I’m here in my warm, dark, pre-dawn living room, in my jammies, sitting comfortably in my recliner, sipping a second cup of coffee, squinting through half-open mini-blinds at the intense pink/orange hues of a beautiful sunrise about to kick off outside…
Of course I’m thinking, “I should be out there somewhere, already set up, ready to push the button at the best moment”.
Of course I didn’t know it was coming, but even more critically, I have absolutely no idea where to go… I literally can’t think of a single potential “reasonably local” location to shoot a sunrise.
I guess my minor consolation is that now (mere minutes later) as I finish writing this – on my phone no less – the color has completely vanished from the sky. I guess the sun rose above the clouds it was illuminating and that was that.
But still, there was that moment that, if I had just been ready …
Yep, all the time. But my reason is my body says “Night Time Is the Right Time”. I’m seldom asleep before 1 am, so when pre-dawn arrives I’m still comatose.
I do check my weather app and various other apps daily to see if any special conditions are likely, so I can consider the Herculean effort of getting up. . Normally it just means that I’m aware of what I’m missing.
Every single day. As a street photographer, I see missed opportunities all the time; usually while I’m taking a quick break after hours of strolling through the city with my camera in my hand, or through the window of the bus when I’m travelling home!
And there’s always that one person where I wished I’d asked ‘excuse me, but would you mind if I took your photo?’ but bottled it instead.
Happened to me today. I made a recon trip to a location about an hour away. On the way back I stopped at a local lake and took a few shots of the western horizon. There was nice pastel color, but it was still an hour before sunset when I started shooting. The sun was high and behind a huge cloud deck, with no apparent chance of anything developing. After those shots (which I’ve yet to discover if anything can be polished from them), the light died and with nothing happening other than the bloodthirsty mosquitos I drove back to the highway, then headed home.
These cellphone shots don’t come close to representing just how brilliant and detailed it was.
And of course this was a ~20 mile stretch of flat, heavily wooded highway with nothing but private property adjacent to it. It took about half an hour to get out of the woods, at which point I was basically home. And minutes later it was all gone.
I think in such a situation I’d rather not even know there was a sunset.
Almost every single day. I’ve thought of myself as a landscape photographer for a long time, but I rarely do what “landscape photographers” do, which is get up before dawn and catch the golden hours. Some of it is just my life stage as I’m in the middle of raising kids and desperately trying to earn enough money to live the life we want to lead. So, the luxury of getting out to grab those opportunities is a rare one. Of course, you don’t just have to shoot golden hours to be a landscape photographer, but having amazing light is often the difference between an average snapshot and a portfolio image, so you really need to maximize your chances of getting that amazing light.
Just the day before yesterday, we had a phenomenon called “purple fog” here in the Okanagan, BC, Canada. Apparently it’s incredibly rare and almost impossible to predict. I caught the last 5 minutes of it out of my window as the kids were getting ready for school. They were bugging me, saying I should get out and shoot it, but by the time I’d thought about it, it was all over. Some people submitted phone shots to the local newspaper, and it was indeed spectacular.
Most of my best shots are when I’m on holiday, because that’s when my body clock is often out of whack, and I get up early or stay up late. I keep saying to myself that I’ll only really be able to indulge my hobby when I retire, but I also don’t want to just look forward to retirement and waste these years when I’m relatively fit and healthy. But it’s really difficult to be getting up pre-dawn and mid-week to do photography when you have a job and family to focus on.
I hear ya. I’ve been retired since May '21 (after 40 years working) but I vividly recall sitting at my desk (cube) and watching the world go by outside. I saw “nice weather” only through that window and when I drove back and forth to work. I have virtually no memories of anything significant during those 40 years, other than the really major life events – No ‘ordinary life memories’ as it were.
I’ve mostly been relatively healthy in a general sense (e.g., no heart / lung disease, diabetes, etc.) but I’ve never been fit in an athletic sense. I’m reasonably tall so I can carry a bit of weight without a problem, but now I’m carrying a little more than I should. I can get out of breath quickly when exerting myself – which was also true before the little extra weight came onboard – but there’s not a hint of “chest pain” nor other red flags (my doctor is aware of all this).
But more on point I, too really looked forward to retirement as a potential to start the life I never really had before. Landscape-photographic-wise, And while I can now take off when I want my frustration is there’s just extremely little to shoot within day-trip range and staying overnight with any frequency / duration can get expensive pretty quick.
I hear that in a big way. I try to be satisfied with the evening end of the day (golden into blue).
I used to tell myself the same thing, but I’m starting to wonder if I will ever get to retire (long and boring story), so I hang on to the notion that getting out hiking and shooting is good for both my body and my brain.
Saw that on the news last night…pretty spectacular!
Yep, that’s also a problem I’m familiar with. I’ve tried to hone my skills at shooting my local neighbourhood and trying to look at it through a tourist’s eyes. Many people would travel here on holiday and be fascinated with it, so it’s not that it’s a boring landscape, it’s just too familiar to me to seem interesting.
Ideally I want to avoid using the car, but then you’re restricted to really local scenery around your house. And it’s very hard to motivate yourself to constantly go to the same places looking for the perfect shot.
Now here’s a newish problem I’m facing: as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started worrying more about the local wildlife! I’ve always been a wildlife lover and never really worried about dangerous wildlife because I honestly believe they usually have no interest in attacking and try to avoid us. While I still believe that to be true, I’m now more concerned about my safety. I live in bear and cougar country, and there are regular sightings, but attacks of course are very rare. But photography for me is a solo hobby, so going out into the wild before dawn or late at night on my own carries that extra concern that you might come across something that can very easily make a meal of you. I don’t know why I’m more worried about this as I’ve aged, maybe because I’m no longer young and reckless, maybe because I have kids, but it’s enough of a worry that I’m not going out to shoot as much as I want and certainly not to more remote places where the good photographs can be found. If anyone has tips for overcoming this, I’m all ears!
I don’t want to diminish the situation of many people in a worse boat than me, of which there are many, but you are not alone in this worry. My wife and I are often discussing where we might need to move to if we want a decent retirement. And that’s assuming our house will retain its value and/or we don’t need to give it to our kids, who will be in a worse situation than us in all likelihood. The cost of living where we are has become ridiculous for all but the wealthiest.
It definitely is and I intend to do it more. I have a friend who is an avid hiker and my wife enjoys it too, but unfortunately neither of them are photographers and have little patience for me stopping all the time or setting up a tripod. I want to meet more photographers in my area who I can go out hiking with and have nerdy conversations with about photography
You and me both. My photographic outings are always solo because I know no other (even semi-serious) photographers, much less landscape photogs. I’d soooo much like to shoot with a like-minded (and hopefully somewhat similar “level”) individual, but so far no luck.
I live in an metro area of about 150k with one small-ish city (50k) and another smaller town (14k) across a river being the two primary population centers. As far as I know there are zero clubs, organizations, etc., related to photography anywhere in the area. There was (is?) a “sunset photographers” group on Facebook, but to be honest (and that’s what it is, just honest – not condescending, etc.) what I saw of it consisted mostly of “oohh pretty colors” comments re: slanting cellphone shots with closed up black foregrounds and Spinal Tap* skies. Not really what I’m looking for, know what I mean?
Haha, I know what you mean about Spinal Tap skies. That FB group sounds way too specific and probably not what you’re looking for.
I live in Kelowna, which has about 160K people. To be honest, I’ve not even looked for a photography club here yet, although it’s something I’ve intended to do for a few years now. I know I should do it, at least to see what’s out there. I have probably a very unfair preconception of photography clubs that they’re full of older men obsessed with gear or birding. But it seems I’m turning into that person anyway, so maybe I’ll feel right at home!
But I know what you mean about finding the right level of enthusiast. I’m a very keen hobbyist, but I don’t have all the gear and I don’t have all the pro skills. So, ideally I want to meet people who aren’t leagues ahead of me but not beginners either. I can imagine that many people on this forum fit the profile, but we all live in different parts of the world.
I relate to this very much… there is one photography club in my area, but their website consists of wobbly ‘snaps’ of touristy scenes - and it was last updated years ago, although the club is apparently active.
I still thought it might just be an old site so I asked a friend if he knew of the club, and he kind of shuddered… Of course they might be nice people - but definitely not my kind of photography.
Len, it’s not that you don’t know any, it’s that you don’t live in proximity to the ones that you do know via forums like this one.
I have an acquaintance that lives about an hour’s drive (frequently plus a half hour more with traffic congestion) away - he used to live about 4 hours’ drive away. He has recently (in the past 12 months) changed from shooting with a Bridge Camera to mirrorless, and he sounded me out a bit on what he was seeking to purchase. Having said that, we have been out photographing together on only one occasion, and that was because we were meeting for something else to begin with.
Now yesterday I just went for a photo-walk because I had a day of Time-Off-in-Lieu, and I knew I had to get out for a bit; uncomfortably hot & humid notwithstanding. Yes, I drove to the lake where I took some photos (here), but I was never more than 5km from my home.
A photo-expedition with my acquaintance from the Gold Coast is an altogether different proposition, and something we would have to plan some time in advance, and hope that the weather obliges.
As has been mentioned in the thread, a family member can sometimes be the most likely companion, however they may not be particularly interested in photography. Although it can be hard to get her out, on occasion my daughter has been keen to come, taking my second DSLR, having gotten over the limitations of her Bridge camera.
I’m not saying that it is the answer, but maybe a bit like that song: If you can’t be with the one you love, honey, love the one you’re with
maybe, sell the outing and enthrall with the joy of photography - you may just be contagious enough for it to catch.
Ah … I’m sure you have tried. Just some rambling words because we’re in the lounge.
For those with uninteresting landscapes and/or no one to take photos with, consider taking up portrait photography. That way you’ll have a subject, and company. Ditto if you join some other group of interest (church, cooking club, sporting team, etc…) and become their photographer.
Oh man, can I ever relate. Even on vacation, getting enough sleep is just as important for me as it is for the kids. Nobody wants a cranky dad. So I don’t get up early to take that shot. But truth be told, I don’t find sunset particularly photogenic anyway. They’re much more interesting to experience than to photograph, to me.
I guess I’ve come to peace with that, in the sense that my photography has changed to focus on the people in my life instead of the landscapes. At least that’s a skill I can practice without getting up early.
My biggest regret, as it were, is that I am not going on photography trips much. I don’t want to leave the kids alone with my wife just to indulge in my hobby. Sometimes I go hiking with my older child. I got her a camera, too, and she likes to hike and take pictures. Or maybe she just like spending time with dad. Anyway, I take it. It’s a fun activity, but if course it’s still mostly about daddy-daughter-time, not photography.
That one time where I actually did manage to go on a dedicated photography trip with a photographer friend, it was a weird experience. We did all these photographer things: set up the tripod, wait for the light, get up early. And I was bored, actually. I much more enjoyed hiking and experiencing over capturing the landscape. I also keenly felt that this just isn’t a subject I’m particularly practiced with. (And I realized I hate tripods).
A similar thing happened with my local photo club. We do actually have one here. They’re nice people, too. But at some point I more or less stopped going. I’d rather spend these hours going for a walk and taking pictures on my own than sit in a room… I recon this will change. These things go through phases for me.
Anyway, so long as I’m having fun with it, it’s a fine hobby. I regret nothing.
My bad – I should have specified I know no local photographers.
We have only one child, a 25 year old daughter. She has a DSLR (Canon SL-2) but now that she’s out of school and past photo class assignments she hasn’t shown any interest in using it. She actually lives next door but works all day. Saturdays are made for sleeping, apparently… Besides she has no interest in going out with Dear Old Dad.
I have one retired coworker friend who I rarely see. He was given his son’s old Canon 5D and kit. He occasionally shoots from what I see on Facebook, but most of those are while on cruises with his wife. I haven’t asked to come along…
. Normally it just means that I’m aware of what I’m missing.
Of course they might be nice people - but definitely not my kind of photography.