Bad Weather can be dangerous to photographers. Safe photography outside in any condition is helped along by the right gear. This is part 3 of a series talking about shooting in bad weather. In part one I said that we need to still head out and shoot in the “bad weather” that we will all be faced with. Part two talked about finding bad weather for an even better variety of shooting situations.

In this article, part three, I will discuss non photography related gear that will help you to be able to shoot in any condition, and to do so as safely as possible. Non of this gear will insure your safety, but it can help in some situations and make you comfortable in almost all of them.

So here are my recommendations!

A good hat – one that can shield from the elements and or keep you warm. You may have to choose warmth and let the jacket shield from the elements…

Ear Warmers or Ear Band – These are so small and light, but can add huge amounts of warmth to your body in any condition with ease! I have one in my camera bag every day of the year for chilly mornings and evening.

A good jacket for blocking out the elements – I like using the layers approach. I have a jacket that shields and can be worn at times it is still warm but wet, and using it with an insulation layer. Gore-tex is always a great choice for this layer, but whenever you use a waterproof layer, remember that the garment will not breath water out well at all (if it will at all, cheap jackets keep it all in as well!).

Have a good layer of insulation – I used to make fun of puffy jackets. Then I used one and fell in love. They offer extreme warmth for weight! I don’t prefer insulated underwear because it is a pain to remove when you get to hot! Where I live and mostly shoot in the desert the temperature and weather changes rapidly, so I like clothing and protection that I can change in and out of rapidly as well.

Gloves – These let you keep at what your doing! There are a lot of ways to effectively use gloves or multiple pairs when shooting in bad weather. I like to get a pair that offer great warmth and moderate ability to still use camera controls. This way I am warm, but still able to do most camera functions except for the occasional small switch or button and you can pull your hand out momentarily. That is my preference. Some prefer to use a glove that allows total mobility while on and wear these inside a much warmer insulating glove. Regardless, these and the ear warmers are with me every single day of the year I head out to shoot, and I almost always use one or the other.

Proper footwear – This will allow you to do about anything you want once you get out there. I have a heavy duty cross training shoe that is water proof. I like this much more than boots, but get what will allow you to do the most.

- I have seen people miss great pictures because they only had on their dress shoes and didn’t feel like they could trek through some mud and rain for a shot…

- Rubber galoshes might be just the key if you know there will be lots of mud and water crossings. They aren’t usually costly, I have a pair of these I love that cost me 9 dollars new!

A compass or GPS device – In bad weather if you are leaving your car or hiking a ways it is twice as easy to get lost. Give yourself the resources to find the way back! Also these are worthless if you don’t know how to use them! Practice ahead of time. Understanding their use in theory without any practice can be worse than not having them at all! I almost got totally lost because of my inexperience with a GPS and relying only on my skim reading the manual. Actual use and practice is essential.

A plastic cover for camera and camera bag – I have a nice big plastic bag to cover the camera. You can buy these specially made for your camera, but they are essentially a plastic bag. I keep a few in my bag, they take up virtually no space and are handy for many other things. I also have a plastic bag to put my bag in in case of extreme wetness. From experience I know that it will keep gear dry even if submerged for several moments, so I don’t worry about rain if it is closed up.

Eye Protection – I don’t wear glasses and so I often suffer from my eyes being exposed. I have a pair of aviators, or ski goggles depending on the weather and time of year.

A small collapsible umbrella – these can come very small, and look kind of like a little Star Wars light saber. Umbrellas are great for being able to set up your gear protected from the elements and maybe even during shooting, although I prefer the previous item for actual shooting in rain. A note on umbrellas, they are horrible in wind! I made sure that my jacket was big enough that I could use it to shield gear from weather as an alternative.

Insulated thermos – This allows you to have a nice hot beverage at all times. A decent insulated metal thermos will allow you have keep a beverage hot for hours. This may not be desired by all, but is a great comfort!

This list stops there. You could add shelter, sleeping gear, and cooking gear but that would only be in certain situations. So I won’t dive into that stuff.

There is a lot of stuff on this list. I have used all of it at least a few times to great effect, and the first eight items, I have with me at least in the car at all times, often on my person. They don’t take up much room at all, and can make the difference in being able to getting amazing pictures, and getting blown away or rained out.

The list above is what allows me to always get out and shoot. Some things are different for other people, and some may not be applicable for you. Whatever you do though seriously consider what you need to be able to shoot in the bad weather you may face, and have it ready, then the real adventures will start to roll in!

What would you add to this list?

I hope you have enjoyed this list. It is the third and last installment of my shooting in bad weather series. If you missed Part one or part two click below to check them out.

Part One – Shoot in Bad Weather

Part Two – Ways to get out in bad weather…

This is part two of the Shooting in Bad Weather series. Part one talked about getting out to shoot even if the weather seems like it will be a complete waste. Here we talk about finding bad weather to shoot in so that you can photograph somewhere in a situation that few if anyone will ever see.

Finding bad weather can be easy. First of all it comes when you plan on it not being there. Taking it to the next level you can do these things to almost assuredly get bad weather to shoot in.

Follow the weather channel, watch those radar readings, satellite imagery and weather forecasts for indications of where bad weather will be. If you miss the bad weather because a forecast miscasts, you will still likely find yourself mostly there alone. I am amazed at how many people will cancel a trip or outing because of only the potential for bad weather. How often are they always right?

Visit in the off season, this usually means the more interesting and weather influenced season! Many famous places are free from crowds at off peak times. I have visited many famous places in the middle of bad weather, and during the off season and found myself there all by myself.

Look at historical records of when rain and snow are most likely to come to an area. This isn’t a guarantee you will find weather, but if your stuck planning trips far in advance this may be the key to more likely finding weather different from the common blue sky and sunny days.

Look up once in a while and with practice you will be able to tell most likely where what weather will hit on an hour by hour basis in a day. This is hard to do in forests or canyons, but wide open places make it possible. When I was in the Grand Tetons a while back I would get out of the tent and be able to tell where the mountains might be visible, and guess what might go on in the next few hours by the clouds in the sky and watching how fast they were moving and in which direction. This can be totally ineffective at times but it can also be very effective if you practice continually.

These are a few ideas for finding bad weather to shoot in. There are other ways I am sure, but these are usually my starting point for planning on what to expect when I head out somewhere to shoot.

Remember weather is usually only really bad if your totally unprepared for the elements that you are dealing with. There are many situations that are dangerous to be in. I personally won’t go near lightening, or potential flash floods. Those are some things that no amount of gear or preparation can negate the consequences of if you get “struck” by them. So remember safety first, but most of the time you are dealing with only a small amount of inconvenience for great opportunities to photograph an areas in an entirely different character and light from what most people will ever see it in.

What do you do to find great opportunities to photograph places in different weather conditions?

This is part two of Shooting in Bad Weather. Check out part one Shooting in Bad Weather to find out why you should even try getting out to shoot in bad weather at all.

“There is no bad weather, just weather!”
-Unknown Climber

Have you ever had a photography shoot or trip planned and then found out that there was going to be bad weather? It has happened to all of us.

It is especially frustrating because most of us aren’t professional photographers that can just head out the next day when the conditions are ideal. Some of us are professionals that have to deal with bad weather wrecking carefully laid plans, ruining very limited time, and pushing you up against deadlines!

Bad weather is just another reminder to make the most of the time you have available.

Step back for a second and consider the ideal circumstances for the photo shoot or photograph you are going for. Got it in your head? Okay so now think about those ideal circumstances as only one set of circumstances that are available to you.

That is right, the ideal is actually only one way of doing something. Picture the iconic photo location and jump onto flickr and type in the name of it.

If you type in something like “Delicate Arch, Arches National Park,” or “Valley View, Yosemite National Park,” or “Great Smoky Mountain National Park” there are going to be a lot of results. Not all of them are photographed under the same ideal conditions. True as well that not all of them are good, but really striking images will be photographed in a variety of conditions, not just the seemingly ideal conditions.

In fact you may find that the ideal conditions you were looking for are actually not the best conditions at all. This is where bad weather can be a huge benefit for you in your photography. Bad weather often presents you a new variety of photographic opportunities.

You can almost always plan on a slightly cloudy sky sunset giving a similar result. If you don’t believe me watch the sunset at your house over and over again and see what you get. It will often be wonderful but it is basically the same type of result each night. Each place has its own character.

Bad weather is great because it can take the character of a place and throw it into a rare “drunken rage” that rarely ever comes out. This is something that the iconic conditions will never present to you, and I can almost guarantee you will be the only one or one of only a few people there to photograph it. These erratic conditions can be very unique if not once in a lifetime.

I recently had a day just like this. I was heading out to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area west of Las Vegas, Nevada. I had planned to go with my wife and enjoy a great holiday. The weather turned quite sour with wind and rain dominating. I decided to go out anyway and see what we found. We found very few people. A few dozen at most compared to the thousands usually there. Once we started hiking we saw nobody for hours.

The “bad weather” also totally reshaped the place. It didn’t seem like a desert at all. There were small waterfalls all over the places. The plants that usually look like they are hanging on for dear life seemed vibrant and alive, like they were breathing for the first time in months. The rocks now soaked had a moody character to them.

Overall the photography was amazing! I was able to photograph Red Rock Canyon in a totally new light. I have visited more than 20 times in my few years here and this was totally unique. I have visited this area on two other occasions when “bad weather” was around, and found a totally unique light each time.

So when “bad weather” is present wherever you were thinking about heading out to, consider not canceling the trip. You may find quite an amazing and unique subject if you do still head out.

Things may end up not being that great at all, but remember how many pictures never turned out in what were supposedly the ideal circumstances? At least you won’t be as likely to be taking similar pictures to the people standing next to you in the ideal circumstances. When you do head out you may be about to discover what that “drunken rage” character is like for where your headed and have pictures that are completely unique!

That is what I love about “bad weather,” the unique pictures and adventure that wait for me each time I had out into the unknown!

What type of bad weather is most intimidating for you to photograph in? Which is your favorite? I prefer snow and rain storms!

This is part one of Shooting in Bad Weather. Be sure to come back and see part two which talks about finding bad weather, and part three which talks about gear for bad weather.

In How to Buy the Right Camera Part One talked briefly about buying the right camera, and listed a few tips on how to do this. In this article (part 2) I am going to talk about considering where and when is this camera going to be used, along with what does the new camera need to be able to do?

Thinking about what you want your new camera to do is integrally related to where and when you will primarily use it. For me I love landscape photography as well as shooting portraiture of people, and I generally will also do some wildlife shooting as well.

Where and When will I Primarily Use my Camera?

So the answer here of where and when will I use it is simple in my case (for most people it will be simple, don’t worry). I will shoot with mine outside quite a bit. I will be moving around a lot as well chasing wild animals, and looking for great landscape shots. I will also do a lot of hand held shooting of people in all kinds of places in addition to inside a studio. So basically I will likely use my camera anywhere, and will carry it a long ways often on my back (last year I backpacked and hiked with my camera a little more than 110 miles).

I also will be using my camera at all times, day and night. This for me means it would be nice if it had a way to easily change settings in the dark (side note, this is always hard and no camera is perfect for using in total darkness, I always have a flashlight for these situations). I will also use my camera in temperature and weather extremes. Mine was subjected to temperatures ranging from -15 degrees Fahrenheit up to 117 degrees Fahrenheit last year in addition to snow, wind, rain, hail, and sand storms.

First of all I need my camera to stand up to the where and when as I listed out previously. Obviously weather sealing would be great, but honestly this isn’t a requirement. I took my iTouch with me to all those places and used it many times to figure out depth of fields for lenses at certain settings and so on all with no problem with weather interfering with its function. I have a point and shoot that I drug everywhere with me for years to all kinds of places and dropped in it water, sand, and on rocks (thanks to a 4 year old) in addition to all the weather I talked about above and it still works.

So most cameras if kept dry (if they get wet you have to let them dry out completely before using again, but they often will work fine) will continue to function fine in almost any condition without weather sealing. The professional cameras that have weather sealing are designed to last the elements like I described above everyday for years. They are meant to be given horrible abuse by people that have to get pictures in those kinds of places. They are a little bit more resistant to these kinds of weather and conditions, but the non professional cameras will often do really well if you take care of them and avoid any major accidents, like dunking in water and falls of more than a few feet unprotected. On a side note, my brother had an old Canon Elan 2 that he dropped 3 separate times resulting in bouncing falls each time of more than 40 feet while rock climbing and only lost a UV filter and a lens…

That basically covers for me where and when I will be using my camera. Before you jump to conclusions, remember most of what I have said can still be managed with about any camera available. The only real filter so far will be the fact that I don’t want to carry 30 or 40 pounds of camera gear while backpacking. I will still gladly carry 15 or 20, I am still young and have some back left to ruin. So for me, I have basically limited what I would consider by size and weight, nothing outrageously huge please. I probably won’t be jumping to carry a large 8×10 camera into the field anytime soon. We can focus on what we need the camera to actually do.

What do I want and need my camera to do?

I like to manually control settings while doing landscape work. In many situations automatic settings will not be able to figure out lighting and put the focus on small details you may want to highlight. So being able to independently control the shutter speed and aperture can be important.

I also need a camera that can make exposures longer than 1 second, because I often shoot pictures with exposures of one second or longer when shooting landscapes. This may not be a need you have at all. This will allow you to do a lot of interesting things like star trails, flowing water, and having lots of depth of field when there is little light (usually at sunrise or sunset). Don’t worry if you want to do this and think you will just have to get an expensive professional camera. Many point and shoots can shoot longer than one second.

Shooting pictures with a frame rate faster than 1 picture a second is also important for my use. I shoot my kids and wildlife, both of which move very fast. I need a camera that can take more than 2 pictures a second, and can focus quickly as well. I don’t need one that can shoot 10 or 12 frames a second, but I need one that can do at least 3 or 4. Along with how many frames it can shoot a second, I need one that can take a picture without delay, meaning when I press the shutter button not a few seconds later. Some point and shoots take so long to take the picture after you press the button that the subject frequently has looked away or moved completely out of the frame.

So basically up to this point I need a camera that lets me manually control settings, and can shoot exposures longer than one second.

Now you will need to start thinking about the final output of your pictures. Do you want to deal with processing film? Do you want to deal with processing digital files? Each process has its costs and benefits. Shortly here,

• Film lets you shoot, drop off the film, and get back the developed slides or negatives and have prints made. Film also offers the flexibility of scanning film into digital so you can reap benefits available there. The act of shooting pictures is costly as each picture costs about the same to take regardless of its quality because of the costs of film, and processing. In some cases larger formats of film may be able to yield higher quality results than digital cameras, but at a cost.

• Digital lets you see instantly what you have just captured and shoot again if you didn’t get it right. This helps increase your success rate on the ground and can increase learning potential because of instant feedback you can get from shooting lots with little cost for each additional shot. Digital cameras face a shorter life cycle because you shoot with them more and they have a higher likelihood that they will wear out faster. Digital cameras are also more frequently replaced because new ones come out regularly, often every 9 months to 2 years. Staying up with the latest can be expensive. So you can shoot often, and only keep your best for less cost than shooting film, especially over time. Remember there are costs of having a computer to process the pictures, printing pictures (this is a cost for both film and digital however), and digital storage of image files to consider as well.

For me the choice is easily digital. The benefits outweigh the costs by far in my situation. That however isn’t the point of this article; the main point is that you may be faced with the choice of digital or film. Film is however quickly becoming a thing of the past, if you buy a film camera check before hand that you will have a way to get your film developed and printed at a cost reasonable for you.

What are the pictures for?

What are you taking pictures for? Are they just for family keepsake memories? Are you worried about or do you need a certain quality?

For me some of the pictures I take are of family, and will be for simple keepsakes. This doesn’t need to be a certain quality. I am more concerned with capturing the actual pictures of family. I also shoot a lot of nature, landscape, and portraiture. This work is focusing on the final picture not just on remembering the moment like in a family picture. So I need to be able to produce a very high quality image file for printing large sized prints at high quality (you can print a mural with a camera phone image but it will not be the same quality you get from a large format film, or medium format digital back).

Overall for my needs I need the quality that a larger film or digital SLR camera can produce. But at this point I need a camera that can be taken and carried everywhere while being weight conscience. I also don’t want to deal with the cost of film. I have decided to deal with the cost of digital. So the large format doesn’t work for me because of size and the fact it is film. I know that for some it would fine.

What flexibility do you need in the picture creation process?

I need to be able to change lenses. A fixed lens point and shoot or any one with a fixed lens just won’t be able to meet the needs I have for different shooting situations. I need to be able to shoot extreme wide angle for landscape and shoot extreme telephoto for wildlife including a lot of stuff in between. I need to be able to change lenses. The ability to shoot with different lenses also will increase the final quality of your images because more specific lenses and fixed focal lengths will generally have better image quality. The option to choose which lens you use gives flexibility and the option to go for higher quality. There are however quite a few that don’t offer interchangeable lenses that still have amazing lenses.  A lot of people don’t need to change lenses, and can deal with a fixed lens as long as the camera can take high enough quality pictures. This is important to consider. Perhaps a fixed lens camera will be more than adequate (life will be easier without lots of extra lenses and weight to carry around if you don’t need the extra benefits they offer).

What Accessories do I Need Access to?

Consider here what accessories you may need to use in your picture making process. I use a cable release to reduce camera shake when it is mounted on a tripod. Not all cameras have this available. Perhaps using the self timer will be good enough for you. Do you need the pictures to transfer to your computer wirelessly? Fashion and editorial shooters will often use this technique to optimize workflow. However not all cameras have accessories available to transfer pictures wirelessly. Some can do it connected to the computer by a cable, but again not all can. Some cameras have a remote control available (like one for some Canons here). Consider your needed and desired accessories carefully and this may again help to determine the camera you want.

Summary of Needs and Wants

So that is about all for part 2. In summary what do you need your camera to do, and where and when do you need that done? Consider these questions.

• Where will I be using it?
• When will I be using it? Night? Crowded areas?
• What controls do I need?
• Do I need it to be able to shoot certain pictures? Like flowing water?
• What will the pictures be used for?
• What flexibility do I need in the picture making process?
• What accessories do I need and which are available?

I am specifically not talking about brands of cameras because brand doesn’t mean one is better than another. Each brand will likely have different types of cameras competing with other brands cameras of the same type. The main differences will often be the user interface, the accessories available and if it has interchangeable lenses the lenses available for it. There may be a small feature present or lacking from brand to brand. These may make a difference, and may not. You have to decide. I recommend not giving any extra value to a camera you are considering that has unique features unless they are complete game changers for you.

What would you add to this list of important needs and wants when deciding what camera to buy?

This is part 2 of the series How to buy the Right Camera. The first installment can be found here.

Buying the right camera is today’s subject. We have all faced a high pressure salesman, the social pressure of trying to be like or better than everyone else, and you may feel like you want to try and get what camera a professional has so you could do the same stuff as them.

Those are all the wrong reasons to consider buying a certain camera. I will be honest I have gone through many of those situations, so I am not trying to point fingers. The whole purpose of this series is to try and get you closer to what you really want and what you really need.

There are a few things you need to consider when buying a camera. This post is the beginning of a series on how to buy the right camera for you, and not for everyone else. If you are pro and already have the camera you want then this maybe isn’t exactly what you want to read today. That is cool.

When I am considering buying a camera I consider a few of these things. From the outset I am going to make the assumption that money isn’t a problem, we just don’t want to spend more than we absolutely have to. So I am not going to tell you buy a $40,000 camera if you only need a $100 one.

• What do I need and want this camera to primarily do for me?
• Where and when is this camera going to be used?
• What are the major types of cameras and the practical differences?
• Remember who and what actually makes pictures better.
• Making the final decision.

If you have to make a decision now then go ahead and just use this quick outline to help yourself out, or read these follow up posts to get help buying what you need and will actually want later one.

What do you consider primarily when thinking of buying a camera?

The ideal camera bag is something most photographers search for. There is a survey going on over at Digital Photography School that asks people what camera bag is their favorite. Judging by the response people are giving there are a lot of options and there isn’t a clear winner.

I have personally researched and considered a lot of camera bags for a long time. I have come to the conclusion that there isn’t an ideal bag for me made by a camera bag company. Like most people I have a need for different bags in multiple situations. For most of those situations I haven’t found a bag that is ideal. I have to deal with carrying kids, lots of lighting gear, and lots of gear or just a little all depending on what the shooting situation is. For me there isn’t an ideal bag, but several that would be ideal.

I have three problems in general with the average camera bags available today.

• First, they cost a lot of money. It is true that some are coming down significantly in price and still offering great value.
• Second, the bags are often easily identifiable as camera bags. Nothing like advertising that your bag is worth a nice chunk of change (quite a few of you have bags of gear costing more than 5 figures, and in some cases perhaps closer to 6 figures).
• Camera bags don’t usually have a harness that can comfortably distribute the weight you put in the bag. This is especially the case with camera backpacks. I may have been spoiled by my extended use of high quality mountaineering bags in the past; they manage to provide great harnesses for carrying obscene weights comfortably.

So I have gone the route of using a mountaineering bag and a hip style bag for my camera bags. One is a very old Black Diamond bag that can carry a lot of gear easily. It isn’t a panel loading design like most camera bags, it is a top loader, but for me that isn’t something that’s a problem.

The other is a Mountainsmith lumbar bag that I use for shorter day type things. Both offer great weight carrying comfort and don’t advertise the fact that they are holding a lot of valuable gear. The problem is that carrying a tripod on any bag makes it easy for someone to put two and two together.

Overall both bags weigh less than 2 pounds, so they don’t add a lot of weight to the total you will have to carry.

Along with those two bags I have a much larger panel loading bag that I keep all my gear in and then pull out what I will need for a day or specific shoot. I would really like one of the think tank roller series bags for this but I haven’t gotten around to spending money on that just yet.

I use lens wraps to wrap each lens and piece of gear that needs padding, and have cut up an old closed cell foam pad to put in the bottom of each bag for the little extra padding that is needed. The nice thing about the wraps is that I can protect my gear with them in any place I want to put it. To keep things ordered with the lens wraps I bought several different colors. Then I put everything into wraps by color so I know what is in each color wrap by just looking at it and can easily pull out what I want.

That is how I manage my gear. Those two bags are great for carrying and organizing, and when there is extra room they can carry other stuff.

I really am regularly enticed by the variety of camera bags and things that they can do, and their almost sexy design (only in a few cases for that). In the end I look closely at what will work best and I am still using the mountaineering bag and the lumbar bags now 7 years later.

There are a few bags that I really like the idea of. To not come across as a camera bag hater here is a list of the camera bags that I like the most and links to information about them.

• Think Tank Shape Shifter
• Lowepro Flipside 300
• Think Tank Rollers
• Domke Bags
• Kiboko Gura Gear Bag

I have favorite mountaineering bag brands as well, so if your interested in this route check them out for what may work best for you.

• Mountainsmith
• Black Diamond Equipment
• The North Face
• Arcteryx

What works for you? Do you change often? What is your favorite brand?

Last year I made a few photography gear purchases that made photography better for me all year long. Good news is that they are cheaper rather than expensive.

Mid Range Prime Lens

The first thing I got that really changed my shooting was a 50mm macro lens. I got the Canon version so my experience was based on that lens rather than ones available to other brands. This was a great purchase because it has macro built in. It doesn’t give 1:1 magnification and I still haven’t used the 1:1 converter available but I love the macro on it. It lets you get really close when shooting portraits, or detail landscape work.

It also is a great focal length for my style of shooting, I generally end up with most pictures shot at 17mm to 20mm (about 30%) and the majority of the rest usually fall into that 50mm range (50%) so I didn’t need to carry around my heavier zoom lens (actually I sold it happily because it was getting no use).

The f2.5 maximum aperture is quite shallow especially when you shoot pictures from a foot or less. Lastly the sharpness is amazing. It is easily one of my sharpest lenses. Corner to corner I love the sharpness in the pictures that I shoot with this lens.  There is something else as well about shooting with prime lenses that I really like. This lens is a real pleasure.

This lens is also very light. Some people would feel like it feels cheap and flimsy. It has had no durability issues for me in a wide range of uses I put it through this year. Plus being light I took it everywhere with me and this often paid off with more pictures captured rather than not.

The biggest negative is that it focuses slowly. Oh well, if it had to have a downside for this price ($265 as of 2/23/2010) about I will take the slow focusing.

If you have this lens then try out the non macro version 50mm lens. It has a shallow depth of field, and is a great little lens I am excited to try. Both of these lenses are very inexpensive as far as photography equipment goes. The macro version is a great starter for macro and is especially useful for shooting macro because it provides a different macro perspective from longer macros by allowing far more depth of field. Because of the increased depth of field in the 50mm macro I have had great photography opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise with just the 100 or 150 macro lenses I also have.

This gets a huge thumbs up!

The Timer Cable Release

I know that there are several of these available from name brands and off brands but the recommendation is for the functions it offers rather than the specific product, so keep that in mind. Canon’s is called the TC80N3, and there is an off brand version made by Opteca. What these all do is give you a cable release and also a very nice way to control timed sequences of photos as well as a programmable timer. I know that they are costly, but equipment that costs less than $200 and that offers real value is a nice thing.

I love this little dohicky for a few reasons. First I can program the self timer to take 7, 9, 117, or 13 seconds. Whatever I really want and need. Several times I was able to get pictures because of being able to set a timer for longer than 10 seconds. Like here and here.

You can set up the timer to take pictures every certain amount of time for as long as you want. I used this function to take quite a few star trail pictures that were later merged (check that out here) and to shoot fun sequences of pictures that I made into a movie.

It also has a programmable bulb. So you can tell it to leave the shutter open for 37 seconds, or for hours (I think 24 hours is the limit).

The bad I have to say about these timer cables is that honestly cameras should have all of these options built in especially since they are electronic. Companies just like to sell us more crap. These options are really nice to have on hand so they set up the extra sell by keeping it separate. But if your reading this Canon, Nikon, or whoever else, just include this in the camera. If you are actually listening then thanks, if not then what is new?

These are useful, and I recommend you get one!

The Lens Wraps

So the last thing I got last year that I really loved was some lens wraps. I got ones made by Skooba. Lots of people make them however so get the brand that works for you. I got this brand because they had a small amount of padding, but most of the entire wrap is designed to repel salt, water, and other things toxic for your gear. I find that lots of padding is overkill so these really do the trick for me. I can wrap up gear and throw it in my backpack and I don’t have to worry about dividers or organizers. I just put on top what I am going to use most and unwrap the lens when I want to put it on the camera.

I really like these little guys! They also fit well into my gear packing method. They cost me about 20 dollars a piece. I actually scored a sale that gave me two for one so I bought quite a few.

The Remote Control

So I am not sure what other cameras have remote controls available. I know that some radio control units like pocket wizard will let you use them like a remote control. Luckily the Canon 5d Mark 2 does have a remote control available for it called the Canon Wireless Remote Control RC1. Again this is a small thing that you should put in every camera because it is cool. Just in case your listening camera makers! So basically what can you do with a remote control? Use your imagination…

I use it for an on the spot cable release if I have forgotten mine because the canon remote control comes with a handy clip to attach it to the camera strap. With this baby no camera shake is require. This was fun, and luckily even a little bit useful! Mine cost $20 or a bit less. Plus it is so small it doesn’t get in the way and is always there.

So that is the list of things I would recommend. Just four things, but they are all pretty useful for me in my shooting. I like the function they offer and the good images they made possible. Best of all they didn’t break the bank!

What little accessories or low cost items are quite useful to you?

post script…I should include a bubble level. However I am such a loser that I just can’t get the rhythm of actually using it. So it didn’t make my list…

We all want to get out more and have more opportunities to photograph and play. I realized a while back that I got out a lot more often than my friends who also work the same 40 hour a week schedule. I wondered why they weren’t camping, hiking, and photographing (or insert your passion here) as much as I was. I realized that quite a few people only have a short trip or vacation a year. I have an acquaintance that went camping overnight and that was the trip of the year for them. I cringe at the thought. In this case more may be better!

This article is all about how you can get out at to photograph (or whatever you love) 50 days or more each year. I could get out too photograph 250 days in a year and keep my full time job if I really pushed everything to the limit. That is right, shoot 250 days in a single year with a family, a full time job working 40 hours a week and only 12 days of vacation a year. You can get out lot more too!

Last year I was pretty lazy, and only racked up about 50 days of actual photography. I honestly played with the kids and watched a lot of movies in the park here in Vegas. I spent a lot of my time doing other things. I could have gotten out to photography a lot more often. I made the choice to be lazy and not travel as much. Beware choices like this lead to only one vacation a year, and often just a day or two at that. Follow the above methods to get out more often. This year I am going to buy a house and start a new job, but I decided that I will get out at least 50 days this year, and if things are going well, I will get out more than 100 days before December 31 of this year.

Here are the ways that you can get out to photograph 50, 100, or 200 or more days a year.

The 50 day a year plan

So let’s start off with the assumption that you get two weeks of vacation a year. That is a measly 14 days (we will count Saturdays and Sundays for reach our number goal). You will need to make good use of the vacation days you have. I plan personally to use my vacation days for longer far away trips were extended time is best used. I get 12 business days for vacation so if I plan carefully I can easily stretch that into almost 20 days of photography including weekends, and holidays that are already free days. We will assume you can only take two weeks; this gives 16 days if you take off on a Friday, and take two whole weeks and that extra weekend. 34 days left to figure out.

A side note, I basically do everything possible to not use annual leave/vacation for things I don’t have to. I won’t for example use a leave day to stay home and putter around the house or for running errands. These are special days that are paid, and I use them for vacations and photography.

The last 34 days are easily taken on weekend trips. At only two days at a time that would take 17 weekends. If you managed a few weekend trips aligning with a holiday that usually falls on a Friday or Monday you have a few 3 day weekends, and reaching 50 days would take fewer weekends, about one every three weeks. If getting out is a priority this is easily managed.

50 or more days of photography a year can be done by anyone with a regular 5 day work week. Other people can easily reach this as well, they just need to look at their free time and arrange it to be used for photography.

The 100 days a year plan

So now that we see 50 days of photography a year is easily accomplished lets set our sights a bit higher.

We will start with the assumption that we will get the first 50 days just like we did previously. So next we need to figure where more days to photograph in the field will come from. Here are a few ideas.

• Take more weekends off. You would only need to take 25. That would be a total of 42 weekends spent traveling. That may be kind of hard especially if you are not single.
• You can negotiate to work a 4 day work week with 10 hour days. This is what I have done. Then you would have your normal vacation time, and only need to take about 28 weekends.
• Go for partial days of shooting and still get in a full day of work. This can be done easily by heading out for a sunrise before work, or sunset after work or combine a sunset and sunrise with some camping and night photography (shooting before heading to the office was a favorite of Galen Rowell).

Reaching 100 days of photography in a year will be a bit of a challenge and test if you really want to get out there. But here again, a person with a semi flexible schedule can easily reach the 100 day threshold if they focus on it and make it a priority! You can give up TV time to get out too photograph right?

200 days and beyond!

This will honestly take a dedicated and die hard effort to reach. Heck reaching 100 days a year is a serious effort. I am willing to bet many professional photographers don’t regularly get 200 days in the field in.

For this you will have to use all of the above tactics to their fullest. Let’s break down what we can do with the above all together.

• 16 days of vacation.
• 80 days from shooting 40 two day weekends.
• 104 days from 2 times a week shooting a sunrise or sunset before or after work each week of the year.

That would bring us to 200 days a year of photography. Sounds like a lot? Well there are still 165 other days where you don’t do any photography to balance things out.

If you had 3 day weekends, you would more easily be able to reach this goal, and wouldn’t need to take as many weekends out for photography. If you got the 3 day weekends and shot each one along with the 16 days vacation and 2 times a week getting out you would reach 261 days of photography in a single year with out any of those days overlapping. If you went out 3 mornings during the weekdays you would realistically be able to reach 300 days photographing if you did this along with the other tactics outlined above. You may be able to extend that even more by adding whatever official holidays you get in there. If you manage a McDonalds or something similar though I am pretty sure official holidays won’t help you out, that is why I haven’t included them at all. Not all would be full days, but there is a lot of photography time there.

Making it Work Practically and Financially

To really make 50, 100, or 200 or more days of photography work you would have to be totally dedicated to the cause. You would also have to give up luxuries while you were out there to be able to afford the continual trips (unless of course you are loaded!).

A major key to being able to getting out that much is also in where you head out to. I admit going to the city park that many times in a year may get old, and you might get labeled as weird (okay maybe really weird).

We often get tunnel vision on where we want to head out to photograph. I dream of Glacier, Yosemite, Redwoods, and Rainer National Parks, and places further away. I often neglect places that I could visit almost daily right around me. I neglect but could easily visit Death Valley, Valley of Fire, Joshua Tree, Zion, Bryce, Page Arizona and Lake Powell, the Grand Canyon, Mojave National Preserve, and the Beach in Southern California all from Vegas with little effort. In fact 200 or more days shooting in those places would barely scratch the surface.

Consider how you can travel for less. I have a smaller car that gets great mileage that lowers the cost of trips. I camp more often than not (often in no fee areas) and save lots of money and have more shooting opportunities (besides I am there for the photography not the luxury). I find friends to head out with and split the costs with them. There is lots you can do to go cheaper and longer.

Make a trip calendar out of where and when you will go this year and start getting out to photograph more often. You will become a better photographer, and become a pro on those places close to you that you can visit often. Many professionals have built their careers doing this. Two that pop into mind are Tom Till, and Tom Mangelsen (the Tom part is a coincidence). Tom Till still gets out and shoots 300 or more days a year, a lot of that in his own backyard of Moab (he is a pro so I guess he should get out 300 days a year!). He has become well know for his collection of images made in this area, all close to home for him. So think about the amazing places close to home you could get to know better. If you take the chance to visit a place more often you will be able to get far better images than people who can only visit for a short time as they travel from far away.

Last year I was pretty lazy, and only got out to photograph about 35 days. I honestly played with the kids and watched a lot of movies. I could have gotten out too photograph a lot more often. I made the choice to be lazy and travel and photograph less often. Beware of choices like this they lead to only one vacation a year, and often just a day or two at that. Follow the above methods to get out more often. Make the choice to get and do more of what you love! This year I am buying a house and starting a new job, but I decided that I will still get out at least 50 days this year, and if things go well I will get out more than 100 days this year.

I hope this has broadened your horizons on how you can get out too photograph more often. There really isn’t any reason a lot of us can’t get out and shoot a lot more!

Where is your favorite local shooting location? What are you tricks to getting out more often?

How do you make the most of the time you have to photograph? I use a process I call previsualization to come home with great images almost every time I head out.

This article talks about how I use previsualization to get better images when I go out to photograph. This is important to me because I don’t have an unlimited amount of time to be photographing (actually, I have already planned more trips than I will ever be able to take, so if your like me your time is limited as well). I am sure that no matter how much time you have to be shooting, 1 day or 300 in a year, employing this technique will increase the quality of images you come home with.

To maximize my time shooting in the field, I previsualize images that I want to take, and I will sketch out basic ideas that I want to go for. Sometimes I will look at other images to see what has been taken in an area, and consider ways I can create unique images. Before I jump into the process I use, I want to give credit to storyboarding (a process commonly used by movie makers) as the primary source of inspiration for my own previsualization process.

Here are the steps I use in my previsualization process.

First of all I consider the logistics of my shoot. I layout how much time I will have, and what I will realistically be able to do on a shoot with that time where I am considering shooting. Some places are easy to get around in, and others are quite difficult. For me it is essential to consider the logistics before I seriously start the previsualizing and trip planning, I tend to try and throw way too much into a trip or shoot! I have discovered that planning for only a few important images leads to much better images and lower stress, and often I am still able to capture more images in addition to the ones I have planned for. Some images will not be possible to make in relation to others in a specific time frame due to the logistics involved. So I do some basic planning to determine how much time I have, where I can be in that time, then I will previsualize, and finish planning based on the images I have a priority to try and get.

When I get to the previsualization process I break it down into subjects I will find and hope to find in a location and consider all the ways I might photograph them. Going through the previsualization process like this I can usually get the creativity going from quite a few different angles and come up with more ideas than I would if I had just headed out cold turkey only having seen a few popular images.

Here are the main things I will consider in my previsualization process to try and come up with as many different ideas for images as possible.

• The known landmarks.

• Subject matter that I will likely and hope to encounter.

• Different Compositions that I want to make with whatever may be found in a location.

• Types of shooting techniques, like macro, and telephoto.

• Images with people in them.

A side note on previsualization; I record these previsualizations in words and actual drawings, sometimes just one or the other for an idea but often combined. The picture above is an example of how I did this for a trip to Havasupai Indian Reservation near the Grand Canyon.

Another note, these are categories of images I consider primarily as a nature photographer and these are what I will discuss here. I also do this for shooting portraiture where people are the main subject rather than things in nature. When previsualizing for portraiture I typically focus on what poses and elements of the person I want to show.

Previsualizing images with known landmarks.

I try and consider the main landmarks in a place when I am planning a trip. Landmarks are great starting points for considering what images there are to capture as well as mentally preparing for what types of physical conditions are likely to be present (forests, desert, mountains, ect.), this helps the next category’s previsualisation as well.

Subject matter that I will likely encounter.

This category is based almost entirely on what I know is there, and what I think I will find there. In Arches National Park, I will find arches. It is also a desert. There will be desert animals, and plants. There is potential for blooming flowers at some times of the year. I think about how I could incorporate these subject matter into images, for example I would love to incorporate some flowers and an arch in an image (wow, that’s a good idea I will have to record for next time…). My next trip to Zion National Park will include plans for images involving, hopefully, big horn sheep and the amazing red or white sandstone which I missed last time.

I also consider what will be the easiest to photograph here rather than elsewhere, and what I shouldn’t worry about too much because I have been able to shoot it previously.

Overall in this category I try and consider the variety of subjects I will likely come in contact with and previsualize images that they would potentially be a part of.

Different Types of compositions that I want to include in images in my collection.

There are a lot of images that I have made not based on the subject matter but on a specific type of composition. One big example is panoramas; I love them but struggle to consistently capture them. I also try and include vertical compositions that are pleasing to the eye, I don’t naturally take these so planning them out helps me to bring more home and have a more balanced image collection. So I consider the compositions I want to make and think about how the previously considered subject matter may be used to create these. Here previsualization helps me big time to be more successful.

Different shooting techniques or perspectives.

I as a photographer I know how to capture images with a variety of techniques. Sometimes I just space out on different techniques to consider in shooting situations. There is macro, HDR, panoramas, and more. Sometimes this area includes different techniques but I also try and consider different lenses and what a different lens will allow me to do in different situations. This may sound silly but there have been a few times where I later think “geez a 70-200 would have been perfect for a shot like that…wait, I carried one of those 10 miles to have it available, doh!”

Images with people in them.

I love to take pictures in nature with people in them. People make great subjects in images, but I don’t naturally take them. I always have to plan for them to come home with these images. I think about all the other images I have previsualized and consider if a similar image with a person in it would work out well. More and more I don’t need to rigorously plan these types of images because I have begun to make them a part of my routine, but I still have a while before it becomes second nature.

This process of previsualization by category is done several times so I can keep adding to what I have already thought of, and so that it really turns into a creative process in itself. This is where I turn into a painter by planning and actually sketching what I will put onto my “canvas.” I will keep my notebook with me and when an idea strikes I will write it down and sketch it out so it is clear later on what I was thinking!

After I figure out the images that I want to take I start to sift through and throw out ideas that are almost exactly the same as others. This is where I begin to focus my efforts. When I have narrowed the previsualized images down to generally unique content, I will start to order ideas by priority. This helps me to identify which 3-5 images I really want to make. These 3-5 images are the ones that will make the trip or shoot worth while. I break down all images into three categories;

• Most important – these are the images that the trip was planned for, the potential best of the best.

• Would be amazing to get – Here you find great ideas that if the opportunity presents itself will make great images.

• Try this out if I have time and opportunity – Here is my category of ideas and potential images that may not work out at all. They are ideas with potential, and may be feasible if unknowns work out how I wish.

Overall that is the process. For me there isn’t a point that it ends, but I usually mentally begin it when I first sit down and go through the entire process the first time and from there it continues. I try and sit down at least 3 times and go through all those categories and the previous ideas if it is a successive session. When I go through the process a second and third time I usually am the most creative. This creativity continues for me especially when I am actually in the place I had previsualized.

One of the biggest benefits of this process is that it gets the creative juices flowing before you get to a place. It helps you once you have reached a location to more easily and quickly be able to connect with what images will be meaningful for you to be able to make there. You will have already begun to connect with the area by previsualizing before your visit. This will also help you think outside of what is right in front of you. Having previsualized images you want to make, you won’t be as likely to waste time on things that just won’t make a great image, already knowing the better things you will find elsewhere.

For me this process also helps reduce the potential I have to get lazy and give up on shooting if I am met with disappointment in an area. Having a check list of images you want to try and get keeps you going disappointment after disappointment and will help you make at least a few good images.

Don’t stick to your list of previsualized images so hard fast that you stifle creativity when you are finally on the ground in your shooting location. To avoid this I add only a few images to the “most important” category which become a priority to try and make. The next category of “would be amazing to get” is placed on the same level of other potential creative pursuits when I am trying to decide what to do next.

Here is a short gallery of images that were only made because of this previsualization process. For me the results are worth the effort!

After all the previsualization and the obvious increase in great images captured it is important to remember that this process serves multiple purposes.

• First, it helps me focus on what images I have a priority to try and make, and reduces distraction.

• Second, it helps me to mentally prepare to capture those previsualized images, this preparation makes getting these images much easier.

• Third, it helps me to be confident that I have captured what I want in an image and I don’t need to waste time reshooting things over and over.

• Fourth, previsualizing and planning on specific images to take has led to the images I take being much better compositionally, with better color balance. I can better see what to include in an image, and what to leave out because I have spent time visualizing what I want to appear on that final canvas.

• Fifth, I have a physical checklist to see how I am doing as far as images I wanted to capture on a trip (great especially when you have the inevitable mid trip schedule readjustments)

There are probably quite a few people who do something similar to this. How about you? What do you do to maximize your shooting time? What helps you come home with the very best images on a consistent basis?

Here is an article I read a while ago that is similar to this subject, called The Art and Method of Satisfaction Management. It was by Floris Van Breugel, a photographer whose work I really enjoy. He always comes home with great images, and in the article he talked about a few different techniques he uses to maximize his satisfaction for the small amount of time he has to be out shooting.

This year I had quite a few photography and picture oriented goals, and things worked out pretty well. One of the things I wanted to shoot was more pictures that had the colors green and blue in them. Living in Las Vegas I had to plan carefully to be able to see more of those colors! As always not everything worked out as planned, but I definitely saw a lot of great things and was able to make great pictures.

Here are my 13 favorite pictures from my nature photography exploits of 2009, sorry I just couldn’t nail it down to 10. The last two are definitely my favorites of the year overall…

#13 -The famous tree in Zion made an amazing silhouette in what felt like a picture that wouldn’t be worth much when I took it. Glad I stayed around after the “Light” was ruined.

#12 – Calf Creek Falls is just an amazing desert oasis. Don’t need to say any more.

#11 – Goosenecks of the San Juan State Park, Utah. I worried this place would be just a weird example of geology for me to check out. The light here is amazing.

#10 -The Subway in Zion National Park is simply amazing, so this year I went twice! This is one of many pictures I took here.

#9 -How I visited Antelope Canyon several times before and missed this arch is beyond me, I love it!

#8 -Overland Lake, Ruby Mountain Wilderness Area, Nevada. One of the best backpacking trips I have been on in years, and a load of amazing images!

#7 -The Narrows in Zion National Park. What an amazing place to shoot, and to be schooled on composition and light.

#6 – Trees and Rock, Ruby Mountain Wilderness Area, Nevada. These trees still amaze me, they were growing almost in and through the rock.

#5 -Spooky Gulch, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah. I have a place in my heart for slot canyons. This was a particularly tight one!

#4 -Sequoia National Park, California. These trees, both young and old, really show what I experienced here in Sequoia National Park, life and growth.

#3 – Ruby Valley, Nevada. This area is full of small pockets of blooming flowers, stone, and flowing water that always capture my attention.

#2 – Aspens, Grand Teton National Park. These young aspens were barely changing color when most other trees had changed colors and already dropped their leaves. I love most their simple lines.

#1 – This comes from The Narrows of Zion National Park. I love the colors, and composition. This photograph was meant to be a print! Right out of the camera it blew me away! It is definitely my most favorite picture of the year!

The year was really a great one. I still shot quite a few pictures of the good old desert, but I luckily managed to grab quite a few nice pictures to add variety to my collection! I can’t wait for the shooting I get to do in 2010!