I will be the first one to admit that I’m a planner, whether it be my meals for the week, my daily itinerary or a photo trip, I simply love to plan. This trait can have its benefits, but can also be a hindrance. It’s great when things go to plan, which we all know rarely happens, so when it doesn’t, I’m left feeling frustrated. Naturally, throughout my journey in photography, I have done everything I could do to plan shoots, trips, and hikes. Over time I have learned making detailed plans for my photography wasn’t always beneficial. I learned there was a time and place for trying to plan, and a time when I should be spontaneous. In this blog post, I want to share my experiences and share what I have learned about when to plan and when to be spontaneous as it pertains to photography trips. My hope is whoever reading this can learn from my mistakes and experiences to better utilize planning for their photography trips.
One of my all-time favorite things to do is to plan for a trip. I can spend hours going through google maps marking trailheads, parks, areas of interest, and potential photo locations. In the beginning, I would make extremely detailed itineraries for my trips. I would have a list of all the locations, all the shots, and all the parks I wanted to visit with very specific times for all of them. This would put me on very tight schedules, bouncing me from one photo location to the next. For sunrise, I could be at a state park photographing a lighthouse, and by sunset, I could be in a whole different location photographing a different lighthouse. This put a lot of pressure on getting the photo I wanted at the time and place I had planned for. As expected, planning trips like this were not very beneficial. Too much packed into a short amount of time does not breed good photographic results. This kind of trip planning resulted in trips that were both not enjoyable, but also not photographically productive.
An example of one of these trips was a 2 night, 3-day early winter trip to the Northwest side of Michigan. Early on the first morning of my trip I woke up before sunrise, drove 4 hours directly to one of Michigan’s national shorelines, and immediately started to explore. It was my first time visiting this location for photography so I was lost in finding things to shoot. Before I knew it, it was already 2 pm as I continued to scout around the unfamiliar location. Since it was winter I was already running out of daylight and I had to get to my sunset location. After a little more scouting, I rushed over to the lighthouse I had planned for sunset, I got there with just enough time to look for compositions. I spent a little while looking for a shot but it was so windy I could barely keep my camera from shaking, making it hard to even take a photo. So after struggling in the wind, I packed up after the sun went down and headed to the hotel I was staying at.
Sunrise photo at the lighthouse. (It’s an early photo, don’t judge too much)
Fast forward to sunrise the next morning, I have already checked out of the hotel, got back to the lighthouse I was at the night before, and was set up with the shot I wanted to get the night before. The photo turned out alright but I had no time to enjoy the experience, I was already in a rush to get to my next two locations. I left this lighthouse and spent a good few hours driving around looking for places to hike and explore. After finding a trail head, I hiked around for an hour or two but couldn’t find anything really interesting to photograph. By now it was already getting late in the day so I immediately drove another 30 minutes to another lighthouse for sunset. I spent some time looking for compositions but since I was in a rush I couldn’t find anything too interesting. By the time the sun had set, I had made many failed attempts at taking a good photo. This meant it was time to leave the lighthouse. After leaving the lighthouse I had a 45 minute drive to a hotel in a completely different city.
Minimalist photo from sunrise
After a good night's sleep I was up and at a different lighthouse for sunrise. The photo I took at sunrise is one of my early favorites, it's a simple minimalist photo of a lighthouse in one of my favorite cities in Michigan. The conditions were amazing that morning, it was incredibly calm and peaceful. I wish I had stayed longer but I had a packed itinerary for that day, so after shooting sunrise I rushed over to the nearby state park to do some more hiking. I hiked for a while without finding anything good to photograph. I wanted to hike out to a lighthouse a little further inside the state park but I didn’t have the time because I planned to be at different lighthouse almost an hour's drive further South from where I currently was. So after hiking for a bit longer I packed up and started my drive South and made it to the lighthouse I had planned for. Unfortunately, I was greeted with awful conditions so I struggled to feel inspired, making it difficult for me to find a good composition. On top of the awful weather, I was also feeling horribly worn out from the long couple days, which only made me feel even more uninspired. Plus, thanks to my jam packed trip itinerary, I still had a 3 hour drive home ahead of me that night. So by the end of the evening, I was both without a good photo and was no longer enjoying myself. So feeling tired and a little frustrated I made the drive home and just like that my 3 day, 6 location trip was over. The entire trip felt very rushed and unproductive, I took a couple of photos I liked at the time but feel I could have done a better job if I would’ve spent more time at only a few of the locations. I also wish I would’ve prioritized my enjoyment more while I was on the trip. Due to my constant rushing around I was almost always tired which really caught up to me by the end of the last day. After that trip I realized I needed to make a change in how I planned trips. These kinds of bad trips taught me that the quantity of locations will never out way quality time spent at one or two locations. As I moved forward, I began to plan trips in a more reasonable way, a way that was beneficial to taking good photos and having an enjoyable experience.
Whether it be a weekend trip to the West side of Michigan or a week long trip across the country, I now plan my trips with the same mentality and the same goals in mind. My goals for any trip are as follows:
Have an enjoyable and peaceful experience
Take the best photos I can
Learn about the location(s) for when I return
To achieve these goals, before a trip I do the only major bit of planning, logistical planning. I lock down the 1 or 2 location(s) (if it's a weekend trip) or the 4 or 5 locations (if it's a week long trip), and do some simple research on the locations. Will they be good sunset or sunrise locations? Will I need to do a lot of hiking? How long of a drive is it to the location(s). Once I’ve done that, I book the accommodations and decide on the food needed for the trip based on the locations I want to shoot at. I do the logistics before, so when I’m on location I don’t have to worry about these things, and I can focus solely on my photography.
Once I’m on the trip, I try to scout as much as possible and get a real feel for the area and take notice of what I find interesting. My goal is to get an idea for the kind of photos I want to take, so once I find a composition or a subject I want to shoot, I can let the trip’s plan evolve around taking the best photo I can of that composition or subject. During the trip I want to be as spontaneous as I can be while also utilizing my time to the fullest. I don’t want to spend time doing something that will hinder my ability to take the best photos I can or degrade the experience I’m having. As the trip progresses I try to keep my goals in mind and ask myself if what I’m currently doing is helping me achieve them.
Now when I take a trip about the same length of time as the winter trip I described before I only go to one location and only go to a second if it’s in the same city or area. The only plans I now have are to be at my main location an hour before both sunrise and sunset for every day of the trip. All the time in between I usually leave up in the air until I’m on location. I now allow myself to be spontaneous in the moment, and spend my time in the most efficient way possible. If I'm feeling tired and run down I will take a nap, if the skies are gray and overcast I will scout my main location further for compositions, or if it’s nice hiking weather I may go on a hike if there is a nearby trail head. The biggest deciding factor on my trips is the weather. Depending on how good or bad the conditions are will heavily determine what I shoot, when I shoot it, and how I will spend my time while not shooting. I allow myself to be flexible with my plans according to the weather I’m given, so I can best utilize the conditions. This more laid back and spontaneous approach allows for far better photographic results just simply because I can better utilize the time I have on the trip. I’m not trying to force a photo to happen, or spend time traveling to a different location when I could better spend my time scouting the location I was already at.
Now you may be asking, what about longer trips? Well it depends on if it’s a completely dedicated photo trip or if I’m traveling with friends. If I’m traveling with friends I still plan photography into the trip but most of the trip is left up to us as a group, deciding what we want to do. I know photography can be boring if you’re the one just sitting there watching, so I try to do most of my photography at sunrise before anyone else has woken up. If I’m on a longer solo trip that is completely dedicated to photography, then I plan things to ensure I’m producing the best photos I can.
One of my favorite photos from the sunrises in Maine
For example, a couple years ago I spent 8 days in Maine, a majority of my trip, except for a couple of lighthouses on my drive there, was concentrated in a single national park. Before the trip I listed out all the locations I wanted to visit, but did not plan a time to visit them. It was just a simple reference list of the places I wanted to scout and possibly shoot. Once I was on the trip I used the weather to determine where I was going to go and when the best time would be to visit. After my first full day at the park I had already scouted two locations and was set on where I wanted to be for sunrise the next morning. After returning to this particular area of the park I was taken back by the incredible photographic potential this single area had. So, for every sunrise except for one while at the park, I returned to this same area to shoot and scout. It was really enjoyable spending quality time in a single area. I could have easily spent every morning at a different location, running around in the dark like a headless chicken looking for compositions. Instead I returned to the same area morning after morning to better get to know the place and focus on finding unique compositions. I look back fondly on those mornings because I was able to really soak in the location and really get to know it. I usually went into the morning with a shot I had scouted the day before, which allowed for a far more peaceful shooting experience. There was no rushing around in the dark looking for a composition. I simply had to wake up early, hike to the spot I had already scouted and enjoy being immersed in my surroundings.
Another one of my favorite photos taken at this area for sunrise
As for how I spent the time during the rest of the day, I usually scouted around after sunrise for the next day's sunrise photo, then I would drive to another close-by location and scout it for sunset, then I would return to camp, eat some food, take a nap, and check the weather for sunset. Depending on the forecast, I would decide where I wanted to shoot at sunset. The only planning necessary was making sure I would arrive at my desired location early enough to find a composition. After sunset, I would return to camp to prepare my coffee for the next morning, then I would head to bed early for sunrise the next morning. Going about my days like this was very beneficial, not only did I get to shoot and scout a lot, but it also made sure I was well-rested and was always feeling my best. Not only did I have an amazing experience on my trip to Maine, but I also walked away with a handful of photos I love.
In conclusion, the framework and goals I use to plan my trips have been greatly beneficial in me being photographically productive and having a better experience. I want the lessons I have learned through my poor photo trips and my revelations while on good trips to serve as inspiration for others in planning their next photo trip. I believe if you set out on a trip with the simple goals of having a great experience, taking the best photos you can, and learning a location, it will greatly benefit your photography. These goals paired with the ability to be spontaneous when the weather turns for the worst, or when you start to get worn out, or when you find an amazing subject unexpectedly, will allow you to best utilize your time on a trip. Even if you don’t have the same goals as the ones I listed above, figuring out what your own personal goals are for a trip will help you stay focused on a trip. Through the experiences I have shared above, my biggest takeaway and most valuable learning point is to go with the flow and be spontaneous.