What's your process when setting up a picture?

[theshortstack]

Morning all,

As a relatively noobie to all this, I'm just curious as to whether people here have a process that they work through when they're setting up to take a specific shot.

I presume you hunt around for the right angle first, but once you've set the camera up do you then work through Aperture or Shutter Speed? When do you think about ISO and at what point do you add a filter if one is needed at all?

Thanks for your help with this - I think it would just be interesting to hear how you all set up a shot, as I've no doubt it would help me consider everything when trying to set up my own.

Cheers in advance.

 

[Phil V]

What kind of photo?

 

[Tringa]

I take more landscape photos than anything else and other than when I just happen to be passing somewhere that looks as if it may be a good shot my 'process' for these shots can begin hours before taking the shot, or even the previous day.

If I know roughly what/where I want to photograph I'll decide when will be the best light for the shot. eg, morning, afternoon, sunrise, sunset. The Photographer's Ephemeris is handy for rise and set shots as, in addition to giving the times of sunrise and sunset, it also shows the direction.

Then I'll have a look at the weather forecast. If heavy rain is forecast for the end of the day then that sunset shot isn't going to happen. However, sometimes weather changes very quickly and what looked miserable turns into something brilliant. I have lost plenty of photos that way.

If things look good then I need to plan how long it will take me to get to where I want to be. For sunrise or set I want to be there 30-45 mins before it happens. I also missed plenty by not allowing enough time.

Most of the time I want a large depth of field so, after choosing the particular shot, a suitable aperture is the first step. In most cases a slow shutter speed is not a problem as the camera is probably on a tripod or supported some other way. The ISO is usually as low as possible unless there is a need to have a high shutter speed and I'll decide if a polarising filter would by useful.

Then its deciding what is the most important part of the scene that I want to expose for. The 'problem' with landscapes is that mostly all of it needs to be well exposed. There are exceptions, silhouettes, for example and some areas of total blackness or blown highlights can be fine, but not too much of either. With some landscapes the dynamic range is not too great but at the beginning or end of the day it can be huge. Then I'll either take a number of shots exposed for different parts of the scene and blend them or use graduated filters.

A couple of other things. I take something to keep warm; standing around waiting for the light can get cold and as I am almost always on my own when photographing, if I'm in a remote area I'll let someone know where I have gone.

Some of this isn't in a strict order and after I've done all of it I can still produce rubbish photos.

Dave