Outdoor Photography - Landscape, Action and Wildlife photography

• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Reviews
• Further Reading

‘Which comes first, photography or the outdoors?’ This is like the chicken and the egg: the two are inextricably entwined. However, there’s no confusion as far as this book is concerned: it is written for people who love the outdoors and, above all, for people who love doing things in the outdoors. I assume that you want your photographs to reflect that passion. It’s not about winning prizes at the camera club, or impressing people with your latest slide show. It’s about getting out there. You want pictures that capture what it’s like and how it makes you feel.

Photography should add to, not impede, the outdoor experience. If it helps you focus your mind on the texture of a rock or the play of light on a waterfall, it enhances your experience. If all you can think about is filters and f-stops, it does just the opposite.

However, if you’re serious, photography can’t just be an afterthought. Ideally it will be an integrated part of your outdoor activity. If you are serious, you want to be in control of the picture-making process, and you can’t control what you don’t understand. Blindly relying on camera automation leaves you clueless when the pictures don’t work out, and dilutes the satisfaction when they do.

A decent automatic camera should give you good results most of the time, but some understanding of the process helps you recognise when you need to take charge. This book will focus on understanding rather than ‘technique’. It will use as little technical language as possible, but won’t shy away from it when it is necessary. Essential concepts will be explained as clearly as possible. The basics of photography are not complicated, and certainly not rocket science.

To be an integrated part of your outdoor activity, photography must be light, fast and simple. This does not mean being casual or sloppy. Like the rest of your outdoor life, the more you put in, the more you get back. In photography, much of this input requires an investment of nothing more than time and thought, much of which can be done when you’re indoors.

In the end, it’s your outdoor life and they’re your photographs. What you want from your pictures isn’t necessarily what I, or anyone else, wants. Everything in this book is based on experience, and it works for me, but that doesn’t always mean it will work for you. This much I can say: it will be worth trying.