Practice at home with your gear to get ready for your next outing.
Like jewels glittering in the forest, raindrops quivered on their tenuousness of a leafless berry bush. They were stunning. Stunning enough to make me stop and contemplate their sparkling light in an otherwise lightless forest.
The scene was too good to pass up. I hadn’t been able to use my new macro lens with much success and the opportunity to give it a run further excited me. After examining the raindrops and branches and comparing angles and backgrounds, I decided on a couple of luscious drops composed against a dark background to help them sparkle more. Out came the tripod and I began to extend the legs to the length needed.
But, YIKES!
In my excitement, I extended my tripod right into the berry bush. I had neglected to step away from the bush and prepare my tripod before bringing it back to where I saw my composition. The tripod legs knocked and rattled against the bush knocking many of the ripest raindrops to the ground. I stared at the bush in disbelief.
Did I really just do that?
I stopped to look at the remaining droplets. Maybe, one or two were salvageable. Maybe, I could make this work. I checked out a droplet or two then stepped away to finish setting up my tripod. Now it was time to put the macro lens on the camera and get back to finding a composition with the droplets. I shifted left. I shifted right. I moved in and stepped away. Nothing was coming together. No composition. The focus wasn’t working. I had a vision in my head but I was struggling with my new lens. I grew frustrated and again stepped away from the bush.
With the camera and lens in my hand dropped at my side, I looked at the bush. Maybe, this wasn’t the time for photography but a time for teaching. You see, I made some mistakes. And you can learn from my mistakes - and hopefully I can too.
Lesson number 1 - Get to know your gear at home. When you buy a new piece of equipment, read the manual and test it out at home. Trying to figure it out on the trail will only lead to frustration. Instead of photographing the pretties you see along the way, you’ll fumble with the gear and decide the photo just isn’t worth it. That’s when you might commit the unphotographable sin - packing your camera in your pack where it might not come out until you get home. But if you take the time at home to figure out the gear and test it, your chances of success on the trail multiply.
Lesson number 2 - watch where the legs of your tripod are going. Awareness of your surroundings and how you interact with them will save you some heartache here. Step away from fragile areas and subjects. And watch out for other hikers.
Take it from me, make your mistakes at home when you are learning new equipment, or settings, or anything. Take the time at home to become proficient with your gear and you will enjoy exploring the trails with your camera more.