at isn't the same one the camera is going to record. This setup is called parallax, and the closer you get to the subject the more pronounced the effect will be. The other common problem with most digicams' optical viewfinders is that they're just not very good. You don't get a full view of the subject, and what you do get isn't that great.

You do have another option: you can look through your digicam's LCD monitor when you take the picture. This has created a whole new look in photography: the arm's-length shooting pose. Photographers everywhere are holding their digital cameras out from their body to align what's on the screen. Not only is this pose awkward at times, it's also not good photographic technique, because it's harder to steady the camera during exposure at arm's length. Beyond that, some people have a hard time keeping a straight horizon line when holding an LCD this way. Something seems to get lost in translation.

When visiting the Hoodman (http://www.hoodmanusa.com) booth at the Photo Marketing Association show in Las Vegas, I discovered a great solution to all of these problems. Hoodman has designed a special monitor hood, called the Digital Camera Hood, that straps onto just about any model with a 1.8-inch or smaller LCD screen.

The open end fits around the outside of your LCD monitor, and the other end holds a 2x magnifying eyepiece. The Digital Camera Hood attaches easily in just a few seconds. When not in use, it folds up compactly, taking up little space in your camera bag.

To use the Digital Camera Hood, just attach it to the camera, turn on your camera, and view the picture through its eyepiece. Your simple digicam has just been upgraded to a virtual digital SLR with electronic viewfinder.

You can use this rig in any lighting condition. You can both shoot and review your images with it, and you can now hold the camera normally, enabling you to take sharper pictures because you're holding the camera more steadily. As a bonus, the increased magnification of the LCD monitor makes it easier to determine picture quality before you take the shot. This is a great time-saver, because you don't have to stop and review the image you just recorded (using the camera's magnification function) to see if you got the shot you wanted.

You might not want to use the Digital Camera Hood when you're on the go, toting your digicam in your pocket. But when you're engaged in serious shooting, close-up work, landscapes, and anything with a tripod, I think you'll find that this setup is a good way to improve your pictures.

Battle the Sun with an LCD Hood

Your camera's LCD viewing screen is one of its most exciting features—except, that is, when you're standing in bright sunlight and can't see the pictures on it.

If you ask people what they like best about their digital camera, many will say it's the LCD viewing screen that provides instant gratification right after you take the shot. How could you not love it? You can review the image, analyze its pros and cons, and then either keep it or try again—instant gratification at its best.

Too often, though, this love affair comes to a screeching halt when you're working in bright, direct sun. Your once color-rich LCD fades to a nearly indistinguishable shell of its former greatness. What happened?

The sun happened. Many LCD monitors hate the sun and don't fare well in its presence. To combat this problem, you have two options. You could purchase a state-of-the-art digital camera, such as the Contax SL300R T* , that uses a new technology called DayFine to preserve the screen's color fidelity regardless of the ambient light. Contax's parent company, Kyocera, originally developed this screen for their smart phones, which are constantly used in these types of lighting conditions.

If you're not in the mood to go out and buy a new digicam, you have to find a way to shield your existing LCD monitor from the sun's blinding rays. Hoodman (http://www.hoodmanusa.com) has excelled at providing glare relief for digicam owners. They make a variety of custom hoods that attach to almost every digital camera LCD on the market. The nylon hoods are well made and most sell for US$15 to $20. They fold up and take up hardly any room in your camera bag.

You might also want to take a look at the offerings from Screen-Shade (http://www.screenshade.com). They offer LCD shades for digital cameras, camcorders, and laptops. Their camera shades run between US$20 and $40, depending on size and whether a glass magnifier is included.

A clever homemade solution for photographers who have magnifying loupes to view their film transparencies is to adapt the magnifier to mount on the LCD screen. Models such as the Peak 2038 4X and the Horizon 4X, which have a two-inch viewing base for looking at medium-format film, can also be used as a nifty LCD viewer. You want to make sure you use the opaque base so that no stray light comes in, and stay away from loupes stronger than 4x, as that's just too much magnification for your LCD monitor.

If you want, you can attach the loupe to the camera by cutting strips of adhesive-backed Velcro and adhering them the base of the loupe and the body of the camera. That way, you can easily remove the magnifier when it isn't needed. Not only does this rig provide you with sun relief so that you can actually see the picture you just took, it also makes it easier to inspect the fine details of the image.

Another trick is to take a plastic slide box, drill a hole in the bottom about the size of a U.S. quarter, and then use the Velcro strips to attach the open side of the box to the camera. If possible, use a black box to block out the light better. The main drawback of this solution is that it doesn't fold up like commercially made shades.

No matter which route you take, they're all better than cupping your hand around the LCD while squinting and trying to discern the picture you just took.

Bubble Levels to Keep Things Straight

Many digital photographers have a difficult time keeping their horizons straight while peering into their digicam's LCD monitor. Here's how to straighten things up.

For some reason, it's more difficult to compose a straight horizon line with a digital camera's LCD monitor than with a traditional SLR viewfinder. You could use the optical viewfinder that's included with most digital cameras, but the problem is that many of them show only about 85% of the actual area that's being photographed. Plus, quite honestly, they're not that accurate.

Regardless of how you frame your shots, LCD or optical, a bubble level attached to your camera can really help straighten things out. Bubble levels are helpful for composing architecture, landscapes, panoramas, and anything else that needs a straight horizontal line.

At various online retailers, you can buy bubble levels designed specifically for cameras. For example, the Hama Double-Bubble Level is a precision instrument that slides into the hot shoe atop your camera, enabling you to level it on two axes. The only downside is that these accessories are relatively expensive. The Hama level, for example, runs about US$30.

If you have more time than money, you can make your own bubble level. Hardware stores carry pocket bubble levels, often for US$3 or less. Find one that looks suitable for your camera. If your model has a hot shoe, all you have to do is find a spare shoe that will slide into it. This is one reason why I have a box of old equipment that includes broken cameras, dead flashes, and orphaned straps. If you have an old flash or any accessory that was designed to fit in your camera's hot shoe, you can detach the foot and attach it to your bubble level with a spot of glue. The trick here is to make sure the foot and the level are flush against each other when you glue them. Otherwise, your homemade device might not be accurate when you attach it to the camera.

If your camera doesn't have a hot shoe, just get a level with a flat bottom and set it on top of your camera. As long as the level rests flush against the camera's surface, you're in business.

To use the bubble level, simply mount your camera on a tripod and attach the level. Adjust the tripod until the bubble is centered, as shown in, and the resulting picture should be nice and square. This is particularly helpful when shooting multiframe panoramas.

Regardless of whether you buy a professional photographer's bubble level or make your own, you'll find that it will help you overcome crooked horizons and leaning buildings. Just like the carpenter says: measure twice and shoot once.

A Flexible Arm to Hold Accessories

How many times have you wished for an extra hand when you're shooting? Here's one you can attach to your camera's hot shoe or tripod socket.

When you're shooting without a tripod, it's best to have both hands on the camera to keep it steady and record sharp images. But sometimes you need to shade the lens from the sun or hold a small item while you photograph it. An extra hand would be invaluable at those times.

The folks at GranView Camera have invented a unique accessory called the Flare Buster (http://www.multiclip.com) that might turn out to be one of the most versatile tools in your camera bag. This ingenious item is simply a flexible arm that's 15 inches long with a camera mount on one end and a sturdy clip on the other. You can attach it to your camera via the tripod socket or the hot shoe. Then, use the clip on the other end to hold whatever it is you need held.

The Flare Buster kit comes with a card that can serve as a shade against the sun, two vignettes that are handy for portraits because they soften the edges of the frame around the subject, and a couple of reflectors.

Now, the fun begins. If you need a simple lens shade, put the supplied card in the clip and position it so that it protects the front of your lens from the glare of the sun. The flexible arm moves easily but stays firmly in position. For cameras that don't accept filters, simply attach the filter to the clip and position it in front of your lens. Who needs filter screw threads when you have a Flare Buster?

Digital cameras have amazing close-up focusing ability. Usually, the hardest part is correctly positioning the item you're photographing. Why not attach the item to the Flare Buster and position it any way you want, as illustrated in? You don't even need a tripod; because the item is now connected to the camera, they move in unison.

For a super-soft background when shooting close-ups with the Flare Buster, try moving the camera from left to right during the exposure. This is called panning, and you can get some evocative effects with it.

Or, for close-up subjects that are fine where they are, such as a flower in the ground, attach one of the reflectors to the clip and use the flexible arm to reflect a little fill light to your close-up photography by bouncing light back onto the subject.

Flare Buster kits range from US$30 to $36 depending on the configuration. They are well made and fit easily in your camera bag. You'll always have that extra hand available to make photography just a little bit easier.

Flash Brackets for Pro Lighting

If your camera accepts an external flash, you might think that will solve your problems with red eye. Well, almost.

Many prosumer digital cameras provide a means for attaching an external flash. More often than not, the connection is provided by what is commonly called a hot shoe: a postage-stamp-sized bracket on top of the camera into which you can slide an external flash.

Photographers usually think that purchasing an optional flash unit and attaching it to the hot shoe will make their red-eye problems magically disappear. Indeed, an external flash does help reduce red eye. But sometimes merely sliding a flash into the hot shoe doesn't get rid of the problem altogether.

The best way to ensure that you'll never have red eye again is to use a special bracket to move your external flash even farther away from the camera. You'll also need a dedicated flash cord (made by the camera manufacturer) that allows the flash to communicate with the camera as if it were still mounted in the hot shoe. Typically, these special flash cords cost between US$35 and $50.

As for the flash bracket itself, I think the best commercial one is the Stroboframe Quick Flip 350 (catalog #310-635) distributed by Tiffen (http://www.saundersphoto.com). The Quick Flip is easy to use. You mount your camera to the base of the bracket by turning the screw into the camera's tripod socket. You then put one end of the dedicated flash cord into the camera's hot shoe and attach the other end to the top of the bracket. Now all you have to do is attach the flash to the cord on top of the bracket, and you're in business

Depending on the height of your camera, the flash is now positioned six to eight inches higher than it was previously in the camera's hot shoe. Not only does this configuration eliminate red eye completely, it also serves the dual purpose of lowering those unsightly shadows cast on walls directly behind the subject. By raising the flash, you thereby lower the shadows out of the frame of view.

This Stroboframe model is called Quick Flip because it solves another problem. Normally, when the flash is mounted directly to the camera, the flash is above the lens (where it should be) for horizontal shots. But when you turn the camera to the vertical position, the flash is now off to the side, which once again produces those ugly shadows.

However, the top part of the bracket on the Stroboframe actually flips. When you turn the camera to the vertical position, you can flip the frame too, keeping the flash directly over the lens instead of alongside it. This is a great feature.

Stroboframes cost about US$50 at your local camera store or online retailer, such as B&H (http://www.bhphoto.com). I've used one for years at countless wedding receptions and parties, and it works just as well today as it did the day I bought it. I can use the bracket for all of my 35mm cameras, as well as with any digicam I own.

You'll really look like a pro when you use the Stroboframe. More importantly, your pictures will too.

Attach Your Camera to Bicycle Handlebars

Put your pictures in motion by attaching your digicam to the handlebars of your bike.

Some people might wonder why the heck anyone would want to attach their digital camera to the handlebars of their bike. Well, in the old days of traditional photography, this didn't make much sense. You couldn't see through the viewfinder while pedaling, so composition was little more than a wild guess.

But many of today's digicams have variable-angle LCD monitors. This means that you can pull the monitor out from the back of the camera and adjust it to your viewing angle. This is a perfect example of how one technology (digital still photography), can be borrowed from another (digital video). Digital video camcorders have used swiveling LCDs from the get-go.

For cycling fans, this means that you can mount your camera on the handlebars, swing the screen upward, and monitor your composition in real time while you're peddling; just don't forget to watch the road, please! This is a great opportunity for you to share your adventures with those who don't ride with you.

If your camera has one of these nifty swiveling monitors, then chances are good that it also has a remote release that you can hold in one hand while riding. Most of these releases not only enable you to trip the shutter, but they also have buttons to let you zoom the lens to different focal lengths. You can literally compose and shoot while on the ride.

If you really want to get creative, enable the Movie mode on your camera and take short video clips of your travels. Try to find a smooth surface while recording video so that the movie isn't too choppy.

A clever way to make all this happen is to get an UltraClamp (US$29.95) and UltraMount (US$10.95) by Pedco, and secure the entire rig to your bicycle. Pedco's products, including the fantastic UltraPod, are distributed by BKAphoto.com (http://www.bkaphoto.com). The store finder on their site can help you find the closest retail outlet.

Once your digicam is mounted, choose still pictures or movies and fire that shutter. You will get images unlike any others that you normally shoot. Just remember to be safe while you're doing so.