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

[h2oman]

Once, I pulled-back and tied-down a tree branch. When I left, I forgot to un-tie it!

I did that as well, but in a place that gets quite a few people. I suspect someone liberated the branch fairly quickly. I also once pinned a branch down along the roadside in the Jedadiah Smith Redwoods with a camp chair and forgot to get it. (Vaughn, do you have it?) My greatest regret in that case was that it was my wife's favorite!

One thing that seems not to have been mentioned here is that the impact of our transgressions can vary greatly from place to place, depending on the local climate.

[Vaughn]

That was a nice chair -- I tried to grab it but this hairier fellow with even bigger feet saw it too, so I let him take it.

Impossible not to leave footprints when photographing in the dunes -- the only time I photograph close to someone. Usually when photographing with someone on a road trip, we head in separate directions. But the winds usually come up and remove footprints by the next morning. In the image below, by the time we had reached the top of the Eureka Valley sand dunes, the wind had already picked up. Sand is blowing thru the middle of this scene.

[ROL]

"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!)

Impossible not to leave footprints when photographing in the dunes --

Jesus man, lose some weight! The last time I was out there I fell into one of your postholes, nearly breaking my ankle and taking the better part of two days to climb out.

[Jerry Bodine]

This topic reminds me of something that happened long ago in a photography workshop that is imbedded in my memory forever. One of the workshop assistants, a well-known painter (not a photographer), turned us loose in a junkyard with instructions to go find images ... a very good exercise in seeing. When she noticed a student moving tin cans out of his composition, she reamed him out very loudly in an appalled tone, in front of all the other students. "You CANNOT move items around like that; you MUST leave them in place." I recall thinking "who made THAT unwritten rule?" While I was already sensitive about moving things, I appreciated her attempt to teach this philosophy to the students, but I certainly did not appreciate her technique in doing so. It was not necessary to denigrate that student before the group. She obviously knew nothing about people skills; there were far better ways to accomplish that purpose. BTW, I made my best selling image that day, no thanks to her.

[bob carnie]

I remember that article as well,, it was the second to last article for the magazine and in the last article all the letters to the editor blasted Fred, and there were no future articles for him to defend himself.

I remember an article by Fred Picker in which he discusses how to cut branches and shrubs with the cut facing away from the camera (otherwise you'd have to retouch all the white spots you just created). He wasn't shy about altering the landscape to improve his compositions. I think he also kept his gardening tools with his camera kit.

[Vaughn]

Jesus man, lose some weight! The last time I was out there I fell into one of your postholes, nearly breaking my ankle and taking the better part of two days to climb out.

Working on it! I want to get down to 220 lbs. Any less than that I start looking like an elongated hairy scarecrow!

[Heroique]

…Fred Picker wasn’t shy about altering the landscape to improve his compositions. I think he also kept his gardening tools with his camera kit.

I keep a forest axe in my car.

I certainly don’t include it w/ my camera gear, but in some woodland situations, a few well-placed chops would have “made room” for my tripod to be in the best spot.

Usually, however, other nearby shots invite me away from that sort of inconvenience.

[Milton Tierney]

Give me a break. I’m sick of hearing people talk about not cutting a small limb off, or moving a stone, or pulling a weed to get a good shot. I’m not talking about digging holes or cutting down tree in Yellowstone. People do more damage driving a car, eating a hamburger at the Golden Arches or buying that dream home. I wonder how many bunny huggers stopped to rescued a box turtle off a highway or turn in a poacher. I have.

[Vaughn]

Which bone?

[Drew Wiley]

Reminds me of a story my brother used to tell. He was out with his Tecknika, along with
several other photographers and the most famous calendar/picture-book photographer of
that era (60's). Mr Famous encountered a rare ground cactus in bloom, and after taking
several 4X5 shots of it, promptly stomped it to bits so that no one else could photograph
it.