22 Feb
2012

Posted in: Arizona, Creativity, Grand Canyon, Inspiration, Landscape Photography
By George Stocking    6 Comments

Be Quick, but Don’t Hurry

Some things never change.

Back in the film days (just a scant 6 years ago), I  carried a 4X5 film camera, and with it, the inherent limitations. When I saw a scene developing, I had a lot to do. I had to set the tripod the proper height, take the 4×5 camera, unfold it, straighten the front and rear standards and assemble it to the tripod. Then I had to take a lens, remove front and rear lenscaps and assemble it to the camera, assemble the cable release to the  lens; attach the darkcloth (to the camera), put the loupe around my neck and then point the camera, frame the image and do a basic near/far tilt/focus.  Then I had to take a sheet of film and assemble that in the quickload holder, then sliding it behind the groundglass on the rear standard. Taking out my handy/dandy spotmeter, I would verify the correct iso and do a down and dirty analysis of the intended scene. I would determine camera settings as I reached around to the front of the lens, closing the shutter manually before setting shutter speed & f-stop. Then I would remove the darkslide and press the cable release. Since the slowest speed on those shutters was 1 second, I would (sometimes) then count my exposure; return the darkslide on the filmholder and repeat as required. I had 3 stock agencies and needed a piece of film to send each, so there was ALOT of repetition.

In my heyday as a 45 shooter, I could do all the above in somewhere between 90 and 120 seconds – sometimes. Whether or not that happened depended on “efficiency of movement”, or as I stated in the title, my ability to be quick, but don’t hurry.

Having spent half my life ruining my knees playing hockey and basketball, this is something that the coaches will tell you and its pretty obvious why.   When you hurry, you fumble, drop stuff. At least I do. And so I would approach these mini “lightning round” – races against not the clock, but the hypothetical rainbow that was sure to dematerialize before my eyes 2 seconds before I could depress the shutter – the same way – with each movement choreographed and practiced, knowing that failure (not again!) as an outcome was professionally unacceptable. Drop the cable release, lose 5 seconds, drop the lens, lose a lot more.

Advance just a few years to the future. I am no longer a pack mule carrying 45 pound of gear and film. I now carry an itty bitty 35mm and 3 lenses. The camera is automated, right? So I should be able to prance through the wilderness grabbing shots as I go. Behind my back; through my legs, masterpieces all. In my dreams

Now when the light descends, I have to all the standard tripod / camera assembly things, lenscap removal, polarizer attachment of course. Then I have to turn on live view, frame the shot, position my 100% window over my point of intended point of focus, go to LiveView 100%, manually focus, and while pressing the depth of field preview use the joystick on the camera to scroll through the image  near and far at the intended aperture to check focus. Depending on the lens I’m using the entire process start to finish can last 45 to 60 seconds, and thats assuming I picked the proper point-of-focus and aperture to begin with. I had always imagined that when I went digital with a 35mm, I’d be doing that prancing through the wilderness thing. What I do now seems like a variation of what I used to do with the 4X5.

To be fair, the burden with digital is just as high, as there is no need to shoot duplicates. With a digital file if you have one, you have a hundred. That means you should conceivably be able to shoot many, many more scenes than you could if you were shooting Large Format Film. Make no mistake, the yield for my digital is definitely WAY UP, but if I want to be sure to get that light before it disappears, I still have to remember to “Be Quick, but Don’t Hurry”. Some things never change.

In todays image taken at the Grand Canyon, the park service set a ridge on fire in honor of VP Joe Bidens visit to the canyon. I got the press release so I was able to find a good place to view the event.

PS    I am aware that Nikons do not allow depth of field preview through LiveView at this time. Expect that to change very soon.

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About George Stocking  (17 Posts)

George Stocking is a professional freelance photographer, residing in Phoenix, AZ. He works regularly as a contract photographer for Arizona Highways, and his work often graces the pages of Arizona Highways Magazine, Calendars and Books. In addition to capturing the natural beauty of the Arizona Landscape, George also photographs the western United States and Canada. His work has appeared in numerous national publications, such as: Backpacker, Outdoor Photographer, USGA Golf Journal, Country Magazine, Audubon Calendars, Adventure West, America West Airlines Magazine, Portal Publications (posters), Impact, Towery Publications (books) and Smith Southwestern. Other publications include: Oregon Outside, Arizona Foothills, Arizona Adventure, and Plateau Magazine