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Thread: Dealing with Stress in the Field

  1. #1
    Is that a Hassleblad? Brian Vuillemenot's Avatar
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    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    I read on this forum a month or so ago the opinion of a photographer (it was Chris Jordan, if I recall correctly) that the actual act of photographing was so stressful that the only reason he did it was for the end result, the photographs. This was directed towards outdoor photographers who have to deal with stressful conditions in the field. At the time, I thought that this position was overkill- sure, there was some stress involved with planning and conditions beyond my control, but the travel and time spent outdoors was as much a reward as the photographic end results. However, I am increasingly finding myself bogged down with all the stressful things that one must deal with before the act of photographing the landscape- packing the car, driving hundreds of miles, sleeping outdoors with minimal conveniences, lugging heavy gear miles on trails, having weather turn bad, having the light be terrible, dealing with distracting and sometimes hostile onlookers, having equipment break, etc. The list could go on and on- which brings me to my questions. First, how much do you photograph for the actual experience, and how much is it for the end result, the photographs? Honestly, would you still be doing outdoor photography if there were no photographs resulting from it? Second, do any of you have any advice or words of wisdom on dealing with this type of stress? Thanks, and good light!
    Brian Vuillemenot

  2. #2

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    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    Taking photographs can be stressful - using LF can be especially stressful!! If I'm honest there are times when I question my sanity in using 5x4 - as you describe, packing the gear, driving for miles, naff weather etc. What's more - the last 2 occasions I've been out I have visited the same series of waterfalls and have slipped on slippery bedrock whilst fully laden on both visits ... in almost the same spot!!! First time was just my pride that was hurt, but second time resulted in a massive bruise on my rear plus a "chunk" taken out of a tripod head!! But having said that I still enjoy the whole process of using LF and if I get some "keepers" too then its a bonus! As for words of wisdom on dealing with this stress - I "took up" photography as a way of relieving / an antidote to stress I was encountering in my job. I try and put my photographic "stress" into perspective when I compare it with the stress that I used to find in work - no competition - give me photography-induced stress any day of the week! I think its like most "hobbies/interests" you have good times and bad, thankfully the good far outweigh the bad!

  3. #3

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    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    I moved back to LF after many years doing 35mm and digital because the involved process is relaxing to me. I shoot landscapes because I like to get out and see them. If you find the process and the encounter with nature so stressful, why not shoot something else or with something else? Weston did his peppers on the porch and then had them for dinner - most of us would like be able to so well. There are lots of LF subjects close to home - there is nothing intrinsically "better" about landscapes, unless you like being there to see them and happen to use the camera as a excuse to do it. (It is like fishing - only a fool or a bear would fish as a way to get fish.)

  4. #4

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    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    I expect there are many contributors to this forum who are athletic outdoor adventure and hiking enthusiasts. As almost an afterthought, they bring along a camera just in case a target of opportunity presents itself. But photography is not necessarily the primary reason for the outing. They are there in the wilderness to enjoy the day.

    My early background, as a member of a Hollywood commercial photography and cinematography team started me off with an entirely different mind-set. I was being paid to be there. We had a deadline, a budget and a singular photographic purpose for the day. The team could not stay in business, absent the smooth completion of the assignment. On time, every time.

    I was trained to treat these photographic “capers” like a military campaign, or perhaps a “bank job”. All eventualities were carefully planned for before we left the studio. No surprises. No glorious adventures. Just methodical, military execution.

    Today, with the internet and computers, many of the difficulties we struggled with are all but eliminated.

    The weather, text forecast or graphical/radar for any city can be found at:

    http://weather.noaa.gov/pd_move.html

    An excellent cinematographer’s program for sun azimuth & elevation can be purchased at:

    http://store.yahoo.com/cinemasupplies/sunsoffowwin.html

    Ocean tide charts are available, like this one for Maine:

    http://www.maineharbors.com/tide1.htm

    One of many sites sponsored by NOAA is here:

    http://mach.usno.navy.mil/

    And, of course, all the road mapping programs such as:

    http://mappoint.msn.com/(pzevsy555fagp5n1urymxz45)/Home.aspx

    One of the best sources for paper maps, CD’s and GPS stuff is:

    http://www.delorme.com/

    Wherever you plan to stay or scenic area you plan to photograph usually also has on-line information. Here is one of my favorites for rural Maine photography without crowds. They have a private floatplane to bring you in to the lakeside lodge and take you out:

    http://penobscotlakelodge.com/

    If I don’t begin to feel a comfortable level of confidence with this sort of pre-planning I think I would either leave my camera equipment home or choose another destination.

    For example, my last personal photo safari to England was shot with the Nikons. I left the sheet film equipment home, as it had become too big a hassle for me to get it on a plane and through customs without damage or loss.

    Since 9/11, I now limit my LF excursions exclusively to road trips in a Hertz rental. I believe pet dogs and Deardorffs belong on the ground.

  5. #5

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    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    downsize!

  6. #6
    Format Omnivore Brian C. Miller's Avatar
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    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    Chris Jordan finds photography to be stressful?? Oy, vay, that's an odd one!

    To make some of my photographs, I've gotten up at 3am and been out the door at 3:30am, on the road to catch a sunrise, and back to start work at 8am. That doesn't stress me, it just makes me feel woozy from lack of sleep.

    "First, how much do you photograph for the actual experience, and how much is it for the end result, the photographs?"
    I photograph for maybe 25% of the experience of photographing, but the other 75% satisfaction is seeing the final print.

    "Honestly, would you still be doing outdoor photography if there were no photographs resulting from it?"
    Would I do anything if there was no end result from it? Would you slave at a job for no pay and no promise of pay?
    From Despair.com, home of the demotivational poster:
    Losing: If a first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.
    Defeat: For every winner, there are dozens of losers. Odds are you're one of them.
    Failure: When your best just isn't good enough.
    Futility: You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take. And, statistically speaking, 99% of the shots you do.
    Humiliation: The harder you try, the dumber you look.
    Ineptitude: If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.
    Risks: If you never try anything new, you'll miss out on many of life's greatest disappointments.
    Stupidity: Quitters never win, winners never quit. But those who never win AND never quit are idiots.
    "Second, do any of you have any advice or words of wisdom on dealing with this type of stress?"
    To dementedly paraphrase a song:
    Don't worry, be happy.
    Got no style, got no grace?
    Got an alien sucking on your face?
    Don't worry, be happy.


    "This is the day the LORD has made;
     let us rejoice and be glad in it."
              Psalm 118:24

    One of the things that helps me with "stress" (of photography? Bah, humbug!) is perspective. I have been through more than the average bear, and here I am. Photography isn't stressful. Winding up on the side of a concrete divider at 60MPH on a Suzuki GS450 and faced with the task of getting back down alive is stressful. Crawling around on the floor in abject back pain wondering how to pay the bills is stressful. Four years of military service with morons is stressful. Loading a camera and clicking a shutter isn't stressful.

    If someone finds Chris Jordan's style of photography stressful, the first thing I would recommend is figure out exactly where all the stress is coming from. I mean, really, stress from photographing a stack of shipping containers?? There isn't any stress from that action. The stress has to be coming from some other place, outside of the actions associated with photographing static subjects. Deal with that, and then there isn't any stress associated with photography.
    "It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." - Walker Evans

  7. #7

    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    Give me a break.

    How could you possibly expect to participate in landscape photography if there was not some form of exposure to the elements and inconvenience?

    I regularly venture into the wilds many times with 4x5/5x7 up to and including some big ass cameras many times with minimal conveniences with absolutely no expectations and more than a few times I do not even take the camera out of the pack. Rain, snow, wind and lighting round out the festivities and I would not have it any other way. Most of the time I have the entire mountain to myself. Am I disappointed? Sure, we all wish that God would grace us with the dance of the magical light on our schedule, but it rarely happens that way.

    The way I look at it I am truly blessed to be in the Rocky Mountains breathing thin air and the more I am out, the more I can get the statistics to work in my favor and the more compositions I can work on for coming back when the conditions and/or light are better. That could be a year away but even without an image to bring home it is still a most thrilling experience even when I have 70# on my back and ten miles in the rear view mirror.

    If it is not for you, then by all means find something alse to make photographs of that will not stress you out so much.

    Onward!

  8. #8
    Resident Heretic Bruce Watson's Avatar
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    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    To be sure, stress is relative.

    While I'll admit that 5x4 isn't the easiest thing I've ever done, I hesitate to call it stressful. True, there's lots of planing. Yes, there are tons of details and it's easy to make a mistake (a third of a stop here, a third of a stop there, and pretty soon it adds up to loss of shadow detail). No one is going to disagree that dealing with film holders in the field is just a PITA. There are some locations that I've been returning to for years without successfully photographing the scene I'm trying to capture. But stress?

    I spent 20 months as the CTO of a web company right before the Tech. Bust of 2000/2001. That, was stress. I had Hurricane Fran go directly over my head, and didn't get power back for 10 days. That was somewhat stressful. I've worked for clueless bosses on long projects involving dozens of people, only to see the entire effort flushed down the rat hole in the end. That is it's own kind of stress.

    But I've never been in combat. I've never been homeless. I've never been debilitated by disease. I've never had my life turned upside down by divorce. I've never been on the front lines of medical care like an EMT or a nurse. I've never been a policeman. So in many ways, I don't think I've ever seen stress. For that, I am most grateful indeed.

    Photography for me mostly entails putting my 5x4 kit on my back and hiking into the woods or up the mountain. Without a doubt, I love it. While it is absolutely hard work, for me it's not stress - it's the exact opposite. It's a release. I use it as a way of concentrating, or really "seeing" what's there in front of me. It's one of the ways I communicate; it's a language for which I don't have the words.

    Would I do the field work if it didn't result in prints? Absolutely. The actual image capture is what I really enjoy. Doing the process of grinding out prints is what I do to make everyone else happy. Not that hanging a nice print of one of my photographs is a bad thing, and that sense of completion is nice. But it's the finding and composing that I really enjoy. Clicking the shutter is just the period at the end of the sentence.

    Bruce Watson

  9. #9

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    Dealing with Stress in the Field

    I photograph for the end result, while (usually) enjoying the experience. However, I found I had to undergo something of a cultural transformation to keep my LF stress level low.

    I had been a hard driving manager in the high tech industry, constantly driving for high quality results in an accelerated timeframe with little tolerance for failure. Needless to say, when I applied this same approach to LF it totally drove me nuts. Here are some of the things I learned:

    - Nature gives and Nature takes away. I assume perhaps only 50-75% of planned stops in a photo trip will be successful due to weather/lighting issues. Therefore, when a weather/lighting problem arises, I am not as aggravated.

    - For me at least, it usually takes several attempts before I get a particular shot "right."

    - Failure is not a bad thing; it's part of the process.

    - Be flexible.

    Stress to some extent is a result of expectations deviating from reality. The above helped my expectations get back in line.

    As for some of the specific LF sources of stress you've listed, here are some of the stress-reduction techniques I've learned:

    Packing the car...

    I've dedicated half a closet at my home for my photographic trip regalia, including not just the camera equipment but related items that accompany me on the trip. I keep everything up-to-date and ready to go, so when trip time arrives, I throw everything into the trunk and I'm ready to go. I don't have to go through any elaborate last-minute scrambles, or worries regarding forgotten items.

    Driving hundreds of mile...

    In our post-9/11 world, I too find flying with LF too much of a hassle, so arduous long drives are unavoidable. The best thing I've found to deal with this is to purchase or rent a more upscale highway cruiser with better sound insulation and a great suspension, so that the pounding of the open road doesn't impact you as much. Of course if you drive off-road and need to take the 4x4, then there's not much you can do here.

    Sleeping outdoors...

    As I have gotten older, I've solved this problem by sleeping in motels when possible: easier on the body and a lot fewer bugs! For cases where there's no choice but to camp, I bought a big, comfortable camp cot.

    Lugging heavy gear for miles...

    My suggestion: buy a home treadmill and train on it wearing your loaded backpack. Those long miles get a lot shorter when you are in shape! My alternative solution: forget hiking with LF and take a smaller camera. :-)

    Having the weather turn bad...

    For multi-day trips, have a flexible itinerary that can be modified on-the-fly to accommodate the weather. Make bad weather days driving days, etc. I used to take a laptop computer so that I could monitor the weather via the Internet, but most motels now carry the Weather channel or equivalent, so I get most of the info I need via cable TV. Carrying a portable weather radio may also be helpful.

    Having the light be terrible...

    I agree there's nothing worse when this happens, all you can do is plan for the weather as described above to minimize chances of a failure.

    Dealing with onlookers...

    Frankly, I avoid tourist meccas or travel off-season to avoid distracting crowds.

    Having equipment break...

    Not much one can do here if something critical gets busted. Even though I shoot mostly 8x10, on longer trips I also take the 4x5 just in case of equipment failure.

    Also, if you haven't already, I suggest getting a good elastic darkcloth, which fits tightly to the rear standard, so that a moderate breeze does not interrupt focusing. Getting rid of my original lightweight horse blanket darkcloth (which blew everywhere when the wind kicked up) was perhaps my biggest single exercise in LF stress reduction!

  10. #10
    Whatever David A. Goldfarb's Avatar
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    Dealing with Stress in the Field





    As much as I love the backcountry, my wife just isn't into it, so I'm learning to become accustomed to some of these "low stress" locations. If the trail is becoming wearisome, there's no harm in going to the beach occasionally (Maui above).

    I haven't had too much trouble on the airlines. I put all the stuff that seems to attract the attention of the security people in a small case that gets checked with my tripod. The film goes on board, and I don't worry too much about X-rays. If I can ship the film or use a lead bag to reduce exposure, I do, but I don't go through a big procedure at the security gate every time, and I usually don't get stopped for a hand inspection.

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