Photos

[+Shuecrew]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, and I apologize for repeating the topic, but I can't find anything on it. I've been caching for about 4 years now, and it seems that more and more hiders are requiring a photo in addition to the signed log to get credit for the cache. I've got a couple of issues with this:

#1 What if I don't have a camera?

#2 What if I'm a single cacher and have no one with me to take my photo with the cache?

#3 Most importantly, What if I'd like to remain completely anonymous in the sport and don't want my picture posted anywhere?

 

I realize that for certain puzzle caches and for Virtual caches this requirement may be necessary... but for just a regular cache or a multi-cache, I think it's asking to much.

 

Comments?

Edited June 10, 2008 by Shuecrew

[+El Diablo]

I would agree with you. If there is a logbook to sign, and you signed it, that should be enough. Personally I've never run across any of these type caches, except for Waymarks, or Virtuals. I hope they don't become common place.

 

El Diablo

[+lrosell]

I agree. Unless it is some sort of puzzle cache or otherwise special cache I fail to see why a photo should be required. I would just move on to the next cache. I requently post pictures of our cache hunts but when a 'regular' cache would require me to post a pictur it would mostly just irritate me.

[+WebChimp]

 

#1 What if I don't have a camera?

 

Cameras are as common as cell phones today. Cheap phones have cameras, and disposable digital cameras are available for cheap at any discount store. The other option is to ignore the cache.

 

#2 What if I'm a single cacher and have no one with me to take my photo with the cache?

 

Hold camera in one hand, point toward yourself, push button. Take several, it's not like it's going to use up your film. Or, just ignore the cache.

 

#3 Most importantly, What if I'd like to remain completely anonymous in the sport and don't want my picture posted anywhere?

 

Wear dark glasses and a plastic nose. Or, just ignore the cache and look for something else.

 

I realize that for certain puzzle caches and for Virtual caches this requirement may be necessary... but for just a regular cache or a multi-cache, I think it's asking to much.

 

Comments?

 

Ignore the cache, and move on to something else. No big deal.

[+steve p]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, and I apologize for repeating the topic, but I can't find anything on it. I've been caching for about 4 years now, and it seems that more and more hiders are requiring a photo in addition to the signed log to get credit for the cache.

Can you post the cache IDs of a few where you have seen this? It might help if people can see some examples and might be able to say if these are the types that usually do require a photo.

 

This isn't meant to call out any particular cache for criticism. It's just hard to answer the question without some examples.

[+briansnat]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, and I apologize for repeating the topic, but I can't find anything on it. I've been caching for about 4 years now, and it seems that more and more hiders are requiring a photo in addition to the signed log to get credit for the cache. I've got a couple of issues with this:

#1 What if I don't have a camera?

#2 What if I'm a single cacher and have no one with me to take my photo with the cache?

#3 Most importantly, What if I'd like to remain completely anonymous in the sport and don't want my picture posted anywhere?

 

I realize that for certain puzzle caches and for Virtual caches this requirement may be necessary... but for just a regular cache or a multi-cache, I think it's asking to much.

 

Comments?

 

Not every cache has to be found. You are free to skip a cache if you are unable or unwilling to meet the requirements.

[Cache Whisperer]

These types of caches are sometimes called ALR caches (additional logging requirements) and should only be listed as a Mystery cache type.

[+flask]

we're considering placing a cache and requiring it to be found at night. the best way we can think of to verify a night find would be to ask for a photo.

 

you could ignore it, though.

[Dinoprophet]

It should be a ? cache -- Additional Logging Requirements -- and it should be a 5-star terrain -- special equipment required.

[Luckless]

I did an earthcache which required a picture. There is no cache or log to sign so I guess that's why they wanted the picture to prove I was there.

[+Runaround]

I've seen this on many earthcaches but only once or twice on a regular cache. One more reason to be thankful for the ignore list.

[+Shuecrew]

Thanks for all of your responses. Obviously I realize that I can ignore the cache - that's not really an issue with me as there are several 5/5 local caches that I can't retrieve and I don't have a problem with that. But it just kinda bugs me that signing the log on a so called "regular" cache isn't enough. It's not a big deal and I was just wondering what other people thought. And I guess I wanted to vent a little bit. That's all.

[+flask]

i think that where a photo is a lzy cache owner's substitute for checking the logbook, you'd have a right to be annoyed. there are possible good reasons, for it, though.

 

i have a cache that required the photographing of the cache contents. the whole point of the cache is to document the change in contents over time. it's paired with a cache about stupid rules, so they're both kind of a lark.

[+Driver Carries Cache]

If you can't (or are unwilling) to meet the logging requirements, there's plenty of other caches.

 

DCC

[+climbstuff]

we're considering placing a cache and requiring it to be found at night. the best way we can think of to verify a night find would be to ask for a photo.

 

you could ignore it, though.

 

ALRs would make that an "unknown" cache type.

 

i recommend using a trail of small reflectors... that can be followed by a flashlight at night.

[+climbstuff]

It should be a ? cache -- Additional Logging Requirements -- and it should be a 5-star terrain -- special equipment required.

 

5 star terrain!?

 

ridiculous...

[+climbstuff]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, and I apologize for repeating the topic, but I can't find anything on it. I've been caching for about 4 years now, and it seems that more and more hiders are requiring a photo in addition to the signed log to get credit for the cache. I've got a couple of issues with this:

#1 What if I don't have a camera?

#2 What if I'm a single cacher and have no one with me to take my photo with the cache?

#3 Most importantly, What if I'd like to remain completely anonymous in the sport and don't want my picture posted anywhere?

 

I realize that for certain puzzle caches and for Virtual caches this requirement may be necessary... but for just a regular cache or a multi-cache, I think it's asking to much.

 

Comments?

 

Easy stuff!

 

#1: Ignore the cache and move on to the next...

#2: Hold the camera out and point it back at you, or set the timer...

#3: see #1

 

...for virtual and earthcaches only.

all others with ALRs for pictures are ridiculous, see #1.

[CoyoteRed]

Caches with additional logging requirements (ALR) should be listed in the unknown/puzzle/mystery category. This is a recent change so if you come across a cache like this that is listed as something else contact your local reviewer for review. The requirement might have come after publishing so the reviewer might not be aware.

 

Flask mentioned something about using a photo as proof the cache was done at night. This is reasonable, but only within the proper parameters set forth by this site. The same idea can be made for only doing the cache during the day, etc.

 

However, I'm more inclined to seek a solution where extra measures don't include compliance at the logging stage. Caches that should only be done at night should be set up so they can only be done at night. Same with daylight caches (though I'm at a loss as to how to enforce that) and especially short-cutting multis.

 

I've recently worked on a cache for a friend that involves some electronics for a night cache where the stage senses whether it is day or night and then only provides the information at night.

 

To prevent short-cutting multis no hints for the final should be available on the cache page or the earlier stages. The stages shouldn't be linear meaning the cache moves from stage to stage until you find the final. It can be up to the penultimate, but it shouldn't provide all of the information to the final. The reason is if you provide too much information at any one stage the others can be skipped. By providing parts of hints and portions of munged coordinates along the individual stages it makes it much more difficult to short-cut a multi. We learned this the hard way with Sissy Snarky Walk #1. Though we did take measures to prevent easy skipping of stages the fundamental flaw was the multi was completely linear. In the end, we don't really care if folks short-cut SSW #1 as long as they had fun.

 

As for the issue of requiring photos as proof of the find, the logbook is the proof.

[+Team Mars]

What is the big deal with taking a picture at a cache? Don't like it, skip it. What would happen if someone found out you are a geocacher?

[+ComputerCacheBug]

Who says you don't get credit if you don't post a photo. Who cares? really. Only people that logon the site are the number junkies that feel their opinion means more if their number is higher than someone else. I stopped playing the numbers game 5 yrs ago. I track all the caches I found. I know my number but I have no need to publicly let others see that number. So you find the cache you don't take a pic. Guess what you still found it. So what if you don't get the little smiley face on this website because you didn't post a picture of the lamp post the bison was stuck too. You know you found it. You had fun (hopefully) trying to find it. Congrats you won. Posting a find on the website doesn't mean squat except to the number junkie epeen comparers.

 

Excuse the rant. I just have issues with silly little clauses that have nothing to do with actually finding the cache. I didn't need to take pictures to find the cache. so I don't need a picture to claim it.

 

now true anyone can go to a log and sign a bunch of other peoples names and they all claim it. But then The same person can take 60 pictures and let everyone dl a picture to uploaad to claim the find.

[+Bear and Ragged]

In the UK if a photo is requested it's "A photograph of you or your GPS in front of..."

 

Usually a Grandfathered Virtual, or an Earthcache.

 

It is an "Additional logging Requirement" and should be a Mystery cache.

[+brokenoaks]

I personally don’t see the point in weird logging requirements. The challenge should be in finding the cache. The cache log and the online log should be sufficient. But if you don’t like the cache requirements for whatever reasons you certainly have the option to not look for it. Logging requirements are no different than difficulty levels. I am not a mountain climber or a scuba diver so I don’t look for caches that require that activity. I don’t care to have my photo plastered on the internet so I would not look for a cache that requires that. That leaves an awful lot of caches still out there for me to find.

[+flask]

I personally don’t see the point in weird logging requirements.

 

i do.

 

sometimes a weird logging requirement makes for a lot of fun.

 

one cache near my house (GCYB2E) requires the finder to use a sentence (provided on each log page, each one different, and perforated, so you can tear yours off) in their log. mine went like this:

 

it was the kind of night you could slice with a knife; dark like nights are, and hot. hot and humid. and i was old enough to know better, but not old enough to care and we had to go to work after the show, unbolting some things and bolting in others, taking off makeup, changing clothes. and going into it we all stood in the theater singing and dancing to "respect" or else to the hokey pokey but coming out it was all about the scenery and about getting out of the air conditioning into the hot night.

 

we went to the bar, of course. the garage-door front wall of it open onto the street and they had in the back one of the last best of the old and elegant pinball machines and there was a guy there who rode a harley but he had no licence and the police would come by every so ofen to make sure he wasn't riding it; sometimes they would escort him the two blocks home.

 

and no matter how many of us there were at the table, there was always room for one more and on night we had a ripe pineapple; i don't know who brought it, but someone got the bartender to hack it open and we hollowed it out, pulling the sweet flesh out with our fingers and we were sticky and happy and someone got the bartender to fill the empty pineapple with rum and we passed it around the table: the Pineapple Of Friendship.

 

but then we all needed some washing off, so we piled into cars and we drove through the late-night mist just collecting on the ground all the way out to the quarry where we jumped, naked, into the blue water. and standing perfect and poised, pale and lithe on the cliff's edge was ziegler jones, and i think seeing her up there by moonlight took ten years off of my life.

 

and in a flash, she was gone. her flight completed, she was moving back toward the shore and at some point it was my turn and i don't remember a thing about it except the sneaking premonition: THE NEXT ONE WON'T BE AS SWEET.

 

another one near it (GCYFTA) requires you to write a weather report in your log. i checked the fine print and i didn't see anything about it having to be nonfiction, so i wrote this:

 

so here's the weather report:

 

today: light and chilly with an 80% chance of darkness later on. although at least one local observer warns that THE SKY IS FALLING, the national weather service has recorded no gravitational anomalies. despite expected continuing standard earth rotation, the national weather service wishes to remind everyone that in the event of a meteor strike, you should avoid unnecessary travel.

[+Morning Dew]

#1 What if I don't have a camera?

You don't get a smiley face. You can still find the cache, post a note, have an experience and play the game though.

 

#2 What if I'm a single cacher and have no one with me to take my photo with the cache?

 

See #1 Above or Ask any 16 year old kid with a myspace account and they'll show you how to master taking a picture of yourself.

 

#3 Most importantly, What if I'd like to remain completely anonymous in the sport and don't want my picture posted anywhere?

 

Wear a mask, funny glasses w/ nose, etc. People do it all the time. Your own creativity is your handicap here.

Edited June 12, 2008 by Morning Dew

[+TotemLake]

I personally don’t see the point in weird logging requirements. The challenge should be in finding the cache. The cache log and the online log should be sufficient. But if you don’t like the cache requirements for whatever reasons you certainly have the option to not look for it. Logging requirements are no different than difficulty levels. I am not a mountain climber or a scuba diver so I don’t look for caches that require that activity. I don’t care to have my photo plastered on the internet so I would not look for a cache that requires that. That leaves an awful lot of caches still out there for me to find.

Like Flask pointed out, ALRs make the caches more interesting.

 

Good for you though, you realize finding the cache is not an entitlement, but rather a part of the hunt. You'll go a long way in this sport with that.

[+mcwtlg]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, and I apologize for repeating the topic, but I can't find anything on it. I've been caching for about 4 years now, and it seems that more and more hiders are requiring a photo in addition to the signed log to get credit for the cache. I've got a couple of issues with this:

#1 What if I don't have a camera?

#2 What if I'm a single cacher and have no one with me to take my photo with the cache?

#3 Most importantly, What if I'd like to remain completely anonymous in the sport and don't want my picture posted anywhere?

 

I realize that for certain puzzle caches and for Virtual caches this requirement may be necessary... but for just a regular cache or a multi-cache, I think it's asking to much.

 

Comments?

 

We had a rash of cheaters a few years back causing some of the veteran cachers to make photo requirements on logging. They relaxed it once the cheaters stopped making a mess of things.

 

I personally do not like the idea...if you need proof, then put something unique at the cache site and ask for the info about that item in a separate email.

[+OReviewer]

#2 What if I'm a single cacher and have no one with me to take my photo with the cache?

#3 Most importantly, What if I'd like to remain completely anonymous in the sport and don't want my picture posted anywhere?

All of the earthcaches I've posted, my picture requirement is just of the location with your GPSr if you are alone or shy. I realize it's hard to take a picture of oneself while out there alone and didn't want people to not log it due to that issue.

 

So some of us do realize that not everyone wants to have their picture taken. If it's a requirement and you don't want to do it, skip the cache (or do it and skip logging it). If you're really upset by a new cache not listed as a mystery cache, send an e-mail to your reviewer. Sometimes things like that are added after the review or it's just missed in the initial review.

[+TotemLake]

#2 What if I'm a single cacher and have no one with me to take my photo with the cache?

#3 Most importantly, What if I'd like to remain completely anonymous in the sport and don't want my picture posted anywhere?

All of the earthcaches I've posted, my picture requirement is just of the location with your GPSr if you are alone or shy. I realize it's hard to take a picture of oneself while out there alone and didn't want people to not log it due to that issue.

 

So some of us do realize that not everyone wants to have their picture taken. If it's a requirement and you don't want to do it, skip the cache (or do it and skip logging it). If you're really upset by a new cache not listed as a mystery cache, send an e-mail to your reviewer. Sometimes things like that are added after the review or it's just missed in the initial review.

It really isn't that difficult to take a pic these days. mini tripods abound for the standard digital camera making setup, aim and shoot fairly easy with the 10 second timer. Rocks, logs and even crouching down all work.

 

Failing that, aim the camera at yourself and if the lens is a perfect bullseye then you are centered in the picture. If you're not sure, take multiple pics at slightly different angles. If it is a digital camera... no film wasted, just a little battery juice.

 

I've used all of these techniques with success. Then I bought a camera with a swivel screen. Now that's the cat's meow.