Landscapers ― if you disturb a scene, do you restore it?

[Annie M.]

Interesting... I never move a thing ever... would you move an ear on a person's head for a portrait?

[Heroique]

…If I move a branch, I generally just break it off and toss it to the side.

Well, I’m inclined to scold you, but I’ve pulled weeds for several shots – and “tossed them to the side.” So I refuse to cast the first stone.

That reminds me...

Once, I pulled-back and tied-down a tree branch. When I left, I forgot to un-tie it! And I wasn’t able to return to this high-mountain spot for a year. I worried about that poor branch the whole time. I had recurring nightmares about this. Really, I did. I finally returned, found it still tied, and released it from its year-long bondage. And I apologized. Over and over.

The branch seemed quite forgiving. It had grown several inches longer, looked very healthy, and swung right back into place.

[Kuzano]

Well, I’m inclined to scold you, but I’ve pulled weeds for several shots – and “tossed them to the side.”

That reminds me...

Once, I pulled-back and tied-down a tree branch. When I left, I forgot to un-tie it! And I wasn’t able to return to this high-mountain spot for a year. I worried about that poor branch the whole time. I had recurring nightmares about this. Really, I did. I finally returned, found it still tied, and released it from its year-long bondage. And I apologized. Over and over.

The branch seemed quite forgiving. It had grown several inches longer, looked very healthy, and swung right back into place.

Wow!!! The only time I pull weeds is to get them out of the way of my golf balls. That and mulligans... my weak spots.

[Vaughn]

The most common thing I do is to lay some downed branches over the sword ferns directly in front of the camera so that the tips do not intrude into the image area. I then remove the branches to let the ferns back up. I have been tempted to bring some cord to tie branches back, but never seem to get around to putting any in the pack.

I built and maintained wilderness trails for 10 years -- that's some major alterations to the wilderness. If you are photographing from a trail -- the trail corridor has already been greatly altered by man and beast. Hiking in the Yolla Bolly in the early Spring, I saw a lot of conifers (2 or 3 inches in dia) along the trail broken off at about 6 feet up -- eventually came across the big male bear that was doing it. Why? Don't have a clue...maybe a reincarnated trail worker?

[ROL]

Interesting... I never move a thing ever... would you move an ear on a person's head for a portrait?

Of course not – that's what photoshop is for . But then the landscape can't sue – except obliquely in Fatali's case.

[ic-racer]

Many times before a shot, I’ll move things around to get the composition I want.

For example, I might shift a tree branch to clear the view, push a rock to the left, or drag a log into an empty corner.

After the shot, I’ll put everything back where it “belongs.”

Is this an irrational act? Or considerate?

What are your habits when it’s time to leave – and why?

I do pretty much the same thing. I bring some fire logs with me and start fires in random spots to illuminate my natural landscape photographs. I just leave them burning when I am done.

[Bill Burk]

Once, I pulled-back and tied-down a tree branch. When I left, I forgot to un-tie it! And I wasn’t able to return to this high-mountain spot for a year. I worried about that poor branch the whole time. I had recurring nightmares about this. Really, I did. I finally returned, found it still tied, and released it from its year-long bondage.

I remember this story! I probably told my story about digging for Martini ice on the hidden side of the snowfield so future photographers wouldn't have a gouge in their shot from a mile away...

[Vaughn]

I remember this story! I probably told my story about digging for Martini ice on the hidden side of the snowfield so future photographers wouldn't have a gouge in their shot from a mile away...

"Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints" -- but I try not to leave the footprints (off the trail) for other photographers. Something that can be difficult to do with around 300 pounds of weight on a foot with each step. (I carry a little over 60 pounds of 8x10 gear, so now you know my approximate weight!)

[Heroique]

Whenever I hear “leave nothing but footprints,” I think of those famous, million-year-old footprints left in the volcanic soil by one of our ape-like ancestors. ;^)

I’ve cleared my footprints from nice off-trail areas, so others can “discover” the same place.

Millions of years from now, our descendents might find our tripod holes and ask, Why?

[Brian Ellis]

In a landscape type scene I seldom put anything that's just dead or fallen somewhere at random like a branch or a rock back where it was. That kind of thing is usually as well off where I put it as where it was. If moving something did any damage or affected aesthetics or something like that I probably wouldn't move it in the first place. In man-made scenes, e.g. architecture, I'd usually return anything I moved to where it was just because I'd assume the owner wanted it there, not where I put it.