How many calories does photography burn?

Well, I guess there is no real way to know without a HRM.

Maybe you can log it as walking or hiking, but only use half the time you are actually out there.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I'd classify this as NEAT and not worry about it at all.

Consider it "bonus weight loss".

I think you may benefit from investing in either a heart rate monitor (HRM) or some kind of gadget that calculates your whole day (including sleep) calorie burn such as FitBit, BodyMedia, BodyBugg .. Those would give you the most accurate readings of what you're burning during any day .. including activities such as walking, (photography) , etc.

Otherwise .. MFP is extremely generous in their calculations here for activities .. I know I don't burn those kind of calories they say I do, so I have to adjust it by half at least. .. I barely burn 200 calories walking at a brisk pace (3.5-4.0 mph) in an hour up steep hills and inclines in my neighborhood.. but MFP likes to give me nearly 400 calories. (wrong!) LOL

My heart rate doesn't go up that much .. even going up inclines. I'm already in fit condition -- and don't weigh very much, so I'm not killing those calories like someone carrying 50 or more pounds in excess body weight either.

Just be careful relying on MFP for calorie burns.. it's really off ..

Edit:
Oh .. you can use a gps tracking program on your phone .. I use MapMyWalk .. it's a lot more accurate than MFP values :-)

I'm also out doing photography a lot but I don't count it. I really don't see it burning nearly enough calories to count as above and beyond.

I would change your activity level to moderately active, and use that calorie count as your goal (I am assuming you want the extra calories earned by exercising). Since this is something you do on a regular basis, it shouldn't be counted as exercise, but you do want to account for those calories used so you're getting enough fuel/nutrients. If you really want to know how many calories you're burning during that time, you can get an HRM from Amazon at a very reasonable price (mine was less than $30).

There are too many variables to predict the calories burned for any given outing -- your best bet would probably be to keep track of how far/fast you are walking in between stopping to shoot and just count it as walking.

If you have a smartphone, use an app like runkeeper, mapmywalk, etc and set it to walk and just let it run while you're doing your activity. I had it running while I did the Zombie Walk a few weeks ago, most of which was just milling about the park waiting for the walk to start. I traveled a little over 2 miles at a 1.2mph pace and it estimated I burned about 200 calories.

It's not necessary to log. You run the risk of overestimation for something that really isn't intentional exercise.

For example, my weekends are much more active than my weekdays because of my job. If I changed my activity level setting for those days, I'd only get a 200 calorie boost, max.That's for being on my feet all day long doing physical activity.

Unless your trigger finger is getting buff, I wouldn't worry about it.

This is 100% correct. If you are stopping often i would not count it as even walking. I don't log when i walk around the store or go check my mail. (my mailbox is about a block and a half away) That is just extra calorie burning, But not enough to count as excercising.

I'd just estimate how many minutes you walk for and divide it by 3. I'd be very reluctant to eat back calories spent on short walks. I mean, I spend about an hour a week at Tesco stopping and starting, reading labels etc, carrying shopping and wouldn't log that!

If you are running from location to location, tthen maybe quite a few. if you are driving and walking

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NONE You have to get active on your non photo days and get active on this site to modify your eating habits!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!


Basil

I used to be a pro, meaning, I made my living from photography. When I shoot, I come home dripping wet. I don't know why. It's just the intensity of the mental exercise and the physical. But, I might be different, but I don't use tripods,a nd I am very active. I probably do 10000 squats looking for different angles and all that. Also, the next day I am really sore, like I did an iron man competition or something. I can barely move. And, I am really hungry. So, for me, I would count the activity very high in the calorie burn area. People don't understand this, but my friends that have gone with me are surprised at how difficult it is. Again, maybe it's just me. I'm kind of intense. Lol.

I shoot weddings, and a minimum of 3 hours on your feet, occasionally fixed in position, but other times running, walking, crouching, crawling, holding odd positions to get the right angle, with all your kit on your back really takes it out of you. I found a rating for fishing from the riverbank (or something similar) and I use that.

While walking around with camera equipment for several hours per day is a lot of work, it's hard to know how much aerobic exercise you're getting.

What I mean is, I don't count something as "exercise" on MFP unless my heart rate gets up around 130-140. Anything else, like a walk through the mall with a friend, cleaning the house (sweeping, dusting, easy things like that), grocery shopping, and so on - I just consider that bonus exercise and don't log it. While I'm active, and that's great for my body, it's not aerobic exercise that's going to give me a burn. Yes, I'm burning a few more calories, but not enough that I'd want to count them.

Does that help?

If you still want to log it, I would use the "carrying child" or "light backpack" setting and put down 1-2 hours at a slow pace.

I just read the other posters. I didn't realize you might be crouching and squatting too. I would definitely count that if you're running around like a wedding photographer. Wedding photographers are ACTIVE.

If you don't eat exercise calories, what does it matter how much you burn?

If you don't eat them back, then log them as 1 if you insist on logging something.