LF landscape photography NOT a contemplative activity

[Richard_3152]

I tend to shoot a lot of break of dawn photographs. My stress level is completely correlated with my preparation for the shot. Scouting the location carefully the day before makes the experience much more pleasant, albeit not as thrilling. While travelling, however, this is often not possible and I must rely on topo maps and gut feeling to get the shot/s. Yes I agree, frantic and definitely not *contemplative* describes this kind of work. I just returned from a whirlwind 4 day scouting trip of south central utah and I am still buzzing from the anxiety level of shooting cold most of the time!

[Sandy Sorlien]

Good grief, this is the longest non-political thread I've ever seen on this forum. Allow me to pile on.

Michael Smith wrote:

"I have never waited for the light to be "right," because if the light were not right I wouldn't see what captures my attention in the first place. "

This is right on. Light is the medium and that is why we are seeing anything. Light is not an "overlay" or "extra bonus" on an already existing composition. However, there are plenty of times when light is shifting, and you see the possible picture, and you stop to make it, but the light changes. That is when the "waiting for the right light" comes in. You are waiting for what you already saw to RETURN. In such situations, you may wait for an hour, being contemplative in the way Alma so charmingly writes about above: While the camera is all set on the tripod, I contemplate going to get another cup of coffee, I contemplate getting my stepladder out of the car trunk so I have something to sit on, I contemplate running behind a building to pee, I contemplate the likelihood of that cloud moving along to block the sun so I can get the damn picture.

On a related note, sometimes people say to me, "You have it easy, your subject [architecture] doesn't move." What a silly comment. Of course it moves! (See above.)

Cheers,

Sandy

[Ralph Barker]

In addition to the usual "death and taxes", Sandy, one other "for sure" thing is that if you run behind a building to pee, you're sure to see the light return and fade again while looking over your shoulder. ;-)

[tim atherton]

"This is right on. Light is the medium and that is why we are seeing anything. Light is not an "overlay" or "extra bonus" on an already existing composition. "

Interestingly, colour also is not "not an "overlay" or "extra bonus"" not merely suface or cosmetic, but the very substance of what we are photographing. In fact colour really preceeds the shape and form we like to explore with our cameras. It is really the essence of our medium

[Christopher Petrich]

My maxim is, the larger the film area, the more time it takes to fill it. Plan for it.

I shoot any time, day or night, as long as the scene is compelling. If I manage to get a really good shot, I will know it when I see the camera original after development. I can never judge based on the moment of exposure.

Choice of format is related to whatever camera I have in my hand. I tailor my shots to what my equipment can handle, and what I feel like shooting. I don't expect to make a compelling landscape using a small format image. It can happen, but it is a surprise if it does. If I feel more like shooting grab shots, I don't grab my wisner.

The act of shooting is emotional and is frequently unrelated to making the photograph itself. I have been really excited by a day of shooting and subsequently disappointed with the images, even when they are appropriately exposed and developed.

Nevertheless, limiting oneself to certain hours of the day based on light conditions is an artifice. One's vision is severly limited by that restriction, whereas light and life is unlimited. What can be more compelling to contemplate than the infinite.