From mossy trees and foggy forests, to giant sea-stacks and angry seas, the Pacific North West of North America is a veritable photographic playground. As we are about to find out though, all these potential opportunities don’t always guarantee that you’ll get a decent image.
Coming to you from the infinitely exuberant Gavin Hardcastle of Fototripper, is this video which does more to highlight the potential to miss opportunities — or just be unlucky with light — than it does to explain how to capitalize on ideal situations. His understandable — if somewhat exaggerated — excitement at the beginning of the video is infectious, as most landscape photographers are aware of the scenic delights which lay before him. It is easy to put one’s self in his shoes. The excitement gradually fades, however, in the face of harsh sunlight and cluttered forest scenes.
We’ve all been there, tripod in hand as you wander towards your quarry, visualizing an award winning composition in an almost trance like delirium, only to be jolted from the fever-dream by the clarity of a clear day. Hardcastle’s disappointment is palpable, but his attitude towards the situation is a lesson to all of us. Like any seasoned professional, he perseveres though, and does come away with a few decent shots. Too many times I’ve come away from a landscape fed up with the process and myself. It’s so easy to caught up in negative thoughts, especially because most of the time landscape photographers are out there alone. But if one takes away anything from this video — apart from a few hearty laughs — it is that even some of the best photographers, shooting in the most wonderful locations, can still come away with nothing. Indeed, tomorrow is another day.
If you’re ready to take your landscape photography to the next level, why not check out Fstoppers’ own tutorial, Photographing the World, with Elia Locardi.