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Gear:
Sony a7IV
Sony FE 2.8/16–35 mm GM
Sony FE 4/24–105 mm G
Sony FE 100–400 mm GM
DJI Mini 3 Pro
Just a few days ago, we decided to go away again. Spending a few days on a farm with our children would be great, wouldn’t it? So we searched for a free place and found what we were looking for in the Allgäu. And now, just a few days later, I was dragging the family’s suitcases up to our apartment above the farm in the rain. It would be nice here if it weren’t for the rain. But I think to myself that it will get better in a few days. By the time I had stowed everything in the rooms on the evening of our arrival, it was getting dark outside. No time to have a quick look around and explore the area.
I checked the weather forecast for the next morning. A veil of fog. Well, that sounds good. If only I had had time to look for suitable motifs in the surrounding area. Then it would be a photo walk into the unknown. What else could I do? That’s also a challenge. A bit of location scouting while I try to get a top picture. Let’s see if I’m successful.
I had already scouted out a few spots in the immediate vicinity, it’s not like that. But if there’s fog right on my doorstep, why should I drive 20 or 30 km when there’s a risk that there might not be any fog. So I started trying to find something here in the dark. Instinctively, I ran to the right, down the path a little. I have no idea whether this is a dead end or not.
It is often said that you can only be successful in landscape photography if you plan your photos. The image composition should already be in your head in advance. The light on the subject should be calculated beforehand. Apps help with planning. You only need to set off if the weather forecast is right. When the day arrives and everything comes together. Go out, take the picture, pack it up, edit it, portfolio shot done. Sounds kind of static, unemotional, doesn’t it? Like working through a few files in the office. Somehow I’ve often had the feeling that this perfectionism in preparation takes the magic out of the moment in nature.
Yes, I scout, I plan, I look at the weather forecast, but especially as someone who doesn’t earn a living with landscape photography, but does it alongside my job and family, I have to take what comes along when I have the time. I often go out when I don’t know what to expect. On the off chance. If I end up with a photo that I would hang on my wall, then the day was a success. Living in the moment, “getting involved” with what the world offers me, also allows me to connect emotionally with nature. Then I am a photographer who is guided more by intuition than by apps, who hopes for the luck of the brave rather than relying on unemotional planning down to the last detail.
So I walk through the dark night, wherever my feet and my intuition may take me. I concentrate on recognizing anything at all in the dark. Then I set up my tripod at the edge of the path and take my first photo. An exposure time of 30 seconds is needed to get the necessary light onto the sensor. It’s still that dark. So there’s no need to rush. I enjoy the silence.
I’ve already been out for a few minutes and it’s slowly starting to get dark. I’ve already taken a few long exposures. The subjects I had discovered in the darkness were perfect for the blue hour. But something told me that there wouldn’t be anything interesting on the path I had taken as soon as the sun got a little stronger. So I turned back to go in a different direction. It later turned out to be the right decision. Even if it wasn’t going to be possible to see over the fog from here that morning.
Is good intuition necessary to be a good photographer? It is certainly helpful to have good intuition. But a wealth of experience also helps if you can assess whether or not something might turn out right at one point or another. Whether it is worth waiting, so to speak. If you have the feeling that you don’t have good intuition, you should definitely start planning your photos well. A well-planned photo will help you if you make the wrong decisions too often on location. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being the “planner” type of landscape photographer.
I have often found that even the best planned photos don’t work out as planned. Not that the sun suddenly rises in a different place on the horizon, no. But an approaching cloud that prevents the sun star, or a cloud formation that literally demands a different image composition, or something similar. A newly opened building site on location can also throw a spanner in the works. There are so many things that can come between the planning and the photo. In this case, whether you are more of a planner or an intuitive photographer, your attention is required above all. If you recognize what will interfere with the picture so that your photo can’t work out, if you recognize what options are still available, sometimes even without reference to your planned picture, then you can still be successful.
Time and again, I reach the point where I’m standing somewhere in an unfamiliar landscape taking photographs. It would be almost utopian to think that you always scouted every location in advance or planned every picture on location. So I’ve always been guided by my intuition. The emotion towards nature and the landscape on location and try to remain as attentive as possible. For details and sections of the landscape, i.e. more intimate scenes that I shoot with a telephoto lens, I think about how the scene might look in a wide-angle photo, and I also pay attention to the small details: flowers, mushrooms, leaves, mosses, ferns, structures on wood, and, and, and. You probably overlook hundreds of possibilities. When I’m out and about with fellow photographers, I always smile at what they see and discover and they are also fascinated by what I have captured.
So when I’m out and about in foreign climes, I try not to make the compositions too complicated. Simple leading lines and S‑curves almost always work and make it easier to compose an image. In the wide-angle range, always try to be aware of the foreground, middle ground and background without thinking too complicated. If you are already somewhat familiar with a location, it is much easier to create complex compositions than in completely unfamiliar places.
As far as that is concerned, I am also more of a documentary-artistic type of photographer. I rarely stay with a composition for a long time. I analyze the scene quite quickly in my head and then quickly have an idea of how and from which position I want to photograph what nature presents to me. The visual balance is also more of an intuitive, emotional thing for me. I seem to have internalized this over the years, even after many analyses of my own pictures and those of well-known photo artists. If it fits, I move on. I look for another perspective or another motif.
It’s the same with other “rules” in photography. Personally, I prefer to talk about the toolbox. Here, technical skills are just as important as the ability to create an interesting composition. Sometimes the rule of thirds is suitable, other times it’s perfect symmetry. It is essential to be able to recognize and see light. — Yes, not everyone can do that 😉 But what if the light is so flat that there is neither a direction nor a particular color? Can I never take a top picture at that moment? Certainly not! There is always a subject or a picture idea that is perfect for this.
If you have internalized the tools and can call them up at any time, you will intuitively pull out the right tool at the right time without having to think too much about it. And this brings me full circle to my concerns at the beginning of the morning about setting off without having scouted the landscape beforehand. If you’re a capable photographer who has worked with all the tools and internalized them, then you can still be successful if you don’t have everything planned out. Staying at home will only help you not take a photo, but if you go out, you’ll definitely come home with something to show for it. For sure!
In the VLOG below, this time, I’m going to go into the situation on the ground, rather than the thoughts I shared with you in this BLOG post. So be sure to check out the video to see how I fought my way through the fog and captured the images you can see in the gallery below.
By the way, my favorite photo of the morning is the following “Lonely in the morning fog”. In photographic terms, it captures the feeling I get when I walk around in the morning and enjoy nature while taking photos. Let’s see if it doesn’t end up framed on my wall in the next few days 😉
And with these photos in my luggage, I returned to the vacation apartment to have breakfast with my family, despite the uncertainty at the beginning, with some wonderful moments — and wet socks, by the way — and a variety of pictures.
This and all other shots of this post you can request under “Prints” as an art print for your wall at home directly from me.
In today’s VLOG/BLOG I’m walking through unknown territory and with a bit of luck I’ll try to take some nice pictures. Is there anything that could be portfolio-worthy? Feel free to write it in the comments! Have fun looking at them!
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