Oh, the thought of Vacation, time to relax, have fun, and just not think about work at all. A time to step away from life as we know it and enjoy a week or two of a life that we wish we could live every day. Currently, my friends and I are starting to plan our vacation next year. Now is this my dream vacation? No, but white sand, ocean, and no kids not that I have any. This is going to be fun anyways, Adults only nothing holding us back from doing things because we have people too young to participate in the activities and someone having to stay behind to take care of them.
So, you may be wondering what does this have to do with Photography? Well, I can answer that question. I am one of these people who like to research and read up on things. Thus, as we are picking our location which is either going to be Puta Canna, or Aruba unless things change. I am looking at all the locations I can find to see what I activities I want to do so I can get some perfect pictures. The planning of locations is helping me consider what I may need to purchase such as a good tripod, new camera (still in research mode on this), lenses, filters, and debating on if I want my laptop with me or not. Luckily, I have 11 months to decide on all of this. LOL.
One of the things I am planning for is Sunrise and Sunset pictures, the resort we will be going to will be beach front so that means that I can easily get up early in the morning for sunrise photography a couple of days. Sunrises can be so beautiful on a beach scenery with the waves of the ocean. But this also means that I should have a good chance for Sunset pictures as well. Sunsets may be better from a lookout or on the beach itself. These are two areas that I am currently working on strengthening my portfolio. Living in a city it is hard to find a good place to capture sunrises and sunsets. I thought I found a place but then realized that the power lines were not going to work that well in my favor.
Other things I am looking for are waterfalls, good hiking trails for wildlife, scenery, and lookouts. I love taking waterfall photos. I am currently learning how to blur the water so it looks like a steady stream and not have the individual water droplets. Now I tend to switch in between both and take the same photo twice and then I decided if I like one better than the other or if I like both. I am researching what kind of wildlife the island has in the area we will be staying in. I love birds and I hope to get some great shots of some very colorful birds while we are there. Animals are another subject I want to get some photographs of. Living in West Virginia I am limited to the type of wildlife I can capture and this will hopefully add to my portfolio. Then there should be some beautiful insects such as butterflies that I cannot find where I live.
After I get all this planned I will make a list of the top things to capture and if I get others then so be it if not I at least accomplished my list of items. I am a list person, without it, I am stressed out. Now this will be as far as planning goes for me on the trip. If we decided to do other activities we will if not then we won’t no use having the whole day booked when I could be lying on the sand listening to the waves, and just enjoying the beauty our God has created for us to enjoy.
I think planning your photography for your vacation is a very wise thing to do. Having a plan helps you decided on what you need to take with you, incorporating locations and time of day into your vacation, and still allowing yourself time for fun and relaxation. This way I limit the I wish I had or I didn’t know that was here kind of situations.
So as a photographer what kind of things do you plan for on your vacations? Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated.
K.D. Gladwell Photography 