Inspiration, Tips & Tools

gubbs

“Does exactly what it says on the tin!”

At least it will by the time we’ve finished so please help me to expand these posts with tips, ideas, links etc...

anyhow got to start somewhere, so.....

Inspiration: I can’t think of a better place to start than here on dgrin! Have a look through the old posts, the banner pics, the challenge threads and of course the winners galleries. If you see stuff you like follow the links (if available) back to the photographers galleries. If you want more, here’s some links to a few of the photographers that do it for me


Landscapes
Ansel Adams
Yann Arthus Bertrand
Jo Cornish
Peter Dombrovskis
Michael Fatali
Marc & David Meunch
Charlie Waite


Street
Henri Cartier Bresson
Robert Doisneau
Elliott Erwitt
Peter Turnley

Street Photography Tips

PM me more

gubbs

StreetTips & tools
Andy's Street Photography Tips

All about Model Releases

The Photographer's Rights

gubbs

Landscape tips
Ok here’s a few pieces of advice and recommendations that I’ve picked up on the way. If only I followed them myself!

Equipment:

I won’t talk about cameras and lenses as there’s plenty of good advice here.
Tripods: if your half serious about landscapes a good tripod is a must, (look here for advice and links) hopefully coupled with a remote shutter release.
Filters: You can argue that filters, (due to the options available in post processing) , are less important for digital cameras, having said that, I carry a set of ND (Neutral Density), a set of GND (Graduated Neutral Density) and a circular polariser. Check here for advice and links on filters.
Other common sense stuff I consider essential: An alarm clock, a torch (flashlight), gloves, walking boots and/or wellies (rubber boots), food, water, headache pills, layered warm clothes, sunscreen, but above all, a decent backpack … If you going to get up before dawn and stand around subjected to the elements for hours it helps to be comfortable. If the weather is extreme you may find these links useful.

Plan ahead!:

If like me, your spare time is precious, this stuff is important!
Before you even get to the location check out routes, parking, os maps, weather fcsts, sunrise/sunset times, and high/low tide time (if your on the coast). There's a couple of links here that may be some help.
Do searches for your location on smugmug or one of the stock photo sites, I often use www.alamy.com but there are plenty of others. Use the shots you find combined with maps to try and work out where you want to be. You’ll often arrive in the darkness & the light will come and go rapidly, so to maximise your chances of being in the right place at the right time use any shots you found combined with maps to try and work out where the best spots are likely to be.

Be Prepared:

Before you leave, charge your batteries, empty your cards, clean your sensor, clean your lenses, check you’ve got all your gear, use a list if necessary, set your ISO to its lowest setting.
All sounds so obvious, but when your sitting on a beach at 4:00 in the morning and realize you’ve left your only charged battery in the chrger at home it’s really *%$!^%>* annoying!
Just in case you run into trouble, tell someone where you’re going and what time you’ll be back. If your in a remote area your mobile (cell phone) probably won’t work!

gubbs

Weegee

Rutt wrote:

He was a working photojournalist
in gritty NY in the forties. I mean working, hanging out at the police
station all night waiting for stuff to happen. There's a pretty good web
site:

http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/

Look at these, in particular:

http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/images/wg1-67.jpg
http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/images/wg1-58.jpg
http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/images/wg4-81.jpg
http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/images/wg3-51.jpg


Weegee is an inspiration to me to just grab my camera and go out and find
the stuff that's happening.

I love this one too


Cheers Rutt

gubbs

Bradford Washburn

rutt wrote:

An all time great landscape photographer I've only discovered and come to appreciate in the last few years is Bradford Washburn. A good place to start is here: http://www.panopt.com/photogra/washburn/gallerybw.html

He is 95 years old and I think he is about to become a lot more famous than he is right now.

Outside Online has an appreciation of him. I've come to view him as being one of the very very best of all time, worth having in the sticky on the top of your Field & Street forum.

Thanks Rutt