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Main Boards => General Walking Discussion => Topic started by: Pitboot on 10:34:08, 31/10/19

Title: Happy snappers.
Post by: Pitboot on 10:34:08, 31/10/19
Recently I have noticed a big increase in the number of people out in the hills and valleys with large cameras and tripods. Maybe I've always coincided with photography club meetings but I don't think so.
I take the odd pic and I don't mind how people over load themselves with gear, but my best ever photos were taken with a little Rollei 35 back in the 80s. I did mostly slide film, remember that?


Not much point to this post except to find if it's just my experience.


Any trolls reading this, no offence meant to any group or individuals, it's just an observation.
Title: Re: Happy snappers.
Post by: Owen on 11:03:49, 31/10/19
I think landscape photography is very much in fashion at the moment. There's a growing  number of photography tours advertised in the photo mags.
Title: Re: Happy snappers.
Post by: GnP on 13:03:59, 31/10/19
I was one of those loaded up with gear up until a few years back. I used to travel deep into Wales just to take landscape photos.  The time used to really flow and it was very relaxing once I had found a spot to take in the surroundings.It can become a bit of an obsession and expensive too.

In the end though I had outlived the idea of it all and found that walking with a small camera could kill two birds with one stone, as long as I didn`t expect too much of my little Olympus. Now I try to live the moment (s) and observe all things around me which strangely I think I often missed while trying to get that perfect pic... :)


I sometimes see a family out and about and Dad has this huge DSLR slung round his neck. They might need some patience waiting for him to take that perfect pic at times..?
Title: Re: Happy snappers.
Post by: pdstsp on 15:47:35, 31/10/19
I'm a keen, but generally useless snapper, and been going to night school for the last year or so.  However, I have come to the conclusion that lugging the big stuff round can ruin a good walk, so I use my little Sony HX90 when walking, but will sometimes take the mirrorless, tripod and assorted lenses out for a specific purpose, eg a sunrise shot. I find I have to differentiate the purpose of the walk, which is a bit daft really but seems to work for me.   
Title: Re: Happy snappers.
Post by: fernman on 17:01:45, 31/10/19
Me too. I used to go for walks with a Benbo Trekker tripod sticking out of my rucksack, along with dslr, an assortment of filters, and a macro lens just in case.
Eventually I narrowed it down to just the camera with a 18-200mm "travel lens", but even that became too much of a faff, with putting my walking poles to one side when I wanted to take a picture, removing and opening my rucksack, extracting the camera, and doing everything in reverse order when I had taken the shots.
Now I carry just a tiny Sony compact in a pocket or waist pouch. The quality of the photos is not as good and the composition is less precise as those from the dslr, but I enjoy my walks more with less interruption to my progress, while the simplicity of taking the compact out has meant I am taking about three times as many pictures as I used to with my dslr, which is now my choice for just holidays, special occasions and photography at home.
Title: Re: Happy snappers.
Post by: Mel on 17:19:33, 31/10/19
I wonder if it’s because of the time of year?  Autumn is a smashing time of year for photographs – landscape and animals/birds, cloud inversions, interesting skies, mellower sunlight, frosty mornings and such like. 
 
A guy I work with goes out loaded up with his camera gear most weekends, revisiting spots he’s made note of when doing a “normal walk” with his wife.  He’s raving about the misty mornings at the moment and he’s got some good shots of migrating birds.  He’s still waiting for “that shot” that will make him his millions though  ;D
   
Title: Re: Happy snappers.
Post by: BuzyG on 18:04:00, 31/10/19
I used to carry lots of lenses a small tripod a  flash gun and light meter.  All the usual paraphernalia, back in the days of film.   I get much better pictures with my pocket camera these days.  O0

The time will come when our mobile phone/devices will be good enough for even profesional level photos.   Will a way off yet though. 
Title: Re: Happy snappers.
Post by: Bigfoot_Mike on 19:05:01, 31/10/19
The best times for landscape photography are the beginning and end of the day. The worst is around midday. Therefore it is probably not worth carrying a lot of heavy gear on a long walk. In the Scottish winter the sun never gets too high in the sky and the golden hour can last all day (all 4 hours of it).


Wildlife photography needs even heavier gear and again is generally best at the start and end of the day, although low light can be an issue. I have been known to walk 8 miles or so carrying a camera + lens + monopod weighting 6 kg or more.
Title: Re: Happy snappers.
Post by: Petrolhead on 12:06:05, 01/11/19
It's a combination of the "famous" youtubers who make films about their landscape photography plus there just being many many more people embracing the outdoors.

I'm one of those with the camera backpack and tripod. It's a wonderful way to spend time and you have some lovely images for the memories. It always works well for us. Some nice chill time at sunrise and sunset and some lovely walking in between.

When I started my landscape photography account on Instagram in August last year, the tag #englishcountryside had around 220,000 posts. That was the grand total since Instagram started in 2010. Less than a year and a half later, that figure has ballooned to the current 546,000. That's got to be significant!

As for the weight, my backpack containing camera, two lenses, filters, cleaning stuff, extra batteries, tripod, extra layers and water is always lighter than my wife's (who doesn't carry any photography equipement!). I think she hides rocks in there!