What do you do while you're waiting

What do you do while you are waiting:
For the "magic hour"
For the wind to stop
etc.

I've spent many hours in the field waiting for conditions to be just
right, and hiking and location scouting often are not enough to fill
the long hours, especially in the summer!

What suggestions can readers of this NG offer?

Thanks!!

"narnold" :
...
What do you do while you are waiting:
For the "magic hour"
For the wind to stop
etc.


look at the water
look at the sky
look into the fire
.....
dry your socks if you tired of looking around & see nothing interesting

--

ian green
Xeto : photo & graphic project
http://xeto.front.ru
..

narnold wrote in
:

What do you do while you are waiting:
For the "magic hour"
For the wind to stop
etc.

I've spent many hours in the field waiting for conditions to be just
right, and hiking and location scouting often are not enough to fill
the long hours, especially in the summer!

What suggestions can readers of this NG offer?

Thanks!!


I frequently scout for all the different conditions I might encounter
at any given time. Find the subjects that work well in high contrast or
direct sun, and the others that would do better under overcast. Shoot
compass readings and know where the sun or moon is going to be at any given
time (http://www.40-below.com/sunmoon/index.html can help a whole lot - I
set up a spreadsheet for an entire year from this site. Also, mostly night
sky stuff, but also check out http://www.heavens-above.com/logon.asp). Neat
dead tree, what would a harvest moon look like rising behind it? When is
the sun going to be at the right angle for the bark textures?

Change my focus down to much closer with considerations of doing
macro work. It's usually not hard to find macro subjects just about
anywhere. At the same time, I'll force awareness of the conditions that
they're found within, so if I have to construct a 'home studio' in an
aquarium/terrarium I can do it accurately and with a minimum of fuss. But
simply hanging out in an area and keeping eyes and ears open often brings
more subjects to light.

It also helps to know, for instance, animal signs. Paths through
grass or tracks or scat can indicate that something interesting frequents
the area, and may be worth staking out later. Construct a spot for
yourself, or a blind, for these times.

Catch a nap at midday after having forced yourself up at 4 AM to be
on locale for the 'golden hours'. Research the critters you just saw and
have no idea what you were looking at, concentrating on behaviors and
anything that might make a good set of photos.

Research weather for several days in advance, so you know what you're
likely to expect. Don't trust it, of course, but at least have an idea what
you might be seeing. There are uses for any kind of weather, if you put
your mind to it. Do the stormy beach shots, or the black bird silhouetted
against a cloudy sky (because the bright sky was too bright to get detail
on the bird and not get blown out).

Experiment! Shoot without waiting for the wind to stop, and use the
movement. Bounce light from a reflector, or use a manual or slave off-
camera flash to put light in the direction you want it.

Ask the locals what the names are of the plants or animals you're
seeing. This is great for giggles, because they're never accurate. And it
will often lead to stories from them when can be even funnier ;-)

Find out what's of interest in an area, or controversial, and target
these. Makes your photos valuable to publications. It also helps to know
what development might be taking place that will drastically change an
area, so you have good examples of the beauty of it (as convincing evidence
not to develop) or a decent set of "before" photos. At the same time, find
a cause to donate some time to.

And dig some garbage bags out of your pockets and snag up some of the
trash that abounds in the immediate area. Good for the environment and
better for your shots.

Hope this helps. Good luck!



- Al.

--
To reply, insert dash in address to match domain below
Online photo gallery at www.wading-in.net

Well, good question you pose.

Perhaps the best answer that I have found is spend some time learning how to
see rather than just look. How many times have you photographed an object
and been unable later to describe it? How many petals does a Wild Geranium
have? If you really see the flower, you will know. How many times have you
taken an image and later seen that there was a beer can or an overhead wire
ruining the image? You were looking but not seeing. (Spare me the talk
about taking the objectable item out digitally, please.)

Specifically, start sketching and really observing what you also also
photograph. It only takes a small notebook and a pencil. Wind and poor
light are not much a factor. When I spend enough time to actually draw a
waterfall or a wildflower, I start to get deeper into the composition and
color aspects of the visual arts. This serves as a route to taking my photo
images past mere documentation and into artistic interpretation.

If this seems daunting, check out the book Drawing on the Right Side of the
Brain. Never thought that I could draw until I tried it with an open mind.

So, that has been my solution to bad photo conditions.

PSsquare



"narnold" wrote in message
...
What do you do while you are waiting:
For the "magic hour"
For the wind to stop
etc.

I've spent many hours in the field waiting for conditions to be just
right, and hiking and location scouting often are not enough to fill
the long hours, especially in the summer!

What suggestions can readers of this NG offer?

Thanks!!

These are all excellent suggestions, and exactly what I am seeking.
All of these suggestions seem to have a common thread: that is, to
slow down and take the time to get to know the location, as well as to
gain a sense of one's own feelings about the location and its
potential subjects. I am learning that few, if any, great images
present themselves immediately; they have to be teased out of the
myriad "snapshots" that comprise an overall view of a place.

What occasioned this query was a recent, failed photo safari to a
promising locale. Although it was beautiful, I was disappointed to
find that I simply had little inspiration to do it justice. I blamed
the incooperative light and wind, but in fact, what was more likely at
fault was my own vision. It just wasn't there for that trip. I
eventually departed without having taken any pictures at all.

It's not emough to merely wait for the light . One must also
cultivate the "light" from within.

thanks to you all

n arnold


On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 21:09:49 GMT, "PSsquare"
wrote:

Well, good question you pose.

Perhaps the best answer that I have found is spend some time learning how to
see rather than just look. How many times have you photographed an object
and been unable later to describe it? How many petals does a Wild Geranium
have? If you really see the flower, you will know. How many times have you
taken an image and later seen that there was a beer can or an overhead wire
ruining the image? You were looking but not seeing. (Spare me the talk
about taking the objectable item out digitally, please.)

Specifically, start sketching and really observing what you also also
photograph. It only takes a small notebook and a pencil. Wind and poor
light are not much a factor. When I spend enough time to actually draw a
waterfall or a wildflower, I start to get deeper into the composition and
color aspects of the visual arts. This serves as a route to taking my photo
images past mere documentation and into artistic interpretation.

If this seems daunting, check out the book Drawing on the Right Side of the
Brain. Never thought that I could draw until I tried it with an open mind.

So, that has been my solution to bad photo conditions.

PSsquare



"narnold" wrote in message
.. .
What do you do while you are waiting:
For the "magic hour"
For the wind to stop
etc.

I've spent many hours in the field waiting for conditions to be just
right, and hiking and location scouting often are not enough to fill
the long hours, especially in the summer!

What suggestions can readers of this NG offer?

Thanks!!