Sometimes, the simples things are the hardest
and that in photography, at least for me, is getting out and going somewhere
choosing a location can feel very overwhelming at times
maybe because you don't know where to go
or maybe because you have way too many options to choose from
in any case, where to go with my camera tomorrow is the question that haunts me every night
ok, it's not haunting, but many times I get stuck
and I end up going nowhere
even though this still happens to me every once in a while
over time, I've developed a system to avoid this kind of paralysis
in this video, I'm going to talk everything about how I plan my photography trips
how I find new places to photograph
how I decide where to go and when
but if there's one message that I really want to share today
the key take away here
is to go with the flow, always
that means that you need to adjust to the conditions that you have wherever you may be
and I think that's what I'm about to do right now
I was planning on recording this video here at home
and going somewhere later for sunset
but it looks like there's some fog rolling in
and that means that I'm out of here
it
took me a while to find a spot around here
today is Saturday, and the whole city is out
every place I'd like to photograph is packed
but the fog is out, and it looks absolutely beautiful
so I have to try
as you can see, improvisation plays a huge role in my photography
and I guess that makes this whole thing a bit less of a system
in outdoor photography, being able to adapt and to be flexible with your plans is very important
because you can't control, you can't predict, many times, what's happening outside
of course, there are some things that are very easy to know and that we should be aware of
I use a few apps and web services to stay up to date on these things
some of them I've mentioned before here many times
like Sun Surveyor, to see where the sunrise is going to happen
where the sunset is going to happen, at what time it is going to happen
it also provides you with information about the moon
when the full moon is going to be
when and where the moon is going to rise and set
all very useful information for photography
for the weather, I use three apps
the stock ios app to have a rough idea of what the weather is going to be for the day
dark sky, to have a more granular view of the days ahead
and to check on data like the wind speed, uv index, or the cloud cover
and lastly, clear outside, to have a more complete picture
and sometimes, to try to predict the fog
in some locations, there are other tools that we can use
for example, this week in San Francisco I'm using a website called fog.today
to have a radar view of what the fog is doing
and of course, I've been checking on webcams
there are a few around town, and those give you pretty precise and accurate real-time information
you see what the the place looks like, what the location looks like
there is not as much fog around here as I was hoping for
but I think I'm still gonna grab my camera, go for a little walk
and see what I can find
all right, so more improvising...
the fog lasted for a grand total of five minutes
I only had time, I only had the chance to make one image
now, I'm trying to figure out where to go next
probably not for a while, because it's very bright right now
the light is pretty harsh
but for sunset
to do that, I use another app
in this case, google maps
it has to be the app number one
the most helpful app for my photography, at least
I have a list of a lot of locations, well over a thousand, from all over the world
every time I see a photo online of a location
that I think could be potentially interesting for my photography, or just to visit
I add it to the list
anytime someone leaves a tip about a location here in the comments
or on instagram
or on someone else's videos and posts
I write it down
and honestly, I spend a lot of time on google maps
just doing some scouting, and looking for locations
I usually look for public open places where I can just go and explore
that could be little ponds, lakes, parks, whatever
the location doesn't really matter
you see, this is similar to a concept in journaling that you might be familiar with
when you journal, sometimes you don't know what to write about
so you start with a question, like "what did you do today?"
or "what do you want to do today?"
the question doesn't really matter, the whole point here is to get you started
the whole point of this list for me is the same thing
it's just to get me started and out of the door
having a location in mind really helps me
I need to know where I'm going
now, once I get there, the conditions will dictate the photography I will be doing
and if I'm gonna stay there or I'm gonna move on to another location
but at least I'm out, I'm somewhere
and the chances of me making a good image increase quite a lot just because of that
the fog was the reason why I got out of the house today in the first place
I wanted to take some photos in the fog
but that obviously didn't work out
so now, I was looking for a location that could work in these conditions today
and I thought about this cool spot that I discovered a couple days ago during a walk
with rachel and her uncle
here at the other side of the bay, I guess, in a place called Sausalito
I think that's how you say it
anyway, you have a very cool view of downtown San Francisco, far in the distance
and there are some posts in the water from an old pier
I took some photos and videos when I was here a couple days ago
but I didn't have my camera bag with me, or my tripod
and I wanted to take a long exposure of that scene
that's what I'm gonna try to do right now
the one shot I didn't want fog for...
and the fog is back
so I don't know if this is going to work out
it's going to be different from what I was expecting
from what I was hoping for
but...
indeed, making this image was a little bit harder than I anticipated
not just because of the conditions
I was hoping more for a clear view
but also because of the place, the spot where I was
it was a pier and it was moving because of the waves
also people walking by
and I was using a rather long focal length to get those posts big enough in the frame
so it took a few tries, but I think I finally made an image that I'm quite happy with
I told you
there is a lot of improvising in my photography
it looks a little bit chaotic, but there is a little bit of a system there
and it works for me
as I said, the most important thing is to get out there
because once you are out, you're gonna find something to photograph
what I do is I choose a location based on the conditions that I have
wherever I might be
I use the apps that I mentioned before to make that decision a little bit more informed
and I go from there
this was about day trips, but most of what I've told you so far applies to longer trips as well
you see, with the exception of my trip to madeira in portugal last year
and the one to la mancha, to photograph those windmills
those were very specific and I had some shots in mind
most of my trips are very open
I prefer road trips because that exposes me to more things
I spend more time outside
but of course, sometimes I'll fly or take a train
I like to travel during the fall and the winter because
the conditions are usually better for my photography at those times
but some places are different, and they have a climate of their own
like here, in san francisco, where the fog is more common in the summer months
all right, I could be talking about traveling for photography for hours
but we have to cut the video somewhere, right?
if you have any other questions, please let me know in the comments down below
I will get back to you as soon as possible
as usual, I wanted to thank all of my patreons for their support
for their very generous support
because they make this journey of mine possible
I would like to thank today specifically John Floyd for his support over time
I really appreciate it, John
and thank you, of course, for watching this video
I hope it was useful
see you in the next one!