--After stopping at a popular attraction and returning to the parking lot you are met with a sea of buses. Forget what yours looks like? At the beginning of the tour take a digital picture of the bus and the license plate. When in doubt...check your camera! This also works great if you are using a rental car.--Show and tell: Asking for help in another country can be tricky. Create a photo album on your digital camera or cell phone of basic necessities like a bottle of water, a toilet, a taxi, stamps, etc. Show a local a picture and voila! Instant communication!
--Take a picture of the full front of each hotel and a close-up of the name of the hotel. If you forget a hotel business card, then maybe a taxi driver can get you home with the photo.
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Here's an item photographers, especially videographers, might want to check on before the big trip. In super-humid or misty situations, such as the D-Day beaches or the ferry ride over the English Channel, make sure your camera is de-sensitized to the extra moisture. If not, the camcorder simply will not work. I learned about this the hard way...Back a few years my family went to Tulum (ancient Mayan city full of pyramids and live iguanas!) and I had to purchase a special permit to have a camcorder. It was $10. and its purpose was so I wouldn't sell videos of the ruins...Well, the minute I had my permit, I opened my Sony camcorder ready to film a huge 4 ft. iguana slashing his tail around as he crept under the shade of a native bush, and all I got was a flashing blue tri-angle warning message with flashing white droplets of water on the message. I didn't have my owners manual with me and I was fit to be tied that my camcorder wouldn't work. I climbed to the top of a pyramid that was hanging over the gorgeous turquoise waters of the Caribbean and still....no camcorder. Thank goodness I had my trusty Nikon FM (nearly 30 years old and still the best). No fancy electronics--just gorgeous exposures that I controlled...and no, the permit folks would not refund my money! So, what about that camcorder? Here's what happened--too much moisture in the air collects on the sensors and shuts down the whole deal. Here's how to avoid this: Before you get out in the elements, open up that camcorder, swing open the viewfinder, open up the cassette compartment if you're using 8mm film, and let it sit open for about an hour. Don't do this outside if it's misty or even sprinking. Set the camcorder or camera in a dry, non-windy area. The moisture in the air will acclimate with the camcorder and everything should be just fine. Not all cameras have this feature but I know Sony does and so does Panasonic (made by Sony). Check your manual about warnings that pop up in certain situations and know what to do BEFORE you have your eye on filming the glorious trip across the channel. If the air is full of moisture, you may be wishing you had a good, old manual 35mm camera to shoot photos, but also remember that salt in the air and sand from the beaches are toxic to any electronic device. I store mine in a large ziplock baggie when I'm out in the elements. Keep your camera bag zipped and closed. Sand and salt will find its way inside regardless, so take extra care to protect your beloved cameras!
---Margie D
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