Roughing It Easy - Taking a Photo Hike

Some years ago I watched several video's by Dewitt Jones, a former National Geographic photographer and motivational speaker. The one thing I most gained from his video's was when he said "Be willing to place yourself at that point of greatest potential". It was a concept that has served me well over the years as I took to heart his advice as I have attempted to place myself in a position where I can capture the best possible light. It has not always been easy and sometimes it was down right rough as the requirements to be in the best possible location at just the right time often required a physical hike and a great deal of mental effort. Regardless if the hike is across a parking lot, a pasture, or deep into the interior of a grand landscape, knowing how to rough it easy becomes an essential part of becoming an efficient photographer.

Taking a Photo Hike can offer a great deal of opportunity however, Photo Hiking like this takes on the same safety and comfort requirements as any kind of hike across country, you just have to also carry along your photo gear. Yet, as a photographer there are equipment requirements you must have in order to cover all the possible scenarios you might encounter. It would be impractical to carry all of your equipment as it would load you down so much you would actually lose time trying to keep up with it all. But, at the same time you want to carry enough gear to cover a wide range of possible scenarios. As a consequence it becomes a juggling act of what to bring and what to leave behind.

For me then, it becomes a matter of understanding the requirements of what I expect to encounter. If the mission is to capture a prairie sunrise, from experience I understand how I need three obvious things for sure. My camera, a wide angle lens, and a tripod. However, I also know I might encounter other opportunities while on site. For instance, one of my favorite locations to capture this kind of photograph requires I do some short hiking and thus requires I use some kind of equipment bag to carry my gear. Most times I will simply use my camera gear pack which holds way more than I need, but also adds a lot of extra weight. Sometimes I simply use a fanny pack because it is large enough for everything I need for that kind of shoot plus it retains the ability to carry a few extra luxury items. It also affords me the ability to toss in a cable release, graduated filters, and even a larger focal length lens...just in case...and a water bottle.

It may appear self evident, but by limiting the gear I tote along, I simplify the process and reduce the amount of the required physical effort. Then there are the times I plan on making a much more difficult and longer journey. Again, taking the prairie as an example, there is a rocky arroyo tucked away in a somewhat hidden location I will often hike into, but it is a mile or more from the access road. Hiking in there covers some rough terrain and because I will be in there for up to several hours, I need to cover all of the contingencies like the possibility of rain, hot weather, plus any of the unknown but potential photo opportunities. That also includes something to drink and an energy snack to get thru the day.

One such unexpected event occurred several years ago, one in which I was unprepared for what I encountered. I wanted to make that hike but it was hot and I did not want to lug around a heavy gear pack, so instead I packed my fanny pack with my camera and one lens, a 35mm to 105mm, and a water bottle. That was it. After the hike in, I sat under the shade of a cedar tree when I noticed two coyotes milling around about 200 yards across the arroyo. With them were two fluffed up and very new pups who looked like they were exploring their environment for the first time. I needed my long 500mm lens but because it was heavy I opted to leave it behind. The 105mm just did not have enough reach and proved inadequate for the job and as a consequence I missed a great opportunity to effectively capture a unique natural event.

During the year I will spend a good amount of time exploring the night sky and capturing the hidden beauty found there. It also requires at times a certain amount of mobility and thus a degree of planning. For this kind of shoot, not much is required as far as the basic equipment, a tripod, camera, and wide angle lens, plus a cable release. With just these simple tools you can capture some amazing night sky photographs.

However, I'm never long satisfied with the basics. I need to push the envelope and experiment and thus I built a barn door tracker device to track the night sky and thus allow for longer exposure times. This device is bulky and a bit cumbersome to operate. As a result I tend to use it mostly in my backyard, but I will on occasion tote it along to another location site. It does require I strap it down inside my vehicle to avoid it falling over, which it has done before. But, again with a little planning and understanding the requirements of the shoot, I have educated myself on how to simplify the process. The idea is to have a plan and outfit yourself for that plan. By limiting all the extras and focusing on just what I will need for that particular shoot, the shoot then becomes much more enjoyable and manageable. Also, by pushing the envelope you force yourself to learn more about what it is you are trying to do and how to accomplish the task. This alone helps you to know what to bring along and what to leave behind.

Shooting on location often requires the use of additional equipment like speed lights and stands along with a softbox or two and such. My equipment pack is quite large, too large really for routine use, but when you need to carry extra gear, it's very largeness is ideal. With it I can keep all of my camera gear in one convenient location and extract what I need when it is needed. The traditional camera bags tend to be somewhat cumbersome and too small to carry a lot of extra's, plus you might need more than one which makes keeping up with the stuff more difficult. It's all a matter of understanding what your purpose is along with the gear requirements to fulfill that purpose. By thinking through the process ahead of time you are more able to focus in on what you are trying to accomplish. As a result the effects are often encouraging.

Simplifying what you carry into the field is an important part of becoming an efficient photographer. Learning to adapt to changing environmental conditions is a process of experience. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we do not, but with each attempt you learn more and more about how to rough it easy.

The Simple Yet Elegant Black and White Landscape; An Element of Style

They can be quite complex in nature, very subtle in their beauty, and even bold and dynamic...Landscapes. Sometimes as a photographer I try to go beyond what is considered the norm, to push the boundaries to some degree, yet remain within the accepted confines of what makes a great landscape. To do so requires changing how to view the norm and look for pathways that lead toward something excitingly familiar, yet different.

Most of us have an idea of what the perfect landscape photograph should look like and with some justification, most of us are probably correct in that assessment because we do tend to follow conventional rules on building effective Landscapes. However, the simple yet elegant landscape fills the gap between creating something familiar, like always staying within and coloring inside the lines rule, and venturing beyond to explore another way by coloring outside the lines to break the rules. In both cases, the lines are still there, we just view and use them in a unique way not allowing a predetermined set of boundaries to define what we want to create...it becomes an Element of Style.

Landscapes by definition tend to be horizontal in configuration. It's only natural for one to be created that way, but a landscape can also be vertical. It just depends on what defines the most effective use of composition.  When thinking in terms of creating a simple yet elegant landscape photograph I will often reduce the image down to its simplest form...that would be black and white with a strong contrast ranging in tones from white, thru middle values, to completely black (remember the Zone System).

By doing so the visual competition created by the various natural colors is removed and the eye just sees the essence of what is there.

It takes a trained eye to look beyond the natural environment in which we view the world to grasp the concept of how a subject will look as a black and white image, but not just any black and white. On occasion rendering the image with a grainy finish or a ting of sepia can and will propel the image deeper into the realm of elegance. It comes with practice and experimentation along with some creative post processing...and sometimes just plain old luck.

The idea then is to leap beyond the cliche and capture your subject in such a way as to see it as something familiar yet unique, simple, yet elegant.

What you capture initially may not look anything at all like the finished product, yet it contains within it all the elements required to transform it into the work of art you want to create. In a black and white image, clutter is removed and the elegance of nature is revealed thus allowing us as an artist to discover another avenue of creative style. Style then, as in writing, defines the author, or in this case, the photographer.

Capturing Time and Place

All photographs capture some kind of subject matter. Things like people, locations, events, and even abstract art all are part of the general nature of photographs. But, what about Time and Place ? How do you capture those two elusive elements in a photograph?

Time and place require two main elements; something familiar and something new, both blended together to create a single instant frozen in time. Time and place work together. You rarely find one without the other. If you do, then the photograph misses something in its ability to connect to the viewer. Time and place are elements that bring life and structure to an image. They also add purpose, mystery, and closure in the sense the viewer wants to understand what is there and feel as though they know this place, this moment.

A capture of time and place creates the feeling of having been there, nostalgia you might call it, but simply put they inspire the viewer to remember moments from their past so they can project their feelings and emotions into the image. For instance, take the above photograph of the lightning strike. Most everyone has experienced such events. A capture such as this freezes a microsecond in time in such a way as to allow the viewer to ponder at length everything they can remember about experiencing weather events like this one. There is something familiar here, and there is something new because no two lightning events are the same. You can almost hear the clap of thunder and feel the electricity in the air. It is a specific moment of instance captured at a specific place...although with a bit of mystery surrounding it.

Another image that captures time and place well is the one above taken during the wheat harvest in Kentucky. Again something familiar to most everyone having probably witnessed such events either through video programs or films or possibly in person, yet with something new added...the angle of the lighting, the twists and turns of the wheat stubble rows, the dust flying in the background helping to separate the combine and tractor. Many of us have at one time or another stood next to a wheat stubble field. Places such as those harbor a distinctive aroma, sort of a dusty musty aroma. An image that captures time and place effectively can by its very nature trigger memories of aromas in nature. Time: A well-underway Wheat harvest - Place: Rolling Wheat field.

If you enjoy the outdoors and fishing in particular you will understand the time and place impact of the above image of the fellow fly fishing in a rustic looking creek. Time and place are relatively easy to identify here. Time is set with the fall colors reflection in the water, Place of course is on the creek. Most anyone who has gone fishing can readily identify with this image and again a small creek such as this one carries with it a fragrance unique to a location like that. You can practically hear the whirl of the fishing line, the subtle plop of the lure, and feel the strike of the fish. Combined with the remembrance of a wonderful day afield, we too often overlook Time and Place in our daily lives.

Time and place are not exclusive to what we see and experience here on this planet. They can also be projected into the starry night sky. Time, when invoked here, reflects events that happened a very long time ago...in this case thousands of years in the past as the image is simply a capture of the light that has taken that long to reach us because the distances are so great. Place of course is the Milky Way that spreads across the night sky most visible during a summer evening. How many of us growing up ever lay on blanket in the backyard and watched fireflies light up against the night sky, maybe even catching a glimpse of a shooting star meteor as it streaked across ebony flavor realm of the night. Yeah...me too. Even without the light gathering ability of the camera, on a clear summer evening away from the light pollution of the city, you can see with great clarity the arch of the Milky Way as it stretches across the sky. A time and a place most of us can remember.

Then there are the seasons...what better examples of time and place do we have to photograph.

Capturing Time and Place is certainly an element of photography most of us rarely think much about. In most cases it just happens, but, a photographer can purposely identify and capture these two elements to create a uniquely identifiable yet interestingly new vision of common moments. By doing so, we bring back to life special elements from the past to rekindle memories maybe lying dormant from long ago. A photograph provides a powerful description of the day to day events of our lives. During those times, Time and Place become embedded within our history, and it is remembering our history that makes the photographs worth saving.