What it Takes: Setting Up A Landscape Photograph
People who look at my photographs usually don’t realize what I did (went through) to take the photograph. Countless numbers of times, I awake at 2:00AM, 3:00AM or 4:00AM to drive two hours for a sunrise shoot. Typically, when I am on a trip, I only have about 3-4 hours of sleep per day. Often, I have driven to a very remote location (alone), and then hiked or climbed to a special area for a photograph. For every photograph on my web site, there were many, many times I went out in the field and did not take a great photograph.
To take the photograph on the left from the “Badlands” of Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I had to drive 500 miles to Anza Borrego. Then I drove 15 miles in a very sandy desert river bed (in the middle of nowhere). Then I had to 4WD 3 miles into a very narrow, rocky remote canyon that was no wider than ten feet at times. Once I made it to the end of the canyon (without getting stuck), I had to climb/scramble 1,000 feet up a very steep hill/mountain/rockslide carrying my usual 30 lbs of camera gear to reach a high vantage point for my photograph. Once I was high enough, I had to wait 2-3 hours in cold 20-30 mph winds for the best light for the photograph. (Safely returning from that location in the dark is a whole other story…)
Man, great shot of the Badlands. Did you use any type of graduated filter for this? Incredible.
tom said this on May 31st, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Fond memories are one thing, but unfortunately the general public, and in particular, the photo buyers don’t care how much effort went into the creation of a photographs.
QT Luong said this on July 16th, 2007 at 2:36 am
I don ‘t know, I think there are some members of the public that do like to hear about the effort and story of a particular photograph - I, for one, am one of them.
Aimee said this on August 23rd, 2007 at 5:37 pm
me too, and since i was there with you at has extra special meaning
anthony arendt said this on March 11th, 2008 at 7:19 pm