Get out of my shot…

A pretty common occurrence at popular scenic viewpoints, someone is standing with their tripod setup right where you want to be. Other photographers wander through and sometimes even setup right in front of you without looking. I can think of a couple ways to avoid that, go mid-week or get there when everyone else is sleeping or has gone home. Or better yet, find a different spot with a different perspective on the subject, you go home with a shot no one else has.


But here is something a little different, YOU get in your own shots. What… you ask  while scratching your head?
It took me a while to start thinking about this before I arrived at a location. Of course, none of these things ever happened to me .
You wander around looking for a great composition and when you finally find the perfect spot, set up your camera and look through the view finder only to see there are great big clown size footprints right in the middle of your composition. Ok, who was the idiot that walked right through here??? Looking around only to find you are the only one there… Oops, way to go smarty pants. It helps to think about where you might setup ahead of time, preferably before you walk through that snow or sand.
How about this one, you are shooting in portrait orientation with the ultra-wide angle lens. You get some outstanding shots, at least so the camera LCD says, and cant wait to get home and see these beauties on that great BIG custom calibrated monitor you spent a month researching information on the internet before you bought. So there it is, The shot, but wait, what is that at the very bottom of the frame? Could that be a tripod foot? Doh… You didn’t even think of checking the bottom of the view finder while positioning your camera. This last one usually isn’t a problem unless you are using something wider than 17mm on a full 35mm format camera of 12mm on a cropped sensor camera. Of course, like I said, this has never happened to me.



Geez, and all I thought I had to do was get to a pretty location at the right time of day and snap the picture. Now you want me to think about where I walk, or double check the view finder all before I have had my morning coffee?
Next you’ll be asking if I remembered to charge my batteries…
About the pictures; the first was shot using a Nikon D3x and the AF-S 24-120 f4 at 38mm using a Singh-Ray circular polarizer to help cut some of the glare from the water and rocks. The second was shot with the Nikon D3x and the AF-S 16-35 f4 at 16mm.