Ok, maybe the title goes a bit far. I will say here that it was a clever reference to getting around…or it was supposed to be. There will be a lot of them, just insert how it is that you get around and all will be will.
If I am honest, I do not get asked about my settings very frequently. I do get asked for gear recommendations all the time though. I was asked for some last Saturday, and as I am known to do every now and then, I offered my opinion. So, here is the next piece of gear I suggest using: your feet! Lefty and Righty, LPCs (leather personnel carriers), hooves, dogs, tootsies, trotters, paws, foundations, and your lowest points of contact. However you say it, it is time move.
I am not the first photographer to suggest this, and I predict that there will be more. The first point is just a plain photography lesson.
- Having a zoom is great and all (and sometimes indispensable) but there is not substitute for reframing by relocating. Some shots are only possible by physically putting (or removing) distance between yourself and a set of subjects. It is as simple as that. Try it.
Now I will go a little deeper into my reasons for advocating for the above philosophy.
2. It could just be because of my time in the army, but I honestly love walking. I did it even before entering the military and finding myself among the infantry (death before dismounts could learn something here.) When I was a teenager I would leave in the early evening and walk the neighborhood, sometimes more than once, just because. It became such a habit that I would not talk on the phone in the house, I just got out and beat feet.
3. I feel that you get to know a place better when you get out of your car and move through it the oldest of old fashioned ways. It is like using a zoom, when you fly over it is all small and interesting, when you drive through it is just scenery, but when you walk through it is an environment. You can see people, you can learn the cracks in the streets, peek into shop windows, and stop and smell the flowers (or better, photograph them.)
4. In my opinion, nothing will ever become a substitute for putting boots on the ground. I mean that for everything. Drones are not a replacement for the soldier, and google maps is not an excuse not to recon your setting. Fight me on this one, but the photographer who goes and learns the environment they intend to shoot in will win the day. The cover photo for this entry is not at all special. It is not even good by most measures. It was not supposed to be. It was recon and I used my cell phone, a pencil and a notebook. I had a friend who I was doing some work for and I went and put myself on scene to watch the sunset they wanted and to figure out what would make the most beautiful shots. Keep this in mind when you are wondering about prices too, we do not just click a button. Spending three hours on scene and noting that tree allowed me to make this:
This is step two. I came back a bit later to the location I liked and did some tests. Exposed for highlights and shadows, used some flash, a little of everything. That is somewhat more “photographic.” Finally all this effort allowed me to put my best foot forward when my friend and client came. 
If you are a professional, you owe preparedness to your clients. If you are just in it for you, then why wouldn’t you do everything you could to honor your photography hobby? This is my advice to you. Take your camera for a walk, and above are the reasons why. The satellite map, The Photographers Ephemera (an app I cannot say enough good things about) have their place, but it will never replace this.
Have a good week, stay safe, wear a mask, enjoy your lunch.
Brandon Bledsoe
Nostalgic Vanity Photography
931-436-4105
nostalgicvanityphoto@gmail.com
Nostalgic Vanity Photography 