ISOs and Shutter Speeds....

I've been busy buying kit for the trek. Alongside the wet weather gear, I've also purchased a new digital camera. The Panasonic Lumix TZ6 came out on top after a long trawl of review sites but it was CNET's recommendation that sealed the deal. You can read the review here.

It's been fascinating and hugely frustrating getting to grips with all the settings but I'm slowly working out how to take decent photos. Fortunately, the TZ6 has amazing auto-functions but I'm pretty keen to learn about the manual settings too. I hopped over to Amazon to pick up a Digital Photography book and stumbled across this by Scott Kelby. I'm still waiting for it to arrive but hopefully it will shed some light on my aperture and ISO settings. Part of the inspiration to get up and running with photography before I head to Everest comes from a set of photos on Flickr. Check them out.

I'm hoping to get some good moonlit shots of the mountains so I've bought a small 'Gorillapod' too. I don't want to harp on about it but social reviewing is absolutely the way forward for consumer purchasing. With seller feedback and price comparison sites, it's strictly a buyers market!

I sent my passport off to the Nepali Embassy and on Wednesday I got it back in one piece with the 30 Day Visa. That's most of the paperwork done now. Our Group CSR Manager sent an email out yesterday and all Everest Trekkers will be getting £100 from the company to put towards kit which was a pleasant surprise.

Today is Friday and I'm hooking up with a fellow trekker for lunch which should be fun. Still got plenty to sort out. Next on my list are the selection of medicines and first aid kit that I need. My local GP trekked the same route last year so he's given me prescriptions galore to help me through.


Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is top of list of things that could scupper a successful trip to Base Camp and a drug called Diamox can help reduce the impact. I'm also likely to get a mild form of Ecoli so I've got a prescription for that too.

One final shout for social reviews. This time it's for energy bars - Clif Energy Bars. Amazon's US site was much better for this and with 209 reviews at 4.5 of 5 they look like a winner! Check them out here.