This post is accompanied by some of the work I shot over the last 4 weeks in Kenya. What a trip it’s been. I hope you enjoy the images!
My grand-dad was a Scout. At the time he was the highest decorated man in the scouting movement in the UK, a movement whose motto is “Be Prepared.” I like to think some of that desire to be ready for the unexpected has come down to me in my DNA, though I confess to stray from the ideal and tend to be more of a “Be Less Un-Prepared” kind of guy.
The last month in Kenya (I got back yesterday) felt like one big effort at being less un-ready. No matter what I did, I was improvising the entire time. I’d be ready for the lion to move left and he’d move right. I’d be ready for a sighting on one side of the Land Cruiser and the action would be on the other. Or I’d be ready for one exposure scenario, like panning at 1/15s, only to wish I was on 1/1000 instead to freeze the action rather than blur it. These things can’t always be helped; they’re part of the challenge and there’s no meaningful way to prepare for it all. I do, however, have some ideas about being a little less un-ready for the preventable stuff.
Ready Your Gear
Same Things, Same Pockets.
Put your batteries and cards in the same place every time. Same with cameras and lenses. Develop a system so you’re not taking up valuable time. Ideally you can reach into your bag and grab what you need without taking your eyes off your scene. The “throw all you crap into whatever pocket you can find” is great for the free-spirited, but it’s no way to photograph.
Camera On, Every Time.
When I pick up my camera, it has become my habit to flick the camera on so that it’s live and ready by the time it gets to my eye. It doesn’t take much, but when the camera is at your eye it needs to be as ready as you are.
No Lens Caps!
When I get to my location I take my front lens caps off and throw them in my duffle bag and they don’t come out again until I’m packing to leave. I shoot with 3 lenses on 3 bodies and none of them ever have a lens cap. Lens coatings are so good now that there’s a way better chance I’ll miss important shots by using a lens cap than there is that I’ll scratch a lens without one. In 40 years I’ve only ever scratched one lens. Imagine how many fleeting moments I might have missed in that time.
Battery Grips.
Each of my bodies has a battery grip that holds 2 batteries. I change batteries when I can, but this means I always a have a spare: not in my pocket but in the camera ready to go.
Custom Settings.
I don’t use a lot of these, but there’s one I find helpful and if you use your imagination you might find others. Most of the time I’m exposing manually. I set my shutter and my aperture, and let my ISO float with auto-ISO and adjust with EC Comp. Most of the time I’m at 1/000 and wide open, f/2.8 or f/4.0. But I’ve got a custom button set so that if I suddenly need to pan with movement at 1/50 and f/10, I can get there quickly. One spin of the dial instead of 2 or 3, and I’m ready.
Ready Your Mind
This one’s harder to pin down, and even harder to do: even more important than being ready with your gear is being ready in your thinking.
When you approach your scene are you thinking “Oh my god it’s a (insert subject here)!” or are you thinking about what you’re going to do with that subject? Are you looking at the light and making exposure choices before you even raise the camera? Is it a wide shot or a tighter shot? What are the composition options? Can you anticipate when the moment might happen and what you’ll do when it does, or—just as often—what you’ll do if it doesn’t play out the way you think.
Sometimes we have all the time in the world to work a scene, but other times it all happens very quickly. The more ready you can be, or the less un-ready, the better. When a scene unfolds, no matter what you’re shooting, there is often no time to unzip the camera bag, pull out the camera, and raise it to your eye, much less to fiddle with turning it on only to find that it’s already on but the lens cap is still…drat, the moment’s gone. Maybe next time.
Create habits that allow you to get to the good stuff faster. Keep the camera out of the bag until there is no chance you’ll need. It is more important that you protect the moment than that you protect your gear.
What about you? What do you do to make sure you’re ready (or a little less un-ready) when the moment arrives? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
For the Love of the Photograph,
David
Comments
The feeling of being unprepared for the moment even haunts my dreams. I dreamt about a funny scene and the camera was in my bag, which was located somewhere off to the side. I thought, what a funny subject, so I will go get my camera. When I returned with my camera, the scene had disappeared, as if it had never happened. Fortunately, it was a dream.
But there is a small consolation. If I miss a moment, I think to myself: At least I saw it and it is now part of my remembrance.
I’ve learned the hard way to keep the lens cap off, especially when shooting wildlife. I enjoyed meeting both you and Cynthia in Kenya last week. I look forward to seeing more of your photos from Amboseli and Masai Mara . Thanks, David
Really nice meeting you too. My next Contact Sheet email has a downloadable PDF monograph with more of the work. All possible because no lens caps. 🤪
Hi David, I like ALL of your suggestions, but one: the lens cap issue. In the early days of my photography, about 45 years ago, I was one of those who constantly dropped, lost, and once broke my lens cap. During those events, I ended up using a lot of lens-cleaning tissues to remove dust and fingerprints, and I would occasionally miss a shot because of it. I then discovered that you could attach little cords to the lens cap so they wouldn’t disappear, get dirty, or break from being stepped on.
I then discovered that my use of lens tissues dropped exponentially, as did my missed shots, because I was busy cleaning my lens.
And, even though you didn’t mention it, a UV filter did save me a lens, although only once. Isn’t that enough? I’ve been driving for almost 60 years, and I still buy car insurance. One accident (not my fault, rear-ended). Same logic here, no?
Oh, and one other preference: I’ve always hated neck straps. With my camera swinging around and bouncing off me as I walked, I hated it. I then saw wrist straps that attached to your tripod mount. I’ve used them ever since. The only inconvenience is that I have to remove the strap to use my tripod. Once, I was on a bridge looking over rushing water with a waterfall in the distance. I then shifted to holding my camera in my hand, and holding it over a rushing stream was too much for me. My knuckles were white! I went back to my car, got my wrist strap, and was content the rest of the day. Now, when I switch to my tripod, I just put the strap in my pocket.
Keep up the great work, and thanks.
Thanks, Gary. It would probably horrify you to know I don’t use lens tissues, and don’t own lens cleaning solution. A wipe with a cloth every now and then, sometimes a t-shirt if that’s all I have. We do, however, share a dislike for straps. I can’t remember the last time I used one.
Yesterday was a drizzly day in Seattle. In the morning my wife and I were en route to church, to which I don’t bring a camera, but I did have my phone along. Alas, in my pocket. As we passed a particular corner, I saw two women standing chatting in the steady mist, side-by-side, both with large golf umbrellas with pie-slice, multicolored design. Only the umbrellas faced the street; the women’s pant-legs and boots showing beneath. My wife was driving. “Arrraghhh,” I shouted! No chance of pulling the phone out, clicking on Lr-camera, etc. The image remains in my head, but otherwise lost forever, thanks to my being unready. Oy.
It happens. Like I said, I’m more of a “less un-ready” guy. We’ll always miss moments. What’s important is that you saw it and appreciated it. The pictures are only a bonus.
Cap off is a great tip. I went back to shooting film with a rangefinder last year. It took a few blank frames to remember to leave the cap off until I got home.
I can’t think of a single good reason to use one, especially for rangefinders!
It’s funny how many times I have to relearn to be less unprepared and also how many times I’ve gotten away with it.
We were on a catamaran tour in Maui and I had left my camera bag below deck with my long lens inside. Naturally, a whale decided to pick that time to breach beside our boat. I took a couple of shots with my kit lens and went below to get my bag thinking “well I missed this one but I should be ready for the next one”. I had to dig through everyone’s bags to get to mine and then switched to my telephoto. I went back up to the deck and the whale was still putting on a show and continued for another five minutes. Just pure luck but another reminder to be ready for this moment s!
A life-long lesson, eh? For me things like this are a constant re-learning, and that’s OK. Probably one of the reasons I love this craft. Glad the whale stuck it out for you, though!
I immediately thought The Lochness Monster!
Me too!!
Thanks, David. Beautiful shots, as always, and some great advice. I’m going to try the no-lens cap rule for a bit.
Another one I would suggest is that whenever you take a shot that requires a lot of fiddling with settings, make sure you have a standard that you set it back to once you’ve taken the shot. This has saved me numerous times.
Also, as a new owner of a mirrorless camera, I have just discovered that if you turn the camera off when changing lenses, the sensor gets covered. Great for preventing sensor gunk.
So many things to try!
Excellent practice. My “zero” settings are wide open, 1/1000s, auto-iso, 0 on EV.
Excellent set of recommendations. Having the same things in the same pockets helps everywhere in life, not just the camera bag.
I think the underpinning of having one’s mind ready is frequent and consistent practice. You can only be able to think quickly enough about how you will compose and expose a shot if you have done it often enough and recently enough to have the “muscle memory” backing up that thinking. you’ll do when it does, or—just as often—what you’ll do if it doesn’t play out the way you think.
How do I know this? Work has kept me from shooting much in the last 10 months, and when I do get out these days it’s a bit of a gong show.
Gong Show Photographic could be my business name, Gord. I’m just trying to stay ahead of my own stupidity. 😂 But yes, mindfulness and consistent practice go a long way.
I LOVE less un-ready. I feel like that’s a term that gives us grace instead of an admonishment. I’m with you on the lens cap. I take them off and leave them and lose them frequently; jacket pocket, pants pocket, in my bag, on the car seat, in the console… So, I am going to take your “Same Things, Same Pockets” advice and put them in my bag and leave them there. I’ll be able to find them when I actually need them.
Also, I LOVE your top photo! The back light, the bugs, the animal in motion – beautiful and perfect!
And I swear that buffalo is side eyeing the birds. Would love to hear the stories behind these photos!
Thanks, Denice. That buffalo shot is one of my favourites. Not much of a story, really. Just a buffalo beleaguered by birds. 🙂
Photography has been a love of mine for decades, but at a “holiday record” level.
Now retired with the time to move beyond this level, technically my images have improved, but I plateaued again knowing my images needed more.
Recently I absorbed your wonderful course, “Shoot What It Feels Like” and wish to thank you for your wisdom. Once again, I am moving forward and with trips to Iceland and the Silk Road upcoming, am excited to focus on “feeling” my images.
Always check to make sure you have a card in your camera and enough juice in your battery. I often go to the seaside to do sunset shots and one day when I got there the sea was rough whilst the sun was setting making the scene hazy. A girl was sitting at the edge of the water – what a beautiful scene that was!!! Only to realize that there was no card in my camera and no phone!!!!
Yes! Always check the camera: 2 batteries and 2 cards. Sorry you missed the shot, but you did notice it, and appreciate it. It’s not lost, just recorded on different media: mental film. 🙂
Welcome to retirement, Sue! I’m so pleased to hear that you found such value in the Shoot What it Feels Like course! Have fantastic adventures in Iceland and the Silk Road. Lucky!!
That shot with buffalo and the oxpeckers is BRILLIANT – talk about showing relationship (and attitude) in one fantastic image. I would love to hear about how you got that shot…aside from “being prepared!” 😉
thanks Taryn. I wish there was more of a story. I sat with the herd of buffalo for about 10-15 minutes and focused on the poor guy with the most amount of birds. It’s taken me 15 years+ to get a shot I like this much of this relationship between buffalo and the ox-peckers.
David, very important concept. My fall back when I’m just sitting around on any given day has become my iPhone camera. I call them “bushwhack” shots. I’m almost embarrassed at the number of my favorite images that I have made have happened this way. The one thing that I do always have at the ready is the body of knowledge that I have gleaned from your courses that I have taken. – perspective, framing, composition are all in greater proximity to my fingertips because what you have exposed me to. “Chance favors the prepared mind”. Thank you for all of your help with that preparation!
My iPhone is my fourth camera, my “always there” camera. One of my favourite shots from Kenya this year was just a grab shot with my iphone.
You mention 3 lenses on 3 bodies. I assume all the same camera bodies, but which lenses do you find most helpful for the wildlife and birds? And are the settings – time, ISO, focus point- similar so no matter which you grab you know a starting point, or are they specific for the lens?
Hi Sally. Yes, all three are Sony A1 bodies. One with 24-105 or 16-35mm, one with 70-200 or 100-400mm, the other with a 300mm or 600mm. And yes to having them all set up the same way. I want to pick up a camera and not have to think about which body is set up what way.
Great blog as usual and some good reminders to hash over and implement more effectively. May I also say that if you don’t look too closely at the image of the elephant in the weeds? grasses? in front of lake, it looks distinctly like you are in Jurassic Park capturing a brontosaurus.
LOL. A brontosaurus or Loch Ness monster!
Love your images, David. Not sure about the lens cap off always? I have always been very concerned about protecting my gear, especially lenses, and would have a difficult time not keeping the cap on. Your long experience and results indicate you are correct but it will be a struggle to try it – but…try it I will! You are stretching me!!
Not everyone likes this idea. I think we believe our gear to be more fragile than it is. In over 40 years I’ve never done more than scratch one lens and that was me being really stupid. I don’t use UV filters, either. Or camera straps. Call me crazy…
Thank you, always good to learn new tips. Your images from the trip are great
Thanks, Jan! More to come.
Interesting pov and composition varieties once again. I think that the more challenging moments really cause us to starch and create verses just capturing. Sharing the blog with my photo students this week.
Thanks Kellie. It’s all about the stretch. Gotta keep learning, keep resisting the urge to only do what has worked in the past. Hi to your students! 👋🏼
Good ideas. I can’t wait to see more from this trip!
Thanks, Owen! More to come…
I think through the types of shots to prepare for. Yesterday, for a municipal family health run, it became the ‘old’ 24-240mm ff lens on the crop camera – works well. On a safari in Kenya it was the 100-400mm on the crop and 24-70mm on the ff camera.
My thought behind is versatility, speed/readiness, weight, and to minimise lens changing needs. Plus additonal batteries, sd cards, and a cloth for lens cleaning.
👍👍👍
Thank you! I especially love “keeping the camera out of the bag” I don’t get to travel the world like you do, but I do live at the base of the Eastern Sierra in the high desert in California, so when I travel, I always have my camera “out of the bag”!!
You can’t take a picture when the camera is in the bag! 🙂