When it comes to ‘the beginning’, many people ‘know’ many different things to be true which is a sure fire way of hinting that knowledge in this area might actually be a bit sketchy to say the least and that all we really have is a group of theories waiting to be disproved, even after millennia of discussion and warfare. The only theory that seems to remain constant is that ‘the beginning’ is worth debating and therefore is probably quite important to quite a lot of people.
This theory holds true for landscape photography too and fortunately a lot less blood has been spilled to reach this conclusion, if you discount the unfortunate incident of the Canon Vs Nikon wars of the early 1970s of course. The main point is that it really does not matter, how sharp your lenses are or how big your sensor is; if you battery is flat or you are standing on the wrong side of the valley in the middle of the picture rather than looking at it then you are a lame duck. If you end up like this you might as well be using a 2 MP mobile phone camera.
Luckily in the modern age there are a whole range of methods and tools that we can use to make sure that we are not the lame duck, but that we are the soaring eagle, our cans do overflow and we can leave a shoot knowing that we have witnessed a spectacular selection of magical moments of light dancing across our beautiful planet to create our final images. It is important to know ...
Upon payment completion a yellow banner will display (Thank you. Your purchase has been approved – Please click here to proceed). That link will transfer you to a page where you will access the entire article. You will also receive an email with a link to access the article page. Make sure you use the same browser to access the page on our website.
2 Comments
I really appreciate the detail in this article. I strive to keep a packed gear bag ready and accessible at all times but I’m not good yet at putting my hands on it while a photo op is unfolding in front of me — I need to work on this! Mine has most of what you stated, but also: a remote control, lip balm, sunscreen, bug spray, a few dollars (you never know when you’ll hit a fee-based park and you’ve only got plastic in your wallet). On instructables.com I read about (and created) an emergency kit from an old Altoids tin that has a memory card, a stubby pencil, a clean lens cloth, a few dollars and a couple post-it notes. You just never know!!
This is written by a man after my own heart. Preparation and awareness is essential for continuous fine photography. It is as Adams said part of the making of a photograph and not just the taking.
It applies to landscape as the article illustrates but also to all other areas of photography.
The check list as it were was interesting but for me apart from the addition of a torch, one thing was missing and that was an exposure meter, hopefully one that can read incident light.
While appreciating the many modern digital applications I sometimes wonder how I managed with a magnetic compass, an analogue watch, a selection of OS maps and the occasional use of tide tables. Smile.