I brought more than the minimum laptop and camera
Normally, to make a Web Photo Journal about a trip or conference and update it daily you don't need much equipment. A laptop and a digital camera should be sufficient. For this festival, though, I wanted to be extra prepared and have the option of producing video. (The slideshows don't use video -- a digital camera is all you need to make them during a trip.) Also, I didn't know what type of Internet connection I'd have. Therefore, I also brought stuff to do backups and transfers to other systems. (I'd already made my hotel reservations based on whether or not the hotel had a new phone system with modem jacks.)

Here's what I brought (the next page shows what I actually used, which was much less):

Laptop, digital camera, external Zip drive, and more
What I brought to cover the Festival
On the bottom you'll see a laptop (in this case, an IBM ThinkPad 600E with 128MB and an internal modem -- my normal computer). In case I can connect directly to the Festival's Internet connection, I have my Ethernet PCMCIA card and dongle. I also have a PC Card Adaptor for reading the SmartMedia cards in the digital camera. This lets me take the SmartMedia card out of the digital camera, stick it in the adapter, and then put that in the laptop where it appears as a fast disk drive for copying. Here's what the SmartMedia card (on the bottom) and adapter look like:

SmartMedia card and adaptor
SmartMedia card and adaptor
To the right of the laptop is the digital camera I'm bringing. It's an Olympus C-2000Z. The reason I'm using this one (we have a variety of digital cameras at Trellix Corporation, including ones from Kodak) is that it's small and has a fast zoom lens (3X optical, F2-2.8). I'll probably be handholding lots of indoor shots and I like no flash for candids. It's my style. For most Web Photo Journals, almost any digital camera will do. (We routinely use a 3 year-old Kodak at work for web-resolution pictures.) Below the camera are extra batteries and to the right is a recharger. I have rechargeable batteries in the camera and the normal batteries are for backup. To the right of the camera is a mini-tripod for reducing camera shake (and arm fatigue for the video camera) when I'm sitting at a table listening to a speaker.

In the upper left is an external Zip drive for backup and exchange of data with other participants and computers. (They are supposed to have a system with a T1 line -- this would make uploading a higher quality video file quicker.) You can see blank Zip disks, floppies, and a Zip Install disk.

In the middle, to the right of the Zip drive, is a JVC GR-DV1 video camera, sitting on top of its manual (the manual is to help me remember how to use this camera that I haven't used in two years). I'm taking this small camera since I may want to post some video, but I don't want to waste much weight being prepared (or walking around each day). There are cables, a battery, and A/C adapter/recharger on the right.

Finally, in the upper right is a Dazzle Digital Video Creator video capture unit. This connects to the laptop using USB and can be used to turn video from the camera into RealVideo files for posting on the Internet. At less than $300, it cost less than the digital camera and video camera (it's for home and small business use). With the Dazzle are lots of cables.

Not shown are: mouse, extra laptop battery, floppy drive for laptop (the CD is in it now), A/C power adapter for the laptop, and a good microphone for recording the voice-overs on the slide shows (the internal laptop mike picks up some of the disk drive noise and I had this other mike anyway).

Taking pictures like this is easy. Here's the setup I used: I put the equipment on the carpet in my office, stood on a chair and fired away with (another) digital camera:

Equipment and chair on the rug
The equipment photo from further back
All of this should fit very easily into my suitcase, I hope. Luckily, I mainly wear T-shirts, and not a clean suit and different tie every day...

Next: The initial setup in Crested Butte >