Round the World

Last year I found myself packing for an around-the-world job – five countries, six weeks, take-everything-you-need sort of assignment for National Geographic Magazine. As if the visas and inoculations weren't enough, when I finally got everything into my equipment case one tug on the handle and I knew it weighed way too much and would never get on the airplane. Looking inside for stuff to remove, I spied the horde of AA batteries I was taking for my flash units. A quick mental calculation and I had my answer: I switched out all the alkaline batteries for Energizer_® Lithium batteries. In addition to lasting much longer (so I could pack fewer batteries), they were also a lot lighter. With the new batteries in place, I could make the weight limit (and save my aching back, too.)

Beltane in Edinburgh

It was pitch black up on Calton Hill in Edinburgh as the annual Beltane Fire Festival got underway at midnight. Besides me, there were 300 performers and 10,000 fans stumbling around and running into each other amid the torch-lit processions. It was as close to photographic chaos as I could imagine.  However, I kept my cool because the first thing I did before it got dark was to load every piece of equipment with Energizer_® Lithium batteries so I had one less thing to worry about. Changing batteries in those conditions would not have been fun. As it happened, everything worked straight through until the very end, which came at about 3:00 am.  While I was dead tired, it was worth it because the pictures were stunning.

Down the Volcano after Dark

I've done a lot of stupid things in my time, most of them resulting from staying too long at a great photographic site as the light faded. That was the case when I was shooting Mount St. Helens for a story on the 20th anniversary of the eruption. High up on the mountain the sunset had been wonderful.  I'd shot a lot of film, lighting fresh plants growing in the foreground with the volcano lit by the setting sun in the background. Now it was dark and my flashlight was, well, dead with an hour hike back down the mountainside to my vehicle. Looking in my bag, I robbed my flash unit of a couple of Energizer_® Lithium batteries (which I had been using all day) and was never so thankful as to see my flashlight spring to life. Back at my car, I vowed to never be so stupid again. (I wish I could say that I've carried through on that.)