A point of frustration - trying to produce outstanding, artistic photos while on vacation

PSA Journal, Jan, 1993 by Louie J. Powell

Many photographers residing in the Northeast portion of the United States have had the experience of vacationing on Cape Cod, that curious little stretch of land extending out into the Atlantic

Ocean from the Southeast corner of Massachusetts. Cape Cod is a delightful place to visit and photograph. Cape Cod is a series of quiet little villages which look like they haven't changed much in the last hundred years, weathered cedar shingle houses with painted white trim, flowers everywhere, beaches, sand dunes, boats, and people of all kinds. One would expect that it would be a photographer's heaven. To some degree it is, but at the same time Cape Cod, like many similar vacation communities, can be extremely frustrating.

My wife and I do a lot of shopping when we are on vacation--or actually, my wife does, and I tag along. It is not uncommon to find displays of photographs, mounted and matted, for sale in gift shops and galleries. As I stand there looking through the display at beautiful examples of photographic art, featuring scenes typical of the area, I find my level of inspiration and photographic excitement growing. If I could just get my wife out of the darn shop so I could get out and shoot pictures like the ones on sale.

My wife understands that I need some time to photograph and so eventually we leave to enjoy the outdoor scenery. I recall those shots of beautiful beach sunsets with the abandoned sailboat in the foreground, perhaps with a romantic silhouette of an attractive couple, so in the evening we drive out to the shore, equipped with tripod, lenses, camera bodies, and about half a brick of film. l shoot the sunset, but somehow my chromes don't look like the ones in the shop. I have never found an abandoned sailboat on any beach at sunset. The sunset is never very spectacular. My pictures always seem to have a lot of overweight people in them, wandering about on the beach, beer can in hand, kicking the seashells. And the sand gnats are so bothersome that my motivation dissipates pretty fast. How does the guy who does the pictures in the gift shop find his scenes?

This, in simplest terms, is the frustration. Somehow, as a tourist, I can never seem to produce the same kind of pictures that are on display in galleries, shops, or as post cards. Sure, I usually come home with something that I can be proud of, but I never seem to achieve what I expected to be able to do.

He Lives There

The guy who shoots the pictures in the gallery or on the post cards has a number of unfair advantages over tourists. His biggest advantage is that he usually lives there! This means that he is not limited to one or two weeks during the year to do his shooting, and he can pick the optimum time for a particular scene. My family takes our vacations in the summer, but those dramatic beach sunset shots in the picture gallery were often taken in the winter when there is less haze in the air and fewer people on the beach.

The resident photographer can and will learn where the good locales are. Often, these spots are on private land, and as a resident (i.e., a neighbor) he can more easily gain access. As tourists, we are usually limited to public or semipublic areas, and usually areas that are fairly well populated. Somehow, we have developed a caution about wandering into remote, isolated regions.

Finally, the resident has the very big advantage of time. Because he is not limited to one or two weeks, he can patiently watch the scene to determine exactly when is the best time, and then plan to be there. As tourists, we have to shoot when we are there, and there seldom is a chance to come back at a different time or in another season.

Achieving Personal Satisfaction

There are several tricks we can use as itinerant amateur photographers to increase our satisfaction with our vacation pictures, and none involve retiring to our favorite vacation community.

The Post Card Gambit: One way to help cure the vacation frustrations is to purchase a collection of post cards featuring good scenic photography. Initially the main advantage of the old postcard trick is to identify locations. The text on the back of the card usually tells the location, and if all else fails, show the card to a native (if you can find one) and ask where it was taken. One helpful suggestion is to ask the clerk at a local camera store--he at least will understand some of your motivation in wanting to find the spot.

One of the lessons I learned early on in photography is that there is instructional benefit in emulating the work of the great photographers. The same is true of vacation shooting. There's nothing wrong with picking out a collection of favorite scenic post cards and then trying to duplicate the shot; nothing that is, as long as we don't try to sell our ripoffs in competition with the original. Also, using a post card as a guide is good training in seeing picture possibilities. Having found the spot, and having first done our own version of the post card shot, the next step is to create our personal vision of the spot. I find that once I am inspired by a location I have little trouble seeing numerous picture possibilities.