Today I’ve been scrubbing through our group’s combined collection of photos from our trip through Taipei, Bangkok, Kathmandu, and our trekking to see Mt. Everest. There were 3 or 4 digital cameras between us, I was taping onto digital video, and the Strange’s brought an actual film camera (they must have borrowed from a museum). It’s wonderful looking through all of the old scenes with the perspective of a little distance, and so many of the sights were amazing and unforgettable. Of course we have probably hundreds of landscape photos featuring white-capped mountain peaks. Along our hikes we had to stop around every new turn in the trail because we would get another spectacular view. There were also a lot of memorable people we met and there were a few yaks that left an impression on us. A lot of the pictures were of us relaxing and having fun, so those must have been after we had rested and gotten warm from the day’s hike. There’s just so much to tell in the pictures, and I could go on for quite a while on many of them. Maybe I’ll feature photos here on the blog and give a little back story. In any case, I have prepared and uploaded a selection of the 200 finest photos for you to view in the SherpaTrek Gallery, along with some stunning wallpapers.

I did have a wee little digital video camera with me and I took every opportunity to capture any moments of joy or discovery along the way. I have had the opportunity to screen the raw footage (about 3 hours) with some of my family, and most of the time I was frustrated that the size of the frame couldn’t even come close to capturing the magnitude of the scenery and the full immersion experience of the smells and feelings. It was also a little disappointing to see what a poor cameraman I was because I had a very unsteady hand. Much of the time I would be wildly flailing around, well wobbling at bit at least, and it was difficult to follow the context of the scenes. I also didn’t shoot scenes long enough, most of the time just short clips almost like an extended photograph. I can hardly complain though because I know it was a great effort to stop and capture anything. We were on the move most of the time and spontaneous, so it wasn’t an option to set up for any good shots. I’m just glad to have any footage, and I’m sure with enough editing and digital effects I can wipe out the washed out scenery and paste in 100,000 warrior orcs or something.