Having infinite resources for many of the locations we frequent for landscape photography is what makes it so accessible to anyone and everyone. The downside is that we tend to plan out everywhere we go, every shot we want to take, and thus we never really get a chance to develop our vision as photographers.
Something I've found myself doing out of necessity while living on the road in the past couple of years is to arrive at a location with little to no plan. On my recent trip to Montenegro in this video, I didn't look at a single image before arriving. I genuinely had no idea what to expect from the country at all, and so when I arrived, it completely blew me away. More importantly, I found myself feeling free to explore and express myself through whatever images caught my attention. I had no direction to go for places that other photographers had photographed, felt zero resentment for repeating any images, and, best of all, was able to create my own vision of an area without any influence.
That's hard to do in a world where we are bombarded with beautiful locations constantly, or we feel the pressure to plan many of our shots so we can maximize the little amount of time we might have at a location. Don't get me wrong, planning a shot or two is likely still a good idea before heading into completely unknown territory, as you'll see in the video. Letting go of expectations from a location and myself not only makes the experience better, but it also tends to push me to make better photos as well.
I'd love to know if you've experienced venturing to a spot where you had zero idea of what to expect and how it left you feeling.
Alex Armitage wrote:
"I'd love to know if you've experienced venturing to a spot where you had zero idea of what to expect and how it left you feeling."
I can definitely understand the point you make in this article, when fore-planning is not employed for landscape photography.
However, for wildlife photography it is very different. I have spent time at places that I didn't plan for. Wildlife refuges, state parks, etc., that I happenstance into as I road-trip around the country.
The first time at an area that I didn't plan for is always interesting and fun. But it is almost never productive. Why? Because wildlife is always about, but we seldom see it. It hides from us. So we need to figure out how to actually see it at a time and in a place where decent photos will be possible. And we need to strategize how to get close enough to make compelling photos. That never, or almost never, "just happens".
But landscapes are always there for us to see. We may not see them from the very best vantage point, or in the best conditions, but they are there, visible, and once we see them we can move about to search for the best angle that yields the nicest composition. They don't run away from us. They don't hide under a rock or in an underground hole. There are there where we can see them and work with them. So planning ahead of time isn't always necessary.
Back to the title of your article .....
I would LOVE to be able to take better wildlife photos by doing less work. But everything I've experienced in all my years of doing this confirms that the opposite is true - that getting better photos requires exponentially more work. There isn't an easy way to get excellent wildlife photos unless one cheats and goes to a preserve or fenced in park or wildlife sanctuary or a zoo or something.
Good viewpoint. 👍🏻