Preplanning

Like many amateur photographers, my time and resources are limited, so it’s important that I use them productively. Before traveling to a shooting destination, I familiarize myself with the location and have a notion of the scenes I plan to shoot. Otherwise, I could squander time and missed opportunities by flailing about the countryside hunting for shots. That is why I place so much importance on preplanning, from off-site research to on-site scouting. The main objective is to lay out all the groundwork leading up to the moment I set the camera on the tripod and take the shot.

Establish a Theme

When I have a location in mind, I try to establish a few shooting assignments that collectively form a theme. This may be as simple as identifying a subject or group of subjects that I want to mainly concentrate on. The purpose to narrow my shooting objective is twofold. One is to help establish a shooting priority when I’m surrounded by a “candy store” of photo opportunities and have limited time to capture it all. Second, having a theme in mind may help visualize a shot that otherwise might be elusive if approached stone-cold. I found this especially true with scenes that in the past I never saw any photogenic potential. Then, with a specific theme in mind, suddenly these deceptively banal scenes opened up in a whole new way.

I do want to make it clear that I’m not rigidly stuck in any mindset and I always keep an eye open for any photo opportunity, regardless of theme. My point is you can become overwhelmed and distracted if you try to cover everything, especially without a particular purpose in mind. Remember that you can return another time to capture something new and different.

Theme Example

Once, my son-in-law gave me an annual pass to all the botanical gardens in California. These gardens are great for macro work, but I never recognized any appealing landscape potential, particularly since these gardens had daytime hours that prevented photographing under optimum light. Now, motivated by a free ticket, I decided on a theme to show garden scenes from a moody perspective rather than the usual sunny garden images that typically graced the brochures. I therefore planned all my garden trips when it was overcast or drizzly. Now guided by a specific theme in mind, a whole new world of imagery opened up to me that I previously failed to recognize.



Descanso Gardens, California: With a new perspective, botanical gardens suddenly exploded with new photo opportunities.

Research

Once I have a location identified and a general sense of the images I want, my next step is to virtually scout the area from my home computer.

Virtual Scouting

First order of business is to get a general lay-of-the-land and to pinpoint potential shooting sites, especially if the area is new and unfamiliar. I may start with images gleamed from guidebooks or travel literature, but the resources available on the Internet can take me much further. For example, when I was planning a trip to Hope Valley near Lake Tahoe, I turned to Google Earth to pinpoint potential photo sites. With Hope Valley in view, many photo icons popped up that showed both a variety of views and their locations. Granted most images are snapshots and sometimes the locations are a little off; but it gives a sense of the area and is the next best thing to being there.

Next, I’ll search the photo galleries at Photo.net, Outdoor Photographer, Flickr, and Pinterest. Many of these photos are fine art quality and worth studying. After that, I’ll google the location and click on ‘Images.’ I also add “photo gallery” to the search description in hopes of finding commercial photographers displaying sample photos that may provide further inspiration. Another aid is to add “photo workshop” to the search description. Workshop websites not only show off their best photos, they sometimes include an itinerary that steers you towards the best photo sites.

Study the Light

As most landscape photographers know, morning and evening are the primo times to capture dramatic imagery. Thus, it’s important to know the times and coordinates of the sunrise and sunset, as well as the moon’s rise and set. Knowing the sun’s coordinates is necessary to determine the angle of light and its relationship to the landscape. Unless I already know in advance, I must determine if morning, evening, or both are the best times to shoot at a particular location. Also, knowing the moon’s coordinates determines if I can include the moon in a scene. This is why The Photographer’s Ephemeris and/or PhotoPills along with The Photographer’s Ephemeris 3D are essential.

Of course when physically at the location, knowing the coordinates is useless without a compass. I use a Silva compass that has a flip-up sighting mirror that aids in aligning shots. Beforehand, I write all the ephemeris data on a Post-It and stick it on the compass for handy reference. You could use your smart phone’s compass app, but without a sighting aid it’s difficult to achieve any precision.

Study the Weather

Weather brings drama and drama makes great landscape pictures. These opportunities are common during weather transitions when a storm front is either approaching or leaving. It is ironic that good weather for tourists is not necessarily good weather for landscape photographers.

Unfortunately, as amateurs we often do not have the luxury to dash off at a moment’s notice to some remote locale when conditions seem favorable, unless you are lucky to live nearby. Most of my outings have to be planned in advanced, so there is a limit to how much I can re-juggle my schedule. I do keep an eye on the extended forecasts on Accuweather. I will reschedule, if possible, when there is a pattern of either severe inclement weather or the forecast shows only boring, cloudless days. The problem with extended forecasts are their reliability, and most times I just have to take whatever I’m handed. My other weather sources are Weather Channel and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service, which provides only a one-week forecast.

Shooting Schedule

For outings longer than a few days, I generate a shooting schedule that is a culmination of all my research and planning. I make a simple spreadsheet and list by date and time: candidate sites for sunrise and sunset shots; any daytime shooting assignments; planned scouting times and areas; and travel times. To me, this is analogous to a movie script and, as such, is subject to furious rewrites once the shooting starts. Still, even a half-plan is better than no-plan.

Location Scouting

When I arrive at a shooting location, the first order of business is usually to scout for the two important shooting times of the day: morning and evening. Having done my research and generating a shooting schedule makes this task go more smoothly. I want to scout all the sunrise and sunset shots well in advance to avoid a last minute time crunch. When I have enough morning and evening shots lined up, I use the remaining time to shoot pictures of opportunity. There are photo opportunities all day long and not only at the magic light time as some would have you believe.

Preplan the Composition

When I scout a location, I don’t say to myself: “what a pretty scene, I’ll come back at sunrise and shoot whatever looks good.” It takes time to establish a composition and that is time you may not have moments before the optimum lighting of morning or evening is about to occur. It is best to establish the exact composition beforehand when you have the luxury of time to thoroughly work the scene. Ultimately, my goal is to establish one optimum location and viewpoint to photograph through all the phases of light. I will preplan exactly the intended composition, where to place the tripod, which lens and filter to use, and what exposure strategy to use. When I return later to take the shot, it will be mostly procedural without having to think too hard about it.

Visitor Centers

Where do tourists eventually end up — almost always at a visitor center or gift store. Even if I did my research and think I know where the hot spots are, I still stop at any visitor center, gift shop, or place that sells photo books, guides, or postcards of the local area. Usually, these photos are informative and better quality than most Internet images because much of the work is by local photographers who know the area well. This is a great way to discover lesser-known photo sites, see ideas for composition, and get a better assessment of the lighting during morning and evening.