So, the next thing I obviously needed was to come up with a easier and more reliable source of input to my project and I decided on tactile switches. I actually harvested a couple from old computer case power buttons for my initial tests. After hours of looking for a good coding strategy I came upon the state change counter tutorial which with modification (duh) paved the way for me (http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ButtonStateChange). However, I was still getting a lot of garbage input from each button press. I needed debouncing. After familiarizing myself with it at the most simple level I modified the code to use a simple delay after each press. It is very short and should have no real impact on the interval between photos. Now I have buttons that show each press accurately (if you aren't too fast on the press). I may revise this later and find a method without using delay. I would also like to make them increment in fast forward when the button is held down. And while writing this a strategy is forming...