Most of my blog posts are about storytelling, adventure, or the process of capturing an image. This one’s a little different. It’s more technical, but still deeply connected to my experiences in the mountains. Some of my best Northern Lights and high-alpine shots happened during this time, often just a few feet from my DIT station.
Filming remote expeditions isn’t just about shooting stunning visuals—it’s about making sure that footage actually survives to tell the story. This was before the days of Starlink, meaning there was no way to Google solutions if something went wrong. Problem-solving things on location and being as prepared as possible was key.
I’ve worked as a Digital Imaging Technician (DIT) in some extreme environments, most notably during two expeditions:
- Ring of Fire: A 30-day expedition covering 12 volcanoes, where I splitboard-mountaineered up and snowboarded down while backing up 4-5 cameras per day in the field. This was my first attempt "going all in" combining passion and work.
- SOMOS (Alaska): A 27-day shoot on a remote glacier, where I was the on slope filmer and data wrangler, backing up footage in a tent-powered RAID setup while hiking, climbing, and riding with the athletes every day. Rafa Pease was the brainchild for this film and I was fortunate enough to help bring it to life.
When you're a week into a month-long expedition and running a full backup system off a small Honda generator in subzero conditions, you realize how much trust is placed in a few little hard drives.
For SOMOS, we had two RAID 5 systems, each housed in Pelican cases for protection when not in use. RAID 5 is a redundant storage configuration, meaning if a single disk fails, no data is lost, and the system can rebuild itself once a new drive is installed. This gave me some peace of mind, but looking back, I should have packed two spare blank drives in case of a failure, so the RAID could be rebuilt immediately.
I used Hedge, a checksum verification software, to ensure every file copied over correctly. File organization was simple but effective:
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Project Folder
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Media
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Day
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Camera Canon/RED/Sony/etc.
One critical part of my workflow was direct-to-RAID backups—each card was copied simultaneously to both RAID boxes in a single go to save time.
To keep things organized, I had two mini Pelican cases that cards went into each day:
- One for incoming media cards—where shooters would drop off footage.
- One for cleared cards—where they could pick up their media after backup.
Each camera operator was responsible for formatting their own cards, as each camera system has its own method for doing so safely.
We did the math before arriving and determined we could run the Honda generator for 2 hours per day at full power. We also had solar panels, but I didn’t want to rely on them since weather could sock us in for days. We calculated we shouldn't have more than that amount of time backing up each day.
When we first landed on the glacier, we didn’t open the generator’s vent top, and it shut off after a few minutes. I had never owned a generator before, so I didn’t even realize it had a vent. It was a small mistake, but out here, small mistakes can turn into big ones fast.
Power priority went like this:
- Backups first—getting footage secured was the top priority.
- Battery charging second—RED camera V-mounts, Sony & Canon batteries, drone batteries (4-6 per day), GoPro batteries, and personal power banks.
- Miscellaneous gear last—Radios, heated socks (which I was jealous of because I didn't have any), and personal devices.
After the first week, we calculated our fuel consumption and realized we had enough fuel for more than a month, which let us be more flexible and start charging batteries during backups instead of after.
The hard drives weren’t protected from the cold. I stored them in Pelican cases, but as soon as I plugged them in, they would transfer data painfully slow for the first 15 minutes until they “warmed up.” The first night, this was nerve-wracking. I realized that if the slow speeds continued, we wouldn’t have enough fuel or time to back up everything daily. I started brainstorming worst-case solutions—like deleting “bad” shots from memory cards to free up space—but luckily, once the drives acclimated, they ran normally. I really didn't enjoy that first 15 minutes.
Next time, I’d consider OWCs Thunderblade instead of spinning disks to speed up the process. With 5+ cameras running, backups took 60-90 minutes per night.
Every day followed a rhythm:
- Breakfast
- Tour to a location
- Climb up, snowboard down, and shoot
- Repeat until afternoon
- Return to camp
- DIT backups + change into dry clothes
- More DIT while running timelapses
- Dinner
- Sleep & repeat
Since I was running backups solo, I wanted to stay ahead. As soon as we got back to camp, I’d start dumping the biggest cards (usually the two RED cameras), then change into dry clothes. By the time I got back into the tent, the first batch would be done, and I’d move on to drones, smaller cameras, and GoPros.
To maximize time, I often used the generator to power cameras running timelapses—sunsets, clouds rolling in, or Northern Lights—while doing backups.
What worked well:
- RAID 5 setup meant two disks had to fail before any data was lost.
- Two RAIDs = double backed up.
- Checksum software (Hedge) gave peace of mind on every transfer.
- Card management system (two Pelican cases) kept things organized.
What I’d improve:
- Bring spare blank drives so if a RAID disk fails, I could rebuild it immediately.
- Invest in high-end SSDs to cut transfer time down.
- Find a way to pre-warm drives to avoid slow start times.
Expedition DIT work is a mix of technical precision and real-world problem-solving. There’s no YouTube tutorial for when your RAID won’t boot at -20°F or when a generator won’t stay on in the middle of nowhere. It forces you to be resourceful, proactive, and meticulous.
But despite the stress, some of my best shots happened here—mountain landscapes, night sky timelapses, and moments that could’ve been lost forever without this workflow. DIT may not be glamorous, but when done right, it lets the stories make it home.
All of these photos are taken by Jana Rodgers and Jessie Levine because I'm either in them or they're better than my own photos. They're great humans who lived on the glacier in Alaska with me for 27 days. Please give them a follow!
