The Photos

Most of the photos here were taken with a digital camera, the Olympus Camedia 3000. I bought this camera just a couple of weeks before we left, so I barely had time to get used to using it. This camera uses little digital cards, called SmartMedia cards, instead of film to store the photos. Once you take a photo, you can see a small version of it in the viewer, and delete it if you do not like it. Once you get home, you can transfer the photos to your computer and then delete all the photos off of the card and reuse it. So you never have to buy film again. If you want to have the photos professionally printed, most photo places will now process the SmartMedia cards.
Some technical information: this camera supports 3.3 megapixels, and a 3x optical zoom. This is better than many cameras that I have seen for more money.

This camera uses special batteries, but can use standard AA batteries instead. I put in some (4) AA batteries and brought along a few spare sets. I could have brought rechargeable batteries, but then I would have had to be concerned with the hassle of getting converters for the European outlets. By using standard AA batteries, I could just change them whenever necessary.
I only had to change batteries once -- see below in the Tips section.

Randy

A member of our group, Randy, happened to have the same camera that I have. He sent me copies of his photos, and I have used some of them here. I have noted each place where I used one of his photos.

Digital cameras have small LCD viewers on the back that you can use to view your photos after you take them. This can be used to scan through your images and delete the ones that didn't come out like you wanted them to. You can then take them over if possible.
Usually, after you take a photo, the LCD displays the image for a few seconds. If possible, look at the photo immediately after taking it. Then you can decide if you want it, or delete it and try again.
Most digital cameras also have regular view finders (although usually not "through the lens" view finders) that you can use when taking photos. In addition, the LCD screen can be used as a view finder.
Tip:
Only use the LCD screen as a view finder when there is a need to do so. If you use it all of the time, your batteries will not last very long.
On our two-week trip, I only had to change the batteries once (see day 9 in the travelogue).

If you have any other tips to share, please send me a message with the information. Click on "Contact" on the left side of this window.

The originals of these photos are 2048x1536 24bit color ("Truecolor"). Mainly, this means they are high resolution digital photos. The file sizes range from about 650KB to 700KB on average, some a little smaller, some a little bigger. To save space and downloading time, I created copies of the photos at 1024x768 resolution, still 24 bit color. The file sizes on these photos range from about 90KB to 200KB. Those are the photos available here (after you click on the thumbnail versions).

Laymen's Terms:
For those of you who do not know what all of that means, the photos you can see here are not as good quality as the originals.