The Art of Adventure Photography

I’m getting all set for a trip up north. I’ll be hitting the Scottish Highlands from mid December till just after Christmas. It’s long overdue as I’ve not had much time over the past few years to photograph my own country and I have to say that I cannot wait!

So what I would like to ask you all is this: Do you ever plan trips to a place you love? If so, do you find that your mind ‘dreams’ up images of what you wish to photograph when you get there? Do you essentially day-dream about the experiences of being out there, roaming the landscape with your camera?

I know that my mind is currently filled with aspirations and dreams about my forthcoming trip. But it’s not just the images that I am seeking. It is the feeling of just heading out there with a loose plan, knowing that surprises will come my way and images will be born that I had never anticipated.

Then again, there is the sense of freedom I am looking forward to also. The right to wander the landscape during the small hours of the mornin once I’ve dragged myself out of my sub zero tent no doubt. I guess it all ads up to be part of one big adventure.

My rough plan is as follows:

Half a week on the Isle of Eigg
Then into Torridon, exploring Applecross beach with it’s fine views over to the isle of Skye
Then up towards Ullapool and Inverpolly which has some of the most distinctive mountains in Scotland
Up towards Oldshoremore beach reaching Cape Wrath, one of the most bleakest and barren parts of the British Isles
Over towards the Kyle of Tongue with expansive beaches and mountains
hitting my Dad’s house sometime on or before Christmas for some warm food and a bath no doubt.

So where are you heading to next?

I’m heading off to India and Nepal, for two months of photography in early January but I have the same dilemma I always have when I travel. What camera system should I take?

As much as I don’t like to focus on the gear aspect of photography, because I feel there is already plenty of that on the internet, deciding on what sort of kit or quantity of kit to take on a major trip is an important decision.

The first question I’ve had to ask myself is this : what is it I intend to photograph, and for that, I already know the answer - people, shrines, temples and landscapes.

I learned a lesson a while back when I discovered that taking too many systems, caused too much conflict for me. One system tends to get overlooked for the other, and inevitably becomes a bit of a dead weight that I wished I’d hadn’t taken with me. One of the greatest constraints is portability. It’s really a burden to have discovered that the camera bag is a lot heavier than I thought, once I’ve been carrying it for a few hours. But it’s also frustrating to see images that I know I cannot capture because I don’t have the right lens with me and I come up against the same wall each time : compromise.

I think I’ve got it sussed this time. I will be taking my Mamiya 7 kit with a wide angle, standard and portrait lens in one little bag and that’s it. I’ve bought the same stock of film to use throughout the trip so I don’t get frustrated at having the wrong type of film in the camera at the wrong time. So I’ve settled on Portra 160NC, because:

1. It’s a lovely people film. Skin tones are lovely
2. It has fine grain and is a decent speed
3. It’s also quite nice for landscapes
4. It’s a negative film, so it’s latitude is a lot wider than slide film. It’s easier to scan and it’s also a lot kinder to higher contrast situations which are common in Nepal. The light is often extreme there.

But I think the most important thing for me was that If I were shooting digitally, I would miss the beautiful rich tones I get from Portra+medium format. It’s as simple as that.

So here is the complete list of what is in my bag for this trip:

1. Mamiya 7II
2. Mamiya 50mm wide angle (my favourite wide angle, equiv to 24mm in 35mm land)
3. Mamiya 80mm (eqiuv to 40mm lens in 35mm land)
4. Mamiya 150mm (equiv to 75mm lens in 35mm land)
5. Sekonic L608 light meter (I don’t trust the Mamiya meter when using the wide angle as it’s essentially a spot meter)
6. Lee full ND kit (2 & 3 stop hard / soft grads + full NDs + Circular 105mm polairser filter
7. 100 rolls of Kodak Portra 160NC film
8. Manfrotto monopod (for indoor or shaded shots)
9. Gitzo 1220 tripod (for landscape shots)
10. Lowe Pro Stealth Reporter DW400 shoulder bag

I wonder what you found the most surprising in this list? It sounds like there is a lot, but it’s quite compact and well below the carry on requirements. Having one system means I remain focused on using that system. Having the same film means I don’t have to worry about changing ISO on the camera too (I know this sounds ridiculous, but I like to cut down as much chance of error as I can).Most folk tend to go for backpacks for their camera gear. I’ve lost count of how many bags I own at home and not one of them is ideal. I have backpacks but in general I really loathe them and here are my list of reasons:

1. Every time I want to take a photo, I have to take the bag off my back and open it on the floor. It does not give me immediate access.
2. Backpacks encourage me to carry more than I should
3. Using a shoulder bag means I have access (through a zip in the roof of the bag) to it’s contents. I can do this while on the move or in confined spaces where there is a lot of bustle going on
4. A shoulder bag encourages me to cut down the amount of gear I take. There is no space for a ‘just in case’ lens or something that may not get used. Because the shoulder bag has to be light, it is inevitably as comfortable as a backback is.
5. I’ve had things spill out of a backpack that hasn’t been zipped up fully. I don’t have to worry about that with a shoulder bag.

All these ideals and thoughts are purely my take on things and I’m sure everyone has come up with their own way of packing for a trip.  I want to be comfortable while I’m away and free to do what I want to do, which is immerse myself in the pursuit of photography.

ps. I’m still on the look out for a 65mm lens (great for street scenes), so my wee bag may get a bit bigger yet.

I lost all sense of context whilst on Easter Island.

In this podcast, I explain how easy it is to lose your point of reference in a new land. In this case, I found that after a few days on Easter Island, I felt like I’d always been there. Home felt like it had never existed.

I sometimes find I lose all sense of context when I’m somewhere remote, making photographs.

I’m just not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

Please click on the image to play the podcast

Now that I’ve brought up Ansel Adams in my blog, I thought it would be a good idea to also introduce Michael Kennas work. Both artists (and I mean Artists) have been pivotal to me in my own progress as a photographer. Ansel was responsible for making me want to pick up a camera in the first place, and Kenna has shown me that photography is about what you visualise and imagine in your mind. It doesn’t always have to be a verbatim recording of what was there.

Shooting throughout the night, he has a very ‘zen’ like approach to the landscape which I very much agree with. Photography is not just about seeing something and making an image of it. It is also about forming an emotional connection with your surroundings and being open and aware to what is presented to you. And perhaps just enjoying the moment.

What I love about this clip of Ansel, apart from how modest he is, and seems like a really easy going chap, is how open he is about his art.

He explains how he manipulated his images in his dark room, and how he liked to ‘visualise’ the scene before he took it. Essentially, the negative for Ansel was the starting point in creating his ‘visions’, and to look at the negative printed verbatim would have been an uninspiring experience. He coined the phrase ‘the negative is the score, and the print is the performance’.

Now what gets me is that there are a load of folk out there who think manipulation of the image is lying. And that it’s a relatively new thing since the digital revolution came along, but If you listen to Ansel, you’ll realise that manipulation of the image has always been there, and it’s part of the creative process of photography. Sure I love it when an image comes together that requires no alterations, but I do like to put my own ‘art’ into my work, as do many photographers.

Ansel was very forward thinking and he embraced the (at the time) forthcoming digital revolution. He thought it was exciting and it would lead to new possibilities. He was a purist in the artistic sense and was no dictator of what should and should not be acceptible as art.

Going to extreme lengths to get a shot of Cerro Torre, I ventured onto the southern Patagonian ice field.

In this podcast, I explain why sometimes, I go too far in the pursuit of an image.

Please click on the image to play the podcast

This is a shot of Duncansby Head, a location in the far north east of Scotland - literally only a few miles away from John O’Groats, which although is not the furthest northerly point in the British Isles, has the reputation of being so.

This was taken around 4 years ago. I forget when exactly, and it’s been sitting at home along with a pile of other 4×5 (large format) images that I shot over the space of a few years with a very beautiful Ebony 45SU camera.  I just didn’t have the means to get it scanned - scanning by a pro lab is ridiculously expensive here in the UK (see KenRockwell.com for more information on cheap scanning options in the US).

If it hadn’t been for crazy costs of anywhere around £40 to £80 to get a high res scan of a single image, then I would maybe have percevered with large format, but I suspect that the reason why I gave up large format was simply because it didn’t suit my temperament.

You see, although I may state that ‘the camera does not matter’, which is my efforts to get people to stop focussing on the ‘gear’ side of photography and to focus more on the ‘emotional’ aspects of it, the truth is cameras do matter.

Cameras in general, are a hindrance; a barrier between you and the image. If you have the right camera that suits your temperament, then it is less of a barrier. That’s why I seem to always return to my Mamiya 7II system. I’m comfortable with it, I can work fast (at my own pace), and I’m very happy with the results.

Back to the image. I met up with an excellent photographer recently - Michael Stirling-Aird, based here in Edinburgh and he kindly offered to scan some of my large format transparencies for me. So I dug them out and what I found interesting was that this particular image really caught my eye, where in the past it had not. I can only assume that the reason for this is that I’ve completely forgotten what my aspirations were at the point of capture.

In essence, reviewing your work straight after a shoot is hard to do, because it’s hard to be objective. Sometimes you need a little distance.

I’ve had around 4 years distance between shooting this image, and publishing it. I’m very happy with it now, and I can’t remember why I rejected it at the time I made it.

Perhaps it was part frustration at trying to compose upside down (I remember not being able to achieve compositions that would otherwise have been second nature to me with my Mamiya 7II), I’m not sure.

Anyway, it just goes to show that every now and then, it’s worth going back over your old images for a review : an old image will often take on a fresh meaning for you, when reviewed after you’ve given it some distance.

And that’s just great.

Q. Sunrise or Sunset? Which is best?
Q. And is it worth hanging around after the sun has set?
Q. And is it worth taking pictures before the sun has risen?

Yes, it’s a bind getting up in the morning really early and I always think that winter will be easier because you can get up later, but I just find it just as hard because it’s cold, and has a feeling of ‘dread’ about it when you get up in the dark. These are certainly the times when I reckon I’ve lost my marbles and should see a psychiatrist….

But I’ve learned that sunrise is often much, much better than sunset.

For one thing, the temperature is low, so there tends to be no wind, and if it’s been really cold, there’s a lot of frost around and even fog - I’ve seen localised fog in small patches in the morning. You really don’t often get that in the evening because the earth is giving off all the heat it’s been storing up all day…..

As for hanging around after sunset… yes, it’s definitely worth it.

The trick is to keep shooting - you may feel you’re not getting anything because it feels to you that the best light has gone, but I’ve often found some of the best light in the morning happens before the sun pops over the edge of the horizon - so it’s conversely true for sunset as well.
The light at this time is very very soft, so shooting at this time and letting the built in light meter over expose it (this is what it will do - it will try to make it like day light), is really interesting and I tend to see lots of ‘weird’ things happen.  Shutter speeds are longer, so you get blur of clouds, movement in the grass etc… and the colours are a bit strange too.

And I guess the other thing is that the camera tends to pick up things you didn’t register. There may be some subtle colours going on which you weren’t aware of at the time, yet I’ve seen my Velvia film come back with traces of colours I didn’t see.

So the short answer is yes. Definitely worth shooting before sunrise and shooting after sunset. My preference is for sunrise because of the atmospheric conditions I’ve described above. But it really comes down to you…. it’s all about what you see and what you want to make of it.

There are never any hard and fast rules. Just be open to what is presented to you, and run with it.

I was just thinking today, that if someone asked me - what is required to make a great photograph? Then I’d have to come up with a top ten list of ‘things’ that I think contribute to making a good photo.

1. Being there. You must have heard the term ‘f8 and be there’? Well, it’s the essence of a good photo. Being in the right place at the right time, or in the case of landscape photography, recongising a good composition, and being submerged in beautiful light

2. Recognising the moment. Knowing that right here, right now, the light and the subject matter are combining to provide something you feel inspired to capture.

3. Being open to ‘anything can happen’. Often I’ve found photographers so intent on making an image, and rooted to the spot, that they can’t see the wood for the trees. If they only let themselves ‘go’ and disengage from the process of making a picture, perhaps they will see aspects they didn’t notice, or will research / roam the location they are in. I remember on one workshop taking a picture of some horses below the Cuernos in Torres del Paine. The composition was so obvious to me, yet a participant of my trip said to me afterwards ‘I didn’t see it’. And I’m sure it’s because they were so wrapped up in capturing what they were trying to ‘make work’ that they missed what was being offered to them.

4. Being able to recognise a good composition. Some people instinctively know when a composition works and just go to it like a duck to water. Others have to experiment over time to discover what lenses work and what sort of compositions work too. Nothing is cast in stone and each person has their own ‘vision’. Some are more focused / tuned than others.

5. Knowing that what you want to capture will fit onto your film or sensor. With experience, certain exposures work more than others. Soft light works best than midday light, but having experience can help you determine what will work. I guess this is now getting into the technical realm.

6. We’re now into the technical realms of photo making. But have you noticed that I’ve not even mentioned a camera yet? That’s because the camera is purely a tool that YOU direct. I’ve taken pictures on a crappy 35mm camera that have been better than images I’ve taken on Large Format. Seven is about exposure. Understanding dynamic range and how to correctly expose the shot to get what you ’see’.

7. Which is important? Freezing time, or depth of field? Often I find with landscape I want to take long exposures when something is moving fast in the scene. I like to convey movement and the passing of time, but sometimes it’s not appropriate. Knowing when and how.

8. A camera. Yes, it does matter, but not as much as the other aspects I’ve described. Naturally, it’s an over-simplification to say a camera doesn’t matter, but the point is that it is not the most important element in taking a good picture. It is just a tool and some tools are better than others. Some can hinder than aid, and I’ve found that some cheaper tools hinder less than some expensive tools. I like a camera which doesn’t get in the way. It should be simple to use, and act as an aid or interface between what you see and what you capture. If you’re spending too much time fiddling with it, then it’s a hindrance,  not an aid to capturing the moment.

9. I can’t think of any more.

So you see. It’s not about the camera. But you do need a camera to capture your ‘vision’. Those that say the camera does matter are missing the point. The camera is the last step. It is something you use to record everything esle that came before - being there, recognising a moment, understanding light and composition and determining the right exposure. Only then do you reach for your camera.

Depriving myself of sleep, I spent most evenings ‘lost in the moment’ above the arctic circle in Norway’s Lofoten Islands.

In this podcast, I explain why it’s possible to go slightly mad in the pursuit of photography.

Please click on the image to play the podcast