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I like gadgets. If they pertain to doing something outdoors, I like them even better.

My wife and I have been putting out trail cameras for about twenty years. A trail camera is just a waterproof camera with a motion detector a person straps to a tree. When something walks by, the camera takes its picture. It has always been an adventure and a source of excitement waiting to see if we have good pictures of whatever might pass by.

When we first started this hobby, the cameras were 35 mm film photography. The number of pictures one could take was only limited by the amount of money a person was willing to spend on film and developing. We would change the film on Sunday afternoon, deliver it to be developed on Monday morning, and along toward Wednesday or Thursday, we would have our results. More often than not, a roll of thirty-six pictures showed a branch blowing in the wind. We did end up with several hundred deer pictures, mostly does, in a shoe box. We also have several dozen pictures of the cows walking by, a few raccoons, turkeys, and one bob cat.

When digital trail cameras were developed, it did not take long to determine the cost savings on film and developing would pay for the added expense of the camera in a few months. A 2 gig memory card will hold hundreds of pictures. Most of these will be of a branch blowing in the breeze triggering the motion detector, but they can be deleted with the click of the mouse. After the initial expense, the only cost associated with digital photography is batteries and the cost of ink involved in printing out the really good pictures to run around with and brag.[[In-content Ad]]

The latest advancement in trail camera photography is called a plot camera. When set up, this camera will take a picture every fifteen or thirty seconds, depending on one's preference, for any number of hours during the day. It can further be programmed to take flash pictures during the night when the motion detector is triggered. It has the capacity to take thousands of pictures before needing to be serviced. The advantage of the plot camera is it will take pictures of things that would be out of range of the motion detector.

Though technology has changed dramatically in the past few years, our routine fortunately has not. Sunday afternoon is a time to jump in the Gator, call the dogs, and go check the cameras. A leisurely ride thought the timber in fall or the snow covered trails in winter is a pleasant way to get outside and refresh one's senses. The dogs enjoy the romp in the woods chasing squirrels and smelling every track they cross. My wife and I enjoy taking in the sights of the hills and timber as the seasons change. Sometimes we now have a grandson or two along which adds to the enjoyment as we see nature through their eyes.

When we get back to the house, now instead of waiting several days to see the pictures, or going through one or two hundred digital photos, we now have several thousand pictures to review. The plot camera with a sixteen gigabit memory card is set to take a picture every fifteen seconds for four hours each morning and again each afternoon. Combined with the pictures it takes when the flash is triggered by motion at night, a week's worth of pictures is several thousand photos. Every once in a while, a really good picture comes through, but we still get a lot of pictures of a branch blowing in the wind.

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