Planning a Photo Trip
If you’re like me and mine the photo travel is always combined with seeing the sights and tasting the local cuisine. It’s always important to do the homework so you’ll have some ideas to make good use of your time. Time, by the way, can be a result of the family wanting to do something that doesn’t fit your photo schedule but it can also be the result of mother nature. When you’re gonna be at a locale for 4 days and 2 days are calling for rain, you’ve gotta get to your shots when the light is right.
The basic idea is to go to the internet to uncover what someone else thought was memorable about the area you’re going to.
Research the photo possibilities. Go, dig and dig deeper to find what may be possible on your trip. You’ll find things that could take you to a place that has a major opportunity to capture beautiful imagery. The first thing up is to visit Google. Search for the cities or towns you’ll be visiting. Traveling to Maine, the towns for me include Portland, Eastland, Millinocket, Bar Harbor and Surry. When you see what Google has to offer, of course, read and learn what you can. Be sure to click over to images, at the top of the Google page, and see the visuals many have published. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how many ideas you’ll get just browsing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that you copy someone else’s works. But it’s nice to know that the main street in Bar Harbor runs perpendicular to the water, facing approximately south so parts are lit during the day… it makes a nice shot. Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park overlooks the town of Bar Harbor, numerous islands and the beautiful North Atlantic.
Other topics to search for. Think of what needs to be in your photos, what should it be? For the Maine trip, I searched for lighthouses, covered bridges, sailing Maine and Lobster Maine to name a few. When you see something you like all you need to do is click on the photo to land on the website of origin and there lies info about where that ragged coastline is or the location of a picturesque less-traveled harbor. Whatever — just keep looking.
So cut and paste the photos. This is a technique you may be familiar with. If not, take the time to learn it. You need to be able to selectively cut a photo from a page you’re viewing and save it to a folder or in my case to an Evernote notebook. Evernote is great for keeping creative ideas to use in the future. There is normally a way to cut or “screen grab” a complete screen or to select just a photo that appears on the page. I’ll be adding some specifics of how to use Evernote for your creative endeavors in the near future. Other things to consider clipping are hours of operation if an area may be restricted or even a map if the possibility is that you’ll not have cell service when you need the map.
Many Websites. Any website that offers visuals about the area that you’re traveling to — search it primarily for visuals. I go to some of the better stock houses seeking ideas (Corbis and Getty), and then go to Flickr and PhotoShelter. Consider looking to some of the biggies for inspiration, such as Clyde Butcher, John Paul Capanigro, Ansel Adams and Elia Locardi. If they’ve been where you’re going, they made something awesome.
Conclusion. So do your homework and get fired up about the trip to come. With the searching and researching excitement builds. It’s from that excitement that energy comes to create and step out — Enjoy and Happy Shooting. Gary
