Tell us why your “scouting” is useful

**Thad Gerheim** · 2-Jul-2010, 14:33

I see almost all my trips as future possibilities at a different season, angle, or light. I have one favorite place that I've been to at least eight different times in the fall and have taken three different and good photos of mostly the same thing, and I still keep going back. I just returned from a trip where on the way out (13 miles) I passed a beautiful raging and cascading stream with ideal light on it, only to sit there and enjoy looking at it. I didn't take a photo so I'd be sure to come back again! Pretty silly, I know.

**Heroique** · 2-Jul-2010, 15:09

Originally Posted by Thad Gerheim

...I didn't take a photo so I'd be sure to come back again!...

That reminds me, scouting w/o gear provides me with good ideas for future shots, but just as often, it leads me to the “perfect” shot I can’t take. The composition is there. The light is ideal. The wind is still. And … I’m empty-handed. This happens a lot.

Unlucky?

Yes. But there’s more to it. I “see” more w/o the distraction of gear. A lot more. I think my “eye” appreciates this fun, liberating exercise. And the benefits seem transferable. Makes me better behind the ground glass. In the darkroom. Above the mat cutter.

And recalling the shot scouted, but not captured, gets me out again sooner…

**Leonard Metcalf** · 2-Jul-2010, 17:14

I take lots and lots of photos without my camera, and keep them in my mind. Great fun, helps my photography, and some of them I go back too when the light is right and record them on film. I visit locations over and over and over. So each one is like scouting. As mentioned by Heroique it can be very disappointing not to be able to capture it because you don't have a camera. They say the best camera is the one you have with you. So I always try to have a camera with me, from my camera phone, or my small digital, to one of my large format cameras.

Some people scout a spot, mark it with their GPS, and then return before sunrise, and set up their tripod at their predefined location, and then bracket the sunrise as it happens in front of them. (Admittedly, I am not one of these people, but it is a valid technique)

**Alan Davenport** · 2-Jul-2010, 17:18

Scouting helps me to be prepared!

**Vaughn** · 2-Jul-2010, 22:14

I am one of the non-scouters, though I certainly enjoy seeing images that would have been fun to take if I had a camera with me, and I take mental note of any area worth returning to. But I do not go out with the purpose of scouting for future images. If I have my small camera with me (Rolleiflex), I take images meant for that format.

I am looking more for light than place, which means I often return to places I have photographed before, since the light is never the same. I have been photographing a stretch of Prairie Creek for 30 years -- never tire of it and no reason to "scout" it as I feel connected to it already.

Prairie Creek, 1980:

**John Jarosz** · 3-Jul-2010, 06:13

Originally Posted by Vaughn

I am looking more for light than place, which means I often return to places I have photographed before, since the light is never the same. I have been photographing a stretch of Prairie Creek for 30 years -- never tire of it and no reason to "scout" it as I feel connected to it already.

Same here. Different location. There's a barn in Iowa I've photographed a zillion times over the last 30 years.

After all, a shooting session that does not yield the results you envision surely qualifies as a scouting trip.

**Bill_4606** · 3-Jul-2010, 11:22

As a few others have indicated, I like to take take my cell phone with me and a notebook. I discovered the value of the cell phone camera for recording notes and even grabbing an occasional short video as a quick way to reference things I see when scouting.

I haven't been able to master shooting and scouting at the same time. For me, it has to be separate trips. It seems that when I carry my camera bag, I become focused on a few things and miss the over all experience. This is especially so with my large format camera -- I'm seeing in Black and White and shutting down pretty much all my other senses. While scouting without my camera bag, I'm able to broaden my vision and open up my hearing, smelling, and feeling.

One new tool I've just started using is Google Earth (free). The satellite imagery is often good enough to recognize where you have been on field trips. You can add a point of interest to your map and save the location. The tool will record the longitude and latitude for you and provide other information like altitude if it's important to you. I've also been able to record a few notes in the location's description. I think you can also associate your own photos with the location though I haven't figured that one out yet. For example, last week I was scouting a nearby river-fed lake in my canoe. I didn't have a camera (not even my cell phone). I came upon a couple of eagles climbing a thermal. While watching them, I spotted their nest in some tall trees up stream. Back at home, I was able to find the nest location on Google Earth and determined the only practical way to the nest was by the river. I've recorded the location and will be able to return later with proper camera gear -- probably won't be my LF camera though.

Bill Riley

**Darren H** · 3-Jul-2010, 15:19

Always have a pocket cam is the best scouting tip.

My scouting camera that is always with me is a Panasonic LX-3 digital. 24mm-60mm lens just about perfect matches my lenses of 75mm, 125mm, 210mm (4x5 format). It does RAW so I can tweak digital files. Does a great in camera B+W which is often useful, plus it can switch aspect ratio from 3:4 to 2:3 to 16:9.

Allows me to preview a potential shot. Awesome little camera that produces a great image in its own right. Since I always have it, I can scout with it and grab images. Gone are the days of "if I only had a camera"

**Rakesh Malik** · 8-Jul-2010, 09:19

I hike/backpack with my 4x5, so I always have it with me in case I find a shot, but I've gotten so used to carrying it that it doesn't get in the way of simply hiking and looking. I've gotten past the feeling that I carried it all this way, so I should shoot something or all that effort is wasted.

Rather than sketches, I use a point and shoot to take record shots of areas that I feel are worth exploring for photographs with the right light.

The challenge comes from the fact that there are so many incredible places here. It's hard to find a place that I would NOT want to come back to around here.

**Caivman** · 8-Jul-2010, 13:21

Two Words - Cellphone Camera

If i'm out and about and spot something worth shooting sometime, i'll stop and snap a few pictures with my phone from all angles, make a note in my notepad app, and mark my location on my map/gps. lol... sometimes a smart phone pays off.