Time of day, lighting, and number of shots.

Ok I've read all over that the best light is a few hour after sunrise and before sunset. Thats understandable, I have no problems with that, its just the concept of only having 4 hours a day of great light and the muber of shots, or the number of different shot taken in that time.

Let me explain. Right now what I do is I pick a location I want to shot, go there with enough time to find my shots, then wait for the light. This has been working so far, I've been walking away with at least on capture that I'm happy with each time I go out (well there is the times I just pick a bad location).

Thats great when you are with in an hour of home, but what about on a trip. I'm planning on a trip about a 6 hour drive from home. I will have about 2 full days to shoot but that only equals about 8 hours of shooting time. This could be little time to get the scenes I want esspecailly if there is travel time between shots.

I guess my question is how do you optimize your shooting time? How many captures do you usually get a day when you head out for a few days? Is this something you learn from experience?

Any tips and tricks would be helpful, I want to make the most of this trip seeing that after the kid is born in November my shooting time will drop

PS Im heading to Tolermory and the National Parks in the area. There are about three large parks that dont allow camping and seem to be large enough to have some sights of real nature (Something Im not use to )

My favorite light is about 20 minues before sunrise and after sunset, but that doesn't mean I limit myself to 40 minutes of photography in a day. There's a lot you can do with reflected light, diffused light, directional light (back-light / side-light), direct light, and even no light. It's just a matter of knowing what to look for in a given situation.

Guy

I don't optimize. I simply take the light I am given and make the kind of shots that make use of the qualities of that particular light. What I'm saying is, instead of getting fixiated on taking shots in only one kind of light, I adapt to what I'm given. All light is good for something. As for my favorite light, it's the dull diffused light during a winter blizzard. I love taking photos during a blizzard!


Kent in SD

Planning and strategy are important parts of the photography game that the wise landscape photographer learns well and hones continually through their career. One can only be at one place at one time each day. It takes time to go from place to place and effort and time to set up for each scene framed. Where one decides to be and the effort of setting up a frame for each shot bares a cost. I love this aspect of the game and am very good at it. Far more so than two decades ago when I thought I was already pretty good. Knowing topography, weather, and the nature of the landscape goes a long ways as does knowing one's equipment and film. Many evenings as I lay in my sleeping bag out in some remote place in the mountains or deserts, I'm studying a topographic map under the light of my headlamp, going through exactly where I might be going the next morning and what all the variables of choice I might have to consider and make decisions on. Also as one moves up from the smaller to medium to large formats, that planning becomes more important. ...David

What has already been said: Know the area as much as you can.In non summer months when the sun rises later I can make an outing on the Blue Ridge Parkway last for hours: catch the sunrise then go somewhere else looking for wildlife and then wait for the fog to roll in. On a cloudy day I can include waterfalls or streams and also some areas don't get direct sunlight until hours after sunrise because of the mountains.

Trying to fill the hours of unforgiving light is mostly a sunny-day exercise for me. If the light is flat, time of day isn't really an issue. And on those sunny days, I generally use the middle part of the day for macro and closeup work on flowers, using the diffusion tent to get the light I most often want.

I'll second the thoughts abouts mid-day phtoography, especially on overcast days. I'm not an early riser and don't feel too guilty about missing a nice sunrise. But I really enjoy getting out in the evenings. Hiking trails are generally uncrowded after 3 or 4 in the afternoons. I'll often start out somewhere in the later afternoon, find a location to shoot in the later evening and hike back at dusk or in the dark if I'm confident of the trail. A head lamp is invaluable for this.