You are on vacation, and shooting up a frenzy. The only problem. Where do you put all those pictures? A memory card can only hold so much, and your computer is at home. There are tactics for storing images while on the fly, however.
Unless you have an unlimited budget to buy pricey memory cards for countless pictures, you will have to come up with a better way to keep all of your photos intact.
Here are some options:
- Bring your laptop. This won't be convenient for everyone, of course. Maybe you don't have a laptop. Maybe you don't want to lug a laptop (and risk damage, theft or loss) on top of your other baggage. But this is probably the most effective way to store images, since the software specific to your camera will travel with you. Oh, and of course you have to endure the special laptop inspections at airport security.
- Get a portable photo storage device. This is a wonderful way to back up and save images, especially if you're shooting pictures while traveling. Some of the devices can hold as many photos (maybe even more) as your home computer, and many double as DVRs, mp3 players, video players and more.
- Buy more memory cards. You obviously can't get an unlimited supply, but perhaps one more card would provide enough for your trip. Look at the capacity (shooting in the largest and best format available). If you think you can stay under that limit on a couple cards, you may be all set. Just guard those cards with your life! If you have an LCD screen, you can delete some of the bad images to clear space.
- Get your card images tranfered to CD while traveling. If you are visiting major U.S. cities, this should be no problem. Most hour-photo spots offer this service, and it's relatively inexpensive (maybe $6 per CD). If you will travel overseas, you might want to check first. You could probably ask the concierge or front desk staff at the hotel. Even abroad, most cities have hour photo places with digital capabilities.
A note of warning, though. Be sure they will transfer your images at the same resolution as they are on the card. Check to be sure they don't use a smaller resolution to fit all the images on a CD. Also be sure to check the CD before deleting your card images to be sure everything is on there and OK. Do it at the hour photo, or find a nearby cyber cafe. Speaking of which...
- Go to a cyber cafe. You may be able to connect via USB cable and e-mail your images to yourself, or even burn them on CD. You could also upload them to an online photo storage site. Many cyber cafes will not have this capability, or it might not work with your camera. E-mail cafes in the towns you will visit to check first. Never rely on this method as your only option.
Take care to preserve your images while traveling, since you may never get another chance to take those photos.
