Shooting style-plan or prospect?

[Chip McM]

A question for the landscape shooters out there:

When you take the large format rig out to shoot landscapes do you-

A-preplan your shots. You scout out locations in advance or know places and shots from prior experience. You already have the shot and maybe the lens planned out.

or

B-do you prospect for them? You take the gear out and walk around and see what draws your interest? Setting up shots and only then deciding if they are worth it.

Sure if you were on a week roadtrip someplace new you probably tend toward the latter, or do you maybe take a digital and prospect with that?

It is one thing to blow through roll film but it seems a little tougher on the wallet to take too many "random" or "maybe" shots like you can in mf/35mm.

What approach do you take?

[adrian tyler]

you can see clearly from most published artists works that they have a pretty clear idea about what they are after, use as an example the big ones, evans, adams, weston, and indeed right up to the present. however this "vision" perhaps in the wrong hands can become a hinderence (i won't name names here) and stubborn adherence to a pre-conception can be a recipie for boredom.

get an idea of what you are after, but don't be shy of taking a side-road off that path, that's where the good stuff lies.

[Neil_4793]

I always like to get a serious kiss on the first date. Art usually takes a little time to perfect. Wink & a tickle.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

I usually plan my photographic excursions with plan A, but things rarely go as planned, and I get most of my best shots with plan B, just by being lucky. Most landscape photographers will claim after the fact that they planned everything out with their best shots, but I think most of being successful is just shooting often, getting lots of practice, and being in the right place at the right time. A great example of this that comes to mind is Ansel Adam's Moonrise, Hernandez.

[Isaac Crawford]

I have, in the past, been able to plan some shots but that is not the way I usually work. My photography is usually about how I respond to my environment, so I need to look around and see what's there!:-) I've gotten away from this a little with large format, but I have just received a new (to me) Gandolfi 5x7 tradtional field camera. This guy is about half as heavy as my 4x5 monorail, so I don't have any excuses anymore do I?:-)

Isaac

www.homepage.mac.com/isaacc7

[Ralph Barker]

For me, it depends in part on how distant the target location is. Nearby places more conveniently allow repeated visits, so it's possible to plan a particular treatment/interpretation and go back when the conditions are "right".

For longer trips, I tend to do a fair amount of online research in advance, attempting to get some idea of what I might encounter. I'll often look at topo maps, and use a sun-position calculator to get an idea of optimal times to be at certain locations (estimating shadow locations and such by considering the contours shown on the topo maps). Once there, however, it's more of a matter of "prospecting".

Even with well-planned outings, I try to make a concerted effort to maintain an awareness of what's presenting itself, both large and small. But, it's not always easy to notice the squirrel off to the right, picking his teeth with a cactus thorn clenched in one little paw, when I'm concentrating on the big rock formation in front of me. ;-)

[paulr]

"you can see clearly from most published artists works that they have a pretty clear idea about what they are after, use as an example the big ones, evans, adams, weston ..."

seems to me that with the work I most admire, including Weston's, and Ansels from the decade when he was doing his real work, the photographer's clear idea usually RESULTED from stumbling onto something. Even Ansel, who touted the bizarre idea of pre-visualizing every detail of his prints before the shutter snapped, conceded later in life that that was b.s., and that it never happend that way. The real magic always came as a surprise.

[Jim Rice]

Hi Ralph,
Could you tell me what sun-position calculator you use?

[Garry Teeple]

I've tried the scouting technique. What I usually wind up with is a good shot on 35mm that I cannot repeat with the large format because of weather, lighting, or it just disapears. Case in point: I stumbled upon an old barn and shot almost a roll of 35mm black and white film on it. The prints were very good but not the quality I wanted. Two weeks later I drove back to shoot with the 4x5 only to find the barn gone and a new metal shed in its place. A good lesson learned: "Don't waste time with the small stuff if you want large format quality."

[Ralph Barker]

Jim - I use the online NOAA Solar Position Calculator and their Sunrise/Sunset Calculator. Pretty handy.

You have to hold your mouth just right (and, twist your mind accordingly) to visualize the solar position in relation to remote places on the map, however. My mind appears to have come pre-twisted, so I usually do OK with it. ;-)