INTRODUCTION

Photography and video are valuable for research, presentations, teaching, or to interest more general audiences. Good imaging conveys the quality of light, emotion, and the subject's essence to the viewer and comes only with practice. Photography and video have much in common but each requires a different set of skills and thought processes. Here we provide general guidelines for capturing images in the field using photography and video, discuss features common to both still and video equipment, and then move on to specific advice concerning digital still and video cameras.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

Both still and video cameras have dozens of controls and large instruction manuals. Some features are used only occasionally but are nevertheless essential. There will be no time to experiment in the field, so master your cameras beforehand.

Protect your equipment and media

Electrical devices do not like environmental extremes or rapid changes in humidity or temperature. Binoculars, cameras and lenses corrode and are a substrate for fungus in tropical conditions. Store them in waterproof bags with silica gel. Dry the silica gel often in a frying pan or an oven. Use a big waterproof bag or plastic garbage bag to protect all valuables during boat trips and stream crossings and from rain and leaky roofs. If electricity is available, it may be worth building a dry box with small holes and a 50 W incandescent bulb to keep equipment dry.