5 Essential Photography Tips for Shooting in Unfamiliar Locations

[@davebenson1504]

Expectations low, and keep an open mind to opportunities that match your vision style & purpose 🙂 research, being prepared another wonderful idea too... #3 ties very nicely back to #1 and #2... and I have lived very much sharing family time with photo time and the limitations it presents😉 ... and Tip #4 use what is the best suited for the moment and do not force an image😊 and #5.. Just this week ( i was camping 700km from home) I thought I had a wonderful image, until I checked it on my laptop at night.. I was still in the same area (lighting was not a high priority as it was a shaded area) and I was able to go re-do the composition the next day and get it right 🙂... and #6 is a good discussion on storage strategy :-) Thank you Adam and Paul ( and I just started following Paul because of your interaction on this trip)

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Thanks for the summary, Dave! Plus if you don't like tips videos turn the volume down and just enjoy the images. 😉

[@davebenson1504]

I loved the video tips@@QuietLightPhoto 🙂

[@seth.graham]

My main lesson learned is from planning road trips and it relates to tip #3. If you're doing a long distance destination drive, limit time in the car to 4 hours a day. In the summer with long daylight periods this gives you ~10 hours of time to explore and/or take care of life business (like a nap). And pick routes away from the main highways as much as possible, you'll have much better luck finding something new and coming home with a bigger collection of good images. There's apps and websites out there to help plan road trips and they're a huge benefit for staying rested.

[@Varosphotographs]

Tip #1 is for the best one in my opinion. When I first started taking photos I always thought I’d come out with some FINE ART lol. Now I’m happy if I get one I love per outing. Take your expectations for sure.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Totally agree!

[@graveyardflowers476]

Living in Southern California, I’ve learned to keep my expectations low. Too often I’ll Google a location only to show up and find it’s been trashed by visitors or destroyed by wildfires 😔 But at least it’s forced me to look harder and change my plans. Thank you for all your videos, tips, tutorials, suggestions and everything!! 💜💜

[@Alister_Benn]

You never know where you are bud! ❤️

[@QuietLightPhoto]

You got that right!

[@robertparsons558]

Don't forget if you do accidentally delete an image/s on a card you can recover it/them with recovery software as long as you don't write anything to the card after the deletion. Carry spare cards in case you accidentally do this. Swap out the card with the deleted image and recover it when you get back to the computer.

[@Loretta-pl6km]

Great tips and fun to see the photos from the west coast (the best coast) 😉 as it is my home location. I enjoyed hearing what you said about lowering expectations. I see all these amazing shots from England and will be heading there this fall. I will remember to keep my expectations lowered so I don't fret over getting THE shot! Fun to see what you both chose to photograph from our redwood forest.

[@AliasJimWirth]

Good tips. A worthwhile video to learn from. You both came away with some very nice images.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Many thanks!

[@jeffschreifels8651]

Tips 2 and 3 really hit home because, up until this year, I always planned my trips so I was moving around to maximize what I would see. This year I have stuck around in one place and had multiple days to work the area. I also try to time the trips so the climate conditions are the best for what I need. Unfortunately, no matter what I do, the weather is always clear bright skies and absolutely no atmosphere at all. So tip 4 about adapting to the conditions is so important as well.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

yes especially this year in Canada it would seem. But yes there are always things to photograph no matter the conditions sometimes it takes a bit of imagination to see the less obvious? thanks!

[@jeffschreifels8651]

@@QuietLightPhoto my imagination isn't as good as I'd like it to be but it's getting better with experience.

[@Xo1ot1]

3:46 very beautiful photo

[@stefansandmeier2080]

My top tip for locations I've never been to but have scouted on maps and Google etc. is this: look at the subject you're interested in, but once in a while look behind you too. Sometimes, what is behind you (or a bit to the left or right) can be as interesting as what is in front of you and what you came for.

[@NoDoSwLa]

Real talk from experienced professionals. That's great and was needed. Especially the part with the expectations. I think after watching a lot of youtube everyone pressures himself to get a killer shot somehow and forgets that it sometimers takes days or a special time of year to achieve that.

[@PaulthomsonphotographyUk]

Hopefully these tips will help you guys 😁✌️

[@ChrisDarnell]

@PaulthomsonphotographyUk Have you tried recovering those deleted files on your memory card? There are software utilities that can sometimes do that, especially if those bytes of memory haven't been overwritten yet.

[@PaulthomsonphotographyUk]

@@ChrisDarnell I think if I hadn’t written over the top of it would have been fine but then I shot the next days images. Lesson learned though I won’t be doing that again 😁✌️

[@infrequentgamer_greg]

Adam, thanks for the tips, however the images you were showing that both you and Paul took, were fantastic! I wish the emphasis of the video was discussing these fantastic images! Oh, what a missed opportunity for we viewers and lovers of your (and Paul's) photography!

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Next time!

[@vlaney21]

Adam & Paul...thanks for sharig these great tips. Keeping ypur expectations low is a good one but a little hard to do if you've traveled far to get to a location. BUT, if you can just enjoy the experience of being in nature and seeing it's beauty (rain or shine) no matter the conditions, that works for me. Your other tips were awesome as well ....And Paul, so sorry to hear about the lost photos! (I've done it twice and it can be devastating for sure)

[@DavesEpicPhoneShots]

Good tips especially about staying in one area to get the changes in atmosphere light and time of day. 👍

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Absolutely!

[@krisweyers6248]

Had to laugh with the first tip! When we started traveling many years ago that’s what my husband told me before each trip. Not just with photography you never know what will come your way. Delays,small rooms or maybe… getting upgraded. Haha

[@geroldhanck6802]

Adam, I enjoyed your shots of the redwoods, and the advice about keeping your expectations low when visiting new locations. I have a suggestion for your channel. You play a lovely flute, and it would make a great background track for some of your videos. Why not include it now and then?

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Thanks 👍

[@lphilpot01]

I'm in the middle of learning an important tip: Even if you don't have too many opportunities for "photo travel", don't let that anticipation and excitement override logic concerning the trip. I'm currently in the middle of a "drive-to" trip (not fly-to, fortunately) that I probably should've rescheduled instead of taken. The weather hasn't cooperated -- clear blue skies, hot, no clouds with a vast landscape, etc. -- and it's impacting the availability of interesting shots. And it became clear what the weather would do far enough in advance that I probably could've cancelled / rescheduled without much impact. Except on my anticipation, that is. I was really looking forward to the trip so here I am anyway... trying to pull a rabbit from a hat! 🙂 Oh well, maybe I can learn a thing or two while I'm here.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Sorry to hear but a situation that I can relate to.

[@lphilpot01]

@@QuietLightPhoto once I got past being irritated it's now more fun. Just have to think differently. 🙂

[@bobbyw59]

Always helpful.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Thank you!

[@paulkirk5760]

Very thoughtful tips and gorgeous images.

[@duncansteward4331]

If you just deleated the images on a card -- and not used it, it is possible to recover most of the data with a recovery program. Deleat only remoes the header of the files.

[@blivieriphoto]

Great tips guys! I think too to look at photos from non-photographers; hikers, campers, boaters, etc. Especially on KZbin. You may see a general area 'as is' rather than in all its glory amped up with post processing. Thanks for the video Adam. 😊

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Totally agree!

[@PhotoTrekr]

Most of my trips are road trips once I get to a destination. But, I do try to spend at least two nights in any particular location. Sometimes I might drive back through the same area I visited a few days earlier just in the opposite direction. I like to get a second bite of the apple. And I try not to do too much or expect too much on a trip. I realize that there is only so much that I can do in the time I'm there. Both of my cameras have dual card slots. I'll use one card for jpgs and the other card for raw files. And I'll back up each days shots every night onto dual external ssd drives. But, I go on these trips more for the enjoyment of seeing amazing places I've never seen before. If I get great shots, that makes the trip even better.

[@arthurised]

@PhotoTrekr I wholeheartedly agree that where you have 2 x card slots shoot one in RAW, the other in JPG. Cards are so cheap that there's no longer any excuse not to buy more and use as "pairs" for your image capture. Mine are marked A1 / B1 etc., and I download to an SSD drive when I can at the end of the day. I NEVER erase any images until I've returned home from my trip. Additionally, ensure that you have a 'bomb-proof' (shock, dust and water protection) case for your storage cards.

[@Raykenn1]

Thanks for the tips!

[@dwrisdon2487]

It's good to know that even the "big guys" stumble and fall every so often. It gives us "newbies" hope to carry out. Bill

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Haha, you may be shocked at how many screw up we both make, cheers!

[@krimke881]

What I find is mot effective, is hashtags on instagram, from other visitors and all these insta-hiking-influensers. It's great! Also, google has this year, added points of interest, enhanced the points with a pop-up buble with an icon made from a picture taken on that spot. It's now a much lower bar to places you didn't know existed, since you can now just zoom in a little xtra, and all these bubles pops up, that I find I really get curious on. I've found a lot of places with these two methods. And then going there, it's absolutely apparent, to keep your expectations low. If you're not going to spend a 4 weeks in that area.

[@hepontour]

Brilliant video, thanks very much.

[@thomasphillips5850]

Great video, usually I am just congratulating Adam. Paul, excellent work, don't beat yourself up over the deleting disaster, we have all done things like that. In my film days I was shooting in a great location, shooting away only to find I didn't take the lense cap off my Leica M4. This is a great video, probably the best tip is slow down and don't let your hopes get to high. Adam as always your work is stellar. Thanks again for a great video.

[@PaulthomsonphotographyUk]

Thanks so much Thomas 😁✌️

[@hilleviupmanis8687]

Thank you!

[@normjames4451]

Thanks you guys for this. My main tip that I took away from this was to spend more time in each location. I plan on going to the Banff area this fall and I was planning on getting to a new location almost every night but now I’ll plan on staying several days in each location by reducing the number of locations that I had planned on going to. My tip on saving your images - my camera has two memory cards readers. Main card reader I use a smaller memory card and swap that out everyday and keep it til I get home. The secondary reader will hold a much larger card and I just leave that in until it gets full before I swap it out. I don’t store those two together just in case somerhing happens a card case. That way I’ll have two cards with the same photos.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Great! have an awesome trip!

[@sverresrensen8625]

Great tips😊 an other tip that has helped me often, is to memorize compositions from photo books. When I’m out with my camera, I sometimes see a 🌲 that reminds me of one of Adams compositions, a sky that reminds me of a Salgado or some other scene that reminds me of a Kenna. The final images may be far from the masters, but I often find these images to be among my better ones.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Most definitely, the work from other photographers can play a great part in helping us notice things that we might otherwise miss. Good one!

[@wesleylow3632]

The obvious tip is to watch a lot of Uncle Grumpy videos prior to going to the field! While capturing the great image is a goal, my main goal is to experience the location and a great image is a bonus. Not to say that I am not dedicated to the image but you know what I mean.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Of course!

[@georgemason2472]

Researching photos is my favorite thing to do. People post selfies sometimes that will give you a taste of the diversity of lighting/results. If very few of the photos are ideal to me then it''s probably a good location to skip. Tide charts and weather apps are worth looking at on coastal shots.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Absolutely!!

[@DaveKingMusic]

Excellent video and tips. Certainly a reality check.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Thank you!

[@BillyVerden]

I'm not a big fan of tips and tricks videos.. but I watch any Adam Gibbs video no matter what.. lol.. But.. I found it Amazing that what with Adam being a guide and photo workshop provider. Why wasn't finding/hiring a local photographer to show you where and when to go take photos if your traveling to an unknown area?.. There's a video idea for you Adam.. go to a new area and rely on a local photographer to guide you.. Have you ever went on a photo workshop?? I'd definitely watch that!! Good Video even if it was just a tips and tricks.. lol.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

well, thanks for watching the support is greatly appreciated

[@johncarnahan4067]

Great video Adam and Paul glad use had a fantastic photo trip. The 5 tips were very well put together and would be very helpful to anyone planning a trip. Regards to Paul's memory card it happened to myself returning from a holiday but not sure what happened but card got corrupted and images where lost I'm not sure how but it could have been the scanning machine in the airport but there's an excellent software recovery tool I got and was able to recover all of them if you want I can pass on the name of it. Thank you for sharing your video

[@christiantengeler8417]

For backups on location I use „Little Backup Box“ a small raspberry pi computer with an ssd. At home I import from the ssd to my Lightroom.

[@retirewithjames6745]

Very good tips!

[@ibp2007]

Thank you Adam, I think you have forgotten the most important item. That you enjoy every minute you are out there pursuing and living your dream. Just sayin.❤️🇫🇷❤️

[@QuietLightPhoto]

Absolutely!

[@nicksaunders106]

Thanks guys, great tips!

[@QuietLightPhoto]

You bet!

[@Ruscombephotos]

One other tip: wear good shoes. No matter what genre of photography you are engaged in, you’re probably going to be on your feet all day. So while it is vital to make sure your feet are protected from water, cold and the footwear is appropriate for the terrain, they have to be something your feet can tolerate wearing all day long.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

good one!

[@markflanagan521]

No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn Thats a tip from Jim Morrison 😉😇

[@andrewhumphrys5548]

Try to get a weather forecast for the area you are going to. This may help with planning.

[@AdventureDriver]

I would argue against waiting for conditions to turn favorable when limited time is available, that time can better be spend travelling to other places where conditions can be favorable and/or the new location can be scouted for a later return.

[@QuietLightPhoto]

hey whatever works for you and others, can't argue with that

[@frstesiste7670]

I used to do what Paul does (fortunately without the mistake), but with the current card prices I can afford enough cards to avoid deleting until I'm home and everything is on my main computer.

[@stevej4847]

Hi Adam and Paul. I have just watched your latest video with your 5 tips for new locations. I got to the bit where Paul said he'd deleted the pictures from his memory card. Devastating!! Whilst I have never done that myself, I was wondering whether you can still recover the images, just as long as you had not formatted the card?

[@arthurised]

@stevj4847. In most case yes you can - the siftware neede is certainly affordable! Just store the card somewhere safe so as not to accidentally write over where your images are stored.

[@danpalewicz5474]

Could you please leave the teck info on the review screen for a extra 4 seconds You know seniors, Glasses cataracts. Big Thanks

[@GillesQuennevilleGQ]

Never look at the back of the screen after a shot. Look inside the EVF.

[@reneholtslag2297]

Hello Adam. what lenses will you take witj you when you go to Scotlland?

[@QuietLightPhoto]

I'll be taking the GFX 100s with 20-35mm, 45-100mm, 100-200mm and the 1.4 teleconverter.

[@reneholtslag2297]

@@QuietLightPhoto Thank very much for your answer. I think I will take my 100 - 400 mm lens with me.

[@FredericBonneauPhotography]

Cards are cheap. Why deleting original in the first place? Card full, get another one! Still do all the necessary backups and keep the original card in a safe place.