I don’t know about you but I’ve noticed that I have my go-to camera gear and settings that I use most of the time when I’m photographing flowers and landscapes. Chances are I have my Canon 5DMarkIII body and four lenses – 16-35 mm, 24-105mm, 70-200 mm and my 100mm macro lens (my favorite) with me. I’ll be carrying my tripod – and will use it as much as possible. If you look at my camera it’s likely set in Aperture Priority, ISO 100, and my lenses are all set on manual focus, image stabilization off.
This is a setup that works for me – but in some ways it also limits how I photograph. Having to set up the tripod, pull my gear out of my pack and manually focus my camera means I don’t take many spontaneous photographs. I tend to think about what I want to show in my photo, and compose based on my idea for my photo.
Several times during my trip to Georgia and South Carolina I photographed in a completely different style. I did what Brooks Jensen of Lenswork magazine refers to as Photography By Walking Around (PBWA) – where I just walked around a city or town photographing whatever caught my eye.
I put my camera and one lens (24-105mm) in a small bag, left my tripod in the car and headed out exploring. At first I was really uncomfortable photographing like this – it just didn’t feel right not using my tripod and using autofocus. But then I realized I was still creating photos that would convey what I wanted to share – I was just taking them in a different way.
At which point I just relaxed and had fun. Here are a few of the photos I took walking around Savannah’s historic district.
I did more PBWA in Bluffton, Beaufort and Charleston. Keep an eye out here on my blog for more photos from my photographing by walking around. I’m sure I’ll be posting more in the weeks to come.
And if you tend to have your go-to lenses and settings the way I do – I’d encourage you to get out of your comfort zone of your usual style of photographing and try something new. If you usually use a tripod – try hand holding your camera. If you usually have your camera set in Program mode – try Shutter or Aperture Priority. You might just discover, the way I did, that there are other ways of photographing that are as much fun and as satisfying as your usual way of doing things is.
I’d love to hear what happens when you got out of your comfort zone and tried something a little different. Tell me about it in the comments below.
As I talk with people about the workshop – I find that I’m always talking about how using a fully manual film camera really helped my digital photography. And of course – how much fun it is to photograph with the old cameras.
I’ve created a short video for you talking about why I like using my Crown Graphic.
For more information about the workshop – or to register – visit my website. And remember – special early bird pricing ends June 1.
One of the best things about being a nature photographer is that I have the opportunity to photograph in so many wonderful National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges. In recent years, I’ve been everywhere from Death Valley to Yellowstone, Acadia to the Everglades – with lots of trips to the Smokies along the way. When I start planning a trip – I have to decide – am I going somewhere new? or will I return to a favorite location?
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
New places are always a delight – a chance to see new vistas – and discover new wildflowers to photograph. But when I visit somewhere for the first time, I always have the worry that I’ll miss something important because I don’t know where to go or when to be at just the right spot. With research, and checking with friends and helpful park rangers, I usually have a good idea of the best places to go – and always have a wonderful time.
When I head back to somewhere I’ve photographed before – there’s always a feeling of coming home. I usually have a few favorite spots that I know I’ll return to and have some ideas on new places to explore.
Some of my favorite places to visit in the winter are the wildlife refuges and the seashore on the DelMarVA Peninsula. I usually find some birds to photograph at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland – and there is always the chance of photographing the wild ponies at Assateague and Chincoteague islands in Virginia. The marshes and beaches provide wonderful opportunities for landscape photographs. What’s wonderful about heading to these locations in the winter is more wildlife, shorter days (so sunrise is a little later in the day), fewer people, cooler temperatures and no horseflies or other biting insects!
Assateague National Seashore
Assateague National Seashore
Bill and I will be heading back to Chincoteague, Assateague and Blackwater in December to photograph some favorite locations – and we’ll be leading a workshop there in January 2013. We’d love to have you join us at our Capturing the Beauty of the Landscape: Chincoteague, Assateague and Blackwater on January 18-21, 2013.
I love lilies! They are some of my favorite flowers to photograph. Originally, various lilies were native to much of Europe and Asia, the United States and Canada. Today, they are grown worldwide – with thousands of varieties.
I’ve created a new video with some of my favorite lily photographs. As you’ll see in the video, they come in a wide variety of shapes, colors and textures.
The photographs in my video are accompanied by the wonderful harp music of Pamela Bruner. The sound track is Mozart’s Sonata, K. 545 from Pamela’s Classical Reverie CD, available at PamelaBrunerMusic.com
I do have several lily photographs available on my website including my newest lily photograph – Chili Lily – a beautiful lily in shades of pink and red.
