TrailOver-Boulder is a work in progress. Maybe you're wondering, "Could I contribute a trail tour of photos to TrailOver?" Absolutely! You only need to meet our rather modest requirements, as follows:
1. The tour must represent a named Boulder-area trail or trail segment with end points clearly defined by trail signs. (See the trail tours list for the current status of tours completed.) Each tour begins and ends with a close-up photo of trail signs, and includes photos of any trail junction signs along the way.
2. Use a digital camera set at the lowest resolution or quality option. Hint: that's the setting that stores the most photos on your camera card. This is necessary to minimize the file size of the trail tour. More specifically, the individual photo files should be about 50-75 KB (640x480 pixels), so that the final movie file on the Website will be a manageable download.
3. Take all of your trail photos in the horizontal format. Start the tour at the down-slope end of the trail; the uphill view shows the trail details best. Plan your photo hike so you will not be taking photos into the sun at that time of day on that trail. Aesthetically, it's better not to see your shadow on the trail either. Photography of woodland trails, with alternating sun and shade, is better done early or late in the day or on cloudy days when there is less contrast between light and shadow. Finally, it's always important to use good technique: steady hands.
4. IMPORTANT: Proper photo intervals are the key to a good tour! In general, take more frequent shots of a twisty trail, and fewer of a straight trail. Try to achieve some continuity from photo to photo. In other words, note prominant trail features (boulders, trees) in the background of each photo, and try to put them in the foreground of the next shot. Basically, each photo will show the next new view of the trail as would be seen by a hiker.
5. Please don't include any non-trail photos (of your dog, flowers, etc.) as part of your trail series. You can take those separately on the way home. Leave the original camera ID numbers unchanged, so the photos will be in their proper sequence in the website slideshow.
6. Finally, please be considerate of other hikers' privacy when photographing a busy trail. Fellow hikers should not be recognizeable in your photos.
That's about it. If you want to send us digital trail photos over the Internet, please identify yourself first in a separate email. For secuity reasons we won't open any file attachments if we don't know the source.
If it turns out we can use your trail tour, we'll be glad to acknowledge your contribution on the website. And thanks for contributing!
--Elliott & Susan
