Photo Dialogue, Part III

In case you missed it, Photo Dialogue, Part I explains what this exchange between Steve Carter and myself is all about and begins the dialogue. Part II extends the discussion. This post represents the third installment in this series of undetermined length.

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How do you research and plan photo trips?  Is there a rationale behind the level/depth of research you do?

Steve: I first try to find a published photographer’s guide for the area. For the Southwest and Northwest, the seven volumes written by Laurent Martrès and others are invaluable. For other areas, I search for any books that look like they might be helpful and try to buy a copy (preferably used). Amazon has completely absorbed the used-book marketplace, so now that’s where I start the search. If I happen across an informative article I’ll scan it to a PDF for future reference. Certain websites can also be quite helpful. For example, thewave.info has excellent articles about many locations, including maps and GPS coordinates. If I can’t find a photographer’s guide, I sometimes look for books of photographs of the region and contact the author to see if they might be willing (for a fee) to create a list of locations where they enjoy shooting. The basic principle is to research and plan every detail possible.

Undulating stripes line a dark corridor through Zebra Slot, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah – Copyright Steve Carter, All Rights Reserved

The more I know about a location, the better I’ll use my time. Travel is expensive and my time is precious; I don’t want to waste any time on location due to inadequate planning. Mother Nature has enough surprises in store for the photographer!

Kerry: I like to have a sense of the potential of a place, visually, and what the broad options are for experiencing that potential–subject elements, trails, access, best times of year, weather tendencies and so forth. And if someone wants to tell me about a little known location that’s rich in photographic potential, I’m all ears. All of this isn’t just helpful, it’s arguably crucial. 

But that’s about the extent of what I want to know before I decide to pay a visit somewhere.  The above types of information are typically transferred from books, websites and personal inquiries.  What I’m looking for is guidance to places that I am likely to find stimulating and will have the opportunity to explore.  That, ultimately, is what I find satisfying about the photographic experience:  the ability to discover something at a location.

Caddo Lake at Sunrise, Marion County, Texas – Copyright Kerry Leibowitz, All Rights Reserved

What I’m not looking for, generally speaking, is information about how to “get the shot.” I know that this can seem counterintuitive, but given my proclivities, I don’t like to spend a lot of time looking at images of an area I’m planning to visit. My concern is that I’m going to fall into the trap of looking for the images I’ve viewed and not seeing the location through my own eyes, without the possible biased introduced by someone else. Don’t misunderstand, I never go to a new (for me) like some sort of tabula rasa; I have some idea of what’s there, as I indicated above. But, for me at least, there’s a fine line between having a feel for the likely elements and a preconceived idea, induced by someone else’s photographic choices, about what I “should” be looking for, and I strive to say on the former side of that line.

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Do you prefer shooting alone or with one or two others or with a group?

Steve: I love having a relative or friend on a shoot, but find myself a little annoyed if I encounter a stranger at a remote location. They are a distraction from my concentration, a dissonant note in the beautiful silence of that wild place. I still go to crowded places like Arches National Park – where crowds can be minimized by shooting at the edges of the day or at night – but I strongly prefer locations where I’m unlikely to encounter other people. 

Fallen Roof Ruin, near Blanding, Utah – Copyright Steve Carter, All Rights Reserved

As an example, I recently decided to go on a 17-day float trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, guided by a photographer expert on the canyon whom I’ve known for a decade. I signed up primarily because I looked forward to spending the time with him. But after thinking about the overall experience and spending that much time with a large group, I changed my mind about the trip. I realized that I would not enjoy the experience. Granted, it would have been a real adventure and I would have captured some beautiful images. But the overall experience would have been draining – a bit like work. I decided that I would derive greater joy from a different experience where I’d be on my own.

Kerry: As a rule, I do not like to photograph with a group.  I’ve done it, but I typically find photographing with a group to be stultifying, creatively.  This doesn’t mean that I absolutely won’t do this.  There may be reasons–limited access to a location that I’m particularly excited to visit, for instance–where I will deem the tradeoff worthwhile (this was certainly the case regarding last fall’s trip to Caddo Lake), but it’s never my preferred modus operandi.  

With one or two other people–as long as I know them and as long as they’re also photographers and I know we’re compatible in the field–it’s usually fine; in some instances, it may even be a plus.  (For instance, I doubt I would have felt comfortable venturing up Alaska’s Dalton Highway by myself.)

Mt. Sukukpak Evening, Dalton Highway, Brooks Range, Alaska – Copyright Kerry Leibowitz, All Rights Reserved

As long as I feel self-assured about where I am–and that’s true the overwhelming majority of the time–I’m quite content to photograph on my own.  From both a practical standpoint (e.g. not having to worry about getting in anyone’s way, being able to come and go without consultation, etc.) and from an intangible perspective (I doubt “The Moment” would have had the impact it did had I not been by myself), there’s nothing quite like the experience of being by oneself in the field.  But you really do, I think, have to feel safe and secure by yourself for this to work.  I know a lot of people who don’t feel safe anywhere out in the field by themselves, and if you’re experiencing anxiety, you’re simply not going to have a good time, let alone be photographically productive.  So I think each person has to find his/her own comfort zone and act accordingly.  

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How much do you like to know about the locations you plan/hope to visit on photo trips?

Steve: For each trip, I prepare two documents: 1) a “detail” document; and, 2) a “shooting schedule.” The “detail” document contains all the descriptive detail I can find about each specific location where I plan to shoot, including precise GPS coordinates (from Google Maps) where I’ll park and for the attraction if a hike is involved. The “shooting schedule” is a timeline for each day of the trip. For each day I calculate the time I need to arrive at the carpark to ensure I’ll be ready for optimal early light (including hiking time), adequate onsite time, travel time to the next location, time for meals, and so forth through the day. The shooting schedule again has GPS coordinates for each carpark. I navigate in the truck with a Garmin GPS, not with Google Maps on my phone. I’ve found that the Garmin is generally superior for navigation, both in verbal instructions and map display. 

Stormy sunset at Toroweap, Grand Canyon National Park – North Rim, Arizona – Copyright Steve Carter, All Rights Reserved

The shooting schedule also displays daily sunrise, sunset, and moonrise/set when that’s important. When I’m planning a night sky shoot, it displays optimal times for Galactic Center visibility.

When I’m on a coast, it displays high/low tides. This shooting schedule, of course, is just a plan – conditions in the field always result in lots of reshuffling of the schedule. But even with all the reshuffling the shooting schedule is still an invaluable tool.

I also identify all hikes during the trip and download hiking routes from Alltrails (occasionally from thewave.info). Those routes are uploaded into GAIA GPS, which automatically syncs with the app on my phone. I use this app on nearly every hike, if only to estimate the remaining distance to my destination. I used to print the trail maps but found it was a waste of paper and ink.

Kerry: I addressed this to some extent, inadvertently, during an earlier response, but I like to have a sense of what a location has to offer, and if there are specific spots that are particularly fruitful in terms of photo potential, I like to know that.  Beyond that, I don’t necessarily want to know a whole lot about a location in the way of specifics.  Again, that may sound counterintuitive, but for me, a lot of the appeal of going to a location is being able to see it with as few specific preconceptions as possible.  I really prefer not to go to a location with the mindset of “where’s the ________?” rattling around in my head.  Some of that sort of thing is probably inevitable, but I really do try to keep it to a minimum.

Ontonagon River Intimate, Bond Falls State Scenic Site, Michigan – Copyright Kerry Leibowitz, All Rights Reserved

This thought process is consistent, I think, with my expressed overarching preference for discovering images–and image opportunities, more broadly–at locations rather than pursuing them.

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To view larger renditions of any of the images in this post, click on the image itself.